Castle of Wizardry

voice that had been in his mind since his childhood. He didn't actually hear her, but instead he seemed to know exactly what she wanted to say to him. "Grandfather, you mean?"
    "Who else? Men seem to have a need to classify things and put names on them. I think they overlook some very important things that way."
    "How is it that you're here? Aren't you - well -?"
    "Dead, you mean? Don't be afraid of the word. It's only a word, after all. I suppose I am, though. It doesn't really feel all that much different."
    "Doesn't somebody have to do something to bring you back?" he asked. "Like what Aunt Pol did that time when we were fighting with Grul in the mountains of Ulgo?"
    "It's not entirely necessary. I can be summoned that way, but I can manage it myself if I have to." She looked at him quizzically. "You're really confused by all this, aren't you?"
    "All of what?"
    "Everything. Who you are; who we are; what you have to do."
    "A little," he admitted.
    "Let me see if I can explain it. Take him for instance. I never really saw him as a man, you know. There's something decidedly wolfish about him. I always rather thought that his being born in man-shape had been a mistake of some kind. Maybe it was because of what he had to do. The shape doesn't really matter, though."
    "It doesn't?"
    "Did you really think it did?" She almost seemed to laugh. "Here. Let me show you. Let's change." She shimmered into air and was standing before him then in the form of a tawny-haired woman with golden eyes. Her gown was very plain and brown.
    Garion shrugged himself back into his natural form.
    "Am I really any different, Belgarion?" she asked him. "Am I not who I am, whether as wolf or owl or woman?"
    And then he understood. "May I call you Grandmother?" he asked her, a bit embarrassed.
    "If it makes you happy," she replied. "It's a bit inaccurate, though."
    "I know," he said, "but I feel a little more comfortable with it."
    "Have you finally accepted who you are?"
    "I don't have much choice, do I?"
    "But you're afraid of it and what you have to do, is that it?" He nodded mutely.
    "You're not going to be alone, you know."
    He looked at her sharply. "I thought the Codex said-"
    "The Codex doesn't really say everything that's involved," she told him. "Your meeting with Torak will be the coming together of two enormous, opposing forces. The two of you are really just the representatives of those forces. There'll be so much power involved in your meeting that you and Torak will be almost incidental to what's really happening."
    "Why couldn't somebody else do it then?" he asked quickly. "Somebody better suited to it?"
    "I said almost incidental," she said firmly. "It has to be you, and it's always been Torak. You are the channels through which the forces will collide. When it happens, I think you'll be surprised at how easy it all is."
    "Am I going to win?"
    "I don't know. The universe itself doesn't know. That's why you have to meet him. If we knew how it would turn out, the meeting wouldn't be necessary." She looked around. "Belgarath's coming back. I'll have to leave you now."
    "Why-"
    "My presence pains him - more than you could ever know."
    "Because-?" He broke off, not knowing how to say it.
    "We were closer than others and we were together for a very long time. Sometimes I wish that he could understand that we haven't really been separated, but perhaps it's too early."
    "It's been three thousand years, Grandmother."
    "What is time to a wolf?" she asked cryptically. "The mating of wolves is permanent, and the grief caused by separation is also permanent. Perhaps someday-" Her voice trailed off wistfully, and then she sighed. "As soon as I leave, change back again. Belgarath will want you to hunt with him. It's sort of a formality. You'll understand when you're back in the shape of a wolf."
    Garion nodded and began to form the image of the wolf in his mind. "One other thing, Belgarion."
    "Yes, Grandmother?"
    "I do love you, you know."
    "I love you too, Grandmother."
    And then she was gone. Garion sighed and changed himself back into a wolf. And then he went out from that place to join Belgarath in the hunt.

Part Four - THE RIVAN QUEEN



Chapter Twenty-two
    THE PRINCESS CE'NEDRA Was in a thoughtful, even pensive mood. Much as she had enjoyed the turmoil her periodic outbursts of temper had caused, she rather regretfully concluded that it was probably time to put them aside and make peace with Garion. They were going to be married, after