Читать книгу Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress: 2-Book Collection - David Eddings - Страница 29

‘Belgarath?’ Riva said to me one morning a few days later when we were standing at the upper end of the narrow valley stretching up from the beach watching his Alorns clearing stair-stepped terraces across the steep valley floor.

‘Yes, Riva?’

‘Am I supposed to have a sword?’

‘You’ve already got one.’

‘No, I mean a special sword.’

‘Yes,’ I replied. Where had he found out about that?

‘Where is it then?’

‘It doesn’t exist yet. You’re supposed to make it.’

‘I can do that, I guess. What am I supposed to make it from?’

‘Stars, as I understand it.’

‘How am I going to get my hands on any stars?’

‘They’ll fall out of the sky.’

‘I guess it was Belar who talked to me last night, then.’

‘I don’t follow you.’

‘I had a dream – at least I thought it was a dream. I seemed to hear Belar’s voice. I recognized it because I used to watch him play dice with Dras. He used to swear a lot while he was playing, because Dras always won. Isn’t that odd? You’d think a God could make the dice come up any way he wanted them to, but Belar doesn’t even think about cheating. Dras does, though. Dras could roll a ten with only one die.’

I tried to stay calm. ‘Riva, you’re straying. You started to tell me about your dream. If Belar spoke to you, it might be sort of important.’

‘He used a lot of “thee’s” and “thou’s”.’

‘The Gods do that. What did he say?’

‘I’m not sure if I got the first part of it right. I was dreaming about something else, and I didn’t want to be interrupted.’

‘Oh? What were you dreaming about?’

He actually blushed. ‘It’s not really important,’ he said evasively.

‘You never know about dreams. What was it about?’

He blushed even redder. ‘Well – there was a girl involved in it. That wouldn’t be too significant, would it?’

‘Ah – no, I suppose not. Did Belar finally manage to get your attention?’

‘He had to talk to me pretty loudly. I was really interested in that girl.’

‘I’m sure you were.’

‘She had the blondest hair I’ve ever seen, and would you believe that she didn’t have any clothes on?’

‘Riva! Forget about the girl! What did Belar say?’

‘You don’t have to get excited, Belgarath,’ he said in a slightly injured tone. ‘I’m getting to it.’ He frowned. ‘Let me see now. It seems to me that he said something like, “Behold, Guardian of the Orb, I will cause two stars to fall from the sky, and I will show thee where they lie, and thou shalt take up the two stars and shall place them in a great fire and forge them. And the one star shall be a blade, and the other a hilt, and it shall be a sword that shall guard the Orb of my brother, Aldur”. Or something like that.’

‘We’ll have to put out watchmen at night, then.’

‘Oh? What for?’

‘To keep an eye on the sky, of course. We have to know where the stars come down.’

‘Oh, I already know where they came down, Belgarath. Belar took me to the front of my tent and pointed at the sky. The two stars came down side by side, and I saw them hit the ground. Then Belar went away, and I went back to bed to see if I could find that girl again.’

‘Will you forget about that girl?’

‘No, I don’t think I ever will. She was the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.’

‘Do you happen to remember where the stars came down?’

‘Up there.’ He gestured vaguely at the snow-covered mountain peak rearing up at the head of the valley.

‘Let’s go get them.’

‘Shouldn’t I stay here? I’m sort of in charge, I guess. Doesn’t that mean that I’m supposed to supervise the work?’

‘Is your cousin sober?’

‘Anrak? Probably – more or less, anyway.’

‘Why don’t you call him and let him take over here? We’d better go find those stars before it snows again and buries them.’

‘Oh, we’d still be able to find them. A little snow wouldn’t hide them.’

I gave him a puzzled look.

‘They’re stars, Belgarath, and stars shine. We’ll be able to see the light even if they’re completely covered.’

You see what I mean about Riva’s innocence? He was far from being simple-minded, but he just couldn’t bring himself to believe that anything could go wrong. He bellowed down the hill to his cousin, and then the two of us started up that narrow valley. There had evidently been a stream or river running down along the bottom of it at some time in the past, because there were rounded boulders at the bottom, but the stream was gone now. It had probably changed course when Torak rearranged the world.

