Polgara the Sorceress (22 page)

“That’s all right for peasants,’ Elthek objected, ‘but what about us? You surely don’t expect the priesthood to grub in the dirt for food, do you?’

‘You’re not a priest any more, dear boy,’ Kamion informed him. ‘You’re a convicted felon, and the throne has no obligations to you whatsoever. Dig or die, Elthek. It’s entirely up to you. There are seabirds up there, and I’m told that bird-droppings make excellent fertilizer. You’re a very creative fellow, so I’m sure you’ll do just fine.’ Then he smiled faintly as Elthek’s expression showed that he was gradually beginning to realize just exactly what Daran’s seeming leniency really meant. ‘I’d just love to stay and chat with you some more, dear boy,’ the Warder said, ‘but his Highness and I have pressing business at the Citadel. Affairs of state, you understand.’ He raised his voice slightly. ‘I think the prisoners are ready now, Captain Tor-gun,’ he said. ‘Would you be so kind as to escort them to their ships? They have a great deal of work ahead of them, and I’m sure they’re all eager to get started.’

‘At once, Lord Brand!’ Torgun replied, saluting smartly.

‘Ah, Elthek,’ I said sweetly to the crestfallen clergyman.

‘What?’ his response was surly.

‘Have a nice voyage, and I
do
hope you’ll enjoy your new home and your new occupation.’

And that was the last time that the Bear-Cult reared its head on the Isle of the Winds. It’s been some three thousand years and more since Elthek and his cohorts took up subsistence farming on those rocky little islets, and even though they’re Alorns, the Rivans took Daran’s lesson very much to heart. The notion of spading bird manure into rocky soil in order to eke out a miserable existence doesn’t appeal to very many people, and those wind-swept islets will always be there – waiting.

The following spring came late, and I began to grow more and more restless. Then, late one night when a wind-driven rain-storm tore at the towers of the Citadel and I tossed restlessly in my bed, mother’s thought came to me.
‘Polgara,’
she said,
‘don’t you think it’s about time for Daran to get married?’

To be quite honest about it, my mother’s question startled me, since I still – irrationally, I suppose – thought of my nephew as a child. To concede that he was growing up would have further separated me from Beldaran, I guess. Everybody has these little lapses.

The next day, however, when Daran, Kamion and I met for our usual discussion of the state of the kingdom, I rather closely examined my nephew and was forced to admit that mother was probably right. Daran had sandy blond hair, and fair-haired people always seem to look younger than brunettes do. He was a muscular young man, though, and wrestling with the chores of his regency had given him a maturity far beyond his years.

‘Why are you looking at me that way, Aunt Pol?’ he asked curiously.

‘Oh, no particular reason. I think you missed a spot under your chin while you were shaving this morning, is all.’

He ran his fingers up and down his neck. ‘Yes,’ he agreed, ‘it is a little furry down there, isn’t it? Do you think I should grow a beard?’

‘No,’ I told him, ‘definitely not. There are enough shaggy people around here already. Now, then, what are we going to do about this shortage of priests? Most of them are up north with Elthek.’

‘We can get along without priests, Aunt Pol. The priests
of Belar always seem to get Bear-Cult ideas, for some reason, and I don’t want to go through that again.’

‘We need priests, Daran.’

‘What for?’

To perform weddings and funerals,’ I told him rather bluntly. ‘Young people here on the Isle are beginning to find alternatives to marriage, and that should probably be discouraged, wouldn’t you say? I’m sure it’s all very entertaining, but it
does
tend to erode the morals of your people, don’t you agree?’

He actually blushed about that.

‘Why don’t you let me take care of the problem, your Highness?’ Kamion suggested. ‘We
could
recruit priests of Belar in Cherek and Drasnia, but that might just reintroduce the Bear-Cult here on the Isle. I’ll talk with the palace chaplain about it, and we can probably set up a theological seminary in the temple.
Ill
lay out the curriculum, though, so we can be fairly sure that unorthodoxy doesn’t creep in.’

‘You’re the scholar, Kamion,’ Daran shrugged. ‘Do whatever you think best.’ He looked at the window where midmorning light streamed into the room. ‘What hour would you say it is?’ he asked me. ‘I’ve got an appointment with my tailor this morning.’

‘It’s the fourth hour past dawn, dear,’ I told him.

‘It seems later for some reason.’

Trust me, Daran.’

‘Of course, Aunt Pol.’ He rose to his feet. ‘I’ll be back after lunch.’ He flexed his arms. ‘This doublet’s getting a little tight across the shoulders. Maybe my tailor can let it out a bit.’ Then he crossed to the door and left the room.

