‘I do confess that I had not considered that, your Grace,’ he admitted. ‘I had thought that, since the reasoning of the Tolnedran emissaries seemed so sound, it might have been the course of wisdom to present the matter to the Arendish Council at our meeting this very summer. It was my thought that once I had clarified the matter for thee and my dear brothers of Wacune and Asturia, I might be declared King of Arendia by general consent, thereby avoiding any disruption of our cordial relations.’ He was actually sincere!
‘Oh, dear,’ I said.
‘I do perceive that thou hast found some flaw in this most excellent proposal,’ he said, looking slightly surprised.
‘Dear, dear Salereon,’ I said as gently as I could, ‘what would you say if Nanteron of Wacune or Lendrin of Asturia came to the meeting this summer, each declaring that he was the natural bom King of Arendia?’
‘I should immediately surmise that they had taken leave of their senses, Lady Polgara. Such declarations would be absurd.’ Then the sunrise of understanding began to dawn – faintly – in his eyes. He looked a bit sheepish. ‘Bad decision there, wot?’ he suggested.
I impulsively embraced the startled young duke. ‘Your decision to bring this to me before you dropped the matter on the council table verged on sheer genius, however, Salereon,’ I complimented him.
‘That characterization hath not been applied to me previously, my lady,’ he admitted. ‘It seemeth to me that mine understanding might be somewhat deficient. Such being the case, mayhap I should be guided by thee in this.’
That’s another good decision, your Grace. You’re getting better at this.’ I considered it. ‘I think I’ll call in Nanteron and Lendrin,’ I mused. ‘Maybe this year we should hold the meeting of the Arendish Council here, instead of at the fair. I’ll take steps to keep Tolnedrans away while the four of us talk this out. Let’s keep the Arendish Council meeting in the family this time.’
Within the week, Nanteron of Wacune and Lendrin of Asturia arrived. I took them individually aside and threatened them with all sorts of horrors if they so much as cracked a smile when I announced the full extent of Salereon’s mental deficiencies. I’m sure they got my point.
After we’d discussed the matter at some length, I decided that the best way to keep the Vorduvians, the Honeths, and the Horbites from meddling in Arendish internal affairs would be to place the whole business before Ran Borune I himself, and I volunteered to go to Tol Honeth and have a little chat with his Imperial Majesty in person.
I decided to skip over all the tedious formalities that would normally precede such a meeting and flew south to Tol Honeth. It took me a day or so of fluttering around the extensive grounds of the imperial compound until I found an opportunity simply too good to pass up. As it turned out, Ran Borune and I shared a hobby. The first of the Borunes was as passionate as I was about roses, and he spent several hours each day in his garden. I settled on a tree limb there and resumed my own form while he was carefully examining a somewhat sickly rose-bush.
‘I think it needs more fertilizer, your Majesty,’ I suggested quite calmly.
He spun around with a startled oath. He was a small man, even for a Tolnedran, and his gold mantle, the badge of his rank, seemed just a bit showy for the task in which he was engaged.
‘Help me down, if you would please, your Majesty, and I’ll have a look at the poor thing,’ I said pleasantly.
‘Who are you?’ he demanded, ‘and how did you get past the guards?’
‘You probably know my father, Ran Borune,’ I replied. ‘He’s a seedy-looking old fellow with white whiskers and a tendency to tell people what to do. He’s been acquainted with your family for about five centuries now.’
‘You mean Belgarath?’
That’s him.’
‘That would mean that you’re Polgara, the Duchess of Erat.’
‘Exactly. I thought it might be best if we spoke privately. Would you give me a hand, please. A tree limb’s not the most dignified place to perch while one’s discussing matters of state.’
He helped me down, and his eyes were a little wild.
I looked at his sickly rose-bush. ‘Bury a dead fish in amongst its roots, Ran Borune,’ I advised. ‘You planted it a little too close to that overhanging roof. The rain water’s been leaching all the nutrients out of the soil. You might give some thought to moving it next winter after it’s gone dormant. Now then, there’s something going on that you ought to know about. The Vorduvians, Honeths, and Horbites are meddling in Arendish affairs, and we’d like to have them stop it.’
His look became exasperated. ‘What are they up to now?’ he demanded.
They approached Duke Salereon of Mimbre and filled his head with royal ambitions. The poor boy was completely taken in by their flattery, and he was right on the verge of declaring himself the king of all Arendia. That would have re-started the Arendish civil wars almost immediately. I’ve spent a great deal of time and effort imposing peace on Arendia, and I’d really like to keep things up there quiet.’
‘Those idiots!’ he exploded.
‘My sentiments exactly, your Majesty. Your northern nobles are a greedy lot, and they’re involved in the arms trade. Peace in Arendia’s cutting into their profits, so they’re trying to stir things up. I’m going to do something rather radical about it, and I thought I ought to let you know why I need to take those steps.’
‘You’re going to invade northern Tolnedra?’ He said it with a certain enthusiasm.
‘No, Ran Borune,’ I replied. ‘I won’t violate your borders. I’m going to close mine instead. The dukes of Arendia will do exactly as I tell them to do, so I’m going to close all our borders to Tolnedrans for a while.’
His face went dead white at that.
‘Only for a year or so, your Majesty,’ I assured him – ‘just long enough to get my point across to the Honeths, Horbites, and Vorduvians. It won’t quite bankrupt them, but it’ll come close. It won’t have much effect on the Borunes, the Anadiles, or the Ranites, since you’re all in southern Tolnedra, but it’ll definitely have an impact on the northern Tolnedrans. I’m going to keep them from tampering with the peace agreements in Arendia, and this is the best way I can think of to get their attention. I want them to bang their heads against those closed borders for a while and to try living without the profits they’re bleeding out of Arendia. I think they’ll come around after a while, don’t you?’