Riva entertained me while we climbed by describing the girl he’d dreamed about. For some reason, he couldn’t seem to think about anything else.

The fallen stars weren’t really all that hard to find, of course. They’d been white-hot when they hit the mountain, and they’d melted huge craters in the snow.

‘Those aren’t stars, Belgarath,’ Riva objected when I picked them up triumphantly. ‘They’re nothing but a couple of lumps of iron.’

‘The snow put out their light,’ I told him. It wasn’t entirely true, but it was easier than trying to explain.

‘You can’t put out the light of a star,’ he scoffed.

‘These are special stars, Riva.’ I was digging myself in deeper, but I didn’t feel like arguing with him.

‘Oh. I hadn’t thought of that, I guess. What do we do now?’

‘We follow Belar’s instructions. Let’s build a fire.’

‘Up here? In the snow?’

‘There’s something else you have to do up here. You’ve still got the Orb with you, haven’t you?’

‘Of course. I’ve always got it.’ He patted the lump under his tunic. ‘What are we going to use for a hammer? And an anvil?’

‘I’ll take care of it. I don’t think ordinary tools would work. These stars seem to be a little harder than ordinary iron.’

We went into a nearby grove of trees, and I built a fire. I cheated quite a bit with that fire. You won’t get the kind of heat we were going to need out of green wood. ‘Throw them in the fire, Riva,’ I instructed him.

‘Anything you say,’ he agreed, tossing the two lumps of celestial iron into the flames.

Then I focused my Will and constructed the hammer and anvil and tongs. I suspect that if you went to that mountain behind the Hall of the Rivan King, you’d find that they’re still there. They’re so dense that they probably haven’t rusted down yet.

Riva hefted the hammer. ‘It’s heavier than it looks,’ he noted.

‘That’s because it’s a magic hammer.’ It was easier than getting into the business of comparative density.

‘I thought it might be,’ he said quite calmly.

We sat on a log by that roaring fire waiting for the lumps of iron to heat up. When they were finally white hot, Riva raked them out of the coals and got down to work. Somewhere along the way, he’d picked up any number of skills. He wasn’t as good a smith as Durnik is, but he was competent.

After about ten minutes, he stopped hammering and looked rather closely at the glowing lump he’d been beating on.

‘What’s wrong?’ I asked him.

‘These stars must be magic, too – just like the hammer. If they were just ordinary iron, they’d have cooled by now.’

No, Durnik, I didn’t cheat. I think Belar did, though.

There are a number of versions of the BOOK OF ALORN that rather blandly state that I assumed the shape of a fox to advise Riva while he was forging the sword. That’s sheer nonsense, of course. I’ve never taken the form of a fox in my entire life. What is it about priests that drives them to embellish a good story with improbable details? If they’re that hungry for magic, why don’t they just spend a little time and pick up the skills for themselves? Then they’ll be able to play with magic to their hearts’ content.

Riva continued to hammer on those two glowing lumps of iron until he’d roughed out the shape of the blade and the hilt. Then I made a file for him, and he started to smooth them out. He suddenly stopped and started to swear.

‘What’s the matter?’ I asked him.

‘I’ve made a mistake,’ he said sourly.

‘I don’t see anything wrong.’

‘I’ve got two pieces, Belgarath. How am I going to put them together?’

‘We’ll get to that. Keep polishing.’

After he’d dressed off the blade, he set it aside and started on the massive, two-handed hilt. ‘Does it need a pommel?’ he asked me.

‘We’ll get to that, too.’

He kept working. His face was streaming sweat from the heat of the iron, and he finally threw down the file and laid the hilt on the anvil with the tongs. ‘That’s probably as good as I can get it,’ he said. ‘I’m not a gold-smith. Now what?’

I willed a barrel of water into existence. ‘Quench them,’ I told him.

He picked up that huge blade with his tongs and plunged it into the water. The cloud of steam was really quite spectacular. Then he dropped the hilt in. ‘I still don’t think we’ll be able to put them together.’

‘Trust me.’

It took quite some time for the submerged pieces of iron to stop glowing. I had to refill the barrel twice before they started to turn black.

