King Anheg posted guards at the foot of the stairs, then came up and closed the heavy door behind him. "Light the fire, cousin," he said to Barak. "We might as well be comfortable."
Barak nodded and put a torch to the wood in the fireplace.
The chamber was round and not too spacious, but there was adequate room for them all and chairs and benches to sit on.
Mister Wolf stood at one of the windows, looking down at the twinkling lights of Val Alorn below. "I’ve always been fond of towers," he said, almost to himself. "My Master lived in one like this, and I enjoyed the time I spent there."
"I’d give my life to have known Aldur," Cho-Hag said softly. "Was he really surrounded by light as some say?"
"He seemed quite ordinary to me," Mister Wolf said. "I lived with him for five years before I even knew who he was."
"Was he really as wise as we’re told?" Anheg asked.
"Probably wiser," Wolf said. "I was a wild and errant boy when he found me dying in a snowstorm outside his tower. He managed to tame me—though it took him several hundred years to do it." He turned from the window with a deep sigh. "To work then," he said.
"Where will you go to take up the search?" King Fulrach asked.
"Camaar," Wolf said. "I found the trail there, I think it led down into Arendia."
"We’ll send warriors with you," Anheg said. "After what happened here, it looks like the Grolims may try to stop you."
"No, Wolf said firmly. "Warriors are useless in dealing with the Grolims. I can’t move with an army underfoot, and I won’t have time to explain to the King of Arendia why I’m invading his kingdom with a horde of troops at my back. It takes even longer to explain things to Arends than it does to Alorns—impossible as that sounds."
"Don’t be uncivil, Father," Aunt Pol said. "It’s their world too, and they’re concerned."
"you wouldn’t necessarily need an army, Belgarath," King Rhodar said, "but wouldn’t it be prudent to take along a few good men?"
There’s very little that Polgara and I can’t deal with by ourselves," Wolf said, "and Silk, Barak and Durnik are along to deal with the more mundane problems. The smaller our group, the less attention we’ll attract." He turned to Cho-Hag. "As long as we’re on the subject, though, I’d like to have your son with us. We’re likely to need his rather specialized talents."
"Impossible," Hettar said flatly. "I have to remain with my father."
"No, Hettar," Cho-Hag said. "I don’t intend for you to live out your life as a cripple’s legs."
"I’ve never felt any restriction in serving you, Father," Hettar said. "There are plenty of others with the same talents I have. Let the Ancient One choose another."
"How many other Sha-Darim are there among the Algars?" Mister Wolf asked gravely?
Hettar looked at him sharply as if trying to tell him something with his eyes.
King Cho-Hag drew his breath sharply. "Hettar," he asked, "is this true?"
Hettar shrugged. "It may be, Father," he said. "I didn’t think it was important."
Cho-Hag looked at Mister Wolf.
Wolf nodded. "It’s true," he said. "I knew it the first time I saw him. He’s a Sha-Dar. He had to find out for himself, though."
Cho-Hag’s eyes suddenly brimmed with tears. "My son!" he said proudly, pulling Hettar into a rough embrace.
"It’s no great thing, Father," Hettar said quietly, as if suddenly embarrassed.
"What are they talking about? Garion whispered to Silk.
"It’s something the Algars take very seriously," Silk said softly. "They think that there are some people who can talk to horses with their thoughts alone. They call these people the Sha-Darim—Clan-Chiefs of the horses. It’s very rare—maybe only two or three in a whole generation. It’s instant nobility for any Algar who has it. Cho-Hag’s going to explode with pride when he gets back to Algaria."
"Is it that important?" Garion asked.
Silk shrugged. "The Algars seem to think so," he said. "All the clans gather at the Stronghold when they find a new Sha-Dar. The whole nation celebrates for six weeks. There are all kinds of gifts. Hettar’ll be a rich man if he chooses to accept them. He may not. He’s a strange man."
"You must go," Cho-Hag said to Hettar. "The pride of Algaria goes with you, your duty is clear."
"As my father decides," Hettar said reluctantly.
"Good," Mister Wolf said. "How long will it take you to go to Algaria, pick up a dozen or so of your best horses and take them to Camaar?"
Hettar thought for a moment. "Two weeks," he said, "if there aren’t any blizzards in the mountains of Sendaria."
"We’ll all leave here in the morning then," Wolf said. "Anheg can give you a ship. Take the horses along the Great North Road to the place a few leagues east of Camaar where another road strikes off to the south. It fords the Great Camaar River and runs down to join the Great West Road at the ruins of Vo Wacune in northern Arendia. We’ll meet you there in two weeks."
Hettar nodded.
"We’ll also be joined at Vo Wacune by an Asturian Arend," Wolf went on, "and somewhat later by a Mimbrate. They might be useful to us in the south."
"And will also fulfill the prophecies," Anheg said cryptically.
Wolf shrugged, his bright blue eyes twinkling suddenly. "I don’t object to fulfilling prophecies," he said, "as long as it doesn’t inconvenience me too much."
"Is there anything we can do to help in the search?" Brand asked.
"You’ll have enough to do," Wold said. "No matter how our search turns out, it’s obvious that the Angaraks are getting ready for some kind of major action. If we’re successful, they might hesitate, but Angaraks don’t think the way we do. Even after what happened at Vo Mimbre, they may decide to risk an all-out attack on the west. It could be that they are responding to prophecies of their own that we don’t know anything about. In any event, I think you should be ready for something fairly major from them. You’ll need to make preparations."
Anheg grinned wolfishly. "We’ve been preparing for them for five thousand years," he said. "This time we’ll purge the whole world of this Angarak infection. When Torak One-eye awakes, he’ll find himself as alone as Mara—and just as powerless."
"Maybe," Mister Wolf said, "but don’t plan the victory celebration until the war’s over. Make your preparations quietly, and don’t sir up the people in your kingdoms any more than you have to. The west is crawling with Grolims, and they’re watching everything we do. The trail I’ll be following could lead me into Cthol Murgos, and I’d rather not have to deal with an army of Murgos massed on the border."
"I can play the watching game too," King Rhodar said with a grim look on his plump face. "Probably even better than the Grolims. It’s time to send a few more caravans to the east. The Angaraks won’t move without help from the east, and the Malloreans will have to cross over into Gar og Nadrak before they deploy south. A bribe or two here and there, a few barrels of strong ale in the right mining camps—who knows what a bit of diligent corruption might turn up? A chance word or two could give us several months’ warning."
If they’re planning anything major, the Thulls will be building supply dumps along the eastern escarpment," Cho-Hag said. "Thulls aren’t bright, and it’s easy to observe them without being seen. I’ll increase my patrols along those mountains. With a little luck, we might be able to anticipate their invasion route. Is there anything else we can do to help you, Belgarath?"
Mister Wolf thought for a moment. Suddenly he grinned. "I’m certain our thief is listening very hard, waiting for one of us to speak his name or the name of the thing he stole. Sooner or later someone’s bound to make a slip; and once he locates us, he’ll be able to hear every word we say. Instead of trying to gag ourselves, I think it might be better if we gave him something to listen to. If you can arrange it, I’d like every minstrel and storyteller in the north start retelling certain old stories—you know the ones. When those names start sounding in every village marketplace north of the Camaar River, it’ll set up a roaring in his ears like a thunderstorm. If nothing else it will give us the freedom to speak. In time he’ll get tired of it and stop listening."