attentions to such Mimbrate knights as have fallen in with this
Murgo plot. They shall feel my displeasure most keenly.’
‘Stout fellow,’ Ran Vordue murmured. Then he looked at me
‘How did you find out about all this, Lady Polgara? My sources teell
me that you’ve been ensconced in the Vale for the past several
centuries.’
‘Our Master brought it to my attention, your Majesty. Evidently
he feels that I should spend some more time in the field of practical
politics to broaden my horizons.’
‘That brings up an interesting point,’ father said, looking directly
at me. ‘The Master put this in your hands, Pol, so you’re the one
who’s running things this time. What do we do now?’
‘I’ll get you for that, father,’ I threatened him.
‘You mean you’ll try. Why don’t you throw something on the
table? Then the rest of us can take it apart and tell you why it won’t
work.’
‘Well,’ I said, ‘let me see.’ I fished around for something logical.
‘If we look at it in a certain way, Ctuchik’s done us a favor here.
There’s been a certain ecumenicism in his plotting. He duped all
three dukes with exactly the same ploy, offering each one an alliance
with Ran Vordue. Since Asturia, Wacune, and Mimbre were all
deceived in the same way, couldn’t we build on that shared
experience? Why don’t we just skip the war this time and go directly to
the peace-conference? I’ve got a certain influence with Kathandrion
and Mangaran. If Duke Corrolin invites them to a conference at
oh, let’s say the Arendish Fair – I think I’ll be able to persuade them
to attend.’
‘She makes sense, Belgarath,’ Ran Vordue sided with me. ‘ have
you got any idea of how much it’s costing me to keep fifteen legions
in the garrison here in Tol Vordue, just in case the hostilities in
Arendia happen to spill over into Tolnedra? I can find better uses
for those troops, and for the money I’m wasting on them.’
‘I, too, find merit in Lady Polgara’s proposal,’ Mandorin agreed.
‘Endless war doth in time grow tiring. Mayhap, for the sake of
novelty, we might try endless peace for a few months.’
‘Cynic,’ my father accused him. Then he stood up. ‘Why don’t
we just let my daughter bully all concerned to the peace table at
the Great Fair?’ he proposed.
‘Bully?’ I protested.
‘Isn’t that what you’re going to do?’
‘If I have to, yes, but that’s such an ugly word. Couldn’t we call
it something a little nicer?’
‘Which word would you prefer?’
‘I’m not sure. I’ll work on it and let you know what I decide.’
‘I hope you’ll forgive me if I don’t hold my breath.’
Father rowed us back across the estuary at the mouth of the River
Arend shortly before dawn. I’ve noticed any number of times that
he’ll do things like that when he decides that he’s the best one
available for what would otherwise be a menial task. Both Mandorin
and Corrolin were knights, far more at home on horseback than at
the oars of a small boat. My father’s not one to take chances. I could
probably have done it at least as well as he did, but he evidently
didn’t think of that – and I certainly wasn’t going to suggest it.
Dawn was in full flower when we beached our boat, re-saddled
our horses, and rode on to the monastery. Corrolin dutifully
conferred with the abbot for about a quarter of an hour – although I
couldn’t for the life of me understand what they might have talked
about. Corrolin was not going to war. Maybe that was it. Maybe he
was asking the abbot to convey his apologies to Chaldan for not
slaughtering his neighbors. When he came out of the monastery,
we took the high road that led back to Vo Mimbre. We stopped
after a mile or so, though, and I cooked breakfast for us over a
roadside campfire – quite a good breakfast, as I recall. My friends all
ate too much, naturally, and father, now that he had a full stomach,
decided that a little rest might be in order. ‘We did stay up all night,’
he reminded us. ‘I can sleep in my saddle, if I really have to, but
somebody’s going to have to stay alert enough to steer the horses.
Why don’t we catch some sleep and then move on?’
We rode back a ways from the road under the leafy green canopy
of the trees, unrolled our blankets, and committed ourselves to sleep.
