Polgara the Sorceress (46 page)

You can’t get much more obvious than that, I suppose.

He kissed me gently at that point, and I’ll confess that I very nearly swooned right there in his arms. Then, with a look of towering nobility, he tenderly disengaged my arms from about his neck. “The current crisis hath, it seemeth to me, excited us both beyond that which is seemly and proper, dearest Polgara,’ he said with a certain regret. ‘Let us not fall prey to heightened emotions engendered by the prospect of war. I will to horse now to remove myself from this dangerous proximity unto thee. I must to Seline to prepare our defense, and the cool night air might serve to moderate the unseemly heat which doth inflame my blood. Farewell, beloved. Let us address this matter further anon.’

And then he turned and left the room.

‘Ontrose!’ I screamed after him. ‘You come back here!’

And would you believe that he ignored me?

The room in which I stood was my own library, and many of the things there were precious to me. I left the room rather quickly and marched down the hall to the kitchen, where I began hurling things at the wall.

Malon Killaneson, my seneschal, came running. ‘Yer Grace!’ he exclaimed, ‘Whatever are y’ doin’?’

‘I’m breaking dishes, Malon!’ I shouted back at him. ‘You’d better get out of here, because I’m just about ready to start on people!’

He fled.

The following morning, after a sleepless night, I went falcon again. I strongly resisted my impulse to chase Ontrose down and drag him off his horse. I flew south instead. I definitely needed some exercise about then, and Duke Andrion really should be kept advised, I supposed.

I found Andrion on the city walls, and he was dressed in full armor. I flared my wings, swooped over to a concealed spot behind a jutting buttress, and resumed my own
form. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, I try not to do that in the presence of others. I hadn’t examined Andrion recently, so I wasn’t entirely sure that his heart was still sound. Then I came out from behind the buttress. ‘Good morning, Andrion,’ I greeted him.

He looked startled. ‘I had thought that it had been thine intention to go north, Polgara. What hath delayed thee?’

‘I’ve already been north, Andrion,’ I told him. ‘General Halbren’s on the march, and Count Ontrose is going on ahead to Seline. Everything’s moving according to schedule. When Garteon reaches Seline, we’ll be ready for him. What are you doing in that silly armor?’

‘It seemeth to me that thou art out of sorts this morning, Polgara.’

‘Probably something I ate. What
are
you doing?’

‘Posing, Pol, just posing. With both Lathan and Ontrose elsewhere occupied, the command of the local garrison hath winnowed down to me. I have garbed myself in armor, and I do posture and gesticulate here atop the battlements to reassure the citizens of Vo Wacune that they have little to fear with so mighty a warrior standing ‘twixt them and the foul Asturians.’

‘And it’s fun, too, isn’t it?’

‘Well–’ He said it a bit deprecatingly, and we both laughed.

‘Let us return to the palace, Pol,’ he suggested. ‘Surely I have displayed myself enough for one morning, and I do not much care for the fragrance emanating from this suit of steel.’

‘We might do that,’ I agreed, ‘if you promise to walk on the downwind side.’

After we’d returned to the palace and Andrion had shed his steel, we went to his study to discuss the situation.

‘I know this may sound like a personal obsession rearing its head again, Andrion,’ I said, ‘but I
do
rather expect that if we were to start turning over rocks in Asturia, we’d eventually find a Grolim lurking under one of them. The Asturian mind is the perfect target for Grolim chicanery. I’ve never yet encountered one of these Asturian schemes that didn’t have a Grolim source. Ctuchik’s been obsessed
with the idea of starting a general war among the kingdoms of the west since the Murgos crossed the land-bridge some nine hundred years ago. He desperately wants to build a fire, and he always goes to Asturia to find kindling.’

“The War of the Gods ended two thousand years ago, Pol,’ Andrion disagreed.

‘No, dear one, it didn’t. It’s still going on, and at the moment, we’re all engaged in it. I think that after the Battle of Seline’s finished, I’ll drift on over into Asturia and start uprooting trees until I find Garteon’s tame Grolim. Then I’ll take him – piece by piece – on down to Rak Cthol and drop him on Ctuchik’s head.’ It came out from between clenched teeth.

‘Thou art
truly
out of sorts today, Polgara,’ he observed. ‘Didst thou and thy champion perchance have a falling-out?’

‘I wouldn’t exactly call it that, Andrion,’ I replied. ‘It was more in the nature of a disagreement.’

