The glow in the rock wall which Ce'Nedra had noticed before began to shimmer and pulsate, and the princess seemed to see a dim shape within the rocks. Then, as if the stones were only air, the shape became distinct and stepped out into the chamber. For just a moment, it seemed that the figure was an old man, bearded and robed like the Gorim, although much more robust. Then Ce'Nedra was struck by an overpowering sense of something more than human. With an awed shudder, she realized that she was in the presence of divinity.

Relg gaped at the bearded figure, and he began to tremble violently. With a strangled cry he prostrated himself.

The figure looked calmly at the groveling zealot. "Rise, Relg," it said in a soft voice that seemed to carry all the echoes of eternity in it, and the caverns outside rang with the sound of that voice. "Rise, Relg, and serve thy G.o.d."

Chapter Eighteen.

CE'NEDRA HAD RECElVED an exquisite education. She had been so thoroughly trained that she knew instinctively all the niceties of etiquette and all the proper forms to be observed upon coming into the presence of an emperor or a king, but the physical presence of a G.o.d still baffled and even frightened her. She felt awkward, even gauche, like some ignorant farm girl. She found herself trembling and, for one of the few times in her life, she hadn't the faintest idea what to do.

UL was still looking directly into Relg's awe-struck face. "Thy mind hath twisted what I told thee, my son," the G.o.d said gravely. "Thou hast turned my words to make them conform to thy desire, rather than to my will."

Relg flinched, and his eyes were stricken.

"I told thee that the child who will be Gorim will come to Ulgo through thee," UL continued, "and that thou must prepare thyself to nurture him and see to his rearing. Did I tell thee to exalt thyself by reason of this?"

Relg began to shake violently.

"Did I tell thee to preach sedition? Or to stir Ulgo against the Gorim whom I have chosen to guide them?"

Relg collapsed. "Forgive me, O my G.o.d," he begged, groveling again on the floor.

"Rise, Relg," UL told him sternly. "I am not pleased with thee, and throe obeisance offends me, for thy heart is filled with pride. I will bend thee to my will, Relg, or I will break thee. I will purge thee of this overweening esteem thou hast for thyself. Only then wilt thou be worthy of the task to which I have set thee."

Relg stumbled to his feet, his face filled with remorse. "O my G.o.d-" He choked.

"Hearken unto my words, Relg, and obey me utterly. It is my command that thou accompany Belgarath, Disciple of Aldur, and render unto him all aid within thy power. Thou wilt obey him even as if he were speaking in my voice. Dost thou understand this?"

"Yes, O my G.o.d," Relg replied humbly.

"And wilt thou obey?"

"I will do as thou hast commanded me. O my G.o.d - though it cost me my life."

"It shall not cost thee thy life, Relg, for I have need of thee. Thy reward for this shall be beyond thy imagining."

Relg bowed in mute acceptance.

The G.o.d then turned to the Gorim. "Abide yet a while, my son," he said, "though the years press heavily upon thee. It shall not be long until thy burden shall be lifted. Know that I am pleased with thee."

The Gorim bowed in acceptance.

"Belgarath," UL greeted the sorcerer. "I have watched thee at thy task, and I share thy Master's pride in thee. The prophecy moves through thee and Polgara thy daughter toward that moment we have all awaited."

Belgarath also bowed. "It's been a long time, Most Holy," he replied, "and there were twists and turns to it that none of us could see at the beginning."

"Truly," UL agreed. "It hath surprised us all upon occasion. Hath Aldur's gift to the world come into his birthright as yet?"

"Not entirely, Most Holy," Polgara answered gravely. "He's touched the edges of it, however, and what he's shown us so far gives us hope for his success."

"Hail then, Belgarion," UL said to the startled young man. "Take my blessing with thee and know that I will join with Aldur to be with thee when thy great task begins."

Garion bowed - rather awkwardly, Ce'Nedra noticed. She decided that soon - very soon-she'd have to give him some schooling in such matters. He'd resist, naturally - he was impossibly stubborn - but she knew that if she nagged and badgered him enough, he'd eventually come around. And it was for his own good, after all.

UL seemed to be still looking at Garion, but there was a subtle difference in his expression. It seemed to Ce'Nedra that he was communicating wordlessly to some other presence - something that was a part of Garion and yet not a part of him. He nodded gravely then, and turned his gaze directly upon the princess herself.

"She seems but a child," he observed to Polgara.

"She's of a suitable age, Most Holy," Polgara replied. "She's a Dryad, and they're all quite small."

UL smiled gently at the princess, and she felt herself suddenly glowing in the warmth of that smile. "She is like a flower, is she not?" he said.

"She still has a few thorns, Most Holy," Belgarath replied wryly, "and a bit of bramble in her nature."

"We will value her all the more for that, Belgarath. The time wilt come when her fire and her brambles will serve our cause far more than her beauty." UL glanced once at Garion, and a strange, knowing smile crossed his face. For some reason, Ce'Nedra felt herself beginning to blush, then lifted her chin as if daring the blush to go any further.

"It is to speak with thee that I have come, my daughter," UL said directly to her then, and his tone and face grew serious. "Thou must abide here when thy companions depart. Do not venture into the kingdom of the Murgos, for if it should come to pa.s.s that thou makest this journey unto Rak Cthol, thou shalt surely die, and without thee the struggle against the darkness must fail. Abide here in the safety of Ulgo until thy companions return."