I was just on the verge of dozing off when mother’s voice murmured
in my drowsy brain. ‘Very nicely done, Polgara,’ she complimented me.
‘I rather thought so myself,’ I agreed modestly.
You sound tired.’
‘I am, rather.’
‘Why don’t you sleep then?’
And I did, dropping off right between one thought and the next.
We all awoke about mid-afternoon and rode on to a rather shabby
little inn, where we spent the night. We arose early the following
morning, and we then rode straight on to Vo Mimbre.
Duke Corrolin had been mightily provoked by what his meeting
with Ran Vordue had revealed, and he moved quickly, issuing
orders, but no explanations. Then he invited the entire court into the
throne-room where armored knights stood guard along the walls. To
everyone’s surprise – even mine – the duke entered the throne-room
full armor and carrying a huge two-handed broadsword. He did
not sit down on his throne. ‘My Lords and Ladies,’ he began,
speaking with unusual crispness for a Mimbrate Arend. ‘I have but
recently returned from Tol Vordue, where the emperor of Tolnedra
and I did confer at some length. The outcome of that conference
was a happy one. Rejoice, my loyal subjects. There will be no war.’
That got a mixed reaction, Arends being what they are and all.
Corrolin, his face bleak, smashed his mailed fist down on the back
of his throne. ‘Be not dismayed, my Lords and Ladies,’ he boomed.
‘There will be other entertainments. An extensive conspiracy hath
of late befouled the air – not only here in mimbre, but in Asturia
and Wacune as well. It is my firm intention to cleanse the air here.
Seize them!’ This last commiroand was issued to Mandorin and the
two-score knights under his command, and Mandorin was quick to
carry it out – so quick in fact that there were hardly any casualties.
A dozen or so Tolnedrans, both genuine and spurious, were clapped
in irons, and several Mimbrate nobles were treated in the same way.
The Grolim who’d been posing as a servant in Kador’s entourage
ducked under the arm of the knight who was in the middle of
enfolding him in a steely embrace and darted for the door, gathering
his Will as he ran. My father, however, was ready for him. Still
garbed in that burlap monk’s robe, the Old Wolf delivered a crashing
blow to the side of the Grolim’s head with his fist, and the priest
of the Dragon-God fell senseless to the floor. Father, I noticed, had
judiciously enveloped his right fist in lead, and his blow would have
felled an ox. ‘Holy Belgarath’ has a colorful background, and I’ve
noticed over the years that he’ll resort to the tactics of tavern
brawling almost as quickly as he’ll fall back on sorcery.
The prisoners were all dragged from the room, and then Duke
Corrolin described in somewhat tedious detail the Murgo plot which had
come to within inches of succeeding. Then, while all the court was still
in shock, he told them of the peace-conference that was already in the
works. That caused a certain amount of grumbling, but the Duke of
Mimbre ran roughshod over the protests. When you put an Arend in
full armor, you can’t really expect a velvet touch.
I decided to let father take the credit for my little counter-COUP
in Vo Mimbre. I’m more interested in results than I am in credit,
but my father absolutely adores being the center of attention, so I
let him bask – or wallow – in public adulation while I went on back
to the northern duchies to hammer down the loose ends of my
peace-conference.
Duke Kathandrion of Wacune and Earl Mangaran of Asturia had
already met a few times, and Countess Asrana, her wicked eyes
sparkling, assured me that they seemed to be getting along fairly
well. ‘They’re as thick as thieves, Polly,’ she said with a little smirk.
‘That Kathandrion’s absolutely gorgeous, isn’t he?’
‘Never mind, Asrana,’ I told her. ‘Try to keep your predatory
instincts under control. What condition’s Oldoran in?’
‘I don’t know about his liver, but his mind’s definitely gone. He’s
seeing things that aren’t really there, and he’s raving most of the
time. His family’s very upset about that. He’s got some nephews
that were eyeing his throne with a great deal of interest, but I don’t