Riva tentatively stuck his hand into the water and touched the blade. ‘I think they’re cool enough now.’

‘Take out the Orb,’ I told him.

He looked around quickly. ‘I don’t see any Angaraks,’ he said.

‘No. This is something else.’

He reached inside his tunic and took out the glowing Orb. It looked very small in that massive hand of his.

‘Now fish out the hilt,’ I instructed.

He plunged his arm into the barrel and brought out that huge hilt.

‘Put the Orb where the pommel ought to be.’

‘Why?’

‘Just do it. You’ll see.’

He held up the hilt in one hand and put the Orb against the bottom of the handle. The click that came when they adhered together was clearly audible. Riva gasped.

‘It’s all right,’ I told him. ‘That was supposed to happen. Now pick up the blade and put the bottom of it against the top of the hilt.’

He did that. ‘Now what?’

‘Push.’

‘Push? What do you mean, push?’

‘You know what the word means. Push the blade into the hilt.’

‘That’s ridiculous, Belgarath. They’re both solid steel.’

I sighed. ‘Just try it, Riva. Don’t stand around arguing with me. This is magic, and I’m the expert. Don’t push too hard, or you’ll shove the blade all the way through.’

‘Have you been drinking?’

‘Do it, Riva!’

The blade made a strange singing sound as it slowly slid into the hilt, and the sound shuddered all the snow off nearby trees. When it was fully inserted, Riva tentatively wiggled the two pieces. Then he wrenched at them. ‘What an amazing thing!’ he said. ‘It’s all one piece now!’

‘Naturally. Grab the hilt and hold your sword up.’ This was the real test.

He took hold of the two-handed hilt and lifted that huge sword a foot or so. ‘It hardly weighs anything!’ he exclaimed.

‘The Orb’s carrying the weight,’ I explained. ‘Remember that when you have to take the Orb off. If you’re holding the sword in one hand when you do that, the weight of it’ll probably break your wrist. Raise the sword, Iron-grip.’

He lifted it easily over his head, and, as I’d hoped, it burst joyously into blue flame, shearing off the rough edges and polishing the sword to mirror brightness. ‘Nice job,’ I complimented him. Then I howled with delight and danced a little jig of pure joy.

Riva was gaping at his flaming sword. ‘What happened?’ he asked.

‘You did it right, boy!’ I exulted.

‘You mean this was supposed to happen?’

‘Every time, Riva! Every time! The sword’s part of the Orb now. That’s why it’s on fire. Every time you raise it up like that, it’ll take fire, and if I understand it right, it’ll do the same thing when your son picks it up – and his son – and his son as well.’

‘I don’t have a son.’

‘Wait a while, he’ll be along. Bring your sword. We’re supposed to go up to the summit now.’

He spent a fair amount of time swishing that sword through the air as we climbed the rest of the way to the top. I’ll admit that it was impressive, but the screeching whistle it made as it carved chunks off the air began to get on my nerves after a while. He was having fun, though, so I didn’t say anything to him about it.

There was a boulder at the top of the peak that was about the size of a large house. I looked at it when we got there, and I began to have some doubts about what we were supposed to do. It was an awfully big rock.

‘All right,’ Riva said, ‘now what?’

‘Get a firm grip on your sword and split that rock.’

‘That’ll shatter the blade, Belgarath.’

‘It’s not supposed to.’

‘Why am I supposed to split rocks with my sword? Wouldn’t a sledge-hammer work better?’

‘You could pound on that boulder with a hammer for a year and not even dent it.’

‘More magic?’

‘Sort of. There used to be a river running down the valley. It got dammed up when Torak cracked the world. It’s still there, though – under that boulder. Your family’s going to repair the world, and this is where you’re going to start. Break the rock, Riva. Free the river. You’re going to need fresh water in your city anyway.’

He shrugged. ‘If you say so, Belgarath.’

Garion, I want you to notice the absolute trust that boy had. You might want to think about that the next time you feel like arguing with me.

Riva raised up that enormous flaming sword and delivered a blow that probably would have broken a lesser rock down into rubble. I’m sure that the sound startled all the deer in Sendaria.

