Polgara the Sorceress (31 page)

Ralas shrugged. ‘The Count wants us to be seen from the Arendish side, I guess. I don’t ask him questions – except for maybe, “When do I get paid?” That’s all
I
care about.’

‘I want to know
why
!’ Geller burst out. ‘What’s the point of this silly business?’

I probably could have told him, but, since curiosity is the ultimate mother of wisdom, I decided to let him continue his journey along the beaten path to knowledge without any interference from me.

Baron Mandorin was in the throne-room when I returned to the palace in Vo Mimbre, and I crossed the ornate chamber with a purposeful expression. I didn’t have time for pleasantries. ‘We need to talk, uncle,’ I told him,
‘now.’

He looked a little startled at my abrupt approach, but that was just too bad. Our departure from that ceremonial hall might have seemed somewhat leisurely, but we went directly across to the door and on out into the corridor.

‘The matter, I do perceive, hath a certain urgency?’ he suggested.

‘Not here, uncle,’ I told him. ‘Wait until we’re sure we’re alone.’

He got my point. We went to his chambers and he closed and locked the door behind us.

‘And now – ?’ he began, his face curious.

‘I’ve just spent a rather tedious afternoon over across the river, uncle. I searched all over for those Tolnedran legions everyone’s talking about, but guess what? I didn’t find them.’

‘But they are quite clearly visible from the city walls, Lady Polgara.’

‘Oh no they’re not, Baron Mandorin. What you’ve been seeing from the walls are common workmen dressed up in legion uniforms. There are several standard-looking legion encampments back under the trees as well, but those encampments are empty. There are probably no more than fifty men over there. They patrol the riverbank in the daytime and tend the watch fires at night. It’s all for show, Mandorin. There’s no military presence over there. Who’s Count Oldon?’

‘He is a member of Kadon’s party, my Lady, and if I have heard aright, his estates do stand opposite our city here.’

That would explain it then. He’s pressed woodcutters
and other laborers into his private little army, and that army has just one mission – to convince Duke Corrolin that there are genuine legions camped across the river. It’s all a sham. Corrolin and his staff have been duped. What’s going on here in Vo Mimbre is just more of the same sort of thing I encountered in Vo Wacune and Vo Astur.’

‘I shall denounce the villain Kador publicly,’ Mandorin declared hotly, ‘and prove the truth of my words upon his body.’

‘All that would prove is that you’re a better swordsman than he is. We’re going to have to come up with something better.’ I considered it for a moment. ‘I think it’s time for Corrolin to have a talk with Ran Vordue in person. That’s probably the only thing that’s going to convince him.’

‘Would His Imperial Majesty consent to such a meeting?’

‘He will if we send the right messenger. My father’s lurking about somewhere nearby – keeping an eye on me, I think. I’ll suggest that he take a little trip to Tol Honeth – for reasons of his health.’

‘Is he unwell?’

‘He
will
be if he doesn’t make that trip when I tell him to.’ I considered it. ‘I don’t think the meeting should take place here in Vo Mimbre,’ I said. ‘Let’s not alert the opposition. Tol Vordue would be better, I think. I’ll talk with father about it and see what he says. This plot we’re up against has been months in the making, Mandorin, and it’d take us more months to unravel it. A meeting between Corrolin and Ran Vordue would cut across all that tiresome business. Corrolin will come back to Vo Mimbre with the keys to his dungeon already in his hand.’

‘I had not thought that affairs of state could move so rapidly, my Lady,’ he marveled. ‘Things here have a more leisurely pace.’

‘We don’t
have
much leisure, Baron. Corrolin’s advance parties will be leaving Vo Mimbre tomorrow morning, and the rest of his force won’t be far behind. If we don’t move fast, there’ll be too much momentum for us to turn things around. Oh, one more thing. Please keep this entirely to yourself. We don’t need anybody else involved. Anytime more than two people know a secret, it’s not a secret any
more. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go give my father his marching orders.’

I left Baron Mandorin with a troubled expression on his face and went directly to my own quarters. I closed the door behind me and took a few precautions. Kador
did
have that Grolim in his party, after all.
‘Father,’
I sent out my thought then, ‘I
need you.’

‘For someone who’s pretending to be so independent, you’re calling me out of the bushes fairly often, Pol,’
he complained.

