The fenling had very large eyes, and he watched us curiously as Gannik poled his boat through the large pond that appeared to be the creature’s home. Then it made that peculiar chittering sound that the fenlings make. It sounded almost as if he were scolding us.

Gannik laughed. ‘We’re scaring the fish,’ he said, ‘and he’s telling us about it. Sometimes it seems they can almost talk.’

Vordai, the witch of the fens, came to that self-same conclusion some years later, and she dragooned me into doing something about it.

We finally reached that part of the swamp that was fed by the channels at the mouth of the Aldur river, and Gannik poled us to the higher ground lying to the east of the swamp. Pol and I thanked him and went ashore.

It was good to get my feet on dry ground again.

‘Are we going to change form again?’ Pol asked me.

‘In a bit. We’ve got something to talk about first, though.’

‘Oh, what’s that?’

‘You’re growing up, Pol.’

‘Why, do you know, I believe you’re right.’

‘Do you mind? There are some things you need to know.’

‘Such as?’

That’s where I started floundering. Pol stood there with a vapid, wide-eyed expression on her face, letting me dig myself in deeper and deeper. Polgara can be very cruel when she puts her mind to it. Finally I stopped. Her expression was just a little too vacant. ‘You already know about all this, don’t you?’ I accused her.

‘About what, father?’

‘Stop that. You know where babies come from. Why are you letting me embarrass the both of us?’

‘You mean they don’t hatch out under cabbage leaves?’ She reached out and patted me on the cheek. ‘I know all about it, father. I helped to deliver Beldaran’s baby, remember? The midwives explained the whole procedure to me. It did sort of stir my curiosity, I’ll admit.’

‘Don’t get too curious, Pol. There are certain customary formalities before you start experimenting.’

‘Oh? Did you go through those formalities in Mar Amon - every single time?’

I muttered a few swear-words under my breath and then slipped into the form of a wolf. At least a wolf can’t blush, and my face had been getting redder and redder as I’d gone along.

Polgara laughed that deep rich laugh I hadn’t heard very often and blurred into the shape of the tufted owl.

Chapter 27

Beldin had returned from his visit to Mallorea when Pol and I reached the Vale. I was a bit surprised that he’d made it back so soon. He’s normally good for a couple centuries when he goes there. He was his usual gracious self when he came stumping up the stairs to my tower on the morning after the night Pol and I got home. ‘Where have you two been?’ he snapped at us.

‘Be nice, uncle,’ Pol replied calmly. ‘We had some things to take care of.’

‘You’re back early,’ I said. ‘Is there some sort of emergency?’

‘Stop trying to be clever, Belgarath. You don’t have the gift for it. The Mallorean Angaraks are just milling around over there. Nothing’s going to happen until Torak comes out of seclusion at Ashaba.’ He suddenly grinned. ‘Zedar’s there with him now, and it’s making that piebald Urvon crazy.’

‘Oh?’

‘Urvon’s a born today, and the fact that Zedar’s closer to Torak than he is right now is more than he can bear. To make it worse, he can’t go to Ashaba to protect his interests because he’s afraid to come out of Mal Yaska.’

‘What’s he so afraid of?’

‘Me. I guess he has nightmares about that hook I showed him.’

‘Still? That was over five hundred years ago, Beldin.’

‘Evidently it made a lasting impression. At least it keeps one of Torak’s disciples pinned down. What’s for breakfast, Pol?’

She gave him a long, steady look.

‘You seem to be filling out a bit,’ he noted, brazenly running his eyes over her. ‘You might want to try to keep that under control. You’re getting a little hippy.’

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. ‘Don’t press your luck, uncle,’ she warned.

‘I’d pay attention to her, Beldin,’ I advised him. ‘She’s started her education, and she’s a very apt pupil.’

‘I sort of thought she might be. What were you two up to? The twins told me you’d gone to the Isle.’

‘There’s an heir to the Rivan throne now,’ I told him. ‘His name’s Daran, and he shows quite a bit of promise. The Master’s Orb was very pleased to meet him.’

‘Maybe I’ll drift on over there and have a look at him,’ Beldin mused. ‘I might not be related to him the way you are, but Beldaran and I were fairly close when she was growing up. What took you so long coming back?’