‘Kamion,’ I said.

‘Yes, Pol?’

‘Let’s find him a wife. Bachelorhood’s habit-forming, I’ve noticed.’

Kamion burst out laughing.

‘What’s so funny?’

‘I’ve never heard it put that way before, Pol. Why don’t I draw up a list of all the eligible – and unattached – young noblewomen here?’

‘Not just the noblewomen, Kamion,’ I told him quite firmly.

‘Is the prince allowed to marry a commoner?’ Kamion seemed startled.

‘He’s allowed to marry anyone I tell him to marry, Kamion,’ I said. ‘We’re dealing with a very unusual family here, so normal rules don’t apply.
We
won’t be choosing Daran’s wife. That decision’s going to come from someone else.’

‘Oh? Who?’

‘I’m not at liberty to discuss it – and you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.’

‘One of
those
things?’ he asked with some distaste.

‘Exactly. Get started on your list while I get some instructions.’

He sighed.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘I
hate
this, Pol. I like for things to be rational.’

Then it was my turn to laugh. ‘Do you actually believe that the process of love and marriage is rational, Kamion? We humans aren’t exactly like birds attracted to a display of bright feathers, but we come very close. Trust me in this, my friend.’

‘You’re using that phrase quite a lot this morning, Pol.’

‘If you and Daran would just listen to me, I wouldn’t have to repeat myself so often. Run along now, Kamion, I’ve got work to do.’

I returned to my rooms and went looking for mother with my mind.

‘Yes, Polgara?’
her thought came to me.

‘Kamion’s seeking out all of the eligible young women on the Isle, mother. How do we determine which of them to choose?’

‘You’ll know – and so will Daran.’

‘We aren’t going to let
him
make the decision, are we? He’s a nice boy, but this is important.’

She actually laughed.
‘Just bring them into the Hall of the Rivan King one by one, Pol,’
she told me.
‘You’ll know immediately – and so will Daran.’

And so we did it that way. Our approach wasn’t really very subtle. Kamion let it be generally known that Daran
was looking for a wife – although that was probably the furthest thing from the Prince Regent’s mind. The young women on the Isle were paraded, one by one, before the throne in the Hall of the Rivan King. They all wore their finest clothing, and each of them was given about five minutes to try to snare our increasingly nervous – even frightened – young man.

It went on for days, and poor Daran was engulfed by treacle-laden smiles as the girls of Isle of the Winds each tried to enchant him.

‘If this goes on much longer, Aunt Pol, I’m going to run away,’ he threatened one evening.

‘Don’t do that, dear,’ I said. ‘I’d just have to chase you down and bring you back. You
have
to get married, Daran, because you
have
to produce an heir to your father’s throne. That obligation takes precedence over all others. Now go get some sleep. You’re starting to look just a bit haggard.’

‘So would you if people kept looking at you like a side of beef.’

It was the next day, I think, when
she
came into the hall. She was quite small, and her hair was almost as dark as mine. Her large luminous eyes, however, were so dark as to be almost black. Her father was a very minor nobleman, hardly more than a peasant, who had a small holding back in the mountains. Her name was Larana, she wore a plain dress, and she entered the Hall rather hesitantly. Her eyes were downcast, and there was a faint flush on her alabaster cheeks.

I heard Daran’s breath catch in his throat, and I turned sharply to look at him. His face had gone very pale, and his hands were trembling. More importantly, though, was the fact that the Master’s Orb on the pommel of his father’s sword was glowing a soft pink, a blush almost exactly matching the one on Larana’s cheeks.

I stepped over to where the Rivan Warder stood. ‘Send the rest of them away, Kamion,’ I advised him. ‘We’ve found the one we want.’

Kamion was staring incredulously at the rosy Orb. ‘Was that supposed to happen, Pol?’ he asked, his voice a little strangled.

‘Of course,’ I replied in an off-hand sort of way. ‘You didn’t think we were just going to have all those girls draw straws, did you?’ Then I stepped down from the dais and approached the bride-to-be. ‘Good morning, Larana,’ I greeted her.

‘Lady Polgara,’ she responded with a graceful curtsey.

‘Why don’t you come with me, dear?’ I said.

‘But – ’ she looked at Daran with an almost naked longing.

‘You’ll have time to talk with him later, dear,’ I assured her. ‘Lots of time, I’d imagine. There are some things you’ll need to know, so let’s get them out of the way right at the outset.’ I firmly took our bride-to-be by the arm and led her toward the door.

