Since they had slept most of the day, they talked well into the night. Garion awoke refreshed the next morning and prepared to face the day’s festivities.

The nobles at the court of King Oldorin had utilized the previous day and probably half the night preparing speeches – long, flowery, and generally tedious speeches – in praise of ‘our heroic champions’. Protected by his closed visor, Garion frequently found himself dozing – a languor brought on not by weariness, but by boredom. At one point he heard a light clang on the side of his armor.

‘Ouch!’ Ce’Nedra said, rubbing her elbow.

‘What’s the matter, dear?’

‘Do you have to wear all that steel?’

‘Yes, but you know I’m wearing it. What possessed you to try to gouge me in the ribs?’

‘Habit, I suppose. Stay awake, Garion.’

‘I wasn’t sleeping,’ he lied.

‘Really? Why were you snoring then?’

Following the speeches, the king assessed the glassy-eyed condition of his court and called upon ‘Good Master Feldegast’ to lighten things up.

Beldin was at his outrageous best that day. He walked on his hands; he did astonishing back-flips; he juggled with amazing dexterity – all the while telling jokes in his lilting brogue. ‘I hope I’ve managed in me small way t’ add t’ the festivities, yer Majesty,’ he concluded the performance after bowing in response to the enthusiastic applause of the assemblage.

‘Thou art truly a virtuoso, Master Feldegast,’ the king complimented him. ‘The memory of thy performance this day will warm many a dreary winter evening in this hall.’

‘Ah, yer too kind t’ say it, yer Majesty,’ Beldin bowed.

Before the banquet got underway, Garion and Zakath went back to their quarters for a light meal, since they would be unable to eat in the main dining hall without raising their visors. As guests of honor, however, it was incumbent upon them to be present.

‘I’ve never gotten very much entertainment out of watching other people eat,’ Zakath said quietly to Garion after they had entered the banquet hall and taken their seats.

‘If you want entertainment, watch Beldin,’ Garion replied. ‘Aunt Pol spoke very firmly with him last night. She told him to mind his manners today. You’ve seen the way he usually eats. The strain of behaving himself should come very close to making him fly apart.’

Naradas sat at the king’s right elbow. His white eyes were uncertain – even slightly baffled. The fact that Belgarath had made no attempt to get his hands on the map obviously confused him.

And then the serving men began to bring in the banquet. The smells made Garion’s mouth water, and he began to wish that he’d eaten a bit more earlier.

‘I must talk with the king’s chef before we leave,’ Polgara said. ‘This soup is exquisite.’

Sadi chuckled slyly.

‘Did I say something amusing, Sadi?’

‘Just watch, Polgara. I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you.’

Suddenly there was a commotion at the head of the table. Naradas had half-risen, clutching at his throat with his hands. His white eyes were bulging, and he was making strangling noises.

‘He’s choking!’ the king cried out. ‘Someone help him!’

Several of the nobles near the head of the table leapt to their feet and began to pound the Grolim on the back. Naradas, however, continued to strangle. His tongue protruded from his mouth, and his face started to turn blue.

‘Save him!’ the king almost screamed.

But Naradas was beyond saving. He arched backward, stiffened, and toppled to the floor.

There were cries of dismay from all over the dining hall.

‘How did you do that?’ Velvet murmured to Sadi. ‘I’d take an oath that you were never anywhere near his food.’

Sadi smirked wickedly. ‘I didn’t have to go near his food, Liselle,’ he said. ‘The other night I took a rather careful note of his customary place at the table. He always sits to the king’s right. I slipped in here an hour or so ago and annointed his spoon with a little something that makes a man’s throat swell shut.’ He paused. ‘I hope he enjoyed his soup,’ he added. ‘I know I certainly did.’

‘Liselle,’ Silk said, ‘when we get back to Boktor, why don’t you have a chat with your uncle. Sadi’s out of work just now, and Javelin could use a man with his talents.’

‘It snows in Boktor, Kheldar,’ Sadi said with some distaste, ‘and I really don’t like snow that much.’

‘You wouldn’t necessarily have to be stationed in Boktor, Sadi. How would Tol Honeth suit you? You’d have to let your hair grow, though.’

Zakath leaned forward, chuckling. ‘Brilliant, Sadi,’ he added his congratulations, ‘and so perfectly appropriate. Naradas poisoned me back in Rak Hagga, and you poisoned him here. I’ll tell you what, I’ll double any offer Javelin makes you if you’ll come to work for me in Mal Zeth.’

‘Zakath!’ Silk exclaimed.

‘The employment opportunities seem to be cropping up in all quarters of the world,’ Sadi observed.

‘Good men are hard to find, my friend,’ Zakath told him.

The king, shaking and with his face white, was being slowly escorted from the room. As he passed their table, Garion could hear him sobbing.

Belgarath began to swear under his breath.

‘What’s the matter, father?’ Polgara asked him.

‘That idiot will be in mourning for weeks. I’ll never get my hands on that map.’

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

BELGARATH WAS STILL swearing when they returned to their quarters. ‘I think I’ve outsmarted myself,’ he fumed. ‘We should have exposed Naradas before we killed him. There’s no way to discredit him in the king’s eyes now.’

Cyradis sat at the table eating a simple meal with Toth standing protectively over her. ‘What hath thee wroth, Ancient One?’ she asked.

‘Naradas is no longer with us,’ he replied, ‘and now the king’s in mourning for him. It could be weeks before he recovers his composure enough to show me that map.’

Her face grew distant and Garion seemed to hear the murmur of that strange group mind. ‘I am permitted to aid thee in this, Ancient One,’ she said. ‘The Child of Dark hath violated the commandment we laid upon her when we assigned her this task. She sent her henchman here rather than coming to seek the chart herself. Thus certain strictures upon me are relaxed.’ She leaned back in her chair and spoke briefly to Toth. He nodded and quietly left the room. ‘I have sent for one who will assist us,’ she said.