The boulder split evenly down the middle, and the two sides fell ponderously out of the way.

The river came gushing out like a breaking wave.

Riva and I got very wet at that point. We struggled out of the water and stood looking at our river with a certain sense of accomplishment. ‘Oops,’ Riva said after a moment.

‘Oops what?’

‘Maybe I should have warned the fellows working down below,’ he replied. ‘I don’t think they’ll be too happy about this.’

‘They aren’t down in the stream-bed, Riva. That’s where they’ve been dumping the excess dirt and rock they’re scraping off those terraces.’

‘I hope you’re right. Otherwise, they’ll probably get washed out to sea, and they’ll probably swear at me for a week after they swim back.’

As it turned out, our newly released river saved those Alorns months of work. There were natural terraces under all the accumulated debris they’d been moving, and that first rush of water washed those terraces clean. The Alorns who were washed out to sea were so pleased with that turn of events that they didn’t even swear at Riva – at least not very much.

Now that Riva had his sword, I was finished with the things I was supposed to do on the Isle of the Winds. I could finally go home. I spent a day or so giving Riva and his cousin Anrak their instructions. Anrak was a little too fond of good brown ale, but he was a good-natured fellow of whom the other Alorns were all very fond. He was the perfect second-in-command. Some of the orders Riva was going to have to give his people wouldn’t go down very well. Anrak, with his boisterous, good-humored laughter, was the perfect one to make them palatable. I sketched in Riva’s throne room for him and told him how to fasten his sword to the wall behind the throne. It was a little difficult to keep his attention, since he wanted to talk about the girl in his dream. Then I wished them good luck and went off down the beach until I was out of sight. There was no real point to upsetting Riva’s people any more than they already were.

I chose the form of an albatross for my return to the mainland. A seven-foot wingspan is very useful when you fly as badly as I do. After I was a few miles out to sea and had picked up some altitude, I learned the trick of simply locking those great wings out and coasting along on the air. What a joy that was! No flapping. No floundering. No panic. I even got to the point where I liked it. I think I could have soared like that for a solid month. I even took a few short naps on my way.

It was almost with regret that I saw the coast of what’s now Sendaria on the horizon.

You wouldn’t believe how different Sendaria was in those days. What’s now farmland was an untamed forest of huge trees, and just about the only part of it that was inhabited was a stretch along the north bank of the Camaar River that was occupied by the Wacite Arends. Because I was really in a hurry to get back to the Vale, I took the familiar form of the wolf and loped off through the forest.

This time I didn’t have to periodically wait for any Alorns to catch up with me, so I made very good time. It was summer by now, so I had good weather. I angled down across Sendaria in a southeasterly direction and soon reached the mountains.

After a bit of consideration, I decided not to waste time with a tiresome detour, but to cut straight across the northern end of Ulgoland. I didn’t really think that the monsters would be a problem. They were interested in men, not wolves; even Algroths and Hrulgin avoided wolves.

I gave some thought to swinging by Prolgu to advise the current Gorim of what had happened in Mallorea, but I decided against it. My Master knew about it, and he’d have certainly advised UL before he and his brothers had departed.

That was something I didn’t really want to think about. My Master had been the central fact of my life for four thousand years, and his departure left a very large hole in my concept of the world. I couldn’t imagine the Vale without him.

Anyway, I bypassed Prolgu and continued southeasterly toward the Vale. I saw a few Algroths lurking near the edge of the trees, and once a herd of Hrulgin, but they wisely chose not to interfere with me. I was in a hurry, and I wasn’t in any mood for interruptions.

I loped across a ridge-line and descended into a river gorge. Since all the rivers on this side of the mountains of Ulgo flowed eastward to empty into the Aldur River, the quickest way to reach the Vale would be simply to follow the river until it reached the plains of Algaria.

Notice that I was already thinking of that vast grassland in those terms.

