Garion was light-headed with exhaustion. His body screamed for rest, but hi3 mind skittered from impression to thought to image and back again, keeping him awake but all bemused on the very edge of sleep. There would be time later to sort out everything that had happened here in the Place Which Is No More. And then he rearranged his thinking about dial. If ever there was a place that was, it was Korim. Korim was more eternally real than Tol Honeth, Mal Zeth, or Val Alorn. He gathered his sleeping wife and his son closer in his arms. They smelled good. Ce’Nedra’s hair had its usual, floweriike fra-
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grance, and Geran smelled like every little boy who had ever lived—a small creature probably at least marginally in need of a bath. Garion’s own need for bathing was, he concluded, somewhat more than marginal. Yesterday had been very strenuous.
His friends were gathered in strange little groupings here and
6there around the amphitheater. Barak, Hettar, and Mandorallen
were talking with Zakath. Liselle sat with a look of abstract
•concentration on her face, combing Cyradis’ hair. The ladies all Seemed quite determined to take the Seeress of Kell in hand.
• Sadi and Beidin sprawled on the stones near the carcass of the
‘•’-. dragon, drinking ale. Sadi’s expression was polite, but it none-
theless revealed that he was consuming the bitter brew more out
of politeness than from any sense of gusto. Unrak was explor-
i ing, and close on his heels was Nathel, the slack-faced young
I’ King of the Thulls. The Archduke Otrath stood alone near the
$ now-sealed portal to the grotto, his face filled with apprehensive
v dread. Kal Zakath had not yet seen fit to discuss certain matters
With his kinsman, and Otrath was obviously not looking forward
to their conversation. Eriond was talking quietly with Aunt Pol,
Dumik, Belgarath, and Poledra. The young God had a strange
; .^nimbus of pale light about him. Silk was nowhere in sight.
And then the little man came around the shoulder of the pyramid. Behind him, on the far side of the peak, rose a column of dark smoke. He came down the stairway to the floor of the amphitheater and crossed to where Garion was sitting.
“What were you doing?” Garion asked him. ;*’• “I set out a signal for Captain Kresca,” Silk replied. “He i; knows the way back to Perivor, and I Ve seen Barak navigate in | confined waters before. Seabird’s meant for the open sea, not I for close quarters.”
^ “You’ll hurt his feelings if you tell him that, you know.” £*: “I wasn’t planning to tell him.” The rat-faced little man i sprawled on the stones beside Garion and his family, v “Did Liselle have that little chat with you as yet?” Garion | asked.
;•’ “I think she’s saving it up. She wants to have plenty of un-; interrupted time for it. Is marriage always like this? I mean, do you always live in perpetual apprehension, waiting for these conversations?”
“It’s not uncommon. You’re not married yet, though.”
“I’m closer to it than I ever thought I’d be.”
“Are you sorry?”
“No, not really. Liseile and I are suited for each other. We
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have a great deal in common. I just wish she wouldn’t keep tilings hanging over my head is all.” Silk looked sourly around the amphitheater. “Does he have to glow like that?” he asked, pointing at Eriond.
“He probably doesn’t even know he’s doing it. He’s new at this. He’ll get better at it as he goes along.”
“Do you realize that we’re sitting around criticizing a God?”
‘ ‘He was a friend first, Silk. Friends can criticize us without giving offense.”
“My, aren’t we philosophical this morning? My heart almost stopped when he touched Belgarath and Poledra with the Orb, though.”
‘ ‘Mine, too,” Garion admitted,’ ‘but it appears he knew what he was doing.” He sighed.
“What’s the problem?”
“It’s all over now. I think I’m going to miss it—at least I will just as soon as I get caught up on my sleep.”
“It has been a little hectic for the past few days, hasn’t it? I suppose that if we put our heads together, we can come up with something exciting to do.”
“I know what I’m going to be doing,” Garion told him.
“Oh? What’s that?”
“I’m going to be very busy being a father.”
“Your son won’t stay young forever, Garion.”