‘Pol and I took a swing through Darine and then went over to Drasnia on our way back. I wanted to take a look at those two prophets. There’s no question about their authenticity.’

‘Good. Torak’s having a little difficulty with his prophecy.’

‘What kind of difficulty?’

‘He doesn’t like what it says. When he came out of his trance and read what Urvon’s scribes had taken down, he tore down a couple of mountains, I guess. The Ashabine Oracles seem to have offended him.’

‘That sounds promising. Is there any way we can get our hands on a copy?’

‘Not likely. Torak definitely doesn’t want that document widely circulated. Urvon had a copy, but Torak reached out from Ashaba and set fire to it.’ He scratched at his beard. ‘Zedar’s at Ashaba, and we both know him well enough to be sure that he’ll have a copy. If Torak ever lets him leave, he’ll probably take it with him. It’s my guess that it’s the only copy that isn’t under One-eye’s direct control. Someday, I’ll catch up with Zedar and take it off his carcass.’ He scowled at me. ‘Why didn’t you kill him when you had the chance?’

‘I was told not to. I think you’d better restrain your homicidal impulses as well, if you ever happen to come across him. We’re going to need him later on.’

‘I don’t suppose you could be any more specific?’

I shook my head. ‘That’s all I was told.’

He grunted sourly. ‘I might be able to get hold of a copy of “The Mallorean Gospels” - if I could figure out a way to get into Kell and back out again all in one piece.’

‘What are “The Mallorean Gospels”?’ Pol asked him.

‘Another set of prophecies,’ he replied. ‘They’ll be very obscure, though. The Dals wrote them, and the Dals are absolutely neutral. Oh, incidentally, Belgarath, Ctuchik’s moved.’

‘Yes, I’d heard about that. He’s at a place called Rak Cthol now.’

He nodded. ‘I flew over it on my way home. It isn’t very inviting. It’s built on top of a peak that sticks up out of the middle of a desert. I picked up a few rumors. Evidently this epidemic of prophecy’s pretty widespread. Some of Ctuchik’s Grolims have come down with it, too. He’s got them at Rak Cthol with scribes camped on them. I doubt that their prophecies’ll be as precise as Torak’s, but it might be worth our while to try to get hold of a copy. I’ll leave that up to you, though. I think I’d better stay away from that dog Ctuchik. I’ve brushed up against his mind a few times, and he could probably feel me coming from a hundred leagues off. We want information, not fist-fights.’

‘The Murgos are on the move, you know,’ Pol told him. ‘They’re moving into the southern half of the continent and enslaving the western Dals in the process.’

‘I’ve got a great deal of respect for the Dals’ intellectual gifts,’ he replied, ‘but they don’t have much spirit, do they?’

‘I think that’s all subterfuge,’ I told him. ‘They don’t have any trouble keeping Urvon’s Grolims away from Kell.’ I leaned back. ‘I think maybe I’ll visit Rak Cthol and pay a call on Ctuchik,’ I mused. ‘He’s new in this part of the world, so somebody ought to welcome him, or at least see what he looks like when he isn’t a Hound.’

‘It’d be the neighborly thing to do,’ Beldin said with an evil grin.

‘Are you going back to Mallorea?’

‘Not for a while. I want to go look at your grandson first.’

‘Do you want to keep an eye on Polgara for me while I’m gone?’

‘I don’t need a keeper, father,’ she told me.

‘Yes, as a matter of fact, you do,’ I disagreed. ‘You’re at a dangerous stage in your education. You think you know more than you really do. I don’t want you to start experimenting without supervision.’

‘I’ll watch her,’ Beldin promised. He looked at her then. ‘Have we forgotten about breakfast altogether, Pol?’ he asked. ‘Just because you’ve decided to watch your weight doesn’t mean that the rest of us have to start fasting.’

I went northeasterly out of the Vale that same morning and changed my form as soon as I reached the Algarian plain. I don’t like to pass through the Vale as a wolf. The deer and rabbits there might be alarmed. They’re all more or less tame, and it’s not polite to frighten the neighbors.