‘Somebody’s got to stay with Poledra, Master,’ I protested.
‘Mayhap one of thy brothers will agree to stand in thy stead. Thy task, however, is clear. If the voice of Necessity hath told thee to go, thou must surely go.’
‘I don’t like this, Master,’ I complained.
‘That is not required, my son. Thou art required to go, not to like the going.’
He was a lot of help. Grumbling under my breath, I went back outside and hurled my thought in the general direction of Tolnedra. ‘I need you!’ I bellowed at Beldin.
‘Don’t scream!’ he shouted back. ‘You made me spill a tankard of fine ale.’
‘Quit thinking about your belly and get back here.’
‘What’s wrong?’
‘I have to leave, and somebody’s got to look ofter Poledra.’
‘I’m not a midwife, Belgarath. Have the twins do it. They’re the experts at this sort of thing.’
‘With sheep, you clot! Not with people! Get back here right now!’
‘Where are you going?’
‘To Mallorea. Cherek’s sons have found a way to get there that doesn’t involve sprouting feathers. We’re going to Cthol Mishrak to take back the Orb.’
‘Are you crazy? If Torak catches you trying that, he’ll roast you over a slow fire.’
‘I don’t intend to let him catch me. Are you coming back or not?’
‘All right. Don’t get excited; I’m coming.’
‘I’ll be gone by the time you get here. No matter what she says or tries to do, don’t let Poledra follow me. Keep her inside that tower. Chain her to the wall if you have to, but keep her at home.’
‘I’ll take care of it. Give my best to Torak.’
‘Very funny, Beldin. Now get started.’
As you might have noticed, I wasn’t exactly in a good humor at that point. I went back to where I’d left the King of Aloria and his sons stamping their feet in the snow. ‘All right,’ I told them, ‘this is what we’re going to do. We’re going to my tower, and you’re not going to say anything at all about this insane notion of yours to my wife. I want her to believe that you’re just passing through and stopped by to pay a courtesy call. I don’t want her to know what we’re up to until we’re a long way away from here.’
‘I take it you’ve had a change of heart,’ Cherek noted blandly.
‘Don’t push your luck, Bear-shoulders,’ I told him. ‘I’ve been overruled, and I’m not very happy about it.’
I can’t be entirely sure how much Poledra really knew, and to this day she won’t tell me. She greeted the Alorns politely and told them that supper was already cooking. That was a fair indication that she knew something. Cherek and his boys and I hadn’t been in sight of the tower when we’d held our little get-together. I’ve often wondered just exactly how far my wife’s ‘talents’ go. The fact that she’d lived for three hundred years – that I was willing to admit that I knew about – was a fair indication that she wasn’t what you’d call ordinary. If she did have what we refer to as ‘talent,’ she never exercised it while I was around. That was a part of our unspoken agreement, I suppose. I didn’t ask certain questions, and she didn’t surprise me by doing unusual things. Every marriage has its little secrets, I guess. If married people knew everything about each other, life would be terribly dull, I guess.
As I think I’ve indicated, Bear-shoulders was probably one of the world’s worst liars. After he’d eaten enough roast pork to glut a regiment, he leaned back in his chair expansively. ‘We have business in Maragor,’ he told my wife, ‘and we stopped by to see if your husband would be willing to show us the way.’ Maragor? What possible interest could Alorns have in Maragor?
‘I see,’ Poledra replied in a non-committal sort of way.
Now I was stuck with Cherek’s lie, so I had to try to make the best of it. ‘It’s not really very far, dear,’ I told my wife. ‘It shouldn’t take me more than a week or so to get them through the mountains to Mar Amon.’
‘Unless it snows again,’ she added. ‘It must be very important if you’re willing to go through those mountains in the winter time.’
‘Oh, it is, Lady Poledra,’ Dras Bull-neck assured her. ‘Very, very important. It has to do with trade.’
Trade? I know it sounds impossible, but Dras was an even worse liar than his father. The Marags have no sea-coast. How could Alorns even get to Maragor to trade with them? Not to mention the fact that Marags had absolutely no interest whatsoever in commerce – and they were cannibals besides! What a dunce Cherek’s oldest son was! I shuddered. This idiot was the crown prince of Aloria!
‘We’ve heard some rumors that the streams in Maragor are absolutely awash with gold,’ Riva added. At least Riva had a little good sense. Poledra knew enough about Alorns to know that the word ‘gold’ set their hearts on fire.
‘I’ll try to mediate for you, Bear-shoulders,’ I said, pulling a long face, ‘but I don’t think you’ll have very much luck with the Marags. They aren’t interested enough in the gold even to bend over to pick it up, and I don’t think you could offer them anything that’d make them willing to take the trouble.’
‘I think your trip will take longer than a week,’ Poledra told me. ‘Be sure to take warm clothing.’
‘Of course,’ I assured her.
‘Perhaps I should go with you.’
‘Absolutely not – not when you’re this close.’
‘You worry too much about that.’
‘No. You stay here. I’ve sent for Beldin. He’s coming back to stay with you.’
‘Not unless he bathes first, he won’t.’
‘I’ll remind him.’
‘When will you be leaving?’
I cast a spuriously inquiring look at Cherek. ‘Tomorrow morning?’ I asked him.
He shrugged, overdoing it a bit. ‘Might as well,’ he agreed. ‘The weather in those mountains isn’t going to get any better. If we’re going to have to wade through snow, we’d better get to wading.’
‘Stay under the trees,’ Poledra advised. ‘The snow isn’t as deep in thick woods.’ If she did know, she was taking it very calmly.
‘We’d better get some sleep,’ I said, standing up abruptly. I didn’t need any more lies to try to talk my way around.
Poledra was very quiet in our bed that night. She clung to me fiercely, however, and along toward morning she said, ‘Be very careful. The young and I will be waiting when you come back.’ Then she said something she rarely ever said, probably because she felt it was unnecessary to say it. ‘I love you,’ she told me. Then she kissed me, rolled over, and immediately went to sleep.
The Alorns and I left early the next morning, ostentatiously going off toward the south and Maragor. When we were about five miles south of my tower, however, we circled back, staying well out of sight, and proceeded on toward the northeast.
This all happened