‘He’s the king of an island off the south coast of Mallorea,’ Garion told him. ‘A group of us met in his palace.’
‘Quite a group, I see,’ Urgit said, looking over the signatures. He frowned. ‘I also see that you spoke for me,’ he said to Silk.
‘He protected your interests rather well, Urgit,’ Belgarath assured him. ‘The details we hammered out are mostly generalities, you’ll notice, but it’s a start.’
‘It is indeed, Belgarath,’ Urgit agreed. ‘I notice that no one spoke for Drosta.’
‘The king of Gar og Nadrak was unrepresented, your Majesty,’ Mandorallen told him.
‘Poor old Drosta,’ Urgit chuckled. ‘He always seems to get left out. This is all very nice, gentlemen, and it might even insure a decade or so of peace – provided you promised to let Zakath have my head on a plate to decorate some unimportant room in his palace at Mal Zeth with.’
‘That’s the main thing we came to discuss with you,’ Silk told him. ‘Zakath returned to Mal Zeth when we all left Perivor, but I talked with him for quite a while before we separated, and he finally agreed to accept peace overtures.’
‘Peace?’ Urgit scoffed. ‘The only peace Zakath wants is eternal peace – for every living Murgo, and I’m at the top of his list.’
‘He’s changed a bit,’ Garion told him. ‘He has something more important on his mind right now than exterminating Murgos.’
‘Nonsense, Garion. Everybody wants to exterminate the Murgos. Even I want to exterminate them, and I’m their king.’
‘Send some ambassadors to Mal Zeth,’ Silk advised him. ‘Give them enough power to negotiate in good faith.’
‘Give a Murgo power? Kheldar, are you out of your mind?’
‘I can find some trustworthy men, Urgit,’ Oskatat assured him.
‘In Cthol Murgos? Where? Under some damp rock?’
‘You’re going to have to start trusting people, Urgit,’ Belgarath told him.
‘Oh, of course, Belgarath,’ Urgit said with heavy sarcasm. ‘I sort of have to trust you, but that’s because you’ll turn me into a frog if I don’t.’
‘Just send your ambassadors to Mal Zeth, Urgit,’ Silk said patiently. ‘You may be pleasantly surprised at the outcome.’
‘Any outcome that doesn’t leave me without my head would be pleasant.’ Urgit squinted shrewdly at his brother. ‘You’ve got something else on your mind, Kheldar,’ he said. ‘Go ahead and spit it out.’
‘The world’s right on the verge of breaking out in a bad case of peace,’ Silk told him. ‘My partner and I have been on a wartime footing for years now. Our enterprises are very likely to collapse if we don’t find new markets – and markets for peacetime goods. Cthol Murgos has been at war for a generation now.’
‘Longer than that, actually. Technically, we’ve been at war since the ascension of the Urga Dynasty – which I have the distinct displeasure of representing.’
‘There must be quite a hunger for peace-time amenities in your kingdom then – little things, like roofs for the houses, pots to cook in, something to cook in them – things like that.’
‘I’d imagine so, yes.’
‘Good. Yarblek and I can ship goods to Cthol Murgos by sea and turn Rak Urga into the largest commercial center on the southern half of the continent.’
‘Why would you want to? Cthol Murgos is bankrupt.’
‘The bottomless mines are still there, aren’t they?’
‘Of course, but they’re all in territories controlled by the Malloreans.’
‘But if you conclude a peace treaty with Zakath, the Malloreans will be leaving, won’t they? We’ll have to move fast on this, Urgit. As soon as the Malloreans withdraw, you’ll have to move in, not only with troops, but also with miners.’
‘What do I get out of it?’
‘Taxes, brother mine, taxes. You can tax the gold miners, you can tax me, and you can tax my customers. You’ll be rolling in money in just a few years.’
‘And the Tolnedrans will swindle me out of all of it in just a few weeks.’
‘Not too likely,’ Silk smirked. ‘Varana’s the only Tolnedran in the world who knows about this, and he’s on Barak’s ship out in the harbor right now. He won’t get back to Tol Honeth for several weeks.’
‘What difference does that make? Nobody can make a move of any kind until I conclude a peace treaty with Zakath, can they?’
‘That’s not entirely true, Urgit. You and I can draw up an agreement guaranteeing me exclusive access to the Murgo market. I’ll pay you handsomely for it, of course, and the agreement will be perfectly legal – and iron-clad. I’ve drawn up enough trade agreements to be able to see to that. We can hammer out the details later, but the important thing right now is to get something down in writing with both our names on it. And then, when peace breaks out, the Tolnedrans will swarm down here. You can show them the document and send them all home again. If I’ve got exclusive access, we’ll make millions. Millions, Urgit, millions!’
Both of their noses were twitching violently now.
‘What sort of provisions would we want to put in this agreement of exclusivity?’ Urgit asked cautiously.
Silk grinned broadly at him and reached inside his doublet again. ‘I’ve taken the liberty of drawing up an interim document,’ he said, pulling out another parchment, ‘just to save time, of course.’
Sthiss Tor was still a very unattractive city, Garion noticed as Barak’s sailors moored Seabird to the familiar wharf in the Drasnian trade enclave. The hawsers were no sooner tied off when Silk leaped across to the wharf and hurried up the street. ‘Is he likely to have any trouble?’ Garion asked Sadi.
‘Not too likely,’ Sadi, who was crouched down behind a longboat, replied. ‘Salmissra knows who he is, and I know my queen. Her face doesn’t show any emotion, but her curiosity is very strong. I’ve spent the last three days composing that letter. She’ll see me. I can practically guarantee that. Could we go below, Garion? I’d really rather not have anybody see me.’
It was perhaps two hours later when Silk returned accompanied by a platoon of Nyissan soldiers. The platoon leader was familiar.
‘Is that you, Issus?’ Sadi called out through the porthole of the cabin in which he was hiding. ‘I thought you’d be dead by now.’