I can’t exactly remember why I chose to resume my own form when I reached the river. Maybe I thought I needed a bath. I’d been on the go for six months now, and I certainly didn’t want to offend Poledra by showing up in our tower smelling like a goat. Perhaps it was because I wanted a hot meal. As a wolf, I was quite satisfied with a diet of raw rabbit or uncooked deer or even an occasional field-mouse, but I was not entirely a wolf, and I periodically grew hungry for cooked food. I pulled down a deer, anyway, resumed my own form and set to work building a fire. I spitted a haunch, set it to roasting over the fire, and bathed in the river while it cooked.

I probably ate too much. A wolf on the move doesn’t really spend too much time eating – usually no more than a few bites before he’s off again – so I’d definitely managed to build up quite an appetite.

Anyway, after I’d eaten, I dozed by my fire. I really don’t know how long I slept, but I was awakened quite suddenly by a kind of mindless hooting that sounded almost like laughter. I cursed my inattentiveness. Somehow a pack of rock-wolves had managed to creep up on me.

The term ‘rock-wolf’ is really a misnomer. They aren’t really wolves, but are more closely related to hyenas. They’re scavengers, and they’d probably caught scent of my deer. It would have been a simple thing to change back into a wolf and outrun them. I was comfortable, though, and I certainly didn’t feel like running on a full stomach. I was also feeling just a little pugnacious. I’d been sleeping very well and being awakened that way irritated me. I built up my fire and settled my back against a tree to wait for them. If they pushed me too far, there’d be one less pack of rock-wolves in the morning.

I saw a few of the ugly brutes slinking along at the edge of the trees, but they were afraid of my fire, so they didn’t come any closer. That went on for the rest of the night. The fact that they neither attacked nor went off to find food somewhere else was a bit puzzling. This was not the way rock-wolves normally behaved

Dawn was just touching the eastern sky when I found out why.

I’d just piled more wood on my fire when I caught a movement at the edge of the trees out of the corner of my eye. I thought it was another rock-wolf, so I took hold of a stick that was burning quite well, turned, and drew back my arm to throw the burning brand at the beast.

It wasn’t a rock-wolf, however. It was an Eldrak.

I’d seen Eldrakyn before, of course, but always from a distance, so I hadn’t realized just how big they are. I silently berated myself for not going wolf while I had the chance. Changing form takes a little while, and the huge creature wasn’t very far away from me. If he was totally mad, as the Hrulgin and Algroths had been, he wouldn’t give me nearly enough time.

He was shaggy and about eight feet tall. He didn’t have what you’d really call a nose, and his lower jaw stuck out. He had long yellow tusks like a wild boar, and they jutted upward out of that protruding lower jaw. He had little, piglike eyes sunk deep under a heavy brow-ridge, and those eyes burned red. ‘Why man-thing come to Grul’s range?’ he growled at me.

That was a surprise. I knew that the Eldrakyn were more intelligent than Algroths or Trolls, but I didn’t know that they could talk.

I recovered quickly. The fact that he could talk raised the possibility of a peaceful solution here. ‘Just passing through, old boy,’ I replied urbanely. ‘I didn’t mean to trespass, but I didn’t realize that this range belongs to you.’

‘All know.’ His voice was hideous. ‘All know this is Grul’s range.’

‘Well, not everybody, actually. I’m a stranger here, and you don’t have the boundaries of your range clearly marked.’

‘You eat Grul’s deer.’ He said it accusingly. This wasn’t going too well. Being careful to conceal what I was doing, I slipped my long Alorn dagger out of its sheath and hid it in my left sleeve, handle down.

‘I didn’t eat it all,’ I told him. ‘You’re welcome to the rest of it.’

‘How are you called?’

‘The name’s Belgarath.’ Maybe he’d heard of me. The Demon Lord in Morindland had, after all. If my reputation extended all the way to Hell, maybe it’d penetrated these mountains as well.

‘’Grat?’ he said.

‘Belgarath,’ I corrected.

‘’Grat.’ He said it with a certain finality. Evidently the shape of his jaw made it impossible for him to come any closer to the correct pronunciation. ‘It is good that Grul know this. Grul keep names of all man-things he eats in here.’ He banged the side of his head with the heel of his hand. ‘’Grat want to fight before Grul eat him?’ he asked hopefully.

I’ve had more congenial offers from time to time. I stood up. ‘Go away, Grul,’ I told him. ‘I don’t have time to play with you.’

