King of The Murgos

galloping flight, and set out in pursuit.
    It took him only a few minutes to catch up with the fleeing deserter. At first he had only the sound to follow, but then he was able to make out the dim, shadowy form racing ahead of him in the fog. He veered slightly to the right, plunged on past the desperate man, then pulled his horse directly into the shadowy deserter's path.
    "Who are you?" the unshaven Mallorean squealed as he hauled his mount to a sudden, rearing stop. "Why are you doing this?"
    "I am justice," Garion grated at him and quite deliberately ran the man through.
    The deserter stared in horrified amazement at the huge sword protruding from his chest. With a gurgling sigh, he toppled to one side, sliding limply off the blade.
    Still without any real sense of emotion, Garion dismounted and wiped the blade of his sword on the dead man's tunic. Almost as an afterthought, he caught the reins of the fellow's horse, remounted, and turned back toward the place where he had killed the others. Carefully, one by one, he checked each fallen body for signs of life, then rounded up three more horses and rode back to the camp concealed in the willows.
    Silk stood beside the huge Toth near the picket line. "Where have you been?" he demanded in a hoarse whisper as Garion dismounted.
    "We needed some more horses," Garion replied tersely, handing the reins of the captured mounts to Toth.
    "Mallorean ones, judging from the saddles," Silk noted. "How did you find them?"
    "Their riders were talking as they went by. They seemed to be quite amused by a visit they paid to a Murgo farmstead a few days ago."
    "And you didn't even invite me to go along?" Silk accused.
    "Sorry," Garion said, "but I had to hurry. I didn't want to lose them in the fog."
    "Four of them?" Silk asked, counting horses.
    "I couldn't find the other four mounts." Garion shrugged. "These ought to be enough to make up for the ones we lost during the shipwreck, though."
    "Eight?" Silk looked a bit startled at that.
    "I came on them by surprise. It wasn't much of a fight. Why don't we get some sleep?"
    "Uh—Garion," Silk suggested, "it might not be a bad idea for you to wash up before you go back to bed. Ce'Nedra's nerves are a little delicate, and she might be upset, if she wakes up and sees you covered with blood the way you are."
    The fog was even thicker the following morning. It was a heavy fog, chill and clinging, lying densely along the river bank and bedewing the tangled limbs of the willow thicket at their backs with strings of pearl like droplets.
    "It hides us, at least," Garion observed, still feeling that peculiar remoteness.
    "It also hides anybody else who might be out there," Sadi told him, "or any thing. That forest up ahead has a bad reputation."
    "Just how big is it?"
    "It's probably the largest forest in the world," Sadi replied, lifting a pack up onto a horse's back. "It goes on for hundreds of leagues." He looked curiously down the picket line. "Is it my imagination, or do we have more horses this morning?"
    "I happened across a few last night," Garion replied.
    After breakfast, they packed up Polgara's cooking utensils, mounted, and started out across the intervening grassland toward the forest lying hidden in the fog.
    As Garion rode, he heard Silk and Durnik talking right behind him. "Just what were you doing last night?" Durnik asked directly. "When you found Zith in Liselle's bodice, I mean?"
    "She's going to make a report to Javelin when this is all over," Silk replied. "There are some things I'd rather he didn't know. If I can get on friendly terms with her, maybe I can persuade her to overlook those things in her report."
    "That's really rather contemptible, you know. She's just a girl."
    "Believe me, Durnik, Liselle can take care of herself. The two of us are playing a game. I'll admit that I hadn't counted on Zith, though."
    "Do Drasnians always have to play games?"
    "Of course. It helps to pass the time. Winters are very long and tedious in Drasnia. The games we play sharpen our wits and make us better at what we do when we aren't playing." The little man raised his voice slightly. "Garion?" he said.
    "Yes?"
    "Are we avoiding the place where you found those horses last night? We wouldn't want to upset the ladies so soon after breakfast."
    "It was over that way." Garion gestured off to the left.
    "What's this?" Durnik asked.
    "The extra animals came from a group of Mallorean deserters who used to creep up on isolated Murgo