Then uncle Beldin told us that an Angarak general named Kallath was busy unifying all of Mallorea and bringing it under Torak’s domination.
Prince Geran did bend the rules once during that discussion. ‘Excuse me,’ he said. ‘What’s supposed to happen in Arendia? Isn’t that the place that scroll you’ve got was talking about when it said something about “the lands of the Bull-God”?’
‘Very good, Geran,’ father complimented the boy’s perceptiveness in identifying the reference contained in the obscure language of the Mrin.
‘There’s going to be an EVENT, your Highness,’ uncle Beltira told him.
‘What kind of event?’ Geran hadn’t quite caught on to the peculiar emphasis my family gave that word.
‘The prophecy we call the Mrin Codex uses the term when it’s talking about a meeting between the Child of Light and the Child of Dark,’ Belkira explained.
‘Who are they?’
‘Nobody, specifically,’ Beldin said. “They’re sort of like titles. They get passed around quite a bit. Anyway, everything’s moving in the direction of one of those EVENTS. If we’re reading these things right, the Child of Light and the Child of Dark are going to meet in Arendia some time in the future, and the meeting’s probably not going to be a friendly one. I don’t think they’ll be talking about the weather.’
‘A battle?’ Geran asked enthusiastically. He was fairly young after all.
I was in the kitchen area fixing supper. “The arrival of this Kallath right at this particular time isn’t a coincidence, is it?’ I suggested.
‘Probably not, Pol,’ father agreed.
‘Excuse me again,’ Geran said. ‘If Torak’s got prophecies of his own, then he knows that something important’s going to happen in Arendia the same as we do, doesn’t he?’
‘I’m sure he does,’ Beldin replied.
‘Do you know what I think?’ the boy said, his brow knitted in concentration. ‘I don’t think that what happened to my family really had anything to do with somebody trying to steal the Orb. I think that Torak was just trying to keep us so busy that we wouldn’t pay any attention to what this Kallath person was doing in Mallorea. If the Nyissans hadn’t murdered my family when they did, one of you would have gone to Mallorea to keep Kallath from taking over the whole place. But you all got so busy punishing the Nyissans that you didn’t pay any attention to what was going on in Mallorea.’ He stopped, suddenly aware of the fact that we were all paying very close attention to what he was saying. ‘Well,’ he added apologetically, ‘that’s what I think anyway, and this Zedar person you all know was probably the best one to fool you, since he knows you all so well.’
‘What have you done to this boy, Pol?’ Beldin growled at me. ‘He isn’t supposed to be thinking this clearly yet.’
‘I taught him to read, uncle,’ I replied. ‘He took it from there.’
‘What a waste!’ the dwarf muttered.
‘I don’t think I followed that, uncle.’
‘The boy and I could have been arguing philosophy instead of molesting fish while we came across the mountains.’
‘You absolutely have to tamper with things, don’t you, Pol?’ father said accusingly.
‘Tamper? It’s called “education”, father. Didn’t you tamper with me? I seem to remember a long string of “whys” coming from your mouth a few years back.’
‘You always have to make those clever remarks, don’t you, Pol?’ he said with a certain distaste.
‘It’s good for you, father,’ I replied lightly. ‘It keeps you on your toes, and that helps you to ward off senility – for a little while, anyway.’
‘What did you mean by that, Aunt Pol?’ Geran asked me.
‘It’s a game they play, Geran,’ Beltira explained. ‘It embarrasses them to admit that they actually like each other, so they play this game instead. It’s their way of saying that they don’t really hate each other.’
The twins have such sweet faces that I think we tend to forget just how wise they are. Beltira had seen right to the center of our silly game, and his explanation embarrassed both my father and me.
Fortunately, Brand stepped in to cover our confusion. ‘It would seem that my prince is very gifted,’ the Rivan Warder mused. ‘We’ll have to protect that mind.’
‘That’s my job, Brand,’ I told him.
‘Polgara,’ mother’s voice came to me at that point, ‘listen very carefully. The Master has a question to ask you.’
Then we all sensed the Master’s presence. We couldn’t see him, but we knew that he was there. ‘Dost thou accept this responsibility freely, my daughter?’ he asked me intently.
This was the task I’d accepted at Beldaran’s wedding. I’d sworn to take it up then, and nothing had really happened in the past two thousand or so years to make me change my mind. A great many things fell into place at that point. In a sense, the two eons which had passed since I’d first pledged myself to take up this task had merely been preparation – an education, if you will. Now I was ready to be Geran’s guardian and protector – no matter where EVENTS would take him or the line which would descend from him. I’d already pledged my word to accept this responsibility, but evidently the Master wanted confirmation. ‘I accepted this task freely once before, Master,’ I replied, laying my hand rather possessively on Geran’s shoulder, ‘and I accept it freely now. Truly, I shall guard and guide the Rivan line for so long as it be necessary. Yea, even unto the end of days, if need be.’
As I said it, I felt a peculiar sort of surge, and I seemed to hear a vast ringing sound echoing from the farthest star. Quite clearly my affirmation of my previous vow was an EVENT of the first magnitude. I’d done a few fairly important things before, but this was the first time that the stars had ever applauded me.
‘Well then,’ I said to my some what awed family, ‘now that we’ve settled that, supper’s almost ready, so why don’t you gentlemen go wash your hands while I set the table?’
Chapter 26
If you choose to look at it in a certain light, my acceptance of the task was automatic, even instinctive. My little epiphany on board the ship that carried us from the Isle of the Winds as I’d comforted the grief-stricken Geran lay at the core of my willingness to devote the rest of my life to the descendants of my sister and Riva Iron-grip. The line was of my blood – my pack, if you will – and rearing and protecting each child in the line was an obligation I’d have accepted even had the Master not extracted that pledge from me.