‘Stop trying to be funny. I want you to go to Tol Honeth and tell Ran Vordue about what’s going on here in Arendia. It’ll probably get his attention. I want him to go to Tol Vordue to meet with Duke Corrolin and explain – very patiently – that he hasn’t got the faintest idea about what’s behind all these pseudo alliances. Have him send an official messenger to Mandorin, and the baron will get him in to meet with Corrolin. I want the duke to meet with Ran Vordue personally in Tol Vordue before the week’s out, and I
don’t
want anybody here in Vo Mimbre to know about that meeting.’

‘I’ll carry the message myself, if you’d like.’ That
was a surprise.
‘Is there anything else I can do for you?’

‘You might see if you can think up a way for me to get Corrolin out of Vo Mimbre and on down-river to Tol Vordue without having about half of his court trailing along behind,’
I suggested.
‘It’s got me a little baffled.’

‘I’ll think of something. I’ve probably said this before, Pol, but you’re very good at the sneaky side of politics.’

‘Why, thank you, kind sir. You’re not so bad yourself, you know.’

‘Yes, but I’ve had more practice. Are things coming to a head here?’

‘They’re getting close, so don’t dawdle, father. Let’s step right along here.’

The next morning we all watched fifty or so Mimbrate knights, mounted and steel clad, go clanking out of the courtyard with banners flying. It was probably only on an off-chance that I heard the words, ‘Bear-Cult’ come from somewhere in the crowd. I circulated a bit, and I didn’t actually have to go far in search of a repetition. It seemed that everybody in the palace was talking about that peculiar
Alorn aberration. It was obvious that Ctuchik’s underlings had been busily spreading wild stories. The goals of the Cult were absurd enough already, but the rumors that were circulating that morning left absurdity far behind. The purpose, obviously, was to stir hatred, fear, and distrust. It had been the unity of Torak’s brothers that had defeated the Dragon-God during the War of the Gods, and Ctuchik was doing everything in his power to dismember that unity.

I suppose I might have tried to squelch all those rumors, but I’d long since discovered that there’s no real way to stop a rumor once it’s gained a foothold.

It was late afternoon of the following day when father’s thought resounded in my head.
‘Rejoice, my beloved daughter,’
he announced,
‘for I, with all my unspeakable skill, have accomplished the task you dropped in my lap.’

‘Will you please be serious, father? Did Ran Vordue agree to meet the duke?’

‘Of course he did. Have I ever disappointed you?’

‘Frequently, as a matter of fact. Have you got his message?’

‘It’s somewhere in one of my pockets, I think. Oh, incidentally, when I give the letter to Corrolin, I’m going to suggest that he make a religious pilgrimage.

‘A what?’

‘I’ll ask him to put on some humble-looking clothes and ride on down-river to that monastery at the mouth of the River Arend that’s just across from Tol Vordue. The duke’s right on the verge of going to war, and Arends always make some show of praying for victory before they go out to do violence upon their neighbors. It’s a quaint custom of the race. A pilgrimage is sort of private, so Corrolin won’t be taking much of an escort with him – just you and Mandorin, if I can arrange it. It shouldn’t be too difficult to slip him across the river to Tol Vordue once we reach the coast. Was that sort of what you had in mind?’

‘It should work out just fine, father. When will you be arriving here in Vo Mimbre?’

‘Tomorrow morning. I’m going to have to stop and get something to eat. I guess I startled Ran Vordue so much that he forgot his manners. He didn’t offer me any supper, and I’m absolutely famished. I’ll see you tomorrow, then. Sleep well, Pol.’

And I did that. I’d probably deny it were someone to suggest it, but I always feel more secure when father takes a hand in something I’m working on. He has his faults, but once he gets down to business, he’s as inexorable as the tides.

The next morning I suggested to Baron Mandorin that we might want to ‘go out for a little ride, just to stir up our blood’, and once we were some distance to the norm of the city, we entered a fairly extensive grove of trees and found my father dozing beside a merry little stream that burbled busily over stones back in amongst the trees. He opened one eye as we dismounted. ‘What kept you?’ he asked us, and when he stood up, I saw that he was wearing a coarse brown monk’s robe made of burlap.

‘What’s this?’ I asked him.

‘It’s just my uniform, Pol,’ he replied. ‘I’m going to be duke’s escort as we ride on down-river.’ Then he looked at Mandorin. ‘Amazing,’ he said. ‘Your hair hasn’t turned white yet.’

Mandorin gave him a puzzled look.

‘You’ve been associating with my daughter, haven’t you?’

‘Will you
please
drop all the joking around, father?’ I demanded with some exasperation.

‘Probably not, but we can talk about that later. How’ve you been, Mandorin?’

‘Well, Ancient One, well.’