“Geran isn’t going to be an only child. My friend up here in my head warned me to expect large numbers of daughters.”
“Good. It might help to settle you down a bit. I don’t want to seem critical, Garion, but sometimes you’re awfully flighty. Hardly a year goes by when you’re not running off to some corner of the world with that burning sword in your hand.”
“Are you trying to be funny?”
“Me?” Silk leaned back comfortably. “You’re not going to have all that many daughters, are you? What I’m getting at is that women are only of childbearing age for just so long.”
“Silk,” Garion said pointedly, “do you remember Xbell, that Dryad we met down near the River of the Woods in southern Tolnedra?”
“The one who was so fond of men—all men?”
“That’s the one. Would you say that she’s still of childbearing age?”
“Oh, my yes.”
“Xbell is over three hundred years old. Ce’Nedra’s a Dryad, too, you know.”
•,. “Well, maybe you’ll get too old to—” Silk broke off and ^looked at Belgarath. “Oh, dear,” he said. “You have got a bit &of a problem, haven’t you?”
A It was almost noon when they boarded the Seabird. Barak lad agreed, although somewhat reluctantly, to follow Captain :fe’;-Kresca to Perivor. After the two men had met and inspected ff each other’s ships, however, things went more smoothly. Kresca vf.’had been lavish in his praise of Seabird, and that was always a /.-way to get on the good side of Barak.
I As they weighed anchor, Garion leaned on the starboard rail |; gazing at the strange-looking pyramid sticking out of the sea 1 with a pillar of greasy smoke rising from the amphitheater on I its north side.
f “I’d have given a great deal to have been there,” Hettar said S quietly, leaning his elbows on the rail beside Garion. ‘ ‘How was
l:it?”
•;| “Noisy,” Garion told him.
•: “Why did Belgarath insist on burning that dragon?”
“He felt sorry for her.” ,„ “Belgarath’s funny sometimes.”
“i . “He is indeed, my friend. How are Adara and the children?” ^ “Fine. She’s with child again, you know.” ” “Again? Hettar, you two are almost as bad as Relg and : Taiba.”
“Notquite,” Hettar said modestly. “They’re still a few ahead
• trfus.”Hefrownedcritically,hishawklikefaceoutlinedagainst ^ (he sun. “I think somebody’s cheating, though. Taiba keeps
•;, having babies in twos and threes. That makes it very hard for ^ Adara to keep up.”
y, “I wouldn’t want to point any fingers, but I’d suspect that
‘; .Mara’s been interfering there. It’s going to take awhile to
$ repopulate Maragor.” He looked over to where Unrak stood
in the bow with his shadow, Nathel, just behind him. “What’s
that all about?” he asked.
; *Tm not sure,” Hettarsaid. “Nathel’s a pathetic sort of boy, and I think Unrak feels sorry for him. I gather diere hasn’t been too much kindness in Nathel’s life, so he’ll even accept pity. He’s been following Unrak around like a puppy ever since we picked him up.” The tall Algar looked at Garion. “You look tired,” he said. “You should get some sleep.”
“I’m exhausted,” Garion admitted, “but I don’t want to get my days and nights turned around. Let’s go talk with Barak. He seemed just a bit surly when he came ashore.”
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“You know how Barak is. Missing a fight always makes him discontent. Tell him some stories. He likes a good story almost as much as he likes a good fight.”
It was good to be back among his old friends again. There had been a sort of emptiness in Garion since he had left them behind at Rheon. The absence of their burly self-confidence had been part of it, of course, but even more than that, perhaps, had been the camaraderie, that sense of good-natured friendship that lay under all the apparent bickering. As they started aft to where Barak stood with one beefy hand on the tiller, Garion saw Zakath and Cyradis standing on the lee side of a-longboat. He motioned to Hettar to stop and laid one finger to his lips.
“Eavesdropping isn’t very nice, Garion,” the tall Algar whispered.
‘ ‘It’s not exactly eavesdropping,” Garion whispered back. ‘ ‘I just need to be sure that I won’t have to take steps.”
“Steps?”
“I’ll explain later.”