‘Does it make you feel good? Being special, I mean?’

‘Not really. It’s just something else that you have to carry around with you. It’s not all that complicated, Geran. There’s something very important that our family has to do, and there are people in the world who don’t want us to do it.’

‘We’ll do it anyway, though, won’t we?’ His boyish face was very determined.

‘I think we probably will - but that’s still a ways off yet. Are you going to pull that fish in? Or are you planning to just keep him on the line for the rest of the day?’

My grandson gave a small whoop and pulled in a trout that probably weighed about five pounds.

I think back on that day fairly often. All things considered, it was one of the better ones.

It was almost winter when Polgara returned. The leaves had changed color and then fallen to the ground, the sky had turned grey, and there was the smell of approaching snow when she came walking down the single street of Annath with a blue cloak wrapped about her and a look of satisfaction on her face.

I saw her coming and I went out to meet her. ‘Back so soon, Pol?’ I bantered. ‘We hardly even had time to miss you. Now do you suppose you could tell me where you went and what you were doing?’

She shrugged. ‘I had to go to Nyissa again. There were some people there I had to meet.’

‘Oh? Who?’

‘Zedar, for one, and the current Salmissra for another.’

‘Pol, stay away from Zedar! You’re good, but not that good.’

‘It was required, father. Zedar and I have to know each other. It’s one of those things.’

‘What’s Zedar up to?’ I demanded.

‘I can’t see why you’ve all been so excited about Zedar. Actually, he’s rather pathetic. He’s terribly shabby, he’s not eating right, and he looks awfully unhealthy.’

‘Good. I wish him all the pleasures of ill-health. I’ll even invent some new diseases for him, if what’s currently available starts to bore him.’

‘You’re a barbarian, father.’

‘You’ve noticed. What’s he doing in Nyissa?’

‘As far as I can tell, he’s turned into a vagabond. He’s sort of wandering around the world desperately looking for something - or somebody.’

‘Let’s all hope that he doesn’t find whatever or whomever it is.’

‘On the contrary, he absolutely has to. If he doesn’t find it, you’re going to have to find it yourself, and you wouldn’t even know where to begin looking.’

‘Does he?’

‘No. What he’s looking for is going to find him.’

And that was the first hint we had that Eriond was coming. Beldin and I talked about it once, and we sort of agreed that Eriond and Torak were mirror images of each other - Torak on one side, and Eriond on the other. Each of them was the exact opposite of his counterpart.

Sometimes I wonder if Torak knew that he was a mistake.

That in itself would justify my entire existence.

‘Why did you have to talk to Salmissra?’ I asked.

‘To warn her,’ my daughter replied. ‘She’ll do something in a few years, and I’ll have to do something to her in return. She won’t like it much - and neither will I.’ Polgara sighed. ‘It’s going to be fairly dreadful, I’m afraid, but I won’t have any choice.’ She suddenly threw her arms around me and buried her face in my shoulder. ‘Oh, father,’ she wept, ‘why do I have to be the one who has to do it?’

‘Because you’re the only one who can, Pol.’ Then I patted her shoulder. ‘There, there,’ I said. ‘There, there.’

The next couple of years were quiet, and that made me very edgy. The most momentous event in the history of the world was right on the verge of happening, and I wanted to get on with it. I’m not really very good at waiting.

Then, in 5340, Ran Borune XXIII was crowned Emperor of Tolnedra, and not long thereafter he was married to one of his cousins, a red-haired Dryad named Ce’Vanne. The twins found that highly significant, and they assured me that the marriage would result in the birth of ‘the Queen of the World.’ If they were right, and they almost always were, this meant that when Geran reached adulthood and married, he’d become the father of the one we’d all been waiting for.

Not long after that, Beldin came back to the Vale. ‘I see that you finally got tired of watching that cave,’ I said to him after he’d come up the stairs to my tower.

‘Not really,’ he replied. ‘Some things have been happening, haven’t they?’