A hideous grin distorted his shaggy face. ‘Take time, ‘Grat. First we play. Then Grul eat.’

This was really going downhill. I looked at him rather closely. He had huge arms that hung down to his knees. I definitely didn’t want him wrapping those arms around me, so I carefully put my back against the tree. ‘You’re making a mistake, Grul,’ I told him. ‘Take the deer and go away. The deer won’t fight. I will.’ It was sheer bravado, of course. I wouldn’t have much chance against this huge monster in a purely physical struggle, and he was so close to me by now that any alternative would have been very chancy. What a silly way this was for a man like me to end his career.

‘’Grat too small to fight Grul. ‘Grat not too smart if he not see this. ‘Grat is brave, though. Grul will remember how brave ‘Grat was, after Grul eat him.’

‘You’re too kind,’ I murmured to him. ‘Come along then, Grul. Since you’ve got your heart set on this, we may as well get going. I’ve got better things to do today.’ I was gambling. The fact that this huge, shaggy monster could speak was an indication that he could also think – minimally. My bluster was designed to make him a little wary. I didn’t want him to simply rush me. If I could make him hesitate, I might have a chance.

My apparent willingness to fight him had the desired effect. Grul wasn’t accustomed to having people shrug off his huge size, so he was just a bit cautious as he approached. That was what I’d been hoping for. When he reached out with both huge hands to grasp me, I ducked under them and stepped forward, smoothly pulling my knife out of my sleeve. Then, with one quick swipe, I sliced him across the belly. I wasn’t certain enough of his anatomy to try stabbing him in the heart. As big as he was, his ribs were probably as thick as my wrist.

He stared at me in utter amazement. Then he looked down at the entrails that came boiling out of the gaping wound that ran from hip to hip across his lower belly.

‘I think you dropped something there, Grul,’ I suggested.

He clutched at his spilling entrails with both hands, a look of consternation on his brutish face. ‘’Grat cut Grul’s belly,’ he said. ‘Make Grul’s insides fall out.’

‘Yes, I noticed that. Did you want to fight some more, Grul? I think you could spend your time better by sewing yourself back together. You’re not going to be able to move very fast with your guts tangled around your feet.’

‘’Grat is not nice,’ he accused mournfully, sitting down and holding his entrails in his lap.

For some reason, that struck me as enormously funny. I laughed for a bit, but when two great tears began to run down his shaggy face, I felt a little ashamed of myself. I held out my hand, willed a large, curved needle into existence and threaded it with deer sinew. I tossed it to him. ‘Here,’ I told him. ‘Sew your belly back together, and remember this if we ever run across each other again. Find something else to eat, Grul. I’m old and tough and stringy, so I really wouldn’t taste too good – and I think you’ve already discovered that I’m very expensive.’

The dawn had progressed far enough along to give me sufficient light to travel, so I left him sitting by my fire trying to figure out how to use the needle I’d given him.

Oddly, the incident brightened my disposition enormously. I’d actually pulled it off. What an amazing thing that was! I savored that last comment of his. By now, half the world agreed with him. ‘Grat is definitely not nice.

I reached the western edge of the Vale two days later. It was early summer, one of the loveliest times of year. The spring rains have passed, and the dusty heat that comes later hasn’t yet arrived. Even though our Master was gone, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Vale more beautiful. The grass was bright green, and many of the fruit trees that grew wild there were in bloom. The berries were out, although they weren’t really ripe yet. I rather like the tart taste of half-ripe berries anyway. The sky was very blue, and the puffy white clouds seemed almost to dance aloft. The roiling grey clouds and stiff winds of early spring are dramatic, but early summer is lush and warm and filled with the scent of urgent growth. I was home, and I don’t know that I’ve ever been any happier.

I was in a peculiar sort of mood. I was eager to get back to Poledra, but for some reason I was enjoying the sense of anticipation. I discarded my traveling form and almost sauntered across the gentle hills and valleys of the Vale. I knew that Poledra would sense my approach, and, as she always did, she’d probably be fixing supper. I didn’t want to rush her.

