‘He’s lovely, dear. Did you and Arell have a chance to talk at all?’
‘Oh, yes, Aunt Pol. She’s doing something that’s very important. That’s why she couldn’t join us just now. She said she might be able to catch up with us at Perivor – or maybe later at Korim.’
‘Then she knew where we’re going?’
‘Oh, no, Aunt Pol,’ Ce’Nedra laughed. ‘I had to tell her. She does so want to be with us, but she has this important thing to do. She asked me where we were going, and I told her about Perivor and Korim. She seemed a little surprised about Korim, though.’
Aunt Pol’s eyes narrowed. ‘I see,’ she said. ‘Durnik, why don’t you set up a tent? I think Ce’Nedra and her baby should get a little rest.’
‘Right away, Pol,’ her husband agreed after a quick look at her.
‘Now that you mention it, Aunt Pol,’ Ce’Nedra said happily, ‘I do feel a little tired, and I’m sure Geran needs a nap. Babies sleep so much, you know. I’ll nurse him, and then he’ll sleep. He always sleeps after he nurses.’
‘Steady,’ Zakath said quietly to Garion as the Rivan King’s eyes filled with tears. The Mallorean Emperor put his hand firmly on his friend’s shoulder.
‘What’s going to happen when she wakes up, though?’
‘Polgara can fix it.’
After Durnik had set up the tent, Polgara led the bemused girl inside. After a moment, Garion felt a slight surge and heard a whisper of sound. Then his aunt came out of the tent carrying Ce’Nedra’s bundle. ‘Get rid of this,’ she said, pushing it into Garion’s hands.
‘Is she going to be all right?’ he asked her.
‘She’s asleep now. She’ll wake up in about an hour and, when she does, she won’t remember that any of this happened. None of us will mention it to her, and that will be the end of it.’
Garion took the bundle back into the woods and hid it under a bush. When he returned, he approached Cyradis. ‘It was Zandramas, wasn’t it?’ he demanded.
‘Yes,’ Cyradis replied simply.
‘And you knew it was going to happen, didn’t you?’
‘Yes.’
‘Why didn’t you warn us?’
‘To have done so would have been an interference in an event which had to occur.’
‘That was cruel, Cyradis.’
‘Necessary events sometimes are. I tell thee, Belgarion, Zandramas could not go to Kell as thou didst. Therefore, she had to find the location of the meeting from one of thy companions, else she would not be at the Place Which Is No More at the proper time.’
‘Why Ce’Nedra?’
‘Zandramas, thou wilt recall, hath imposed her will upon thy queen in times past. It is not difficult for her to reimpose that bond.’
‘I’m not going to forgive this, Cyradis.’
‘Garion,’ Zakath said, ‘let it go. Ce’Nedra hasn’t been hurt, and Cyradis was only doing what she had to do.’ The Mallorean seemed peculiarly defensive.
Garion turned and stalked away, his face livid with anger.
When Ce’Nedra awoke, she appeared to have no memory of the meeting in the woods and seemed to have returned to normal. Durnik struck the tent, and they rode on.
They reached the edge of the forest about sunset and set up for the night there. Garion rather studiously avoided Zakath, not trusting himself to be civil to his friend after he had jumped to the defense of the blindfolded Seeress. Zakath and Cyradis had engaged in a lengthy conversation before they had all left Kell, and now the emperor seemed wholly committed to her cause. His eyes were sometimes troubled, though, and he frequently turned in his saddle to look at her.
That night, however, when they were both on watch, it was no longer possible for Garion to avoid his friend.
‘Are you still angry with me, Garion?’ Zakath asked.
Garion sighed. ‘No, I guess not,’ he said. ‘I don’t think I was really angry – just a little irritated, is all. Most of all, I’m angry with Zandramas, not with you and Cyradis. I don’t like people who play tricks on my wife.’
‘It really had to happen, you know. Zandramas had to find out where the meeting’s going to take place. She has to be there, too.’
‘You’re probably right. Did Cyradis give you any details about your task?’
‘A few. I’m not supposed to talk about it, though. About all I can tell you is that somebody very important is coming, and I’m supposed to help him.’
‘And that’s going to take you the rest of your life?’
‘And probably the lives of a lot of others, as well.’
‘Mine, too?’
‘I don’t think so. I think your task will be over after the meeting. Cyradis sort of implied that you’ve done enough already.’
They set out early that morning and rode out onto a rolling plain along the west side of the Balasa River. There were farm villages here and there, villages which looked rude, but in which the houses were really very well-constructed. The Dalasian villagers labored in the fields with the simplest of tools.
‘And it’s all subterfuge,’ Zakath said wryly. ‘These people are probably far more sophisticated than even the Melcenes, and they’ve gone to a great deal of trouble to hide the fact.’
‘Would thy people or the priests of Torak have left them unmolested had the truth been known?’ Cyradis asked him.
‘Probably not,’ he admitted. ‘The Melcenes in particular would likely have pressed most of the Dals into service in the bureaucracy.’
‘That would not have been compatible with our tasks.’
‘I understand that now. When I get back to Mal Zeth, I think I’ll make some changes in imperial policy toward the Dalasian Protectorates. Your people are doing something much, much more important than raising beets and turnips for the rest of Mallorea.’
‘If all goes well, our work will be done once the meeting hath taken place, Emperor Zakath.’
‘But your studies will continue, won’t they?’
She smiled. ‘Inevitably. The habits of eons die very hard.’
Belgarath pulled his horse in beside Cyradis. ‘Could you be a bit more specific about what we’re supposed to be looking for when we get to Perivor?’ he asked her.
‘It is as I told thee at Kell, Ancient Belgarath. At Perivor thou must seek out the map which will guide thee to the Place Which Is No More.’