‘He is,’ Ce’Nedra said in automatic defense of her knight. ‘I saw him kill a lion once with his bare hands.’
‘I’ve heard of his reputation,’ Zakath said. ‘I thought it was exaggerated.’
‘Not by very much,’ Garion said. ‘I heard him suggest to Barak and Hettar once that the three of them attack an entire Tolnedran legion.’
‘Perhaps he was joking.’
‘Mimbrate knights don’t know how to joke,’ Silk told him.
‘I will not sit here and listen to you people insult my knight,’ Ce’Nedra said hotly.
‘We’re not insulting him, Ce’Nedra,’ Silk told her. ‘We’re describing him. He’s so noble he makes my hair hurt.’
‘Nobility is an alien concept to a Drasnian, I suppose,’ she noted.
‘Not alien, Ce’Nedra. Incomprehensible.’
‘Perhaps in two thousand years they’ve changed,’ Durnik said hopefully.
‘I wouldn’t count on it,’ Beldin grunted. ‘In my experience, people who live in isolation tend to petrify.’
‘I needs must warn ye all of one thing, however,’ Cyradis said. ‘The people of this island are a peculiar mixture. In many ways they are even as ye have described them, but their heritage is also Dal, and they are conversant with the arts of our people.’
‘Oh, fine,’ Silk said sardonically, ‘Mimbrates who use sorcery. That’s assuming they can figure out which way to point it.’
‘Cyradis,’ Garion said, ‘is this why Zakath and I are wearing armor?’
She nodded.
‘Why didn’t you just say so?’
‘It was necessary for ye to find that out for yourselves.’
‘Well, let’s go have a look,’ Belgarath said. ‘We’ve dealt with Mimbrates before, and we’ve usually managed to stay out of trouble.’
They rode on through the forest in golden afternoon sunshine and, when they reached the edge of the trees, they saw the structure Beldin had reported. It stood atop a high promentory, and it had the usual battlements and fortifications.
‘Formidable,’ Zakath murmured.
‘There’s no real point in lurking here in the trees,’ Belgarath told them. ‘We can’t get across all that open ground without being seen. Garion, you and Zakath take the lead. Men in armor are usually greeted with some courtesy.’
‘Are we just going to ride up to the castle?’ Silk asked.
‘We might as well,’ Belgarath said. ‘If they still think like Mimbrates, they’ll almost be obliged to offer hospitality for the night, and we need a certain amount of information anyway.’
They rode out onto an open meadow and proceeded at a walk toward the grim-looking castle. ‘You’d better let me do most of the talking when we get there,’ Garion said to Zakath. ‘I sort of know the dialect.’
‘Good idea,’ Zakath agreed. ‘I’d probably choke on all the thee’s and thou’s.’
From inside the castle a horn blew a brazen note, announcing that they had been seen, and a few minutes later a dozen gleaming knights rode out across the drawbridge at a rolling trot. Garion moved Chretienne slightly to the front.
‘Prithee, abate thy pace, Sir Knight,’ the man who appeared to be the leader of the strangers said. ‘I am Sir Astellig, Baron of this place. May I ask of thee thy name and what it is that brings thee and thy companions to the gates of my keep?’
‘My name I may not reveal, Sir Knight,’ Garion replied. ‘There are certain reasons which I will disclose unto thee in due course. My fellow knight and I are embarked with these diverse companions on a quest of gravest urgency, and we have come here in search of shelter for the night, which shall descend upon us, methinks, within the next few hours.’ Garion was rather proud of the speech.
‘Thou needst but ask, Sir Knight,’ the baron said, ‘for all true knights are compelled by honor, if not by courtesy, to offer aid and shelter to any fellow knight engaged in a quest.’
‘I cannot sufficiently express our gratitude to thee, Sir Astellig. We have, as thou canst see, ladies of quality with us whom the rigors of our journey have sorely fatigued.’
‘Let us proceed straightway to my keep then, Sir Knights. Attending to the well-being of ladies is the paramount duty of all men of gentle birth.’ He wheeled his horse with a grand flourish and led the way up the long hill to his castle with his men close behind him.
‘Elegant,’ Zakath commented admiringly.
‘I spent some time at Vo Mimbre,’ Garion told him. ‘You can pick up their speech after a while. About the only problem with it is that the sentences are so involved that you sometimes lose track of what you’re saying before you get to the bottom end of it.’
Baron Astellig led the way across the drawbridge, and they all dismounted in a flagstoned courtyard. ‘My servants will see thee and thy companions to suitable quarters, Sir Knight,’ he said, ‘where ye may all refresh yourselves. Then, an it please you, join me in the great hall and disclose unto me how I may aid thee in thy noble quest.’
‘Thy courtesy is most seemly, my Lord,’ Garion said. ‘Be assured that my brother knight and I will join you straightaway, as soon as we have seen to the comfort of the ladies.’
They followed one of the baron’s servants to comfortable quarters on the second floor of the main keep.
‘I’m truly amazed at you, Garion,’ Polgara said. ‘I didn’t think you had the faintest idea of how to speak a civilized language.’
‘Thank you,’ he said, ‘I think.’
‘Maybe you and Zakath should speak with the baron alone,’ Belgarath told Garion. ‘You’ve covered your own need for anonymity fairly well, but if the rest of us are around, he might start asking for introductions. Feel him out rather carefully. Inquire about local customs, that sort of thing, and ask him about any incidental wars going on.’ He looked at Zakath. ‘What’s the capital of the island?’
‘Dal Perivor, I think.’
‘That’s where we’ll want to go then. Where is it?’
‘On the other side of the island.’
‘Naturally,’ Silk sighed.
‘You’d better get started,’ Belgarath told the two armored men. ‘Don’t keep our host waiting.’
‘When this is all over, would you consider hiring him out to me?’ Zakath asked Garion as the two of them clanked down the hall. ‘You could make a tidy profit, you know, and I’d have the most efficient government in the world.’