And then, almost as if his memory had summoned her, the blindfolded Seeress of Kell emerged from the room in which the ladies had been conferring with their dressmakers. Immediately behind her came Ce’Nedra, clad only in a very short chemise. ‘It’s a perfectly suitable gown, Cyradis,’ she was protesting.
‘Suitable for thee perhaps, Queen of Riva,’ the Seeress replied, ‘but such finery is not for me.’
‘Ce’Nedra!’ Garion exclaimed in a shocked gasp, ‘You’re not dressed!’
‘Oh, bother that!’ she snapped. ‘Everyone here has seen undressed women before. I’m just trying to reason with my mystical young friend here. Cyradis, if you don’t put on the gown, I’ll be very cross with you – and we really need to do something with your hair.’
The Seeress unerringly took the tiny queen in her arms and embraced her fondly. ‘Dear, dear Ce’Nedra,’ she said gently, ‘thy heart is larger than thyself, and thy concern doth fill mine as well. I am content, however, in this simple garb. Mayhap in time my tastes will change, and then will I gladly submit to thy gentle ministrations.’
‘There’s absolutely no talking to her,’ Ce’Nedra said, throwing her arms in the air. Then, with a charming flirt of the hem of her chemise, she stormed back into the room from which the two of them had emerged.
‘You ought to feed her more,’ Beldin told Garion. ‘She’s really very skinny, you know.’
‘I sort of like her the way she is,’ Garion replied. He looked at Cyradis. ‘Will you sit, Holy Seeress?’
‘If I may.’
‘Of course.’ He waved off Toth’s almost instinctive move to aid his mistress and guided the girl to a comfortable chair.
‘I thank thee, Belgarion,’ she said. ‘Thou art as kind as thou art brave.’ She smiled, and it was like the sun coming up. She touched one hand to her hair. ‘Doth this really look so ugly?’ she asked.
‘It’s just fine, Cyradis,’ he told her. ‘Ce’Nedra sometimes exaggerates. and she has an absolute passion for making people over – me, usually.’
‘And dost thou mind her efforts, Belgarion?’
‘I suppose not. I’d probably miss them if she didn’t try, at least.’
‘Thou art caught in the snare of love, King Belgarion. Thou art a mighty sorcerer, but methinks thy little queen hath a more powerful sorcery yet, for she holds thee in the palm of that tiny hand.’
‘That’s true, I suppose, but I don’t really mind all that much.’
‘If this gets any more cloying, I think I’ll throw up,’ Beldin said gruffly.
And then Silk returned.
‘Anything?’ Belgarath asked.
‘Naradas beat you to the library. I stopped by there, and the man in charge—’
‘Librarian,’ Belgarath corrected absently.
‘Whatever. Anyway, he said that as soon as Naradas arrived, he ransacked the library.’
‘So that’s it, then,’ Belgarath said. ‘Zandramas isn’t on the island. She sent Naradas here to do her looking for her, it seems. Is he still looking?’
‘Apparently not.
‘That means he’s found it, then.’
‘And probably destroyed it to keep us from getting a look at it,’ Beldin added.
‘Nay, gentle Beldin,’ Cyradis said. ‘The chart ye seek doth still exist, but it is not in the place where ye propose to seek.’
‘I don’t suppose you could give us a few hints?’ Belgarath asked her.
She shook her head.
‘I didn’t think so.’
‘You said the chart,’ Beldin said, approaching the subject obliquely. ‘Does that mean there’s only one copy?’
She nodded.
The dwarf shrugged. ‘Oh, well,’ he said. ‘Looking for it gives us something to do while we’re waiting for our two heroes here to go out and start denting other people’s armor.’
‘That brings up a point,’ Garion said. He looked at Zakath. ‘You’re not particularly familiar with the lance, are you?’
‘Not really, no.’
‘Tomorrow morning, then, we’ll have to go some place so that I can give you some instruction.’
‘That seems like a sensible plan to me.’
The two of them arose early the following morning and left the palace on horseback. ‘I think we’d better go out of town,’ Garion said. ‘There’s a practice field near the palace, but there’ll be other knights there. I’m not trying to be offensive, but the first few passes are usually very awkward. We’re supposed to be great knights, so let’s not let anybody get the idea that you’re totally inept.’
‘Thanks,’ Zakath said drily.
‘Do you enjoy public embarrassment?’
‘Not really.’
‘Let’s do it my way, then.’
They rode out of the city and to a meadow a few miles away.
‘You’ve got two shields,’ Zakath noted. ‘Is that customary.’
‘The other one is for our opponent.’
‘Opponent?’
‘A stump or a tree probably. We need a target.’ Garion reined in. ‘Now,’ he began, ‘we’re going to be involved in a formal tournament. The idea is not to kill anybody, since that’s considered bad form. We’ll probably be using blunted lances. That helps to keep down the fatalities.’
‘But sometimes people do get killed, don’t they?’
‘It’s not unheard of. The whole purpose of a formal joust is to knock the other fellow off his horse. You ride at him and aim your lance at the center of his shield.’
‘And he does the same thing to me, I suppose.’
‘Exactly.’
‘It sounds painful.’
‘It is. After a few passes, you’ll probably be bruised from head to hip.’
‘And they do this for entertainment?’
‘Not entirely. It’s a form of competition. They do it to find out who’s the best.’
‘Now that I can understand.’
‘I thought the notion might appeal to you.’
They buckled the spare shield to a springy lower limb of a cedar tree. ‘That’s about the right height,’ Garion said. ‘I’ll make the first couple of passes. Watch very closely. Then you can try.’
Garion had become quite proficient with the lance and he hit the shield squarely on both passes.