Chabat’s eyes grew angry again, though there was in them now a faint hint that she was no longer so sure of herself. “What would a Nyissan slaver know of sorcery, Master?” she sneered. “You know of the habits of the snake-people. Doubtless this Ussa’s mind is so fuddled with drugs that one of his servants could be Belgarath himself, and he wouldn’t know it.”
“A very interesting point,” Agachak murmured. “Now, let us examine this matter. We know that the altar fires went out. That much is certain. Sorchak declares that this young man extinguished them by means of sorcery—though he has no proof to substantiate that charge. Ussa of Sthiss Tor, who may be drugged to the point of insensibility, maintains that the young man is a simpleton and thus totally incapable of so extraordinary an act. Now, how may we resolve this dilemma?”
“Put them to the torment, Holy One,” Chabat suggested eagerly. “I myself will wring the truth from them—one by one.”
Garion tensed himself and looked carefully at Belgarath. The old man stood quite calmly with his short, silvery beard gleaming in the ruddy torchlight. He gave no sign that he might be preparing for any kind of direct action.
“Your fondness for the torture chamber is well known, Chabat,” Agachak was saying coldly. “Your skill is such that your victims usually say exactly what you want them to say—which is not always the absolute truth.”
“I do but serve my God, Master,” she declared proudly.
“We all serve here, my Holy Priestess,” he rebuked her, “and you would be wise not to assert your own excessive piety in order to elevate yourself—or your underling for that matter.” He looked at Sorchak with undisguised contempt. “I am still Hierarch here, and I will make the final decision in this matter.”
The scar-faced priestess shrank back, her eyes suddenly fearful. “Forgive me, Agachak,” she stammered. “This monstrous crime has filled me with righteous outrage, but as you say, the final decision is wholly yours.”
“I find your acceptance of my authority gratifying, Chabat. I thought you might have forgotten.”
Just then there was a stir at the back of the torchlit room. Two burly Murgos with long, polished halberds in their hands rudely pushed aside the Grolims clustered near the door. With their dark faces impassive, they banged the butts of their weapons on the floor in unison. “Make way!” one of them boomed. “Make way for Urgit, High King of Cthol Murgos!”
The man who sauntered into the room surrounded by guards looked like no Murgo Garion had ever seen before. He was short and had a slender but wiry build. His black hair was lank and his features narrow. His robe was carelessly open at the front, revealing the fact that, instead of the customary mail shirt, he wore a western-style doublet and hose of rich purple. His iron crown was perched somewhat rakishly on one side of his head. His expression was sardonic, but his eyes were wary. “Agachak,” he greeted the Hierarch perfunctorily, “I gave some thought to the news which was brought to you at the Drojim, and I finally concluded that I might be of some use to you in sorting out the cause of this regrettable incident.”
“The Temple is honored by the presence of the High King,” Agachak intoned formally.
“And the High King is honored to be so kindly received by the Hierarch of Rak Urga,” Urgit replied. He looked around. “Do you have a chair handy?” he asked. “I’ve had along, tiring day.”
“See to it,” Agachak said flatly to the priestess standing beside his throne.
Chabat blinked, then a slow flush mounted her cheeks. “A chair for his Majesty,” she commanded harshly, “and be quick about it.”
One of the Grolims near the door scurried out and returned a moment later with a heavy chair.
“Thanks awfully,” the King said, sinking into the chair. He looked at Agachak. “I have a small confession to make, Holy One,” he said with an apologetic cough. “As I was about to enter your presence in this room, I lingered for a time in the hallway outside, hoping to acquaint myself with the details of this affair.” He laughed shortly. “Listening at doors is an old habit of mine, I’m afraid. It comes from my anxious childhood. Anyway, I managed to hear the charges presented by the priest-inquisitor. To be perfectly candid, Agachak, he’s got a very shaky case.” He gave the Hierarch a quick, ingratiating look. “But of course you’ve already pointed that out, haven’t you?”
Agachak nodded briefly, his face unreadable.
