‘It’s probably a very long story,’ Silk told him. The little man shivered. ‘It’s still a little chilly out here,’ he noted. ‘Why don’t we go below again?’
Garion fell back to walk beside Belgarath. ‘What’s making that light, Grandfather?’ he asked quietly.
‘I’m not entirely sure,’ Belgarath replied, ‘but I think it might be the Sardion. We know it’s in that cave.’
‘We do?’
‘Of course we do. At the time of the meeting, the Orb and the Sardion have to come into each others’ presence in the same way you and Zandramas do. That Melcene scholar who stole the Sardion – the one Senji told us about – sailed around the southern tip of Gandahar and disappeared into these waters. That was all too convenient to be mere coincidence. The Sardion was controlling the scholar, and the scholar delivered the stone to the precise place it wanted to go. It’s probably been waiting for us in that cave for about five hundred years.’
Garion looked back over his shoulder. The hilt of his sword was covered by the leather sleeve, but he was still fairly certain that he’d be able to see the muted glow of the Orb. ‘Doesn’t the Orb usually react to the presence of the Sardion?’ he asked.
‘We may not be close enough yet, and we’re still at sea. Open water confuses the Orb. Then, too, maybe it’s trying to conceal itself from the Sardion.’
‘Could it actually think its way through that complex an idea? It’s usually fairly childish, I’ve noticed.’
‘Don’t underestimate it, Garion.’
‘Everything’s fitting together, then, isn’t it?’
‘It all has to, Garion. Otherwise what’s going to happen tomorrow couldn’t happen.’
‘Well, father?’ Polgara asked as they re-entered the cabin.
‘There’s a fire of some kind in that cave, all right,’ he told her. His fingers, however, were telling her something else. – We’ll talk about it in more detail after the captain leaves. – He turned toward Kresca. ‘When’s the next low tide?’ he asked the seaman.
Kresca squinted, calculating. ‘We just missed one,’ he said. ‘The tide’s coming in now. The next low tide will come about day-break and, if my observations are correct, it should be a neap tide. Well, I’ll leave you to get some rest now. I sort of gather that you’ve got a full day ahead of you tomorrow.’
‘Thank you, Captain Kresca,’ Garion said, shaking the seaman’s hand.
‘Don’t mention it, Garion,’ Kresca grinned. ‘The King of Peldane paid me very handsomely for this voyage, so being helpful doesn’t really cost me anything.’
‘Good,’ Garion grinned back. ‘I like to see friends get ahead in the world.’
The captain laughed and went back out with a hearty wave.
‘What was he talking about?’ Sadi asked. ‘What’s a neap tide?’
‘It only happens a few times a year,’ Beldin explained. ‘It’s an extreme low tide. It has to do with the positions of the sun and moon.’
‘Everything seems to be going out of its way to make tomorrow a very special day,’ Silk observed.
‘All right, father,’ Polgara said crisply. ‘What’s the story on the fire in that cave?’
‘I can’t be positive, Pol, but I rather strongly suspect that it’s not a group of pirates – not after all the trouble the prophecies have gone to, keep people away from the cave.’
‘What do you think it is, then?’
‘It’s probably the Sardion.’
‘Would it give off a red glow?’
He shrugged. ‘The Orb glows blue. I suppose there’s a sort of logic to the Sardion’s glowing a different color.’
‘Why not green?’ Silk asked.
‘Green’s an in-between color,’ Beldin told him. ‘It’s a mixture of blue and yellow.’
‘You’re a real gold mine of useless information, you know that, Beldin?’ Silk said.
‘There’s no such thing as useless information, Kheldar,’ Beldin sniffed.
‘All right,’ Zakath said, ‘how are we going to go about this?’
‘Cyradis,’ Belgarath said to the Seeress, ‘I’m guessing about this, but I think I’m fairly close. Nobody is going to reach that cave first, are they? What I mean is that the prophecies aren’t going to let Zandramas get there before we do – or let us get there first either.’
‘Astounding,’ Beldin murmured. ‘That actually sounded like real logic. Aren’t you feeling well, Belgarath?’
‘Would you please?’ Belgarath growled. ‘Well, Cyradis?’
She paused, her expression distant. Garion seemed to hear that faint choral murmuring. ‘Thy reasoning is correct, Ancient One. The same perception came to Zandramas some time ago, so I am not revealing anything unto thee which she doth not already know. Zandramas, however, hath rejected the fruits of her reasoning and hath striven to circumvent her conclusions.’
‘Very well, then,’ Zakath said, ‘since we’re all going to get there at the same time anyway, and since everybody knows about it, there’s not much point in being coy, is there? I say we just land on the beach and march straight to the cave.’
‘Stopping only long enough for you and me to put on our armor,’ Garion added. ‘It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to dress up here on board ship. It might make Kresca nervous.’
‘Your plan sounds good to me, Zakath,’ Durnik agreed.
‘I’m not so sure,’ Silk said dubiously. ‘There’s a certain advantage to sneaking.’
‘Drasnians,’ Ce’Nedra sighed.
‘Listen to his reasons before you throw the notion out, Ce’Nedra,’ Velvet suggested.
‘It’s sort of like this,’ Silk went on. ‘Zandramas knows – deep down – that she can’t beat us to that cave, but she’s been trying for months all the same, hoping that there’s some way she can by-pass the rules. Now, let’s try to think the way she does.’
‘I’d sooner take poison,’ Ce’Nedra said with a shudder.
‘It’s only for the sake of understanding your opponent, Ce’Nedra. Now, Zandramas has been hoping against hope that she can beat us to that cave and avoid the necessity of coming up against Garion. He did kill Torak, after all, and nobody in his right mind would willingly confront the Godslayer.’