The gap in the ridge was a narrow pass between two large boulders. Toth stood in the center of the trail, mutely blocking their way.
Polgara looked him coolly in the face. ‘We will go to the place of the seers, Toth. It is fore-ordained.’
Toth’s eyes grew momentarily distant. Then he nodded and stepped aside for them.
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE CAVERN WAS vast, and there was a city inside. The city looked much like Kell, thousands of feet below, except, of course, for the absence of lawns and gardens. It was dim, since the blindfolded seers needed no light, and the eyes of their mute guides had, Garion surmised, become adjusted to the faint light.
There were few people abroad in those shadowy streets, and those they saw as Toth led them into the city paid no attention to them. Beldin was muttering to himself as he stumped along.
‘What is it, uncle?’ Polgara asked him.
‘Have you ever noticed how much some people are slaves to convention?’ he replied.
‘I don’t quite see what you’re getting at.’
‘This town is inside a cave, but they still put roofs on the houses. Isn’t that sort of an absurdity? It isn’t going to rain in here.’
‘But it will get cold – particularly in the winter. If a house has no roof, it’s a little hard to keep the heat in, wouldn’t you say?’
He frowned. ‘I guess I didn’t think of that,’ he admitted.
The house to which Toth led them was in the very center of this strange subterranean city. Although it was no different from those around it, its location hinted that the inhabitant was of some importance. Toth entered without knocking and led them to the simple room where Cyradis sat waiting for them, her pale young face illuminated by a single candle.
‘You have reached us more quickly than we had expected,’ she said. In a peculiar way her voice was different from the way it had sounded in their previous meetings. Garion uneasily felt that the seeress was speaking in more than one voice, and the result was startlingly choral.
‘You knew that we could come, then?’ Polgara asked her.
‘Of course. It was but a question of time before you would complete your three-fold task.’
‘Task?’
‘It was but a simple endeavor for one as powerful as thou art, Polgara, but it was a necessary test.’
‘I don’t seem to recall—’
‘As I told thee, it was so simple that doubtless thou hast forgotten it.’
‘Remind us,’ Beldin said gruffly.
‘Of course, gentle Beldin,’ she smiled. ‘You have found this place; you have subdued the elements to reach it; and Polgara hath spoken correctly the words which gained you entry.’
‘More riddles,’ he said sourly.
‘A riddle is sometimes the surest way to make the mind receptive.’
He grunted.
‘It was necessary for the riddle to be solved and the tasks to be completed ’ere I could reveal to you that which must be revealed.’ She rose to her feet. ‘Let us depart from this place then, and go down even unto Kell. My guide and dear companion will bear the great book which must be delivered into the hands of Ancient Belgarath.’
The mute giant went to a shelf on the far side of the dimly lit room and took down a large book bound in black leather. He tucked it under his arm, took his mistress by the hand, and led them back out of the house.
‘Why the secrecy, Cyradis?’ Beldin asked the blindfolded girl. ‘Why do the seers hide up here on the mountain instead of staying at Kell?’
‘But this is Kell, gentle Beldin.’
‘What’s that city down in the valley, then?’
‘Also Kell.’ She smiled. ‘It hath ever been thus among us. Unlike the cities of others, our communities are wide-spread. This is the place of the seers. There are many other places on this mountain – the place of the wizards, the place of the necromancers, the place of the diviners – and all are a part of Kell.’
‘Trust a Dal to come up with an unnecessary complication.’
‘The cities of others are built for different purposes, Beldin. Some are for commerce. Some are for defense. Our cities are built for study.’
‘How can you study if you have to walk all day in order to talk with your colleagues?’
‘There is no need for walking, Beldin. We can speak to each other whenever we choose. Is this not the way in which thou and Ancient Belgarath converse?’
‘That’s different,’ he growled.
‘In what way?’
‘Our conversations are private.’
‘We have no need of privacy. The thoughts of one are the thoughts of all.’
It was shortly before noon when they emerged from the cavern into the warm sunlight again. Gently guiding Cyradis, Toth led them back to the gap in the ridge and down the steep path that crossed the high meadows. After about an hour of descent, they entered a cool green forest where birds caroled from the tree tops and insects whirled like specks of fire in the slanting columns of sunlight.
The trail was still steep, and Garion soon discovered one of the disadvantages of walking downhill for any extended period of time. A large and painful blister was forming atop one of the toes on his left foot, and a few twinges from his right clearly indicated that he would soon have a matched set. He gritted his teeth and limped on.
It was nearly sunset when they reached the gleaming city in the valley. Garion noticed with a certain satisfaction that Beldin was also limping as they walked along the marble street that led to the house Dallan had lodged them in.
The others were eating when they entered. As it chanced to happen, Garion was looking at Zakath’s face when the Mallorean saw that Cyradis was with them. His olive-skinned face paled slightly, a pallor made more pronounced by the short black beard he had grown to conceal his identity. He rose to his feet and bowed slightly. ‘Holy Seeress,’ he said respectfully.
‘Emperor of Mallorea,’ she responded. ‘As I promised thee in cloud-dark Darshiva, I surrender myself up to thee as thy hostage.’
‘There’s no need to talk of hostages, Cyradis,’ he replied with a slightly embarrassed flush. ‘I spoke in haste in Darshiva, before I clearly understood what it is that I am to do. I am committed now.’
‘I am, nonetheless, thy hostage, for it is thus preordained, and I must accompany thee unto the Place Which Is No More to face the task which awaits me.’
‘You must all be hungry,’ Velvet said. ‘Come to the table and eat.’