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

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ not entirely dead. The people at Cthol Mishrak spoke a corrupted version of it. Anyway, the word “Murgo” meant nobleman or warrior in Old Angarak. Evidently these Murgos are the people who were the aristocrats in Cthol Mishrak.’

      ‘What does “Thull” mean?’

      ‘Serf – or maybe peasant. The distinction’s a little vague in Angarak society. You should know that, Beldin. You’ve spent more time in Mallorea than I have.’

      ‘I wasn’t there to socialize. The second wave of Angaraks settled to the north of the Murgos. They call themselves Thulls, and they’re supplying the Murgos with food. The third wave’s moving into what used to be eastern Aloria – that big forest up there. They’ve been calling themselves Nadraks.’

      ‘Townsmen,’ I translated for him, ‘the merchant class. Are the Alorns doing anything about this?’

      ‘Not really. You spread them a little thin. Bull-neck talks about expeditions in the east, but he doesn’t have the manpower. Algar probably couldn’t do very much about it, because the eastern escarpment blocks his access to that part of the continent.’

      ‘We’d better see if we can make contact with the Master when we get back to the Vale. This migration’s got a very specific reason behind it. As long as the Angaraks stayed in Mallorea, they weren’t any problem. They’re establishing a presence on this side of the Sea of the East so that they can bring in the Grolims. We might want to chase those Murgos, Nadraks, and Thulls back to where they came from.’

      ‘Another war?’

      ‘If we have to. I don’t think we want Grolims on this continent if we can prevent it.’

      ‘Astonishing,’ he said.

      ‘What is?’

      ‘Your mind still works. I thought that maybe you’d broken it during the course of the last dozen years.’

      ‘I came close. Another few years in Camaar probably would have turned the trick. I was drinking everything in sight.’

      ‘So I heard. What finally persuaded you to dry out?’

      ‘The Master paid me a call. I sobered up in a hurry after that and left Camaar. I went down through Arendia and Tolnedra – you know about all that if you’ve been trailing me. Did the Dryads cause you any problems when you went through their woods?’

      ‘I didn’t see a one of them.’

      ‘Maybe it’s the wrong time of year. They definitely interrupted my trip.’

      ‘Oh?’

      ‘It was during their breeding season.’

      ‘That must have been exciting.’

      ‘Did you talk with Salmissra at all when you went through Sthiss Tor?’

      ‘Briefly. There was a lot of turmoil in Sthiss Tor when I passed through there. Somebody’d just butchered all the high-level palace eunuchs.’

      I laughed delightedly. ‘Good girl!’ I said.

      ‘What are you talking about, Belgarath?’

      ‘This particular Salmissra’s actually got a mind. She made the mistake of letting the palace eunuchs find out about it, though. They were planning to assassinate her, and I suggested a way for her to remove that particular danger. Did she get them all?’

      ‘From what I heard, she did.’

      ‘That’s probably why it took her so long. She’s a very thorough young lady, now. What’s Torak doing at Ashaba? Salmissra told me that he’d gone there.’

      ‘From what I hear, he’s having religious experiences. He’s been caught up in a kind of ecstasy for the past ten years or so. He’s babbling all sorts of obscure pronouncements. Urvon’s got a team of Grolims at Ashaba taking down every word. They’re calling those ravings “the Ashabine Oracles”. In fact, there’s been an outbreak of lunacy lately. Bull-neck’s got a crazy man chained to a post a few miles to the west of Boktor, with scribes copying down the poor fellow’s every word.’

      ‘Good. I told him to do that. Just before the Master left, he told me that we were going to be getting our instructions from prophecy now instead of receiving them directly. This is the Age of Prophecy.’

      ‘You sound like a Dal when you talk about ages that way.’

      ‘Evidently the Dals know something we don’t. I think we’ll need a copy of that transcription Dras is having set down, and we’d better pass the word to the other kingdoms to start paying attention to crazy people.’ I paused. ‘How are the girls?’ I asked, trying to make it sound casual.

      ‘Older. You’ve been gone for quite a while.’

      ‘They must be about ten years old by now.’

      ‘Thirteen, actually. Their birthday was just this past winter.’

      ‘It’ll be good to see them again.’

      ‘Don’t get your heart set on a warm reunion, Belgarath. Beldaran might be happy to see you, but you’re not one of Polgara’s favorite people.’

      That turned out to be a gross understatement.

      Beldin and I traveled out of Maragor and crossed the Tolnedran mountains to the Vale. We didn’t particularly hurry. My grotesque little brother’s observations about Polgara had made me slightly apprehensive about meeting her – fully justified, as it turned out.

      I’d missed the serenity of the Vale during those vagabond years, and a profound sense of peace came over me as we came down out of the mountains and looked once more upon our home. The painful memories were still there, of course, but the passage of time had muted and softened them, although every so often I’d see something that twisted inside me like a knife.

      My daughters had moved in with the twins during Beldin’s absence. The promise Beldaran had exhibited when she was a baby had been more than fulfilled. Though she was only thirteen, she was breathtakingly beautiful. Her hair was the color of flax, and it was full and very long. Her face could quite literally stop your heart, and she was as graceful as a gazelle.

      ‘Father!’ she exclaimed when I reached the top of the stairs. Her voice was rich and vibrant, the kind of voice that makes you hold your breath to listen. She flew across the floor and threw herself into my arms. I cursed that wasted twelve years when she did that, and all of my love for her came back, almost overwhelming me. We stood locked in an embrace with tears streaming down our faces.

      ‘Well, old wolf,’ another voice said acidly, ‘I see you’ve finally decided to come back to the scene of the crime.’

      I winced. Then I sighed, took my arms from around Beldaran’s slender shoulders, and turned to face Polgara.

       Chapter 21

      Beldaran was probably СКАЧАТЬ