‘Makest thou a rather feeble attempt at humor, Belgarion?’
‘Would I do that, Holy Seeress?’ He grinned at her and strode back to where Belgarath and Poledra walked hand in hand just behind Zakath and Sadi. ‘Grandfather, I think I just managed to sneak an answer out of Cyradis,’ he said.
‘That might be a first,’ the old man replied.
‘I think there might be some fighting when we get to the reef. I asked her if Zakath and I should wear armor when we get there. She didn’t answer me directly, but she said that it might not be a bad idea – just in case.’
‘You might want to pass that on to the others. Let’s not have them walking into something blind.’
‘I’ll do that.’
The king, along with most of his gaily-clad court, awaited them on a long wharf extending out into the choppy waters of the harbor. Despite the temperate morning, the king wore an ermine robe and a heavy gold crown. ‘Gladly do I greet thee and thy noble companions, Belgarion of Riva,’ he declaimed, ‘and in sadness do I await thy departure. Many here have pled with me that I might permit them also to speak to this matter, but in thy behalf I have steadfastly refused such permission, knowing full well the urgency of thy quest.’
‘Thou art a true and faithful friend, your Majesty,’ Garion said with genuine gratitude at being spared a morning of windy speeches. He clasped the king’s hand warmly. ‘Know that if the Gods grant us victory on the morrow, we will return straightway to this happy isle so that we may more fulsomely express our gratitude to thee and the members of thy court who have all treated us with such noble courtesy.’ Besides, they had to come back for the horses anyway. ‘And now, your Majesty, our fate awaits us. We must, with scant and niggard farewell, take ship to go forth with resolute hearts to meet that fate. An it please the Gods, we shall return anon. Goodbye, my friend.’
‘Fare thee well, Belgarion of Riva,’ the king said in a voice near to tears. ‘May the Gods grant thee and thy companions victory.’
‘Pray that it may be so.’ Garion turned with a rather melodramatic swirl of his cloak and led his friends up the gangway. He glanced back over his shoulder and saw Durnik pushing his way through the crowd. That would help. As soon as the smith was on board, Garion could give the order to cast off all lines and thus avoid the necessity of more extended farewells shouted across the ship’s rail.
Directly behind Durnik came the several carts carrying their packs. Their belongings were quickly transferred to the ship, and Garion went aft to speak with the captain, a grizzled old seaman with a weathered face.
Unlike western vessels, whose bare plank decks were usually holy-stoned into some semblance of whiteness, the quarter-deck and its surrounding railings were finished with a dark, glossy varnish, and snowy ropes hung in neat coils from highly polished belaying pins. The effect was almost ostentatiously neat, evidence that the vessel’s master took great pride in his ship. The captain himself wore a somewhat weathered blue doublet. He was, after all, in port. A jaunty velvet cap was cocked rakishly over one of his ears.
‘I guess that’s everything, Captain,’ Garion said. ‘We may as well cast off and get clear of the harbor before the tide turns.’
‘You’ve been to sea before I see, young master,’ the captain said approvingly. ‘I hope your friends have as well. It’s always a trial to have landsmen aboard. They never seem to realize that throwing up into the wind isn’t a good idea.’ He raised his voice to an ear-splitting bellow. ‘Cast off all lines! Prepare to make sail!’
‘Your speech doesn’t seem to be that of the island, Captain,’ Garion observed.
‘I’d be surprised if it were, young master. I’m from the Melcene Islands. About twenty years ago, there were some ugly rumors about me being circulated in some quarters back home, so I thought it might be prudent to absent myself for a while. I came here. You wouldn’t believe what these people were calling a ship when I got here.’
‘Sort of like a sea-going castle?’ Garion suggested.
‘You’ve seen them then?’
‘In another part of the world.’
‘Make sail!’ the captain roared at his crew. ‘There, young master,’ he grinned at Garion. ‘I’ll have you out of earshot in no time at all. That should spare us all that drasty eloquence. Where was I? Oh, yes. When I got here, the ships of Perivor were so top-heavy that a good sneeze would capsize them. Would you believe it only took me five years to explain that to these people?’
‘You must have been amazingly eloquent, Captain,’ Garion laughed.
‘A bout or two with belaying pins helped a bit,’ the captain conceeded. ‘Finally I had to issue a challenge, though. None of these blockheads can refuse a challenge, so I proposed a race around the island. Twenty ships started out, and only mine finished. They started listening about then. I spent the next five years in the yards supervising construction. Then the king finally let me go back to sea. I got me a baronetcy out of it – not that it matters. I think I’ve even got a castle somewhere.’
A brazen blast came from the wharf as, in true Mimbrate fashion, the knights of the king’s court saluted them on their horns. ‘Isn’t that pitiful?’ the captain said. ‘I don’t think there’s a man on the whole island who can carry a tune.’ He looked appraisingly at Garion. ‘I heard tell that you’re making for the Turim reef.’
‘Korim reef,’ Garion corrected absently.
‘You’ve been listening to the landsmen, I see. They can’t even pronounce the name right. Anyway, before you get your mind set in stone about where you want to land, send for me. There’s some very ugly water around that reef. It’s not the sort of place where you want to make mistakes, and I’ve got some fairly accurate charts.’
‘The king told us there weren’t any charts of the reef.’
The captain winked slyly. ‘The rumors I mentioned earlier stirred some ship-captains to try to follow me,’ he admitted, ‘although “chase” would probably be a more accurate word. Rewards cause that sort of thing sometimes. Anyhow, I was passing near the reef in calm weather once, and I decided to take some soundings. It never hurts to have a place to hide where others are afraid to follow you.’
‘What’s your name, Captain?’ Garion asked him.