Pawn of Prophecy

"Southern Angaraks."
    "The ones we beat at the battle of Vo Mimbre?" Garion asked. "Why would they be here?"
    "The Murgos have taken up commerce," Wolf said, frowning. "I hadn't expected to see one of them in so remote a village. We may as well go in. The Thulls have seen us, and it might look strange if we turned now and went back. Stay close to me, boy, and don't say anything."
    They walked past the two heavyset men and entered the spice merchant's shop.
    The Tolnedran was a thin, baldheaded man wearing a brown, belted gown that reached to the floor. He was nervously weighing several packets of pungent-smelling powder which lay on the counter before him.
    "Good day to you," he said to Wolf. "Please have patience. I'll be with you shortly." He spoke with a slight lisp that Garion found peculiar.
    "No hurry," Wolf said in a wheezy, cracking voice. Garion looked at him sharply and was astonished to see that his friend was stooped and that his head was nodding foolishly.
    "See to their needs," the other man in the shop said shortly. He was a dark, burly man wearing a chain-mail shirt and a short sword belted to his waist. His cheekbones were high, and there were several savagelooking scars on his face. His eyes looked curiously angular, and his voice was harsh and thickly accented.
    "No hurry," Wolf said in his wheezy cackle.
    "My business.here will take some time," the Murgo said coldly, "and I prefer not to be rushed. Tell the merchant here what you need, old man."
    "My thanks, then," Wolf cackled. "I have a list somewhere about me." He began to fumble foolishly in his pockets. "My master drew it up. I do hope you can read it, friend merchant, for I cannot." He finally found the list and presented it to the Tolnedran.
    The merchant glanced at the list. "This will only take a moment," he told the Murgo.
    The Murgo nodded and stood staring stonily at Wolf and Garion. His eyes narrowed slightly, and his expression changed. "You're a seemly appearing boy," he said to Garion. "What's your name?"
    Until that moment, in his entire life, Garion had been an honest and truthful boy, but Wolf's manner had opened before his eyes an entire world of deception and subterfuge. Somewhere in the back of his mind he seemed to hear a warning voice, a dry, calm voice advising him that the situation was dangerous and that he should take steps to protect himself. He hesitated only an instant before telling his first deliberate lie. He allowed his mouth to drop open and his face to assume an expression of vacantheaded stupidity. "Rundorig, your Honor," he mumbled.
    "An Arendish name," the Murgo said, his eyes narrowing even more. "You don't look like an Arend."
    Garion gaped at him.
    "Are you an Arend, Rundorig?" the Murgo pressed.
    Garion frowned as if struggling with a thought while his mind raced. The dry voice suggested several alternatives.
    "My father was," he said finally, "but my mother is a Sendar, and people say I favor her."
    "You say was, " the Murgo said quickly. "Is your father dead, then?" His scarred face was intent.
    Garion nodded foolishly. "A tree he was cutting fell on him," he lied. "It was a long time ago."
    The Murgo suddenly seemed to lose interest. "Here's a copper penny for you, boy," he said, indifferently tossing a small coin on the floor at Garion's feet. "It has the likeness of the God Torak stamped on it. Perhaps it will bring you luck-or at least more wit."
    Wolf stooped quickly and retrieved the coin, but the coin he handed to Garion was a common Sendarian penny.
    "Thank the good man, Rundorig," he wheezed.
    "My thanks, your Honor," Garion said, concealing the penny tightly in his fist.
    The Murgo shrugged and looked away.
    Wolf paid the Tolnedran merchant for the spices, and he and Garion left the shop.
    "You played a dangerous game, boy," Wolf said once they were out of earshot of the two lounging Thulls.
    "You seemed not to want him to know who we were," Garion explained. "I wasn't sure why, but I thought I ought to do the same. Was what I did wrong?"
    "You're very quick," Wolf said approvingly. "I think we managed to deceive the Murgo."
    "Why did you change the coin?" Garion asked.
    "Sometimes Angarak coins are not what they seem," Wolf said. "It's better for you not to have any of them. Let's fetch our horse and cart. It's a long way back to Faldor's farm."
    "I thought we were going to take lodgings for the night."
    "That's changed now. Come along, boy. It's time for us to leave."
    The horse was very