Sorceress of Darshiva

want to pool our information while we await the arrival of his Imperial Majesty."
    "Is Zakath coming here?" Garion asked.
    "I doubt that he's more than a day behind me, your Majesty," Atesca replied, "and he's aflame with the desire to have a long, long talk with you."
    —What do we do, Grandfather?—Garion's fingers asked.
    —I don't think we've got much choice at the moment. Beldin 's out there somewhere.
    I'll let him know what's happening. He'll come up with something.—"All right, General," he said aloud. "I was getting a little tired of rowing anyway."—Pass the word to the others—He motioned to Garion.—Let's seem to go along—at least until we get to the Darshiva side. —
    Atesca's ship, while not opulent, was comfortable. They gathered in the forward cabin, a room littered with maps and various-sized bits and pieces of parchment. As always, General Atesca was polite, but firm. "Have you had breakfast yet?" he inquired.
    "We were a little rushed," Belgarath told him.
    "I'll send word to the cook, then," Atesca said. He went to the door and spoke with one of the red-garbed guards posted outside. Then he came back. "While we're waiting, why don't we share that information I was talking about?
    I'd heard that you were going to Ashaba when you left Mal Zeth. Then you suddenly surface in Melcena, and now you're halfway across the Magan to Darshiva. You people certainly move around."
    —He already knows what we 're doing. —Silk's fingers said to Belgarath.—There's no point in trying to hide it.—
    "Please, Prince Kheldar," Atesca said in a pained tone, "don't do that. It's very impolite, you know."
    Silk laughed. "Either your eyes are very sharp, General, or advancing age is making my fingers clumsy. In point of fact, I was merely suggesting to Belgarath that we'd made no secret of our reason for coming to Mallorea. Kal Zakath knew why we were here, so there's no point in being coy about it." He gave Belgarath an inquiring look, and the old man nodded. Silk's face grew serious, even bleak. "We went to Ashaba in pursuit of Zandramas—and King Belgarion's son. Then we followed her across Karanda and on down to Jarot in northern Celanta. Her trail led to Melcena, so we followed her there. Then we came back to the continent."
    "And you're still on her trail?" Atesca asked intently.
    "More or less,'' Silk lied smoothly. Then he sidestepped the issue. "We discovered at Ashaba that Urvon is totally mad now. I'm sure Kal Zakath will be interested in that. Anyhow, Urvon's under the control of a Demon Lord named Nahaz. Zandramas has raised another Demon Lord named Mordja, and the two are fighting each other in Darshiva. I'd think a long time before I invaded that region, General. Nahaz and Mordja might prefer not to be interrupted."
    "What happened to Mengha?" Atesca asked suddenly. "I thought he was the one who was raising demons."
    Silk smiled wryly. "Mengha was actually a Chandim priest named Harakan. He was Urvon's underling for centuries."
    "Was?"
    "I'm afraid he's no longer with us. He met a little green snake named Zith and he lost interest in things shortly after that."
    Atesca threw back his head and laughed. "I'd heard about your pet, your Excellency," he said to Sadi. "Do you suppose she'd accept a medal—Heroine of the Empire or something?"
    "I don't think she'd really be interested, General Atesca," Sadi replied coolly. "Besides, if somebody tried to pin a medal to her, she might misunderstand."
    "You've got a point there," Atesca said. He looked around a little nervously. "You do have her confined, don't you?"
    "Of course, General," Velvet assured him with a dimpled smile. "At the moment, she's taking care of her babies. They're absolutely adorable. Why don't you show them to the General, Sadi?"
    "Ah . . ." Atesca hesitated. "Some other time, perhaps."
    "All right, General Atesca," Belgarath said, "we've told you what we've been doing. Now I think it's time for you to share a bit of information with us."
    "We haven't really made a secret of our activities either, Ancient Belgarath. The Emperor's forces moved out of Mal Zeth, and we used Maga Renn as a staging area. I was instructed to lead the advance elements of the army down the Magan and to occupy Ferra. The idea was to cut off Zandramas' reinforcements out of Darshiva so that Urvon's army could annihilate the troops she had in Peldane. Then we planned to fall on Urvon—heavily. After that, we were going to cross the river and deal with