Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress: 2-Book Collection. David Eddings

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СКАЧАТЬ to Arendia from Val Alorn. I introduced myself, and the white robe and staff helped to convince him that I was telling the truth. He offered to buy me a tankard or six of Arendish ale, but I politely declined. I didn’t want to get started on that again. ‘How are the boats working out?’ I asked him.

      ‘Ships,’ he corrected. Sailors always make that distinction. ‘They’re fast,’ he conceded, ‘but you have to pay close attention to what you’re doing when the wind comes up. King Cherek told me that you designed them.’

      ‘I had a little help,’ I replied modestly. ‘Aldur gave me the basic plan. How is Cherek?’

      ‘A little mournful, really. I think he misses his sons.’

      ‘It couldn’t be helped. We had to protect the Orb. How are the boys doing in their new kingdoms?’

      ‘They’re getting by, I guess. I think you rushed them, Belgarath. They were a little young when you sent them off into the wilderness like that. Dras calls his kingdom Drasnia, and he’s starting to build a city at a place he calls Boktor. I think he misses Val Alorn. Algar calls his kingdom Algaria, and he isn’t building cities. He’s got his people rounding up horses and cattle instead.’

      I nodded. Algar probably wouldn’t have been interested in cities. ‘What’s Riva doing?’ I asked.

      ‘He’s definitely building a city. The word “fort” would probably come closer, though. Have you ever been to the Isle of the Winds?’

      ‘Once,’ I said.

      ‘Then you know where the beach is. That valley that runs down out of the mountains sort of stair-steps its way down to the beach. Riva had his people build stone walls across the front of each step. Now he’s got them building their houses up against the backs of those walls. If somebody tried to attack the place, he’d have to fight his way over a dozen of those walls. That could get very expensive. I stopped by the Isle on my way here. They’re making good progress.’

      ‘Has Riva started building his citadel yet?’

      ‘He’s got it laid out, but he wants to get his houses built first. You know how Riva is. He’s awfully young, but he does look out for his people.’

      ‘He’ll make a good king, then.’

      ‘Probably so. His subjects are a little worried, though. They really want him to get married, but he keeps putting them off. He seems to have somebody special in mind.’

      ‘He does. He dreamed about her once.’

      ‘You can’t marry a dream, Belgarath. The Rivan throne has to have an heir, and that’s something a man can’t do all by himself.’

      ‘He’s still young, Haknar. Sooner or later some girl’s going to take his eye. If it starts to look like it’s going to be a problem, I’ll go to the Isle and have a talk with him. Is Cherek still calling what’s left of his kingdom Aloria?’

      ‘No. Aloria’s gone now. That took a lot of the heart out of Bear-shoulders. He hasn’t even gotten around to putting a name to that peninsula you left him. The rest of us just call it “Cherek” and let it go at that. That’s whenever he lets us come home. We spend a lot of time at sea patrolling the Sea of the Winds. Cherek’s very free with titles of nobility, but there’s a large fishhook attached to them. I was about half-drunk when he made me Baron Haknar. It wasn’t until I sobered up that I realized that I’d volunteered to spend three months out of every year for the rest of my life sailing around in circles up in the Sea of the Winds. It’s really unpleasant up there, Belgarath – particularly in the winter. I get ice a half-foot thick on my sails every night. My deck-hands talk about the “Haknar jig”. That’s when the morning breeze shakes the ice off the sails and drops it down on the deck. My sailors have to dance out of the way or get brained. Are you sure I can’t offer you something to drink?’

      ‘Thanks all the same, Haknar, but I think I’d better be moving on. Vo Astur depresses me. You can’t get an Asturian to talk about anything but politics.’

      ‘Politics?’ Haknar laughed. ‘The only thing I’ve ever heard an Asturian talk about is who he’s going to go to war with next week.’

      ‘That’s what passes for politics here in Asturia,’ I told him, rising to my feet. ‘Give my best to Cherek the next time you see him. Tell him that I’m still keeping an eye on things.’

      ‘I’m sure that’ll make him sleep better at night. Are you coming to Val Alorn for the wedding?’

      ‘What wedding?’

      ‘Cherek’s. His wife died while he was off in Mallorea. Since you stole all his sons, he’s going to need a new heir. His bride-to-be is a real beauty – about fifteen or so. She’s pretty, but she’s not really very bright. If you say “good morning” to her, it takes her ten minutes to think up an answer.’

      I felt a sudden wrench. I wasn’t the only one who’d lost a wife. ‘Give him my apologies,’ I told Haknar shortly. ‘I don’t think I’ll be able to make it. I’d better be going now. Thanks for the information.’

      ‘Glad to be of help, Belgarath.’ Then he turned and bellowed, ‘Innkeeper! More ale!’

      I went back out into the street and walked slowly back toward the temple of Chaldan, being careful not to think about Cherek’s bereavement. I had my own, and that filled my mind. I didn’t really want to dwell on it, since there was nobody around to chain me to a bed.

      I’d received a few tentative invitations to visit the Duke in his palace, but I’d put them off with assorted vague excuses. I hadn’t visited the Duke of Vo Wacune, and I definitely didn’t want to show any favoritism. Given my probably undeserved celebrity, I decided not to have anything to do with any of those three contending Dukes. I had no desire to get involved in the Arendish civil wars – not even by implication.

      That might have been a mistake. I could probably have saved Arendia several eons of suffering if I’d just called those three imbeciles together and rammed a peace-treaty down their throats. Considering the nature of Arends, however, they’d more than likely have violated the treaty before the ink was dry.

      Anyway, I’d found out what I needed to know in Vo Astur, and the invitations from the Ducal Palace were becoming more and more insistent, so I thanked the priests for their hospitality and left town before daybreak the following morning. I’ve been leaving town before daybreak for longer than I care to think about.

      I was almost certain that the Duke of Vo Astur would take my departure as a personal affront, so when I was a mile or so south of town, I went back into the woods a ways and took the form of the wolf.

      Yes, it was painful. I wasn’t even certain that I could bring myself to do it, but it was time to find out. I’d been doing a number of things lately that pushed at the edges of my pain. I was not going to live out my life as an emotional cripple. Poledra wouldn’t have wanted that, and if I went mad, so what? One more mad wolf in the Arendish forest wouldn’t have made that much difference.

      My assessment of the Duke of Vo Astur turned out to be quite accurate. I was ghosting southward along the edge of the woods about an hour later when a group of armed horsemen came pounding along that twisting road. The Asturian Duke really wanted me to pay him a visit. I drifted back in under the trees, СКАЧАТЬ