of those three families decided to stir things up in Arendia. They
approached the then current duke of Mimbre, a young fellow named
Salereon, and opened that box which I’d assumed had been
permanently nailed shut. They began by addressing Salereon as ‘your
,Majesty’ and explained that by saying that since Mimbre was the
largest of the four duchies, the Duke of Mimbre was in reality
the king of all Arendia – just as soon as he got around to annexing
the rest of us. Fortunately, my careful training of the Arendish dukes
took over at that point. Salereon, accompanied by only a few
retainers, rode north and arrived at my manor house in the late
spring to discuss the business.
‘Methought I should consult with thee ere I embarked upon this
venture, your Grace,’ he said earnestly when the two of us were
alone in my library. Salereon was a nice boy, but fearfully dense.
In a way, he was actually asking my permission to declare war on
me. I wasn’t sure whether to explode in rage or to laugh in his face.
Instead, I carefully – and slowly – explained what his Tolnedran
‘friends’ were trying to accomplish.
‘I do confess that I had not considered that, your Grace,’ he
admitted. ‘I had thought that, since the reasoning of the Tolnedran
emissaries seemed so sound, it might have been the course of wisdom
to present the matter to the Arendish Council at our meeting this
very summer. It was my thought that once I had clarified the matter
for thee and my dear brothers of Wacune and Asturia, I might be
declared King of Arendia by general consent, thereby avoiding any
disruption of our cordial relations.’ He was actually sincere!
‘Oh, dear,’ I said.
‘I do perceive that thou hast found some flaw in this most excellent
proposal,’ he said, looking slightly surprised.
‘Dear, dear Salereon,’ I said as gently as I could, ‘what would you
say if Nanteron of Wacune or Lendrin of Asturia came to the meeting
this summer, each declaring that he was the natural born King of
Arendia?’
‘I should immediately surmise that they had taken leave of their
senses, Lady Polgara. Such declarations would be absurd.’ Then the
sunrise of understanding began to dawn – faintly – in his eyes. He,looked a bit sheepish. ‘Bad decision there, wot?’ he suggested.
I impulsively embraced the startled young duke. ‘Your decision
to bring this to me before you dropped the matter on the council
table verged on sheer genius, however, Salereon,’ I complimented
him.
‘That characterization hath not been applied to me previously,
my lady,’ he admitted. ‘It seemeth to me that mine understanding
might be somewhat deficient. Such being the case, mayhap I should
be guided by thee in this.’
‘That’s another good decision, your Grace. You’re getting better
at this.
I considered it. ‘I think I’ll call in Nanteron and Lendrin,’ I
mused. ‘Maybe this year we should hold the meeting of the Arendish
Council here, instead of at the fair. I’ll take steps to keep Tolnedrans
away while the four of us talk this out. Let’s keep the Arendish
council meeting in the family this time.’
Within the week, Nanteron of Wacune and Lendrin of Asturia
arrived. I took them individually aside and threatened them with
all sorts of horrors if they so much as cracked a smile when I
announced the full extent of Salereon’s mental deficiencies. I’m sure
they got my point.
After we’d discussed the matter at some length, I decided that
the best way to keep the Vorduvians, the Honeths, and the Horbites
from meddling in Arendish internal affairs would be to place the
whole business before Ran Borune I himself, and I volunteered to
go to Tol Honeth and have a little chat with his Imperial Majesty
in person.
I decided to skip over all the tedious formalities that would
normally precede such a meeting and flew south to Tol Honeth. It took
me a day or so of fluttering around the extensive grounds of the
imperial compound until I found an opportunity simply too good
to pass up. As it turned out, Ran Borune and I shared a hobby. The
first of the Borunes was as passionate as I was about roses, and he
spent several hours each day in his garden. I settled on a tree limb
there and resumed my own form while he was carefully examining
a somewhat sickly rose-bush.
‘I think it needs more fertilizer, your Majesty,’ I suggested quite
calmly.
