The half-grown wolf lay under the table near where Ce’Nedra sat, and his eyes had a studied, pleading look in them. Ce’Nedra slipped him tidbits when she thought no one was watching her. Wolves are not stupid, after all.
‘The surf seems to be heavy,’ Zakath said, cocking his head to one side to listen to the booming of the waves against the rocks of the reef. ‘That’s likely to cause some problems when we try to land, isn’t it?’
‘I rather doubt it,’ Belgarath said. ‘This storm has probably been brewing since the day the earth was made. It’s not going to interfere with us in any way.’
‘Aren’t you being just a little fatalistic, Belgarath?’ Beldin suggested, ‘and perhaps slightly overconfident?’
‘I don’t think so. The two prophecies must have this meeting. They’ve been coming toward this place since the beginning of time. They’re not going to let anything interfere with the arrival of anyone who’s supposed to be here.’
‘Why raise a storm like this, then?’
‘The storm wasn’t designed to hinder us – or Zandramas.’
‘What is its purpose?’
‘It’s probably out there to keep others away. There are only certain people who are supposed to be on that reef tomorrow. The prophecies are going to see to it that no one else can set foot on it until after our business has been completed.’
Garion looked at Cyradis. The blindfolded girl’s face was calm, even serene. The half-concealment of the strip of cloth across her eyes had always at least partially concealed her features from him. In this light, however, he suddenly realized just how extraordinarily beautiful she really was. ‘That raises something rather interesting, Grandfather,’ he said. ‘Cyradis, didn’t you tell us that the Child of Dark has always been solitary? Doesn’t that mean that she’ll have to face us alone tomorrow?’
‘Thou hast misread my meaning, Belgarion of Riva. Thou and each of thy companions have had your names writ large in the stars since the beginning of days. Those who will accompany the Child of Dark, however, are of no moment. Their names do not stand in the book of the heavens. Zandramas is the only emissary of the dark prophecy of any significance. The others she will bring with her were doubtless chosen at random, and their numbers are limited to match your force.’
‘A fair fight, then,’ Velvet murmured approvingly. ‘I think we can probably cope.’
‘That doesn’t bode too well for me, though,’ Beldin said. ‘Back at Rheon, you rather carefully listed the people who were supposed to come here with Garion. As I recall, my name wasn’t on the list. Do you suppose they forgot to send me an invitation?’
‘Nay, gentle Beldin. Thy presence here is necessary now. Zandramas hath included in her forces one who is beyond the prophecies. Thou art here to offset that one, though in numbers only.’
‘Zandramas can’t ever play a game without cheating, can she?’ Silk said.
‘Can you?’ Velvet asked him.
‘That’s different. I’m only playing for worthless counters – bits and pieces of unimportant metal. The stakes in this game are a lot higher.’
The cabin door opened, and Captain Kresca entered with several rolls of parchment under his arm. He had changed out of his doublet and now wore a tar-stained canvas sea-coat and no hat. Garion saw that his short-cropped hair was as silvery as Belgarath’s, a startling contrast to his deeply tanned and weathered face. ‘The storm seems to be abating,’ he announced. ‘At least around the reef it is. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a storm like this.’
‘I’d be surprised if you had, Captain,’ Beldin told him. ‘As closely as we can determine, this is the first one – and probably the last – of its kind.’
‘I think you’re wrong, friend,’ Captain Kresca disagreed. ‘There’s nothing new in the way of weather in the world. It’s all happened before.’
‘Just let it lie,’ Belgarath said quietly to Beldin. ‘He’s a Melcene. He’s not really prepared for this sort of thing.’
‘All right,’ the captain said, pushing their soup bowls out of the way and laying his charts on the table. ‘We’re here.’ He pointed. ‘Now, which part of the reef was it you propose to land on?’
‘The highest pinnacle,’ Belgarath told him.
Kresca sighed. ‘I might have known,’ he said. ‘That’s the one part of the reef where my charts aren’t too accurate. About the time I got to taking soundings around that one, a squall came out of nowhere, and I had to back off.’ He thought about it. ‘No matter,’ he decided. ‘We’ll stand a half-mile or so off shore and go in with the long-boat. There’s something you ought to know about that part of the reef, though.’
‘Oh?’ Belgarath said.
‘I think there are some people there.’
‘I sort of doubt it.’
‘I don’t really know of any other creature that builds fires, do you? There’s a cave on the north side of that pinnacle, and sailors have been seeing the light of fires coming out of the mouth of it for years now. It’s my guess that there’s a band of pirates living in there. It wouldn’t be all that hard for them to come out in small boats on dark nights and waylay merchantmen in the straits on the landward side of the reef.’
‘Can you see the fire from where we are right now?’ Garion asked him.
‘I’d guess so. Let’s go topside and have a look.’
The ladies, Sadi, and Toth remained in the cabin, and Garion and his other friends followed Captain Kresca up the companionway to the deck. The wind which had been howling through the rigging when the sailors had dropped anchor had fallen off, and the surf along the reef was no longer frothy.
‘There,’ Kresca said, pointing. ‘It’s not quite as visible from this angle, but you can make it out. When you’re standing out to sea from the cave-mouth, it’s really bright.’
Dimly, Garion could see a sooty red glow a short way up the side of a bulky-looking peak jutting up out of the sea. The other rocks that formed the reef appeared to be little more than slender spires, but the central peak had a different shape. For some reason, it reminded Garion of the truncated mountain which was the site of far-off Prolgu in Ulgoland.
‘Nobody’s ever explained to my satisfaction how the top of that mountain got sliced off like that,’ Kresca said.