‘A few. We’re getting closer to the birth of the Godslayer.’

‘I thought it might be something like that. A few months back, I suddenly got a powerful urge to go out and have a look around. The Murgos have a new king, Taur Urgas, and he’s as crazy as a loon. There’s nothing new or startling about that; all the Urgas are crazy. Taur Urgas carries it to extremes, though. I saw him once in Rak Goska, and I think he’s going to figure in events.’

‘Is there any sign of his Mallorean counterpart yet?’

He nodded. ‘His name’s Zakath. He hasn’t been crowned emperor yet, but I don’t think it’s going to be much longer. His father’s in failing health. For an Angarak, Zakath’s a remarkably civilized man. From what I gather, he’s extremely intelligent, and his tutors were able to persuade his father to let him attend the University in Melcene. An educated Mallorean emperor’s going to be a novelty. How many of the companions have showed up so far?’

‘Six that I know of. The “Guide” and the “Blind Man” were born in 5335, the “Dreadful Bear” in ’36, and the “Horse Lord” and the “Knight Protector” in ’37.’

‘That’s only five.’

‘I thought you already knew about the “Man with Two Lives”. He was born earlier - 5330, I think. He’s apprenticed to a blacksmith in Erat in central Sendaria.’

‘Any hints about the others?’

‘The twins think that the present Tolnedran emperor’s going to produce the Godslayer’s wife.’

‘That sort of nails things down, doesn’t it? How’s Pol?’

‘Difficult, the same as always. She went to Nyissa a couple of years ago, and she met Zedar down there.’

‘And you let her?’

‘Let is a term that doesn’t apply when you’re talking about Pol. You should know that by now, Beldin. Actually, she didn’t bother to tell me where she was going. She told me afterward that she and Zedar have to know each other. She’s getting instructions from someplace other than the Mrin.’

‘I’m sure she is. Oh, I almost forgot. There’s a new king in Gar og Nadrak, too. His name’s Drosta lek Thun, and he was only twelve when they put him on the throne.’

‘Did you see him?’

‘No. I heard about it when I was in Rak Goska. Are the Algars going to do anything about their Crown Prince?’

‘What do you mean, “do anything about him”?’

‘He’s a cripple, isn’t he? I don’t think the Algars are very likely to accept a defective as king.’

‘He’ll probably be all right. Once he’s on a horse, he’s as good as any Algar alive.’ I scratched at my beard. ‘I’m a little concerned about it, though. The Mrin says that the “Horse Lord” is going to be his son, and the “Horse Lord” has already been born - into another clan. The twins are working on it. The Mrin’s being very stubborn right now. Are you going to be around for a while?’

‘No. I think I’d better go back to southern Cthol Murgos and keep an eye on Burnt-face. We’re getting close to the birth of the Godslayer, and that might be the thing that wakes Torak up.’

‘I’m not so sure about that. If it does, we’re going to be in trouble. An infant wouldn’t pose all that much threat to Torak One-eye.’

‘I still think we should be ready - just in case. If it does wake Torak, you might have to take the baby out into the woods someplace and hide him. Is Chamdar still poking around?’

‘He’s in Tolnedra right now. Drasnian intelligence is keeping an eye on him.’

‘I thought you were supposed to do that.’

‘It’s better this way. Chamdar knows me a little too well. He can feel it when I’m in his general vicinity.’

‘It’s up to you, I guess. I’m going to go talk with the twins for a bit, and then I’d better get back to Cthol Murgos.’ Then he turned around and clumped back on down my stairs. It was only after he’d left that I realized that he hadn’t once asked me for something to drink. Our growing sense of anticipation was making us all behave a little strangely.

The following year, the lame Cho-Hag was elevated to the position of Chief of clan-chiefs of Algaria, and that gave me a lot of trouble. I knew that Hettar would one day take that position, and I couldn’t for the life of me see how that could happen - short of another clan war. Considering what lay ahead, a clan war in Algaria was the last thing we needed.