“Now,” Urgit went on quickly, “I most certainly wouldn’t want to interfere in what is clearly a Church matter, but wouldn’t you say that there are dozens of possible natural explanations for this incident?” He looked hopefully at Agachak; then reassured by the look of agreement on the Hierarch’s face, he continued. “I mean, we’ve all seen fires go out before, haven’t we? Do we really need to go so far afield to come up with a reason for this really unremarkable occurrence? Isn’t it more likely that the keepers of the Temple fires grew careless and that the fires just went out on their own—as fires starved for fuel are likely to do?”
“Absolute nonsense!” the greasy-haired Sorchak snapped.
Urgit flinched visibly, his eyes going in appeal to Agachak.
“You forget yourself, priest-inquisitor,” the Hierarch said. -”Our guest is the High King of Cthol Murgos; if you offend him, I may decide to give him your head by way of apology.”
Sorchak swallowed hard. “Please forgive me, your Majesty,” he choked. “I spoke before I thought.”
“Quite all right, old boy.” Urgit forgave him with a magnanimous wave of his hand. “Sometimes we all speak too quickly when we’re excited.” He turned back to the Hierarch. “I regret this catastrophe as much as anyone, Agachak,” he said, “but this Nyissan slaver was sent here by Jaharb, and both you and I know how desperately urgent his mission is to the Church and to the State. Don’t you think that as a matter of policy we could let this incident pass?”
“Surely you’re not just going to let these charges drop?” Chabat’s voice was shrill as she faced the Hierarch. “Who is to be punished for the desecration of the Sanctum?”
Urgit’s face grew unhappy, and he once again appealed to Agachak for support with pleading eyes. Garion clearly saw that this was not a strong king. Even the slightest resistance to his diffidently offered proposals made him instinctively retreat or seek support from someone he perceived to be stronger.
Agachak turned slowly to look the scarred priestess full in the face. “All this shouting is beginning to weary me, Chabat,” he told her bluntly. “If you can’t modulate your voice, you can leave.”
She stared at him in stunned disbelief.
“There is far more at stake here than the fact that some fires went out,” he said to her. “As was foretold ages ago, the time for the final meeting between the Child of Light and the Child of Dark is at hand. If I am not the one who is present at that meeting, you will find yourself bowing to either Urvon or Zandramas. I doubt that either one of them would find your antics amusing enough to make them decide to let you go on living. As for the charge of sorcery, there’s an easy way to settle that once and for all.” He rose from his throne, walked across to Eriond, and placed one hand on each side of his head.
Aunt Pol drew in her breath sharply, and Garion carefully began to gather in his will.
Eriond looked up into the face of the dead-looking Hierarch with a gentle smile on his face.
“Faugh!” Agachak said in disgust, pulling his hands quickly back, “This beardless boy is an innocent. There’s no evidence in his mind that he has ever tasted power.” He turned to look at Sorchak. “I find your charges groundless, priest-inquisitor, and I dismiss them.”
Sorchak’s face went white, and his eyes bulged.
“Have a care, Sorchak,” the Hierarch said ominously. “If you protest my decision too strenuously, I might just decide that this whole incident was your fault. Chabat is sick with disappointment that she has no one to torture to death.” His look grew sly as he glanced at the priestess. “Would you like to have Sorchak, my dear?” he asked her. “I have always delighted in giving you these little gifts. I’ll even watch with some pleasure while you slowly pull out his entrails with red-hot hooks.”
Chabat’s flame-marked face was filled with chagrin. Gar-ion saw that she had been convinced that the Hierarch, as he apparently had so many times in the past, would meekly accede to her peremptory demands, and she had staked all of her prestige on the punishment of Sadi, for whom she had developed an instantaneous dislike. Agachak’s unexpected and almost contemptuous rejection of the accusations she and Sorchak had leveled struck at the very foundations of her puffed-up self-esteem, but more importantly at her position of power here hi the Temple. Unless she could somehow salvage something—anything—out of this, her many enemies would inevitably pull her down. Garion fervently hoped that Sadi realized that she was even more dangerous now than she had been when she had thought she held the upper hand.