The Seeress of Kell

he wasn't so old and feeble, I'd shake some answers out of him," Garion muttered as he and Zakath walked back to the house.
    "If this goes on much longer, I might just ignore his age and infirmity," Zakath said. "I'm not in the habit of having my questions evaded this way."
    Velvet and Ce'Nedra were approaching the house from the other direction as Garion and Zakath reached the broad marble steps. The two young women were walking quickly, and Ce'Nedra's expression was triumphant.
    "I think we managed to get something useful at last," Velvet said. "Let's go inside so we can tell everyone at once."
    They gathered again in the domed room, and the blond girl spoke to them quite seriously. "This isn't too precise," she admitted, "but I think it might be all we're likely to get out of these people. This morning, Ce'Nedra and I went back to that house where those young women work. They were weaving, and that's the sort of thing that tends to make people a little less than alert. Anyway, that girl with the large eyes, Onatel, wasn't there, and Ce'Nedra put on her most empty-headed expression and—"
    "I most certainly did not," Ce'Nedra said indignantly.
    "Oh, but you did, dear—and it was absolutely perfect. She stood there all wide-eyed and innocent and asked the young women where we could find our 'dear friend,' and one of them let something slip that she probably wasn't supposed to have. She said that Onatel had been summoned to serve in 'the place of the seers.' Ce'Nedra's eyes went—if possible—even more vacant, and she asked where that might be. Nobody answered, but one of them looked at the mountain."
    "How can you avoid looking at that monster?" Silk scoffed. "I'm a little dubious about this, Liselle."
    "The girt was weaving, Kheldar. I’ve done that myself a few times, and I know you have to keep your eyes on what you're doing. She looked away in response to Ce'Nedra's question, and then she jerked her eyes back and tried to cover her mistake. I’ve been to the academy, too, Silk, and I can read people almost as well as you can. That girl might as well have screamed it out loud. The seers are somewhere up on that mountain."
    Silk made a face. "She's probably right, you know," he admitted. "That's one of the things they stress at the academy. If you know what you're looking for, most people's faces are like open books." He squared his shoulders. "Well, Zakath," he said, "it looks as if we'll get to climb that mountain a little sooner than we'd expected."
    "I don't think so, Kheldar," Polgara said firmly. "You could spend half a lifetime poking around in those glaciers and still not find the seers."
    "Have you got a better idea?"
    "Several, actually. "She rose to her feet. "Come along, Garion," she said. "You, too, uncle."
    "What are you up to, Pol?" Belgarath asked.
    "We're going to go up and have a look."
    "That's what I suggested already," Silk objected.
    "There's one difference, though, Kheldar," she said sweetly. "You can't fly."
    "Well," he said in an offended tone, "if you're going to be that way about it."
    "I am, Silk. It's one of the advantages of being a woman. I get to do all sorts of unfair things, and you have to accept them because you're too polite not to."
    "One for her side," Garion murmured.
    "You keep saying that," Zakath said, puzzled. "Why?"
    "It's an Alorn joke," Garion told him.
    "Why don't you save yourself a bit of time, Pol?" Belgarath suggested. "See if you can get some confirmation from that group mind before you go swooping off."
    "That's a very good idea, father," she agreed. She closed her eyes and lifted her face. After a moment she shook her head. "They won't let me back in." She sighed.
    "That's a kind of confirmation in itself." Beldin chuckled.
    "I don't exactly follow that," Sadi said, rubbing his freshly shaved scalp.
    "The Dals may be wise," the hunchback told him, "but they're not very shrewd. These two girls of ours have picked up some information. If the information wasn't correct, there wouldn't be any reason to keep Pol out. Since they did keep her out, it indicates that we're on to something. Let's go outside of town," he suggested to Polgara, "so that we don't give away any secrets."
    "I don't really fly all that well, Aunt Pol," Garion said dubiously. "Are you sure you need me?"
    "Let's not take chances, Garion. If the Dals go out of their way to make this place inaccessible, we might need to use the Orb to break through. We'll save time if you come along with it