The Seeress of Kell

choose him?"
    "Only one thing," she said.
    "What's that?"
    "He can fly." Her tone was filled with a kind of wonder.
    Yarblek shook his head and went to his saddlebag. He brought back the ownership papers and signed them over to Beldin.
    "An' what would I be wantin' with these?" Beldin asked. The brogue, Garion realized, was a way to hide emotions so deep that the hunchback was almost afraid of them.
    "Keep them or throw them away." Vella shrugged. "They don't have any meaning for me anymore.'“
    "Very well then, me darlin'," he said. He crumpled the papers up into a ball and held the ball out on the palm of his hand. The wad of paper burst into flame and burned down to ashes. "There," he said, blowing the ashes away. "Now they won't be troublin' us anymore. Is that it? Is that all there is to it?"
    “Not quite,” she said. She bent and removed the two daggers from her boot tops. Then she took the other two from her belt. "Here," she said, her eyes now very soft, "I won't be needing these anymore." She handed the daggers to her new owner.
    "Oh," Polgara said, her eyes filling with tears.
    “What is it, Pol?” Durnik asked, his face filled with concern.
    "That's the most sacred thing a Nadrak woman can do," Polgara answered, touching at her eyes with the hem of her apron. "She just totally surrendered herself to Beldin. That's just beautiful."
    “An' what would I be needin' knives fer?" Beldin asked with a gentle smile. One by one he tossed the daggers into the air, where they vanished in little puffs of smoke. He turned. "Goodbye, Belgarath," he said to the old sorcerer. "We’ve had some fun, haven't we?"
    “I’ve enjoyed it." Belgarath had tears in his eyes.
    "And Durnik," Beldin said, "it looks as if you're here to replace me."
    "You talk like a man about to die," Durnik said.
    "Oh, no, Durnik, I'm not going to die. I'm just going to change a bit. You two say good-bye to the twins for me. Explain things to them. Enjoy your good fortune, Yarblek, but I still think I got the better of that bargain. Garion, try to keep the world running."
    "Eriond's supposed to take care of that."
    "I know, but keep an eye on him. Don't let him get into trouble."
    Beldin didn't say anything to Ce'Nedra. He simply kissed her rather noisily. Then he also kissed Poledra. She regarded him fondly, her golden eyes filled with love.
    "Good-bye, old cow," he said at last to Polgara, slapping her familiarly on the bottom. He looked meaningfully at her waist. "I told you that you were going to get fat if you kept eating all those sweets.”
    She kissed him then with tears in her eyes.
    "An' now, me darlin'," he said to Vella, "let's be walkin' a bit apart. There's much t' be said before we leave.” Then the two of them walked hand in hand up toward the top of the hill. When they reached it, they stopped and spoke together for a while. Then they embraced and exchanged a long, fervent kiss, and then, while they were still locked in each other's arms, they shimmered and seemed almost to dissolve.
    The one hawk was very familiar. The bands on his wings were electric blue. The other hawk, however, had lavender bands on her wings. Together, they thrust themselves into the air and rose in an effortless spiral up and up through the glowing air. Higher and higher they spun in that formal wedding dance until they were no more than a pair of specks winging up and out over the Vale,
    And then they were gone, never again to return.
    Garion and the others remained at the cottage for another two weeks. Then, noting that Polgara and Durnik were beginning to show signs of wanting to be alone, Poledra suggested that the rest of them go on to the Vale. Promising to return that evening, Garion and Ce'Nedra took their son and the nearly grown wolf pup and accompanied Belgarath and Poledra down into the heart of the Vale.
    They reached Belgarath's familiar squat tower about noon and started up the stairway to the circular room at the top. "Watch that step," the old man said absently as they climbed. This time, however, Garion stopped, letting the rest go on ahead. He reached down, heaved up the stone slab that was the step, and looked under it. A round stone about the size of a hazelnut lay under the stab. Garion removed the stone, put it in his pocket, and replaced the slab. He noticed that the other steps were worn in the center, but this one was not, and he wondered just how many centuries or eons the old man had been stepping over it. He went on up,