‘On a military matter?’

‘No. It was more important than that. Ontrose
will
come around to my way of thinking, however. I promise you that.’

‘It doth pain me to see thou and thy champion at odds,’ he said. ‘Might I offer my services as conciliator?’

The notion of Duke Andrion’s intervention in this situation struck me as enormously funny, for some reason, and I burst out laughing. ‘No, dear Andrion,’ I said. “This is one of those things Ontrose and I are going to have to work out for ourselves. Thanks for the offer, though.’

I spent the rest of the day at my town house in Vo Wacune. My champion’s remark about cooling one’s blood made a lot of sense just then. We
did
have this incidental little war to get out of the way before we got down to serious business.

The temperature of my blood didn’t noticeably go down, however, and by the next morning, I was about to start climbing the walls. I gave up at that point and flew on north to check the positions of our two armies.

Lathan’s Wacite army was crossing the River Camaar, and he and I spoke briefly on the north bank while we watched small boats and rafts ferrying his troops across. ‘All doth proceed as we have planned, your Grace,’ he assured me in that strangely empty voice I’d noticed when he’d first told Andrion and me of the Asturian plan.

‘What’s the matter, Lathan?’ I asked him very directly. ‘You seem somehow sad.’

He sighed. ‘It is of no moment, your Grace,’ he said. ‘All will be made right again soon. The end of my discontent is now clearly in sight. I will be most glad when it is behind me.’

‘I certainly hope so, dear Lathan,’ I told him. ‘You’re as gloomy as a rainy day. Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’d better go see where General Halbren is.’

General Halbren had reached the northern end of Lake Sulturn by now. He advised me that he’d received word that an incoming Tolnedran merchantman had seen the Asturian fleet about eight miles off-shore near Camaar about three days ago, and that was a sure indication that everything was proceeding according to schedule. I rode along beside my solid general for the rest of that day, putting off my next meeting with Ontrose. I still wasn’t entirely positive that I wouldn’t do something wildly inappropriate
the moment I laid eyes on him. Just the thought of my beautiful champion made my heart start to flutter.

It could very well have been that fluttering that decided my course of action the next morning. Clearly, I wasn’t ready to meet Ontrose just yet, so I decided to fly out over the Great Western Sea to pinpoint the location of the Asturian fleet. If there’d been a favoring wind from the south, we might have to re-think our schedule.

I crossed the coastline at about the site of the present-day city of Sendar and then spiraled upward until I’d reached a height of several thousand feet. From up there, I could see for ten leagues in any direction. If General Halbren’s information had been correct, the enemy fleet should be somewhere near where I’d flown out over open water. They weren’t anywhere in sight, though, and that made me
very
nervous. Perhaps I’d underestimated their speed, so I veered off and flew north along the coast, watching the seaward side. Still nothing. By mid-afternoon I’d rounded the tip of that out-thrust peninsula, and I knew that it was impossible for them to have come this far in six days, but Garteon probably
did
have access to a Grolim and all that implies. I grimly pressed on, and just as evening was turning the sky above me a deep purple, I reached the mouth of the Seline River. There weren’t any ships of any kind there. I was nearing exhaustion, so I spiraled down and roosted in an oak tree near the beach. Maybe Garteon’s ships were
slower
than I’d estimated instead of faster. That meant that I’d have to back-track and cover the sea-lanes to the south instead of up this way. I
was
going to find that fleet.

I roused myself just as dawn was tinging the eastern sky and flew south, darting my eyes in every direction as I went.

It was an hour or so past noon when I finally found them. They were no more than ten leagues north of Camaar, and would you believe that they were at
anchor?
What was going on here? I veered off, crossed the coastline and came to rest on a dead snag in the marshes that lie to the north of Camaar.

This didn’t make any sense! If you’re planning an
invasion, you don’t stop to take a vacation along the way. Something very peculiar was happening. One thing was absolutely certain, though. I had to get this information to Ontrose. This turn of events had cured my fluttering, at least, so I launched myself into the air and flew north over the marshes until I reached solid ground. Then I settled to earth, resumed my own form, and used translocation instead of feathers. In effect, I hopped from hilltop to hilltop. It may sound a bit like a jerky way to travel, but if the hilltops are three or four leagues apart, it
does
enable you to cover a lot of ground in a hurry.