It was just evening when I reached my tower, and I was a little surprised not to see lights in the windows. I went around to the far side, opened the door and went on in. ‘Poledra,’ I called up the stairs to her.

Strangely, she didn’t answer.

I went on up the stairs.

It was dark in my tower. Poledra’s curtains may not have kept out the breeze, but they definitely kept out the light. I twirled a tongue of flame off my index finger and lit a candle.

There wasn’t anybody there, and the place had that dusty, unused look. What was going on here?

Then I saw a square of parchment in the precise center of my work-table, and I recognized Beldin’s crabbed handwriting immediately. ‘Come to my tower.’ That was all it said.

I raised my candle and saw that the two cradles were gone. Evidently Beldin had transferred my wife and children to his tower. That was odd. Poledra had a very strong attachment to this tower. Why would Beldin have moved her? As I remembered, she didn’t particularly like his tower. It was a little too fanciful for her taste. Puzzled, I went back downstairs.

It was only about a five-minute walk to Beldin’s tower, and I didn’t really hurry. But my sense of anticipation was fading toward puzzlement.

‘Beldin!’ I shouted up to him. ‘It’s me. Open your door.’

There was quite a long pause, and then the rock that formed his door slid open.

I started on up the stairs. Now I did hurry.

When I reached the top of the stairs, I looked around. Beltira, Belkira, and Beldin were there, but Poledra wasn’t. ‘Where’s my wife?’ I asked.

‘Don’t you want to meet your daughters?’ Beltira asked me.

‘Daughters? More than one?’

‘That’s why we made two cradles, brother,’ Belkira said. ‘You’re the father of twins.’

Beldin reached into one of the cradles and gently lifted out a baby. ‘This is Polgara,’ he introduced her. ‘She’s your eldest,’ He handed me the blanket-wrapped baby. I turned back the corner of the blanket and looked into Pol’s eyes for the very first time. Pol and I didn’t get off to a very good start. Those of you who know her know that my daughter’s eyes change color, depending on her mood. They were steel-grey when I first looked into them, and as hard as agates. I got the distinct impression that she didn’t care much for me. Her hair was very dark, and she seemed not to have the characteristic chubbiness babies are supposed to have. Her face was expressionless, but those steely eyes of hers spoke volumes. Then I did something that had been a custom back in the village of Gara. Pol was my first-born, whether she liked me or not, so I laid my hand on her head in benediction.

I felt a sudden jolt in that hand, and I jerked it back with a startled oath. It’s a bit unfortunate that the first word Polgara heard coming from my mouth was a curse. I stared at this grim-faced baby girl. A single lock at her brow had turned snowy white at my touch.

‘What a wonder!’ Beltira gasped.

‘Not really,’ Beldin disagreed. ‘She’s his first-born, and he just marked her. Unless I miss my guess, she’s going to grow up to be a sorcerer.’

‘Sorceress,’ Belkira corrected.

‘What?’

‘A sorcerer is a man. She’s a girl, so the right word would be sorceress.’

Sorceress or not, my first-born was wet, so I put her back in her cradle.

My younger daughter was the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen – and that’s not just fatherly pride. Everybody who saw her said exactly the same thing. She smiled at me as I took her from Beldin, and with that one sunny little smile, she reached directly into my heart and claimed me.

‘You still haven’t answered my question, Beldin,’ I said, cuddling Beldaran in my arms. ‘Where’s Poledra?’

‘Why don’t you sit down and have a drink, Belgarath?’ He went quickly to an open barrel and dipped me out a tankard of ale.

I sat down at the table with Beldaran on my knee. I probably shouldn’t mention it, but she wasn’t wet. I took a long drink, a little puzzled by the evasiveness of my brothers. ‘Quit playing around, Beldin,’ I said, wiping the foam off my lips. ‘Where’s my wife?’

Beltira came to me and took Beldaran.

I looked at Beldin and saw two great tears in his eyes. ‘I’m afraid we’ve lost her, Belgarath,’ he told me in a sorrowing voice. ‘She had a very hard labor. We did everything we could, but she slipped away.’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘She died, Belgarath. I’m sorry, but Poledra’s dead.’