Guardians of the West

it's too late. We'll just have to make the best of it. If we don't see each other too much, we can usually manage to be civil to each other -at least civil enough to keep up appearances.
    " 'Barak came by in that big War boat of his last summer, and we had a very good visit. He told me all about-' "
    "Just a moment, Errand." Polgara stopped the recitation. "Does he say any more about the trouble he's having with Ce'Nedra?"
    "No, ma'am," Errand replied after a moment during which he quickly ran through the rest of the letter in his mind.
    "He wrote about Barak's visit and some news he got from King Anheg and a letter from Mandorallen. That's about all. He said that he loves you and misses you very much. That's how he ended it."
    Polgara and Belgarath exchanged a very long look. Errand could feel their perplexity, but he was not sure exactly how to set their minds at rest about the matter.
    "You're sure that's the way the letter went?" Belgarath asked him.
    Errand nodded. "That's what he wrote."
    "And you knew what was in the letter as soon as he wrote it?"
    Errand hesitated. "I don't know if it was like that, exactly. It doesn't really work that way, you know. You have to sort of think about it, and I didn't really think about it until the subject came up -when Polgara was talking about it just now."
    "Does it matter how far away the other person is?" Belgarath asked curiously.
    "No," Errand replied, "I don't think so. It just seems to be there when I want it to be."
    "No one can do that, father." Polgara said to the old man. "No one has ever been able to do that."
    "Apparently the rules have changed," Belgarath said thoughtfully. "I think we'll have to accept it as genuine, don't you?"
    She nodded. "He doesn't have any reason to make it up."
    "I think you and I are going to have to have some very long talks together, Errand," the old man said.
    "Perhaps," Polgara said, "but not just yet." She turned back to the boy. "Could you repeat what Garion said about Ce'Nedra for me?"
    Errand nodded. " 'Ce'Nedra is well -at least I think so. We're hardly talking to each other any more, so it's kind of hard to say for sure. Brand is a bit concerned that-' "
    "That's fine, Errand," she said, raising one hand slightly. Then she looked into the boy's face. After a moment, one of her eyebrows shot up. "Tell me," she said, very carefully choosing her words, "do you know what's wrong between Garion and Ce'Nedra?"
    "Yes," Errand replied.
    "Would you tell me?"
    "If you want. Ce'Nedra did something that made Garion very angry, and then he did something that embarrassed her in public, and that made her angry. She thinks that he doesn't pay enough attention to her and that he spends all his time on his work so that he won't have to spend any with her.
    He thinks that she's selfish and spoiled and doesn't think about anybody but herself. They're both wrong, but they've had a lot of arguments about it and they've hurt each other so much with some of the things they've said that they've both given up on being married to each other. They're terribly unhappy."
    "Thank you, Errand," she said. Then she turned to Durnik. "We'll need to pack a few things," she said.
    "Oh?" He looked a bit surprised.
    "We're going to Riva," she said quite firmly.

CHAPTER FOUR
    At Camaar, Belgarath ran across an old friend in a tavern near the harbor. When he brought the bearded, furclad Cherek to the inn where they were staying, Polgara gave the swaying sailor a penetrating look. "How long have you been drunk, Captain Greldik?" she asked bluntly.
    "What day is it?" His reply was vague.
    She told him.
    "Astonishing." He belched. "Par'n me," he apologized.
    "I appear to have lost track of several days somewhere. Do you know by any chance what week it is?"
    "Greldik," she said, "do you absolutely have to get drunk every time you're in port?"
    Greldik looked thoughtfully at the ceiling, scratching at his beard. "Now that you mention it, Polgara, I believe I do. I hadn't really thought about it that way before, but now that you suggest it-"
    She gave him a hard stare, but the look he returned was deliberately impudent.
    "Don't waste your time, Polgara," he suggested. "I'm not married; I've never been married; and I'm not ever going to get married. I'm not ruining any woman's life by the way I behave, and it's absolutely certain that no woman is ever going to ruin mine. Now, Belgarath says that you want to go to Riva. I'll round up my crew, and we'll leave on the morning