‘You’re not serious!’
‘Oh, yes. It has no conception of the word impossible. If I really wanted it to, it could probably spell out my name in stars.’ He felt a small twitch in the pouch at his belt. ‘Stop that!’ he said sharply to the Orb. ‘That was just an example, not a request.’
Zakath was staring at him.
‘Wouldn’t that look grotesque?’ Garion said wryly. “Belgarion” running from horizon to horizon across the night sky?’
‘You know something, Garion,’ Zakath said. ‘I’ve always believed that someday you and I would go to war with each other. Would you be terribly disappointed if I decided not to show up?’
‘I think I could bear it,’ Garion grinned at him. ‘If nothing else, I could always start without you. You could drop by from time to time to see how things were going. Ce’Nedra can fix you supper. Of course, she’s not a very good cook, but we all have to make a few sacrifices, don’t we?’
They looked at each other for a moment and then burst out laughing. The process which had begun at Rak Urga with the quixotic Urgit was now complete. Garion realized with a certain amount of satisfaction that he had taken the first few steps toward ending five thousand years of unrelenting hatred between Alorn and Angarak.
The Dals paid little attention to them as they strolled along marble streets and past sparkling fountains. The inhabitants of Kell went about their activities quietly and contemplatively, their eyes lost in thought. They spoke but little, since speech among them was largely unnecessary.
‘It’s an eerie sort of place, isn’t it?’ Zakath observed. ‘I’m not used to cities where nobody does anything.’
‘Oh, they’re doing something, all right.’
‘You know what I mean. There aren’t any shops, and nobody’s even out sweeping the streets.’
‘It is a little odd, I suppose.’ Garion looked around. ‘What’s even odder is that we haven’t seen a single seer since we got here. I thought this was the place where they lived.’
‘Maybe they stay indoors.’
‘That’s possible, I suppose.’
Their morning stroll gained them little information. They tried occasionally to strike up conversations with the white-robed citizens, and although the Dals were unfailingly polite, they volunteered little in the way of talk. They answered questions which were put to them and that was about all.
‘Frustrating, wasn’t it?’ Silk said when he and Sadi returned to the house which had been assigned to them. ‘I’ve never met a group of people so disinterested in talk. I couldn’t even find anybody willing to discuss the weather.’
‘Did you happen to see which way Ce’Nedra and Liselle went?’ Garion asked him.
‘Someplace over on the other side of town, I think. I imagine they’ll come back when those young women bring us our lunch.’
Garion looked around at the others. ‘Did anybody happen to see any of the seers?’ he asked.
‘They aren’t here,’ Polgara told him. She sat by a window mending one of Durnik’s tunics. ‘One old woman told me they have a special place. It’s not in the city.’
‘How did you manage to get an answer out of her?’ Silk asked.
‘I was fairly direct. You have to push the Dals a bit when you want information.’
As Silk had predicted, Velvet and Ce’Nedra returned with the young women who were bringing their meals to them.
‘You have a brilliant wife, Belgarion,’ Velvet said after the Dalasian women had left. ‘She sounded for all the world as if there weren’t a brain in her head. She spent the morning babbling.’
‘Babbling?’ Ce’Nedra objected.
‘Weren’t you?’
‘Well, I suppose so, but “babbling” is such an unflattering word.’
‘I presume there was a reason for it?’ Sadi suggested.
‘Of course,’ Ce’Nedra said. ‘I saw fairly soon that those girls weren’t going to be very talkative, so I filled up the spaces. They began to loosen up after a bit. I talked so that Liselle could watch their faces.’ She smiled smugly. ‘It worked out fairly well, even if I do say it myself.’
‘Did you get anything out of them?’ Polgara asked.
‘A few things,’ Velvet replied. ‘Nothing all that specific, but a few hints. I think we should be able to get a bit more this afternoon.’
Ce’Nedra looked around. ‘Where’s Durnik?’ she asked, ‘and Eriond?’
‘Where else?’ Polgara sighed.
‘Where did they find any water to fish in?’
‘Durnik can smell water from several miles away,’ Polgara told her in a resigned tone of voice, ‘and he can tell you what kind of fish are in it, how many, and probably even what their names are.’
‘I’ve never cared all that much for fish myself,’ Beldin said.
‘I don’t know that Durnik does either, Uncle.’
‘Why does he bother them then?’
She spread her hands helplessly. ‘How should I know? The motives of fishermen are dreadfully obscure. I can tell you one thing, though.’
‘Oh? What’s that?’
‘You’ve said a number of times that you want to have some long conversations with him.’
‘Yes, I do.’
‘You’d better learn how to fish then. Otherwise, he probably won’t be around.’
‘Has anybody come by to give us any kind of word about Cyridis?’ Garion asked.
‘Not a soul,’ Beldin replied.
‘We don’t really have time for an extended stay,’ Garion fretted.
‘I might be able to stir an answer out of somebody,’ Zakath offered. ‘She commanded me to present myself to her here at Kell.’ He winced slightly. ‘I can’t believe I just said that. Nobody’s commanded me to do anything since I was about eight years old. Anyway, you know what I mean. I could insist that somebody take me to her so I can obey her orders.’
‘I think you might choke on that one, Zakath,’ Silk said lightly. ‘Obey is a difficult concept for someone in your position.’
‘He’s an irritating little fellow, isn’t he?’ Zakath said to Garion.
‘I’ve noticed.’
‘Why, your Majesties,’ Velvet said, all wide-eyed innocence, ‘what a thing to suggest.’