He spun around with a startled oath. He was a small man, even
for a Tolnedran, and his gold mantle, the badge of his rank, seemed
just a bit showy for the task in which he was engaged.
‘Help me down, if you would please, your Majesty, and I’ll have
a look at the poor thing,’ I said pleasantly.
‘Who are you?’ he demanded, ‘and how did you get past the
guards?’
‘You probably know my father, Ran Borune,’ I replied. ‘He’s a
seedy-looking old fellow with white whiskers and a tendency to tell
people what to do. He’s been acquainted with your family for about
five centuries now.’
‘You mean Belgarath?’
‘That’s him.’
‘That would mean that you’re Polgara, the Duchess of Erat.’
‘Exactly. I thought it might be best if we spoke privately. Would
you give me a hand, please. A tree limb’s not the most dignified place to
perch while one’s discussing matters of state.’
He helped me down, and his eyes were a little wild.
I looked at his sickly rose-bush. ‘Bury a dead fish in amongst its roots,
Ran Borune,’ I advised. ‘You planted it a little too close to that
overhanging roof. The rain water’s been leaching all the nutrients out of
the soil. You might give some thought to moving it next winter after it’s
gone dormant. Now then, there’s something going on that you ought to
know about. The Vorduvians, Honeths, and Horbites are meddling in
Arendish affairs, and we’d like to have them stop it.’
His look became exasperated. ‘What are they up to now?’ he
demanded.
‘They approached Duke Salereon of Mimbre and filled his head with
royal ambitions. The poor boy was completely taken in by their flattery,
and he was right on the verge of declaring himself the king of all Arendia.
That would have re-started the Arendish civil wars almost immediately.
I’ve spent a great deal of time and effort imposing peace on Arendia, and
I’d really like to keep things up there quiet.’
‘Those idiots!’ he exploded.
‘My sentiments exactly, your Majesty. Your northern nobles are a
greedy lot, and they’re involved in the arms trade. Peace in Arendia’s
cutting into their profits, so they’re trying to stir things up. I’m going to do
something rather radical about it, and I thought I ought to let you know
why I need to take those steps.’
‘You’re going to invade northern Tolnedra?’ He said it with a certain
enthusiasm.
‘No, Ran Borune,’ I replied. ‘I won’t violate your borders. I’m going to
close mine instead. The dukes of Arendia will do exactly as I tell them to
do, so I’m going to close all our borders to Tolnedrans for a while.’
His face went dead white at that.
‘Only for a year or so, your Majesty,’ I assured him – ‘just long enough
to get my point across to the Honeths, Horbites, and Vorduvians. It won’t
quite bankrupt them, but it’ll come close. It won ‘t have much effect on
the Borunes, the Anadiles, or the Ranites, since you’re all in southern
Tolnedra, but it’ll definitely have an impact on the northern Tolnedrans.
I’m going to keep them from tampering with the peace agreements in
Arendia, and this is the best way I can think of to get their attention. I
want them to bang their heads against those closed borders for a while
and to try living without
the profits they’re bleeding out of Arendia. I think they’ll come around
after a while, don’t you?’
His answering grin was almost vicious. ‘I owe you, Polgara,’ he said.
‘I didn’t exactly follow that.’
my family has certain interests in the commerce with Arendia. If
we sell out now, we’ll make a very handsome profit, and if you close the
Arendish borders to all Tolnedrans, those holdings are going to be
worthless. We’ll make vast amounts of money, and the northern families
who aren’t among my dearest friends anyway – will take a sound
drubbing.’
‘What a shame,’ I murmured.
‘Isn’t it, though? And, since I command the legions, I think my army’s
going to be far too busy with other matters to have time to run north to
force the Arendish frontier.’
‘Isn’t that tragic?’ Ran Borune and I were getting along very well.
‘One favor, Polgara – in return for my withholding the legions from the
northern families.’
‘Feel free to ask, dear boy.’
‘You will let me know when you’re going to re-open those borders,