The Emperor looked at the old man. “It seems that I should know who you are. There’s something about you-” He paused thoughtfully. The canary, which had been perched on the arm of the Emperor’s chair, suddenly burst into song. He launched himself into the air and fluttered directly to Aunt Pol. She held out her finger, and the bright bird landed there, tipped back his head and sang ecstatically as if his tiny heart were breaking with adoration. She listened gravely to his song. She wore a dark blue dress, elaborately laced at the bodice, and a short sable cape.
“What are you doing with my canary?” the Emperor demanded.
“Listening,” she said.
“How did you get him to sing? I’ve been trying to coax him into song for months.”
“You didn’t take him seriously enough.”
“Who is this woman?” the Emperor asked.
“My daughter Polgara,” Mister Wolf said. “She has a particularly keen understanding of birds.”
The Emperor laughed suddenly, a harshly skeptical laugh. “Oh, come now. You really don’t expect me to accept that, do you?”
Wolf looked at him gravely. “Are you really sure you don’t know me, Ran Borune?” he asked mildly. The pale green mantle Grinneg had lent him made him look almost like a Tolnedran – almost, but not quite.
“It’s a clever ruse,” the Emperor said. “You look the part, and so does she, but I’m not a child. I gave up fairy tales a long time ago.”
“That’s a pity. I’d guess that your life’s been a little empty since then.” Wolf looked around at the manicured garden with the servants and fountains and the members of the Emperor’s personal guard posted unobtrusively here and there among the flowerbeds. “Even with all this, Ran Borune, a life without any wonder left in it is flat and stale.” His voice was a little sad. “I think that perhaps you gave up too much.”
“Morin,” Ran Borune demanded peremptorily, “send for Zereel. We’ll settle this immediately.”
“At once, your Highness,” Morin said and beckoned to one of the servants.
“May I have my canary back?” the Emperor asked Aunt Pol rather plaintively.
“Of course.” She moved across the grass toward the chair, stepping slowly to avoid startling the trilling little bird.
“Sometimes I wonder what they’re saying when they sing,” Ran Borune said.
“Right now he’s telling me about the day he learned to fly,” Aunt Pol said. “That’s a very important day for a bird.” She reached out her hand, and the canary hopped onto the Emperor’s finger, still singing and with its bright eye cocked toward Ran Borune’s face.
“That’s an amusing conceit, I suppose.” The little old man smiled, staring out at the sunlight sparkling on the water in one of the fountains. “But I’m afraid I don’t have time for that kind of thing. Right now the whole nation is holding its breath in anticipation of my death. They all seem to think that the greatest thing I can do for Tolnedra is to die immediately. Some of them have even gone to the trouble of trying to help me along. We caught four assassins inside the palace grounds just last week. The Borunes, my own family, are deserting me to the point that I scarcely have enough people left to run the palace, much less the Empire. Ah, here comes Zereel.”
A lean, bushy-browed man in a red mantle covered with mystic symbols scurried across the lawn and bowed deeply to the emperor. “You sent for me, your Highness?”
“I am informed that this woman is Polgara the Sorceress,” the Emperor said, “and that the old man there is Belgarath. Be a good fellow, Zereel, and have a look into their credentials.”
“Belgarath and Polgara?” the bushy-browed man scoffed. “Surely your Highness isn’t serious. The names are mythological. No such people exist.”
“You see,” the Emperor said to Aunt Pol. “You don’t exist. I have it on the very best authority. Zereel’s a wizard himself, you know.”
“Really?”
“One of the very best,” he assured her. “Of course most of his tricks are just sleight of hand, since sorcery’s only a sham, but he amuses me and he takes himself very seriously. You may proceed, Zereel, but try not to raise an awful stink, as you usually do.”
“That won’t be necessary, your Highness,” Zereel said flatly. “If they were wizards of any kind, I’d have recognized them immediately. We have special ways of communicating, you know.”
