‘Will it make me feel better?’
‘It should.’
‘Then I really don’t care what it tastes like.’ She drank it and then shuddered. That’s dreadful,’ she said. ‘You’re a physician?’ she asked.
‘I’ve had some training along those lines,’ I admitted.
‘What a peculiar occupation for a lady of rank,’ she said. She touched her forehead. ‘I believe it’s actually getting better.’
“That was the whole idea, countess. As soon as the potion I just gave you takes hold a little more, there’s something I’d like to talk with you about.’
‘I owe you my life, dear Lady,’ she said extravagantly. ‘But I still seem to know you for some reason.’ Then she made a little face. ‘Of course, on mornings like this one all sorts of strange ideas come to me.’ She shook her head slightly. ‘Amazing!’ she said. ‘My head didn’t fall off. You could make a fortune with that potion here in Vo Astur, you know. Everybody in the palace probably feels as awful as I did a while ago. Whatever it was you gave me is miraculous. I think I’ll actually live now. It’s almost like magic.’ She stopped suddenly and looked at me as if really seeing me for the first time. Then she started to tremble. ‘It was magic, wasn’t it?’
‘No, dear. Not really.’
‘Oh, yes it was! You’ve got that white lock in your hair, and you’re a physician. You’re Polgara the Sorceress, aren’t you? You’re Belgarath’s daughter!’
‘My terrible secret’s out, I see,’ I sighed with mock regret.
‘You’re a million years old!’
I touched my cheek. ‘Does it really show that much, Asrana?’
‘Of course not, Lady Polgara,’ she replied. ‘You don’t look a day over a hundred thousand.’ Then we both laughed, and she winced. ‘Rushing things a bit there,’ she noted, touching her forehead slightly. ‘Please don’t make me laugh for a little while yet. Your spell hasn’t really had time to get to the bottom of this headache yet.’
‘It wasn’t really a spell, Asrana – just a mixture of some fairly common herbs.’ I decided not to make an issue of the fact that her mornings would be much more enjoyable if she didn’t drink so much wine every evening. ‘Is there something you could send your maid to fetch for you?’ I asked her. ‘I’d like to talk to you without anyone around.’
‘Breakfast, I think. I’m suddenly ravenous. Would you join me?’
‘I’d be delighted, dear.’
After the girl had left, Asrana and I got down to business. ‘I’m not trying to be offensive, Countess, but I’m not very much impressed by your duke.’
‘Who is? We all have to be careful not to step on him when he’s in the throne room. Do you happen to have a cure for minisculism? Oldoran should probably take a double dose if you do. He’s a bug, Polgara, so stepping on him’s a natural reaction. Life around here would be much simpler if somebody’d just squish him and have done with it. Would you care for some wine?’
‘Ah – not just now, Asrana, and you’d probably better drink water this morning, too. Mixing wine with the potion I just gave you would make you terribly ill.’
‘I knew there had to be a drawback. Where were we?’
‘We were discussing Duke Oldoran’s shortcomings.’
‘And short goings as well, as I recall.’ The Countess Asrana had a quick tongue, and I rather liked her.
‘If the occasion arose, which of the men here at court would be best to replace him?’
“The Earl Mangaran, of course. Have you met him?’
‘I saw him last night. He doesn’t seem to have a very high opinion of your duke.’
‘He’s not alone there. Who could possibly love his Bug ship?’
‘Who’s that Tolnedran who seems to have taken up residence in the duke’s pocket?’
‘You mean Gadon? He’s a merchant of some kind, and I think he’s made Oldoran some sort of offer – probably dishonorable and certainly disgusting. Gadon’s been knocking around the palace here for the past half-year buying up court functionaries by the gross. Nobody likes him, but he’s got the duke’s ear, so we have to be civil.’
‘Are you in the mood for some serious plotting this morning, Asrana?’
‘Now that my headache’s gone away, I’m in the mood for almost anything. What should we plot about?’
‘How about a revolution, Countess?’
‘Oh, what fun!’ she exclaimed, clapping her hands together. ‘I’d just love to be a party to the downfall of the Bug. Are you going to kill him, Polgara? If you are, can I watch?’
‘You’re a bad girl, Asrana.’
‘I know, and it’s so much fun. Are we going to sneak around in the middle of the night holding whispered conversations and secretly smuggling weapons into the palace?’
‘You’ve been reading too many bad epics, Asrana. A good plot doesn’t work that way. I think we ought to have a talk with Earl Mangaran before we elevate him to the throne, don’t you? He’s of advanced years, and that sort of surprise might be hard on his veins.’
‘Spoilsport. I thought we could give him the throne for his birthday.’
‘Are we likely to encounter much resistance if we move against the duke? Are there any here at court who’d back him? Relatives or officials with something to lose if we deposed him?’
‘Let me deal with them, Lady Polgara. I can wrap just about any man here at court around my little finger if I really want to.’
I’ve broken a few hearts myself on occasion, and I’ve known some of the most outrageous flirts in history, but Countess Asrana was in a class by herself, and I’m certain that her towering self-confidence was fully justified.
After breakfast, the countess sent word to Earl Mangaran, asking him to meet us in the rose garden. Just to be on the safe side, I sent out a searching thought when Asrana and I went into the garden. This wasn’t going to be a conversation we’d care to have overheard.
The Earl Mangaran looked weary as he joined us, but there was a tinge of impishness in his eyes nonetheless.
‘Should I tell him?’ Asrana asked me.
‘You might as well,’ I replied. ‘We won’t get very far with this if he doesn’t know.’