The Seeress of Kell

or swim."
    Anheg walked away, muttering curses under his breath.
    "Any luck?" Emperor Varana asked as the Alorn king approached the bow.
    "He told me to mind my own business," Anheg grunted. "Then he offered to let me man an oar if I was in such a hurry."
    "Have you ever manned an oar before? "
    "Once. Chereks are a seagoing people, and my father thought it would be educational for me to make a voyage as a deckhand. I didn't mind the rowing so much. It was the flogging that irritated me.”
    "They actually flogged the crown prince?" Varana asked incredulously.
    "It's very hard to see an oarsman's face when you're coming up behind him.” Anheg shrugged. “The oarsmaster was trying to get more speed out of us. We were pursuing a Tolnedran merchantman at the time, and we didn't want her to reach the safety of Tolnedran territorial waters."
    "Anheg!" Varana exclaimed.
    "That was years ago, Varana. I’ve given orders now that Tolnedran vessels are not to be molested at least not in the sight of witnesses. The whole point of this is that Greldik's probably right. If he puts on all sail, the wind will uproot his masts, and you and I'll both wind up rowing."
    "We don't have much chance of catching up with Barak, then, do we?"
    "I'm not so sure. Barak's not nearly as good a sailor as Greldik is, and that oversized tub of his isn't very responsive to the helm. We're gaining on him every day. When he gets to Mallorea, he's going to have to stop in every port to ask questions. Most Malloreans wouldn't recognize Garion if he walked up and spat in their eyes. Kheldar's another matter, though. I understand that the little thief has branch offices in most of the cities and towns in Mallorea. I know how Barak thinks. As soon as he gets to Mallorea, he's going to go looking for Silk, since Silk and Garion are obviously going to be together. I don't have to ask about Silk, though. All I’ve got to do is describe the Seabird to waterfront loafers in just a few towns. For the price of a few tankards of ale, I'll be able to follow Barak wherever he goes. Hopefully we'll catch up with him before he finds Garion and ruins everything. I just wish that blind girl hadn't told him he couldn't go along. The fastest way I know of to get Barak to do something is to forbid him to do it. If he was with Garion, at least Belgarath would be there to keep him under control."
    "How do you propose to stop him even if we do catch up with him? His ship may be slower than this one, but it's also bigger, and it carries more men."
    "Greldik and I have worked that out," Anheg replied. "Greldik's got a special piece of equipment in his forward hold. It bolts to the bow of this ship. If Barak refuses to come about when I order him to, Greldik's going to ram him. He won't go very fast in a sinking ship.”
    "Anheg, that's monstrous!"
    "So is what Barak's trying to do. If he succeeds in breaking through to Garion, Zandramas will win, and we'll all end up under the heel of somebody worse than Torak was. If I have to sink the Seabird to avoid that, I'll do it ten times over." He sighed. "I'll miss my cousin, though, in case he gets drowned," he admitted.
    Queen Porenn of Drasnia had summoned Margrave Khendon, the chief of her intelligence service, to her private chambers that morning and issued her commands in no uncertain trams. "Every one of them, Javelin," she had said in a peremptory tone, "I want every single spy out of this wing of the palace for the rest of the day.”
    "Porenn!" Javelin had gasped. "That's unheard of! "
    “Not really. You just heard it from me. Tell your people to sweep all the unofficial spies out, as well. I want this wing of the palace totally unpopulated within the hour. I have spies of my own, Javelin, and I know where all the usual hiding places are. Clean out every one of them."
    "I'm bitterly disappointed in you, Porenn. Monarchs simply don't treat the intelligence service in this fashion. Have you any idea of what this is going to do to my people's morale?"
    "Frankly, Khendon, I couldn't care less about the morale of your professional snoops. This is a matter of supreme urgency.”
    "Has my service ever failed you, your Majesty?" Javelin's tone had been a bit offended.
    "Twice that I recall. Didn't the Bear-cult infiltrate your service? And didn't your people fail abysmally to warn me about Genera! Haldar's defection?"
    Javelin had sighed. "All right, Porenn, sometimes a few minor things have escaped us."
    "You call Haldar's