Holy Belgarath, Disciple of the God Aldur, who hath but recently
arrived from Tol Honeth with an urgent communication from His
Imperial Majesty, Ran Vordue of Tolnedra.’
‘I do confess that I am overwhelmed,’ Corrolin replied, bowing
deeply to my vagrant father.
‘Hail, Corrolin,’ father said, still not bothering to get up. ‘I knew
your father quite well.’ Then he fished around inside his tunic and
drew out a folded sheet of parchment with a beribboned wax seal
on it. ‘His Imperial Majesty asked me to stop by and give this to
you. Please forgive all our subterfuge in this matter, but the contents
of Ran Vordue’s note should probably be kept secret.’
The word ‘secret’ always seems to light fires in the eyes of Arends,
and Corrolin was no exception. He took the letter and then looked
dubiously at me.
,My niece is privy to the contents of the message, my Lord,’
Mandorin advised him. ‘Indeed, she was instrumental in its
delivery.’
‘We can get into that later,’ father smoothly glossed over the fact
that in Mimbrate eyes my primary concerns should have been
gossip, hairstyles and hosiery.
Corrolin read the imperial message, and his eyes widened a bit.
‘Have I perchance misunderstood the import of this document?’ he
asked. ‘Should I have misread it, prithee correct me, but it doth
seem that I have been invited to meet His Imperial Majesty.’
‘It’d better say that, your Grace,’ father grunted, ‘because that’s
the way I dictated it. The meeting is to take place in Tol Vordue in
about three days, and the emperor asked me to impress upon you
the vital necessity for absolute secrecy in this matter. There are
unfriendly eyes – and ears as well – knocking about both here in
Mimbre and down there in Tolnedra as well. I think we’ll all want
to keep this entire affair tightly under wraps.’
‘A wise precaution, Ancient One,’ Corrolin agreed, ‘but how am
I to explain this sudden journey into Tolnedra?’
‘I’ve taken the liberty of making some arrangements, your Grace,’
father told him, reaching over to pick up the monk’s robe. ‘I’ll wear
this and act sort of holy. You’re right on the verge of embarking on
a war. Now, war’s a serious business, and no truly devout man
undertakes one without a bit of divine guidance. That’s why you
sent for me, wasn’t it?’
Corrolin blinked. ‘Forgive me, Holy One, but I have no
recollection of summoning thee.’
‘It must have slipped your mind. Anyway, I’m to escort you
downriver to that monastery on the coast so that you can consult
with the abbot there. That sort of smells religious, wouldn’t you
say? On the way, we’ll take a little side trip to Tol Vordue so that
You can meet with Ran Vordue. Then we’ll go on to the monastery.
You can have your spiritual consultation with the abbot, and then
we’ll come home.’ He squinted at the elaborately-garbed duke. ‘Put
On something suitably devout, my Lord. When we go back into the
throne room, pray a lot and let me do most of the talking. I’ll make
a big issue of the fact that any kind of escort would be an act of
impiety and that Chaldan might be offended.’
‘I had not heard of such restrictions,’ Corrolin confessed.
‘I’d be surprised if you had, your Grace, since I made them up
just now. Baron Mandorin and his niece will go on ahead of us, you
and I will leave Vo Mimbre alone, and we’ll all join up again some
miles on down the road. Mandorin and Polina have some
information that might help you and Ran Vordue in your deliberations
at Tol Vordue.’
Since all Arends just adore intrigue, Corrolin fell in with our
scheme immediately, and just as immediately developed that
furtive, conspiratorial air that half the population of Arendia habitually
wears. Mandorin and I left the pair of them polishing the edges of
their scheme and went back to the stables for our horses.
Our two pilgrims, actually singing hymns as they rode along,
joined us about five miles out from Vo Mimbre, and we all rode on
down the river road toward the coast.
We were followed, of course, but that was to be expected. Father
took care of it, though, so it didn’t give us any serious problems.
We camped out that night, and rode on through the next day and
well into the evening. My father’s not one to leave things to chance,
so he’d hidden a boat in the bushes about a mile upriver from the
monastery. We picketed our horses and pushed our boat out into
the stream.
