And so I recounted the stories of what had happened in Vo Wacune and Vo Astur for them and revealed what I’d picked up so far in Vo Mimbre. ‘It’s all been a hoax, gentlemen,’ I concluded. ‘Ctuchik’s been trying to foment a war between Arendia and Tolnedra, hoping that His Imperial Majesty would annex Arendia – which would bring the Alorns into the picture. That’s what Ctuchik really wants – a war between the Empire and the Alorns. Arendia would have been no more than a pawn in the larger game.’

‘I shall obliterate the villain Kador!’ Corrolin burst out.

‘I’d really rather you didn’t, old boy,’ Ran Vordue told him. ‘Deport him back to Tolnedra instead – along with all his underlings. Let me deal with them.’ He smiled faintly. ‘My birthday’s not far off,’ he said. ‘Why don’t you give the lot of them to me as a present?’

‘It shall be my excruciating pleasure to do as thou hast requested, your Imperial Majesty,’ Corrolin agreed. ‘I shall devote mine own attentions to such Mimbrate knights as have fallen in with this Murgo plot. They shall feel my displeasure most keenly.’

‘Stout fellow,’ Ran Vordue murmured. Then he looked at me. ‘How did you find out about all this, Lady Polgara? My sources tell me that you’ve been ensconced in the Vale for the past several centuries.’

‘Our Master brought it to my attention, your Majesty. Evidently he feels that I should spend some more time in the field of practical politics to broaden my horizons.’

‘That brings up an interesting point,’ father said, looking directly at me. ‘The Master put this in your hands, Pol, so you’re the one who’s running things this time. What do we do now?’

‘I’ll get you for that, father,’ I threatened him.

‘You mean you’ll try. Why don’t you throw something on the table? Then the rest of us can take it apart and tell you why it won’t work.’

‘Well,’ I said, ‘let me see.’ I fished around for something logical. ‘If we look at it in a certain way, Ctuchik’s done us a favor here. There’s been a certain ecumenicism in his plotting. He duped all three dukes with exactly the same ploy, offering each one an alliance with Ran Vordue. Since Asturia, Wacune, and Mimbre were all deceived in the same way, couldn’t we build on that shared experience? Why don’t we just skip the war this time and go directly to the peace-conference? I’ve got a certain influence with Kathandrion and Mangaran. If Duke Corrolin invites them to a conference at – oh, let’s say the Arendish Fair – I think I’ll be able to persuade them to attend.’

‘She makes sense, Belgarath,’ Ran Vordue sided with me. ‘Have you got any idea of how much it’s costing me to keep fifteen legions in the garrison here in Tol Vordue, just in case the hostilities in Arendia happen to spill over into Tolnedra? I can find better uses for those troops, and for the money I’m wasting on them.’

‘I, too, find merit in Lady Polgara’s proposal,’ Mandorin agreed. ‘Endless war doth in time grow tiring. Mayhap, for the sake of novelty, we might try endless peace for a few months.’

‘Cynic,’ my father accused him. Then he stood up. ‘Why don’t we just let my daughter bully all concerned to the peace table at the Great Fair?’ he proposed.

‘Bully?’ I protested.

‘Isn’t that what you’re going to do?’

‘If I have to, yes, but that’s such an ugly word. Couldn’t we call it something a little nicer?’

‘Which word would you prefer?’

‘I’m not sure. I’ll work on it and let you know what I decide.’

‘I hope you’ll forgive me if I don’t hold my breath.’

Father rowed us back across the estuary at the mouth of the River Arend shortly before dawn. I’ve noticed any number of times that he’ll do things like that when he decides that he’s the best one available for what would otherwise be a menial task. Both Mandorin and Corrolin were knights, far more at home on horseback than at the oars of a small boat. My father’s not one to take chances. I could probably have done it at least as well as he did, but he evidently didn’t think of that – and I certainly wasn’t going to suggest it.

Dawn was in full flower when we beached our boat, re-saddled our horses, and rode on to the monastery. Corrolin dutifully conferred with the abbot for about a quarter of an hour – although I couldn’t for the life of me understand what they might have talked about. Corrolin was not going to war. Maybe that was it. Maybe he was asking the abbot to convey his apologies to Chaldan for not slaughtering his neighbors. When he came out of the monastery, we took the high road that led back to Vo Mimbre. We stopped after a mile or so, though, and I cooked breakfast for us over a roadside campfire – quite a good breakfast, as I recall. My friends all ate too much, naturally, and father, now that he had a full stomach, decided that a little rest might be in order. ‘We did stay up all night,’ he reminded us. ‘I can sleep in my saddle, if I really have to, but somebody’s going to have to stay alert enough to steer the horses. Why don’t we catch some sleep and then move on?’

We rode back a ways from the road under the leafy green canopy of the trees, unrolled our blankets, and committed ourselves to sleep. I was just on the verge of dozing off when mother’s voice murmured in my drowsy brain. ‘Very nicely done, Polgara,’ she complimented me.

‘I rather thought so myself,’ I agreed modestly.

‘You sound tired.’

‘I am, rather.’

‘Why don’t you sleep then?’

And I did, dropping off right between one thought and the next.

We all awoke about mid-afternoon and rode on to a rather shabby little inn, where we spent the night. We arose early the following morning, and we then rode straight on to Vo Mimbre.

Duke Corrolin had been mightily provoked by what his meeting with Ran Vordue had revealed, and he moved quickly, issuing orders, but no explanations. Then he invited the entire court into the throne-room where armored knights stood guard along the walls. To everyone’s surprise – even mine – the duke entered the throne-room in full armor and carrying a huge two-handed broadsword. He did not sit down on his throne. ‘My Lords and Ladies,’ he began, speaking with unusual crispness for a Mimbrate Arend. ‘I have but recently returned from Tol Vordue, where the emperor of Tolnedra and I did confer at some length. The outcome of that conference was a happy one. Rejoice, my loyal subjects. There will be no war.’