CeNedra opened the door, hurried to the bed, and crawled under the covers with Aunt Pol and the babies. He always does that, she complained. Hes so busy trying to sneak away that he doesnt even think about putting more wood on the fire.
He doesnt want to wake you, dear.
I can always go back to sleep if I want, and I hate waking up in a cold room. She gathered one of the twins in her arms and cuddled the little child close. CeNedra was a mother herself, so she was very good at cuddling. She realized that she really missed her own children. She began to have some second thoughts about the wisdom of a journey in the dead of winter based on nothing more than a whim.
The Rivan Queen and her husbands aunt talked about various unimportant things for a while, and then the door opened and Polgaras mother came in carrying a tray with three cups of steaming tea on it. Good morning, mother, Polgara said.
Not too bad, Poledra replied. A little cold, though. Poledra was so literal sometimes.
What are the men-folk up to? Aunt Pol asked.
Garion and Durnik are out feeding the birds and animals, Poledra said. Hes still asleep. Poledra almost never spoke her husbands name. She set her tray down on the small table near the fireplace. I think we need to talk, she said. She came to the bed, took up the twins, and deposited them back in the curiously constructed double cradle that Durnik had built for his children. Then she handed Polgara and CeNedra each a cup of tea, took the remaining one up herself, and sat in the chair by the fire.
Whats so important, mother? Polgara asked.
Poledra pointed one finger at CeNedra. She talked with me yesterday, she said, and I think shes got a point we should consider.
Oh?
She said that her son and his sons will be leading the Rivans someday, and there are things theyll need to know. The well-being of the Rivans might depend on their knowing. Thats a leaders first responsibility, isnt it? whether hes leading people or wolves.
CeNedra silently gloated. Her thrown-together arguments the previous morning had evidently brought Poledra over to her side.
Where are we going with this, mother? Polgara asked.
You have a responsibility as well, Polgara to the young, her mother replied. Thats our first duty. The Master set you a task, and you havent finished it yet.
Polgara gave CeNedra a hard look.
I didnt do anything, Aunt Pol, CeNedra said with feigned innocence. I just asked for your mothers advice, thats all.
The two sets of eyes one set tawny yellow, the other deep blue fixed themselves on her.
CeNedra actually blushed.
She wants something, Polgara, Poledra said. Give it to her. It wont hurt you, and its still a part of the task you freely accepted. We wolves rely on our instincts; humans need instruction. Youve spent most of your life caring for the young and instructing them so you know whats required. Just set down what really happened and be done with it.
Not all of it, certainly! Polgara sounded shocked. Some of those things were too private.
Poledra actually laughed. You still have a great deal to learn, my daughter. Dont you know by now that theres no such thing as privacy among wolves? We share everything. The information may be useful to the leader of the Rivans someday and to your own children as well so lets be sure they have what they need. Just do it, Polgara. You know better than to argue with me.
Polgara sighed. Yes, mother, she replied submissively.
CeNedra underwent a kind of epiphany at that point, and she didnt entirely like it. Polgara the Sorceress was the pre-eminent woman in the world. She had titles beyond counting, and the whole world bowed to her, but in some mysterious way, she was still a wolf, and when the dominant female her mother in this case gave an order, she automatically obeyed. CeNedras own heritage was mixed part Borune and part Dryad. Shed argued extensively with her father, the Emperor of Tolnedra, but when Xantha, Queen of the Dryads, spoke, CeNedra might complain a bit, but she instinctively obeyed. It was built into her. She began to look at Polgara in a slightly different way, and by extension, at herself also in a new fashion.
Its a start, Poledra said cryptically. Now then, daughter, she said to Polgara, it wont be all that difficult. Ill talk with him, and hell show you how to do it without all that foolishness with quill-pens and ink. Its your obligation, so stop complaining.
It shall be as my mother wishes, Polgara replied.
Well, then, Poledra said, now that thats settled, would you ladies like to have another cup of tea?
Polgara and CeNedra exchanged a quick glance. I suppose we might as well, Polgara sighed.
Part One: BeldaranChapter 1
This was not my idea. I want that clearly understood right at the outset. The notion that any one person can describe what really happened is an absurdity. If ten or a hundred people witness an event, there will be ten or a hundred different versions of what took place. What we see and how we interpret it depends entirely upon our individual past experience. My mother, however, has insisted that I undertake this ridiculous chore, and I will, as always, do as she tells me to do.
The more Ive thought about it, though, the more Ive come to realize that when CeNedra first broached the subject to me, and later to my mother, her obviously specious argument about the well-being of the young actually had more merit than that devious little girl realized. One day Geran will be the Rivan King and the Guardian of the Orb, and over the centuries, Ive found that people with at least a nodding acquaintance with true history make the best rulers. At least they dont repeat the mistakes of the past.
If all Geran and his sons really needed to rule the Rivans were to be a flat recounting of the deeds of assorted rulers of assorted kingdoms in ages past, the tiresome repetition of the and then, and then, and then that so delights the stodgy members of the Tolnedran Historical Society would be more than sufficient.
As my daughter-in-law so cunningly pointed out, however, the and thens of those Tolnedran scholars deal with only a part of the world. Theres another world out there, and things happen in that other world that Tolnedrans are constitutionally incapable of comprehending. Ultimately it will be this unseen world that the Rivan King must know if he is to properly perform his task.
Even so, I could have devoutly maintained that my fathers long-winded version of the history of our peculiar world had already filled in that obvious gap. I even went so far as to re-read fathers tedious story, trying very hard to prove to myself and to my mother that Id really have nothing to add. Soon fathers glaring omissions began to leap off the page at me. The old fraud hadnt told the whole story, and mother knew it.