Polgara the Sorceress. David Eddings

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СКАЧАТЬ I said it firmly. ‘Some of those priests are innocent, and people need the comforts of religion. I do think that Kamion’s right, though. We don’t want the Cult so close to the Orb.’

      ‘What’s the alternative to extermination, Aunt Pol?’ Daran asked.

      ‘Exile?’ Kamion suggested.

      ‘You aren’t going to be popular in Val Alorn and Boktor if you send them a fresh wave of fanatics,’ Anrak said.

      ‘I wasn’t thinking of that,’ Kamion told him. ‘I want these home-grown Cultists someplace where we can keep an eye on them.’

      ‘Dungeons are good for that,’ Anrak said.

      ‘It costs too much money to keep people locked up,’ Daran objected. Why is it that every ruler in the world spends all his time worrying about money? Then my nephew’s eyes brightened. ‘Lord Brand,’ he said, ‘do you remember what I threatened Garhein and Altor with last summer?’

      ‘Sending them to the northern end of the Isle, you mean?’

      ‘Exactly.’

      ‘The Cultists would just shed their vestments and sneak back, your Highness.’

      ‘It’s a little hard to sneak across open water, Kamion,’ Daran laughed. ‘There are some little islets strung out above the main Isle. If we send all the cultists up there, we won’t have to worry about them any more.’

      ‘They’re Alorns, your Highness,’ Kamion reminded him. ‘Boat-building’s in their blood.’

      ‘What are they going to build boats out of, my Lord?’

      Trees, I’d imagine.’

      There won’t be any trees on those islets, Kamion. I’ll have all the trees cut down before we exile the Cult.’

      ‘You’re still going to have to feed them, Daran,’ Anrak said.

      ‘They can feed themselves. We’ll give them seed, animals, and farm tools, and they can either take up farming or starve.’

      Anrak’s grin grew broader. ‘It’s got some possibilities,’ he agreed. ‘You’ll have to patrol the coast of their private little prison to keep their adherents from rowing boats across the water to rescue them, though.’

      ‘I think I can persuade my grandfather Cherek to handle that for me. He doesn’t want any more Cult priests in Val Alorn, so I’m sure he’ll want to keep our Cultists here. He’s got ships out there to hold off the Angaraks anyway, so it won’t really cost him anything extra.’

      “The only thing left is to find an excuse for it,’ Kamion told them.

      ‘Any cooked-up story would work, wouldn’t it?’ Anrak asked.

      Kamion winced. ‘Let’s try for a little authenticity, Anrak. Lies get out of hand sometimes. You have to keep expanding them.’

      ‘Maybe we could catch them during one of their secret ceremonies,’ Anrak suggested. “They’re fairly offensive to decent people.’

      ‘Oh?’ Daran said. ‘What’s involved?’

      Anrak shrugged. ‘They all put on bear-skins and get roaring drunk. Their wives and daughters don’t wear anything at all, and there’s a lot of indiscriminate–’ He hesitated, looked at me, and then he actually blushed. ‘Anyway,’ he rushed on, ‘the priests perform what they call magic, which isn’t really anything but fairly clumsy carnival trickery, and – ’

      ‘Perfect!’ I exclaimed.

      ‘I didn’t follow that, Aunt Pol,’ Daran said.

      ‘Didn’t Elthek persuade your father to outlaw witchcraft?’

      ‘Well – yes, I suppose so. It was really just a way to keep the physicians from curing illnesses, though – getting rid of the competition.’

      ‘A strict interpretation of those laws would make those secret Cult ceremonies with all that imitation magic a form of witchcraft, wouldn’t it?’

      ‘Oh, that’s beautiful, Pol!’ Kamion said admiringly.

      ‘If we can find out where and when one of those ceremonies is taking place, we can swoop in during the entertainment and round them up,’ Anrak said. ‘We’ll have enough to indict the whole Cult.’ He thought for a moment. ‘If you can hold off until the autumn equinox, you’ll probably get every Cult-member on the Isle. That’s a big day for the Cult.’

      ‘Oh?’ Daran said. ‘Why’s that?’

      “There’s a tradition that Torak cracked the world on the autumnal equinox. I’m not sure why, but the Cult always celebrates the event. Every district in Cherek, Drasnia, and Algaria has its own Cult party on that night.’

      ‘I’ve got informants among the general population,’ Kamion mused. ‘It shouldn’t be too hard to find out where those ceremonies take place. I’ll put out the word, and we should have what we need in a week or so.’

      Daran sighed disconsolately. ‘Another perfectly good idea just went down a rat-hole,’ he mourned.

      ‘Which idea was that, dear?’ I asked him.

      ‘I was hoping that I could make Elthek himself take up farming, but if we exile the whole lot of them, the ordinary people in the Cult are probably going to feed the priests.’

      ‘Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much about that, Daran,’ Anrak said. ‘I’ve sailed along the north coast of the Isle. There are lots of islets up there, but none of them is really big enough to support more than a half-dozen people. If he wants to eat, Elthek’s going to have to get his hands dirty.’

      ‘Marvelous,’ Daran beamed.

      Kamion’s spies advised us that, unlike the Cult practice in the other Alorn kingdoms, the Cultists here all gathered in a narrow gorge in the mountains rearing above the Citadel. Evidently our Deacon believed in keeping a firm grip on his adherents.

      Kamion and I had a small argument about a week before the autumnal equinox. He was very upset when I told him that I was going with him to that gorge. ‘Out of the question,’ he told me. ‘It’ll be too dangerous.’

      ‘And what are you going to do if it turns out that the Deacon can really perform magic, Kamion? You won’t be able to help Daran very much if Elthek turns you into a toad, you know.’

      That’s absurd, Pol. Nobody can do that’

      ‘Don’t be too sure, Kamion. I probably could – if I set my mind to it. If Elthek does have talent in that area, I’m the only one on the Isle who can counter it. I’m coming along, Kamion, so don’t argue with me about it.’

      The soldiers who were to take the Cult into custody were all carefully selected, and for reasons of security they were not told what their mission was going to be. Kamion dispatched them into the mountains in squads СКАЧАТЬ