It was almost sunset when I reached Seline, and then I went looking for Ontrose.

I found that he was quartered in the house of the chief magistrate of Seline, an old friend of mine, actually, and I had little trouble getting in to see my beloved.

He rose to his feet and bowed as I entered. ‘Your Grace,’ he greeted me formally. ‘Art thou still vexed with me?’

I winced, remembering the shriek I’d hurled after him when he’d left my manor house. ‘No, dear Ontrose,’ I assured him. ‘I broke a few dishes after you left, and that made
me
feel better.’

He gave me a baffled look.

‘It’s a womanly sort of thing, Ontrose. You wouldn’t understand. Now then, I’ve come across a mystery, and I think I’m going to need your help in finding a solution.’

‘If it is within my power,’ he said modestly.

‘I certainly
hope
it is, because it has
me
baffled. After you ran away from me, I went on down to Vo Wacune to advise Andrion of our progress, and then I came back north again. Baron Lathan was ferrying his army across the River Camaar, and General Halbren had just marched north out of Sulturn, so everything’s going according to our plans.’

“That is most comforting,’ he said.

‘Enjoy it while you can, Ontrose, because the next part has worms crawling out of it.’

‘Oh?’

‘I flew on out over the Great Western Sea to find out just exactly where Garteon’s ships were located. It took me quite
a while, but I finally found them. They’re standing at anchor ten leagues to the north of Camaar.’

‘What?’

‘Garteon’s fleet’s not moving, Ontrose. The mystery I mentioned has to do with “why”? I can’t even begin to imagine what he’s up to.’

‘Art thou certain?’

‘Oh, yes, Ontrose, absolutely certain. I didn’t think it’d be a good idea to fly down and ask them, so I came here instead. Is there any reason at all for a seaborne army to just stop like that?’

‘None that I can fathom, your Grace.’

‘Polgara,’ I corrected him. ‘We got past the “your Grace” business some days back, as I recall.’

‘I would not insult thee by incivil informality,’ he explained.

‘It’s the
formality
I find incivil at this point, love,’ I said bluntly. ‘We can discuss that later, though. Right now we have this problem that’s just screaming for a solution.’

‘There
is
one possible answer, Polgara,’ he mused.

‘Prithee enlighten me – or point me in the direction of the dishes.’

He laughed. ‘In truth, I see no
other
possible solution. Clearly, the fleet stands at anchor awaiting something. Are they out of sight of land?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then I would venture to say that it is no signal they do await.’

‘Probably not, no.’

‘Then must it be a specific date. Evidently, they made better progress than they had anticipated, so now must they pause to allow the calendar to catch up with them.’

‘That
does
stand to reason, Ontrose. They’re waiting, not just loafing.’

‘It doth give birth to yet another mystery, however,’ he said, frowning. ‘Setting a specific date for a military action is not uncommon, but to do so clearly implies a necessity for coordination – one force to attack here while another doth simultaneous attack there. This procedure doth lie at the core of nearly all military campaigns.’

‘It makes sense, yes.’

‘But with
whom
is this coordination? Lathan hath assured us that the entirety of Garteon’s army did take ship at the wharves of Vo Astur. Such being the case, whom is there left in all Asturia to coordinate
with?’

‘Some outside force, perhaps?’ I suggested dubiously, ‘but neither the Alorns nor the Tolnedrans would become involved in Arendish squabbles. I took care of
that
centuries ago.’

My champion’s eyes suddenly widened. ‘Impossible!’ he burst out.

‘But I
did,
love,’ I assured him. ‘Ran Borune I and I skinned the Vorduvians, the Honeths, and the Horbites alive over a hundred years ago to keep them from meddling in Arendish politics, and my father has a firm grip on the Alorns.’

‘I did not speak of that, dear Polgara,’ he assured me. ‘It hath just burst in upon mine awareness that Baron Lathan is not unknown in Arendia, for indeed all Arendia did witness our jousting match at the Arendish Council when I did win the coveted office as thy champion. Might it not have been that Garteon or one of his henchmen did observe – and recognize – our dear friend in Vo Astur, and then did make some show of the embarkation of the Asturian force to deceive him and thus to contaminate his report?’

‘I hadn’t considered that, Ontrose,’ I conceded. ‘Once Lathan had seen all those troops boarding those ships at the wharves of Vo Astur, the ships could easily have sailed ten miles down-river and then unloaded the soldiers on some empty riverbank where Lathan wasn’t around to watch. What it boils down to, dear heart, is that we
know
that Garteon has an army, but we can’t be positive exactly where it is.’