We reached the far shore about midnight and walked on along
the dark, deserted road toward the city of Tol Vordue rising behind
the impressive east gate. We were met there by a platoon of
legionnaires and immediately escorted through the deserted streets to the
ancestral house of the Vordue family. The emperor was waiting for
us in the courtyard. He was of middle years and tall for a Tolnedran.
He also, I noted, had a distinctly military bearing. ‘All went well, I
gather?’ he asked my father.
Father shrugged. ‘No problems,’ he said.
‘Good. I’ve had a place for our meeting prepared. I can guarantee
that nobody’s going to get close enough to that room to hear our
discussions.’ He looked at Corrolin and Mandorin. ‘Which of these
gentlemen is Duke Corrolin?’ he asked.
Father introduced our two Mimbrates, but deliberately glossed
over my presence. Then we all trooped inside and climbed an
interminable flight of marble stairs to a room at the very top of a
tower. It was a stark, business-like sort of room with a conference
table in the center and maps littering its walls.
‘I’ll be brief, your Grace,’ the emperor said to Corrolin after we’d
seated ourselves at the table. ‘I’m a plain man with no great skill at
diplomatic language. Ancient Belgarath here advises me that you’ve
been approached by a man going by the name Kador who’s told
you that he speaks for me. He’s lying to you. I’ve never even heard
of the man, and it’s entirely possible that he’s not even Tolnedran.’
Corrolin gaped at him in stunned surprise. ‘But there are legions
encamped almost within view of Vo Mimbre!’ he protested.
,You’d better tell him, Pol,’ father suggested.
‘Forgive me, Ancient One,’ Corrolin floundered, ‘but how would
Lady Polina have information concerning Tolnedran legions?’
‘Is there any need to keep playing this game, Pol?’ father asked
me.
‘No,’ I replied, ‘I suppose not.’
‘Good. Let’s clear the air, then. Duke Corrolin, I have the honor
to present my daughter Polgara.’
Corrolin’s quick glance at Mandorin was slightly accusatory.
‘Baron Mandorin did not lie to you, your Grace,’ I jumped to my
friend’s defense. ‘By church law, he is, in fact, my uncle. He adopted
me in front of a priest of Chaldan before we came to Vo Mimbre. I
needed a disguise, so I forced him to do it. It was necessary, so let’s
not make an issue of it.’ Then I paused. ‘I’ll put this in very blunt
terms, your Grace. There are not, in fact, any legions stationed across
the river from Vo Mimbre. I went down there and had a look for
myself. Count Oldon, who appears to be in Kador’s pocket, has
decked out some of his workmen in legion uniforms just for show.’
‘She’s telling you the truth, your Grace,’ Ran Vordue assured him.
‘I have not offered an alliance with any faction in Arendia, and I
most definitely haven’t stationed any of my legions on your southern
frontier. This Kador has duped you.’ Then the emperor looked at
me appraisingly. ‘Ancient Belgarath strongly hinted that his
daughter here has been running around Arendia putting out fires for the
past several weeks now. Maybe we can prevail upon her to give us
some details.’
And so I recounted the stories of what had happened in Vo
Wacune and Vo Astur for them and revealed what I’d picked up
so far in Vo Mimbre. ‘It’s all been a hoax, gentlemen,’ I concluded.
‘Ctuchik’s been trying to foment a war between Arendia and
Tolnedra, hoping that His Imperial Majesty would annex Arendia – which
Would bring the alorns into the picture. That’s what Ctuchik really
wants – a war between the Empire and the alorns. Arendia would
have been no more than a pawn in the larger game.’
‘I shall obliterate the villain Kador!’ Corrolin burst out.
‘I’d really rather you didn’t, old boy,’ Ran Vordue told him.
‘Deport him back to Tolnedra instead – along with all his underlings.
Let me deal with them.’ He smiled faintly. ‘My birthday’s not
far off,’ he said. ‘Why don’t you give the lot of them to me as a
Present?’
‘It shall be my excruciating pleasure to do as thou hast requested,
your Imperial Majesty,’ Corrolin agreed. ‘I shall devote mine own