Aunt Pol looked at the wizard with one eyebrow slightly raised. “I think that you should look a bit closer, Zereel,” she suggested. “Sometimes we miss things.” She made an almost imperceptible gesture, and Garion seemed to hear a faint rush of sound.
The wizard stared, his eyes fixed on open air directly in front of him. His eyes began to bulge, and his face turned deathly pale. As if his legs had been cut from under him, he fell onto his face. “Forgive me, Lady Polgara,” he croaked, groveling.
“That’s supposed to impress me, I assume,” the Emperor said. “I’ve seen men’s minds overwhelmed before, however, and Zereel’s mind isn’t all that strong to begin with.”
“This is getting tiresome, Ran Borune,” she said tartly.
“You really ought to believe her, you know.” The canary spoke in a tiny, piping voice. “I knew who she was immediately – of course we’re much more perceptive than you things that creep around on the ground – why do you do that? If you’d just try, I’m sure you’d be able to fly. And I wish you’d stop eating so much garlic – it makes you smell awful.”
“Hush, now,” Aunt Pol said gently to the bird. “You can tell him all about it later.”
The Emperor was trembling violently, and he stared at the bird as if it were a snake.
“Why don’t we all just behave as if we believed that Polgara and I are who we say we are?” Mister Wolf suggested. “We could spend the rest of the day trying to convince you, and we really don’t have that much time. There are some things I have to tell you, and they’re important no matter who I am.”
“I think I can accept that,” Ran Borune said, still trembling and staring at the now-silent canary.
Mister Wolf clasped his hands behind his back and stared up at a cluster of bickering sparrows on the limb of a nearby tree. “Early last fall,” he began, “Zedar the Apostate crept into the throne room at Riva and stole the Orb of Aldur.”
“He did what?” Ran Borune demanded, sitting up quickly. “How?”
“We don’t know,” Wolf answered. “When I catch up with him, maybe I’ll ask him. I’m sure, however, that you can see the importance of the event.”
“Obviously,” the Emperor said.
“The Alorns and the Sendars are quietly preparing for war,” Wolf told him.
“War?” Ran Borune asked in a shocked voice. “With whom?”
“The Angaraks, of course.”
“What’s Zedar got to do with the Angaraks? He could be acting on his own, couldn’t he?”
“Surely you’re not that simple,” Aunt Pol remarked.
“You forget yourself, Lady,” Ran Borune said stiffly. “Where’s Zedar now?”
“He went through Tol Honeth about two weeks ago,” Wolf replied. “If he can get across the border into one of the Angarak kingdoms before I can stop him, the Alorns will march.”
“And Arendia with them,” Mandorallen said firmly. “King Korodullin has also been advised.”
“You’ll tear the world apart,” the Emperor protested.
“Perhaps,” Wolf admitted, “but we can’t let Zedar get to Torak with the Orb.”
“I’ll send emissaries at once,” Ran Borune said. “This has to be headed off before it gets out of hand.”
“It’s a little late for that,” Barak said grimly. “Anheg and the others aren’t in any mood for Tolnedran diplomacy right now.”
“Your people have a bad reputation in the north, your Highness,” Silk pointed out. “They always seem to have a few trade agreements up their sleeves. Every time Tolnedra mediates a dispute, it seems to cost a great deal. I don’t think we can afford your good offices anymore.”
A cloud passed in front of the sun, and the garden seemed suddenly chilly in its shadow.
“This is being blown all out of proportion,” the Emperor protested. “The Alorns and the Angaraks have been squabbling over that worthless stone for thousands of years. You’ve been waiting for the chance to fall on each other, and now you’ve got an excuse. Well, enjoy yourselves. Tolnedra’s not going to get involved as long as I’m her Emperor.”
“You’re not going to be able to sit to one side in this, Ran Borune,” Aunt Pol said.
“Why not? The Orb doesn’t concern me one way or the other. Go ahead and destroy each other if you want. Tolnedra will still be here when it’s all over.”
“I doubt it,” Wolf told him. “Your Empire’s crawling with Murgos. They could overrun you in a week.”