Belgarath the Sorcerer

‘I’m sure you have. Let’s get started.’

We took the high road to Tol Rane and arrived in that snow-clogged city about a week later. Since Tol Rane’s right up against the border of what used to be Maragor, it’s high up in the mountains, and it gets almost as much snow as Val Alorn or Boktor do each winter. We went to the inn where Silk usually stayed when he was in town and took a fairly opulent suite of rooms on the top floor, ‘for the sake of appearances’, as he put it.

Not long after we arrived, one of the local Drasnian agents stopped by to pay a visit, and he and Silk held an extended conversation in the secret language. It wasn’t really necessary to do it that way, of course, but I think Silk was showing off.

After the other Drasnian had left, my little companion filled me in on some of the details of their discussion. There were a number of large gaps, but I didn’t bother to correct him. He didn’t really need to know that I understood all that finger-waving.

‘Asharak’s been here, right enough,’ the little man concluded, ‘but no one’s seen him in the past several days. I’ll nose around a bit and see if I can turn up anything more specific.’

‘Do that,’ I told him. ‘I’ll stay here. There’s no point in announcing the fact that I’m in Tol Rane, and Chamdar knows me on sight. If he catches so much as a glimpse of me, he’ll be across the border into Cthol Murgos before the sun goes down.’

Silk nodded, and then he left.

No sooner had the door closed behind him, though, than I altered my appearance enough to be unrecognizable and followed him. I didn’t do it because I didn’t trust him, although Silk’s not the most trustworthy man in the world, but I wanted to see him in action. He didn’t know it yet, but the ‘Guide’ was going to be very important as time went on, and I wanted to be sure that he’d be able to handle the things he’d come up against.

He didn’t disappoint me. Prince Kheldar was already as smooth as his nickname implied. He hadn’t shaved in the week or so that we’d been on the road from Tol Honeth, and that hint of a beard gave him the appearance of being older than he really was, and he was able to assume mannerisms that reinforced that perception in the eyes of others. I’m convinced that if Silk had really wanted to - and if the business of being a spy hadn’t been so exciting for him - he might very well have been able to make a fortune as an actor. I’ve assumed various disguises over the years, so I’m in a position to recognize genius when I see it.

All right, Silk, don’t let it go to your head. I’ll freely admit that you’re very good, but isn’t that what I hired you for?

‘Radek of Boktor’ drifted around the snowy streets of Tol Rane, and he concluded a fair number of business transactions as he went. I stayed in the background, so I couldn’t actually hear any of the details, but I get the strong impression that ‘Radek’ sold a lot of things that he didn’t actually own that day. He glibly promised delivery, however, and I’d imagine that he probably made good on most of those promises. Silk isn’t above swindling people on occasion, but he was still working very hard to establish ‘Radek’s’ reputation.

Eventually, he worked his way across town to the district where the Murgos normally stayed, and in the common-room of an inn there he got down to business. After he’d sold some things that he didn’t really have title to, he made a few discreet inquiries. He was sitting at a table with three scar-faced Murgos, and he leaned back, idly toying with his tankard. ‘If any of you happen to know a man named Asharak, you might pass the word along that Radek of Boktor’s got a business proposition for him,’ he declared.

‘Why should I go out of my way to make Asharak richer?’ one of the Murgos countered.

‘Because Asharak pays good commissions,’ Silk replied. ‘I’m sure he’ll make it worth your while. The proposition promises to be very lucrative.’

‘If it’s that good, I might be interested myself.’

‘I don’t want to insult you, Grachik,’ Silk said with a thin smile, ‘but you don’t have the resources for this particular transaction. It involves a commodity, and we all know how expensive commodity transactions can be.’

‘What kind of commodity?’

‘I’d prefer to tell Asharak about that privately. Sometimes things have a way of leaking out, and I have some competitors I’d sort of like to keep in the dark. If they find out that Radek’s coming into the market, prices are going to start climbing. That wouldn’t do either me or Asharak much good.’