‘Aunt Pol.’ Daran’s voice almost had a note of panic in it.

‘Later, dear,’ I told him. ‘Why don’t you and Lord Brand go to our meeting room? Larana and I’ll be along in a little while.’

I took Larana to my rooms, sat her down, and gave her a cup of tea to settle her nerves. Then I told her in rather general terms something about the peculiar family she’d soon be joining.

‘I thought all those stories were just that, Lady Polgara – stories. Are you saying that they’re all really true?’

‘They’ve probably been exaggerated a bit, dear,’ I said, ‘but they’re still more or less true.’

‘Does the prince know? That I’ve been selected, I mean?’

‘Oh, dear, dear Larana,’ I laughed. ‘Didn’t you see his face? Right now he’d walk through fire just to get to you.’

‘But I’m so ordinary.’

‘No, dear,’ I said firmly. ‘You’ve never been ordinary, and you never will be. Drink your tea now, and then we’ll join the menfolk.’

She set down her cup. ‘Shouldn’t we hurry, Lady Polgara?’ she asked. ‘I wouldn’t want him to get away.’

‘Not to worry, dear. He’s not going to get away from you. Let him wait just a bit. It’ll be good for him.’

When the two of us joined Kamion and Daran in the blue-draped tower room, I was treated to a repetition of
that day in the inn at Camaar when my sister and Riva first met.

‘Aren’t they going to say anything to each other, Pol?’ Kamion whispered to me after about half an hour of absolute silence.

“They
are
saying things to each other, Kamion. Listen with your eyes, not your ears.’

He looked at the happy couple and saw the absolute adoration on their faces. ‘I think I see what you mean, Pol. It’s almost embarrassing to be in the same room with them.’

‘Yes,’ I agreed. Then I looked speculatively at Larana. ‘You’d better give me about ten days before you schedule the wedding, Kamion. I have to have a long talk with Arell about Larana’s wedding dress and a few other details.’

‘It’s all settled then? That quick?
My
courtship went on for half a year or more.’

I patted his cheek. ‘This is more efficient, dear boy,’ I told him.
‘You’ll
probably have to make most of the decisions here on the Isle for the next couple of months. Daran’s not going to be very rational for a while. Oh, you’d better talk with Riva and let him know what’s afoot. He’ll have to be present, of course, and we’ll want to give him time to prepare himself to appear in public again.’

‘That might be a little tricky, Pol. He’s become very reclusive in the past year. If I didn’t know better, I’d almost say that he’s afraid of people.’

‘Let him know what’s happening, Kamion, and then I’ll talk with him.’

Kamion looked at the children again. “The next problem is how we’re going to get those two apart. Besides, it’s starting to get dark outside, and we should probably feed them.’

‘They aren’t hungry, Kamion. Give them another couple of hours, and then I’ll take Larana to my quarters for the night.’

‘Be sure to lock your door. Keeping Daran and Larana away from each other might be just a bit difficult.’

‘I’ll take care of it, Brand. Send for Arell, would you, please? Tell her that I’ll need her first thing in the morning.’ Then I went over to where the children were still gazing
into each others’ eyes. ‘Did you ask her yet, Daran?’ I said, shaking his shoulder to get his attention.

‘Ask her what, Aunt Pol?’

I gave him a long, steady look.

He flushed slightly. ‘Oh,’ he said, ‘that. It’s not really necessary, Aunt Pol.’

‘Why don’t you do it anyway, Daran? These little formalities are the very soul of civilized behavior.’

‘Well, if you think I should. It’s already been decided, though.’ He looked at the young woman who’d fill the rest of his life. ‘You will, won’t you, Larana?’ he asked.

‘Will what, my Lord?’ she replied.

‘Marry me, naturally.’

‘Oh,’ she said, ‘that. Of course I will, my Lord.’

‘See?’ I said. ‘Now that wasn’t so difficult, was it?’

There had been cries of outraged anguish from those girls who’d been waiting to meet the Crown Prince and then had been summarily dismissed, and Kamion and I were besieged by equally outraged fathers vehemently protesting – not so much the disappointment of their daughters as the evaporation of their own opportunities for social prestige and access to the throne. But Kamion and I were able to smooth all the ruffled feathers with mysterious references to ‘fate’, ‘destiny’, and ‘preordination’. Our arguments were a bit specious, I’ll admit, but convincing lies are the very soul of diplomatic discourse.