‘I must to horse!’ he exclaimed.

‘Ontrose, dear, dear Ontrose, I
do
wish you’d stop saying that. Where are you going now? Don’t tell me that you’re
still
afraid of what I might do to you.’

‘I must needs confer with Lathan. If we have been duped, all is lost.’

‘Not lost, exactly, but we
would
be badly out of position. Let your horse sleep.
I’ll
take you to Lathan.’

‘But – ’ he started to protest.

‘Trust me, dear one,’ I told him, laying one finger gently against his lips. Then, as long as they were so handy, I went ahead and kissed those soft lips – just to be sure they still tasted as good as before, you understand.

‘Lady Polgara?’ he said uneasily.

‘It’s not polite to interrupt me when I’m busy, love,’ I said firmly. Then I kissed him again. ‘Well,’ I sighed a bit regretfully, ‘that’s enough of that for the moment, I guess.’ A thought had just come to me that might not have come to my champion. Ontrose, despite his urbanity, was really an innocent when it came to politics. His lifelong friendship with Lathan made him incapable of distrusting the baron. I’d seen enough betrayals in my time, however, to always have a few suspicions up my sleeve. ‘In just a few minutes we’re going to go see Baron Lathan,’ I told him. ‘When you talk with him, I’d rather that you didn’t mention any of our random speculations about the location of Garteon’s army.’

‘I must confess that I do not follow thee, beloved.’

‘Let’s not clutter his mind with
our
speculations, Ontrose. Let him arrive at his own. I don’t want to blot out
his
thinking with ours.
His
answer might just come closer to the truth than ours does. Let’s not close the door on that possibility. Just tell him that Garteon’s fleet is anchored and then suggest the possibility of some significant date. Let him take it from there, and let’s see where
he
ends up. Lathan has a good mind, and we’d be fools to hobble it.’

‘Thou art wise beyond belief, my beloved,’ he said admiringly.

‘You are the
nicest
boy, Ontrose,’ I said, laying a fond hand on his cheek.

‘How dost thou propose to transport us unto the camp of Lathan?’ he asked.

‘It’s probably better if you don’t know too many of the details, love,’ I told him. “They aren’t really important, and they might upset you. Put yourself in my hands and trust me.’

‘With my life, beloved.’

I decided
not
to convert him into a field-mouse as I’d done with poor Killane that time. I didn’t want to demean him, and I wanted him to have a clear head when he spoke with Lathan – just in case. At my suggestion, my champion and I went outside the city to a little grove of trees. It was shortly before midnight, but a full moon made the night almost as bright as day. I touched my hand to my beloved’s pale forehead and murmured, ‘Sleep.’ And he did that. Then I gathered my Will and shrunk him.

That’s a clumsy way to put it, I know, but it
is
fairly precise.

When the process was complete, my champion resembled a small figurine about six inches tall, and he weighed no more than a few ounces. I held him in my hand for a moment, and then I shrugged, wrapped him in my handkerchief, and tucked him in my bodice to keep him safe.

Don’t even
think
about saying something clever! And I mean it!

I used translocation again, and that’s a little tricky at night – even with a full moon.

Baron Lathan’s army was just north of Sulturn by now, and the watch-fires made his camp easy to find. I made my last jump to an open hilltop about a half-mile from his picket-lines. Then I looked around carefully, reached into my bodice, and retrieved my champion. I carefully set him down on the grass, reversed the process that’d reduced him, and then said, ‘Wake up, dearest one.’

His eyes opened, and he wiped at his brow. ‘It seemeth to me that I have been in some place that was quite warm,’ he noted.

‘Yes,’ I agreed. I didn’t think it was necessary to tell him exactly
where
he’d spent the last half-hour. Now that I think about it, it probably had been quite warm there.

He looked around. ‘Precisely where are we, my beloved?’ he asked.

‘Just north of Sultum, dearest,’ I replied. That’s Lathan’s camp down there in the valley.’

‘I have slept long, it would appear.’

‘About a half-hour,’ I said. ‘Don’t start counting miles and minutes, dear heart. It’ll only give you a headache. Let’s just say it was one of “those things” and let it go at that.’

‘I shall be guided by thee in this, beloved.’