‘Asharak isn’t here in Tol Rane,’ Grachik told him. ‘He left for Tol Borune two days ago.’

One of the other Murgos kicked the talkative Grachik under the table.

‘Well,’ Grachik amended quickly, ‘that’s what I heard, anyway. With Asharak, you never really know. He has dealings all over Tolnedra, you realize. For all I know, he could be in Tol Horb by now.’ It was pitifully transparent. Grachik had let something slip that he was supposed to keep to himself.

‘Asharak’s an elusive one, all right,’ Silk agreed. ‘I’ve been trying to track him down for two months now. The proposition I have in mind is very large, and Asharak’s probably the only man around who can afford it. If you happen to know anybody who can get word to him, let him know that I’ll be going back to Tol Honeth in a day or so. Tell him that I usually stay in that large inn near the Drasnian embassy, and that if he wants to double his money, he should look me up. I’m not going to waste any more of my time looking for him.’

Silk talked with the Murgos for about another half-hour, and then he left. I stayed around long enough to hear the other two Murgos berate Grachik for his slip of the tongue and long enough to see Grachik try to cover his blunder by sending a pair of burly hirelings after my little friend. The Murgos were obviously willing to go to any lengths to keep Asharak’s location a secret.

The pair of hired assassins caught up with Silk in a dark, snow-clogged side-street, but Silk clearly knew that he was being followed, and he seemed to be confident that he could deal with the situation. I wasn’t all that sure myself, so I stayed close enough to be able to lend a hand if it became necessary.

It wasn’t. I’ve never seen anyone quite as agile as Silk can be in tight quarters. The assassins were a pair of knock-about Tolnedran footpads, and they were no match at all for my little Drasnian friend. He spun on the two of them, pulled one dagger out of his boot and another from down the back of his neck, and killed the pair of them in the space of about six heartbeats. Then he kicked snow over the two bodies and continued on his way. This boy was good!

I managed to reach our lodgings a couple of minutes before he did, and I was sitting before the fire when he arrived. ‘Well?’ I said when he came in. ‘Did you find anything?’

‘The word I’m getting is that Asharak’s in Tol Borune right now. It’s probably fairly accurate, because the Murgo who let it slip tried to cover his mistake by having me waylaid on my way back here. That’s all the confirmation we really need, isn’t it?’

‘Probably so, yes. I guess we’d better go to Tol Borune, then.’

‘Tonight, Belgarath. By morning, that talkative Murgo’s going to realize that his hired killers failed, and I don’t want to be looking back over my shoulder every step of the way. Let’s get a running head start, if we can.’

It took us about four days to reach Tol Borune, since Silk insisted that we stay off the main highway. I thought that I knew most of the country lanes in all the western kingdoms, but my sharp-nosed little companion led me along roads I’d never even seen before. Just outside Tol Borune, he reined in and changed clothes. ‘New identity,’ he explained. ‘Word’s probably reached Asharak by now that a fellow named Radek is looking for him.’

‘Who are you this time?’

‘Ambar of Kotu. Ambar’s a little less conspicuous than Radek, and they don’t move in the same circles.’

‘How many of these mythical Drasnians have you got up your sleeve?’

‘I’ve lost count. I’m partial to Radek and Ambar, though. I’ve spent more time with them, so I know them better. I dust off one of the others now and then, though - just to keep in practice.’

‘Is this what they teach you people at the academy?’

‘They bring it up now and then, but I developed most of it on my own even before I went there. I was born for this work, Belgarath. Shall we press on?’

Since ‘Ambar of Kotu’ is a much shabbier-looking fellow than ‘Radek of Boktor’ is, we took a room in one of the run-down quarters of Tol Borune, and Silk immediately took to the streets with assorted fictions to conceal his real purpose. He came back late that night with that pointed nose twitching. ‘Something isn’t right here, Belgarath,’ he told me.

‘Oh?’

‘Are you sure that Asharak knows that you’re after him?’

‘Oh, yes. I’m like the wrath of God at this point, and he knows that I’ll hunt him down, no matter where he tries to hide.’