‘I’m glad to hear it. If I remember correctly, there’s a small room back behind the duke’s throne. It’s where he usually hangs his robe. Go on back to Vo Mimbre and ask him to step in there for a moment. Pol and I’ll be waiting for the two of you there. I’ll talk with Corrolin for a bit, and then we’ll set out for the monastery.’

‘What if – ’I started.

He sighed that long-suffering sigh that always irritates me. ‘Please, Pol,’ he said. ‘I’ve already covered all the “what-ifs”. Go ahead, Mandorin. Pol and I’ll be waiting in that cloak-room.’

Mandorin remounted, took Lady’s reins, and rode off, and then father and I fell back on our alternative mode of transportation and were safely ensconced in that half-hidden
little attiring-room about a quarter of an hour before the Baron of Vo Mandor even got back inside the palace.

‘Ah, there you are, your Grace,’ father said when Mandorin and Corrolin entered the room. ‘We’ve been waiting for you.’ He didn’t even bother to rise.

Father had draped his monk’s robe across the back of an unoccupied chair, and the duke saw only a seedy-looking vagabond with bad manners sitting in a room where he had no apparent business. ‘What doth this mean, Baron Mandorin?’ he demanded sharply of our friend.

‘My Lord,’ Mandorin replied, ‘I have the distinct honor to present Holy Belgarath, Disciple of the God Aldur, who hath but recently arrived from Tol Honeth with an urgent communication from His Imperial Majesty, Ran Vordue of Tolnedra.’

‘I do confess that I am overwhelmed,’ Corrolin replied, bowing deeply to my vagrant father.

‘Hail, Corrolin,’ father said, still not bothering to get up. ‘I knew your father quite well.’ Then he fished around inside his tunic and drew out a folded sheet of parchment with a beribboned wax seal on it. ‘His Imperial Majesty asked me to stop by and give this to you. Please forgive all our subterfuge in this matter, but the contents of Ran Vordue’s note should probably be kept secret.’

The word ‘secret’ always seems to light fires in the eyes of Arends, and Corrolin was no exception. He took the letter and then looked dubiously at me.

‘My niece is privy to the contents of the message, my Lord,’ Mandorin advised him. ‘Indeed, she was instrumental in its delivery.’

‘We can get into that later,’ father smoothly glossed over the fact that in Mimbrate eyes my primary concerns should have been gossip, hairstyles and hosiery.

Corrolin read the imperial message, and his eyes widened a bit. ‘Have I perchance misunderstood the import of this document?’ he asked. ‘Should I have misread it, prithee correct me, but it doth seem that I have been invited to meet His Imperial Majesty.’

‘It’d
better
say that, your Grace,’ father grunted, ‘because that’s the way I dictated it. The meeting is to take place in
Tol Vordue in about three days, and the emperor asked me to impress upon you the vital necessity for absolute secrecy in this matter. There are unfriendly eyes – and ears as well – knocking about both here in Mimbre and down there in Tolnedra as well. I think we’ll all want to keep this entire affair tightly under wraps.’

‘A wise precaution, Ancient One,’ Corrolin agreed, ‘but how am I to explain this sudden journey into Tolnedra?’

‘I’ve taken the liberty of making some arrangements, your Grace,’ father told him, reaching over to pick up the monk’s robe. ‘I’ll wear this and act sort of holy. You’re right on the verge of embarking on a war. Now, war’s a serious business, and no truly devout man undertakes one without a bit of divine guidance. That’s why you sent for me, wasn’t it?’

Corrolin blinked. ‘Forgive me, Holy One, but I have no recollection of summoning thee.’

‘It must have slipped your mind. Anyway, I’m to escort you down-river to that monastery on the coast so that you can consult with the abbot there. That sort of smells religious, wouldn’t you say? On the way, we’ll take a little side trip to Tol Vordue so that you can meet with Ran Vordue. Then we’ll go on to the monastery. You can have your spiritual consultation with the abbot, and then we’ll come home.’ He squinted at the elaborately-garbed duke. ‘Put on something suitably devout, my Lord. When we go back into the throne-room, pray a lot and let me do most of the talking. I’ll make a big issue of the fact that any kind of escort would be an act of impiety and that Chaldan might be offended.’

‘I had not heard of such restrictions,’ Corrolin confessed.

‘I’d be surprised if you had, your Grace, since I made them up just now. Baron Mandorin and his niece will go on ahead of us, you and I will lèave Vo Mimbre alone, and we’ll all join up again some miles on down the road. Mandorin and Polina have some information that might help you and Ran Vordue in your deliberations at Tol Vordue.’