‘Is there any particular reason for the disguise?’ I asked, getting right to the point.
‘Probably not,’ my Master replied. ‘I use it when I have occasion to leave the Vale. People tend not to notice me when I’m plodding along in the cart. My brothers and I had a meeting in the cave.’
‘Oh?’
‘We’re going to have to leave, Belgarath.’
‘Leave?’
‘We don’t have any choice. If we stay, sooner or later we’ll have to confront Torak directly, and that would destroy the world. This world’s too important for us to let that happen. The Child of Light is going to need it.’
‘Who’s the Child of Light?’
‘It varies. You were while you and Zedar were scuffling up in Morindland. The Necessities can’t meet directly, so they have to function through agents. I think I’ve explained this to you before.’
I nodded glumly. I wasn’t happy about this particular turn of events.
‘There’s going to be an ultimate Child of Light, however,’ he went on, ‘and an ultimate Child of Dark. They’re the ones who’re going to settle everything once and for all. It’s your job to prepare for the coming of the Child. Keep an eye on Riva. The Child will descend from him.’
‘Won’t I ever see you again?’
He smiled faintly. ‘Of course you will. I’ve spent too much time raising you to turn you loose. Pay close attention to your dreams, Belgarath. I won’t be able to come back directly – at least not very often – so I’ll talk with you while you’re asleep.’
‘That’s something, anyway. Is that how you’re going to guide us, through our dreams?’
‘You’ll be guided by the Necessity. The Second Age that the Dals talk about is over now. This is the Third Age, the Age of Prophecy. The two Necessities are going to inspire certain people to predict the future.’
I saw the flaw in that immediately. ‘Isn’t that sort of dangerous?’ I asked. ‘That’s not the sort of information we’d want just anybody to get his hands on.’
‘That’s already been taken care of, my son. The rest of mankind won’t understand what the predictions mean. They’ll be obscure enough so that most people will think that they’re just the ravings of assorted madmen. Tell your Alorns to watch for them and to write down what they say if it’s at all possible. There’ll be hidden messages in them.’
‘It’s a cumbersome way to do business, Master.’
‘I know, but it’s part of the rules.’
‘I’m not so sure that the rules are holding, Master. The other side started cheating when we were in Cthol Mishrak.’
‘That was Torak. His Necessity apologized for that. Torak’s being punished for it.’
‘Good. What am I supposed to do now? I really ought to get back to Poledra, you know.’
He sighed. ‘That’s going to have to wait, I’m afraid. I’m sorry, Belgarath – more sorry than you could possibly know – but you haven’t finished yet. You still have to divide up Aloria.’
‘I have to do what?’
He explained it to me – at some length.
It’s my story, and I’ll tell it the way I want to. If you don’t like the way I’m telling it, tell it yourself.
After he’d given me my instructions, the old man fed his horse and then drove his cart off toward the south, leaving me with only the snoring Alorns for company. I didn’t bother to wake them, and they slept straight on through until the following morning.
‘Where’s your friend?’ Cherek asked when they finally woke up.
‘He had something to attend to,’ I replied.
‘Well, it’s all over then, isn’t it?’ Dras said. ‘It’ll be good to get back to Val Alorn.’
‘You aren’t going to Val Alorn, Dras,’ I told him.
‘What?’
‘You’re going back up to those moors we just came across.’
‘Why would I want to do that?’
‘Because I’m telling you to do it.’ I was a little blunt about it. I wasn’t in a very good humor that morning. I looked at Bear-shoulders. ‘I’m sorry, Cherek,’ I told him, ‘but I’m going to have to split up your kingdom. The Angaraks aren’t just going to let this slide, so we’re going to have to get ready for them. Riva’s guarding the Orb, so the rest of you are going to have to guard him. I’m going to spread you out so that Torak’s people can’t slip up on Riva and steal back the Orb.’
‘How long’s that likely to take?’ Cherek asked me. ‘How long until I can put my kingdom back together again?’
‘You’re not going to be able to do that, I’m afraid. The division of Aloria’s going to be permanent.’
‘Belgarath!’ He said it plaintively, almost like a child protesting the removal of his favorite toy.
‘It’s out of my hands, Cherek. You’re the one who came up with the idea of stealing the Orb. Now you’re going to have to live with the consequences. Dras has to establish his own kingdom on the north moors. Algar’s going to have his down here on these grasslands. You’re going back to Val Alorn. Your kingdom’s going to be that peninsula.’
‘Kingdom?’ he exploded. ‘That’s hardly bigger than a clothes-closet!’
‘Don’t worry about it. Your kingdom’s the ocean now. Call your ship-builders together. Those scows they’ve been building aren’t good enough. I’ll draw up some plans for you. The King of the Ocean’s going to need war-boats, not floating bathtubs.’
His eyes narrowed speculatively. ‘The King of the Ocean,’ he mused. ‘That’s got a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? Can you really make war with boats, though?’
‘Oh, yes,’ I assured him. ‘And the nice part of it is that you don’t have to walk to get to the battlefield.’
‘Where do you want me to go, Belgarath?’ Riva asked me.
‘I’ll show you myself. I’m supposed to go with you to help you get set up.’
‘Thanks, but where are we going?’
‘To the Isle of the Winds.’
‘That’s nothing but a rock out in the middle of the Great Western Sea!’ he objected.
‘I know, but it’s your rock. You’re going to take a sizeable number of Alorns and go there. You volunteered to pick up the Orb. Now it’s your responsibility. When we get to the Isle, you’re going to build a fortress, and you and your people are going to spend the rest of your lives guarding the Orb. Then, you’re going to turn the responsibility for guarding the Orb over to your children, and then they’ll take over.’
‘How long’s this going to last?’
‘I haven’t got the faintest idea – centuries, probably, maybe even eons. Your father’s going to build war-boats, and he’s not going to let anybody near the Isle of the Winds.’
‘This isn’t what I had in mind when we started, Belgarath,’ Cherek complained.
‘Life’s just filled with these little disappointments, isn’t it? Play-time’s