This was the kind of thing Ce'Nedra completely understood. As a princess, she knew the need for instant submission to authority. Though she had wheedled, coaxed, and teased her father all her life to get her own way, she had seldom directly rebelled. She bowed her head. "I will do as thou hast commanded, Most Holy," she replied without even thinking of the implications of the G.o.d's words.

UL nodded with satisfaction. "Thus is the prophecy protected," he declared. "Each of you hath his appointed tasks in this work of ours - and I have mine as well. I will delay you no longer, my children. Fare you all well in this. We will meet again." Then he vanished.

The sounds of his last words echoed in the caverns of Ulgo. After a moment of stunned silence, the hymn of adoration burst forth again in a mighty chorus, as every Ulgo raised his voice in ecstasy at this divine visitation.

"Belar!" Barak breathed explosively. "Did you feel it?"

"UL has a commanding presence," Belgarath agreed. He turned to look at Relg, one eyebrow c.o.c.ked rather whimsically. "I take it you've had a change of heart," he observed.

Relg's face had gone ashen, and he was still trembling violently. "I will obey my G.o.d," he vowed. "Where he has commanded me, I will go.

"I'm glad that's been settled," Belgarath told him. "At the moment he wants you to go to Rak Cthol. He may have other plans for you later, but right now Rak Cthol's enough to worry about."

"I will obey you without question," the fanatic declared, "even as my G.o.d has commanded me."

"Good," Belgarath replied, and then he went directly to the point. "Is there a way to avoid the weather and the difficulties above?"

"I know a way," Relg answered. "It's difficult and long, but it will lead us to the foothills above the land of the horse people."

"You see," Silk observed to Barak, "he's proving useful already." Barak grunted, still not looking entirely convinced.

"May I know why we must go to Rak Cthol?" Relg asked, his entire manner changed by his meeting with his G.o.d.

"We have to reclaim the Orb of Aldur," Belgarath told him.

"I've heard of it," Relg admitted.

Silk was frowning. "Are you sure you'll be able to find the caves under Rak Cthol?" he asked Relg. "Those caves won't be the caverns of UL, you know, and in Cthol Murgos they're not likely to be holy - quite the opposite, most probably."

"I can find any cave - anywhere," Relg stated confidently.

"All right then," Belgarath continued. "a.s.suming that all goes well, we'll go up through the caves and enter the city un.o.bserved. We'll find Ctuchik and take the Orb away from him."

"Won't he try to fight?" Durnik asked.

"I certainly hope so," Belgarath replied fervently.

Barak laughed shortly. "You're starting to sound like an Alorn, Belgarath."

"That's not necessarily a virtue," Polgara pointed out.

"I'll deal with the magician of Rak Cthol when the time comes," the sorcerer said grimly. "At any rate, once we've recovered the Orb, we'll go back down through the caves and make a run for it."

"With all of Cthol Murgos hot on our heels," Silk added. "I've had dealings occasionally with Murgos. They're a persistent sort of people."

"That could be a problem," Belgarath admitted. "We don't want their pursuit gaining too much momentum. If any army of Murgos inadvertently follows us into the West, it will be viewed as an invasion, and that will start a war we aren't ready for yet. Any ideas?" He looked around.

"Turn them all into frogs," Barak suggested with a shrug. Belgarath gave him a withering look.

"It was just a thought," Barak said defensively.

"Why not just stay in the caves under the city until they give up the search?" Durnik offered.

Polgara shook her head firmly. "No," she said. "There's a place we have to be at a certain time. We'll barely make it there as it is. We can't afford to lose a month or more hiding in some cave in Cthol Murgos."

"Where do we have to be, Aunt Pol?" Garion asked her.

"I'll explain later," she evaded, throwing a quick glance at Ce'Nedra. The princess perceived immediately that the appointment the Lady spoke of concerned her, and curiosity began to gnaw at her. .

Mandorallen, his face thoughtful and his fingers lightly touching the ribs that had been cracked in his encounter with Grul, cleared his throat. "Does there perchance happen to be a map of the region we must enter somewhere nearby, Holy Gorim?" he asked politely.

The Gorim thought for a moment. "I believe I have one somewhere," he replied. He tapped his cup lightly on the table and an Ulgo servingman immediately entered the chamber. The Gorim spoke briefly to him, and the servingman went out. "The map I recall is very old," the Gorim told Mandorallen, "and I'm afraid it won't be very accurate. Our cartographers have difficulty comprehending the distances involved in the world above."

"The distances do not matter so much," Mandorallen a.s.sured him. "I wish but to refresh my memory concerning the contiguity of certain other realms upon the borders of Cthol Murgos. I was at best an indifferent student of geography as a schoolboy."

The servingman returned and handed a large roll of parchment to the Gorim. The Gorim in turn pa.s.sed the roll to Mandorallen.

The knight carefully unrolled the chart and studied it for a moment. "It is as I recalled," he said. He turned to Belgarath. "Thou hast said, ancient friend, that no Murgo will enter the Vale of Aldur?"

"That's right," Belgarath replied.

Mandorallen pointed at the map. "The closest border from Rak Cthol is that which abuts Tolnedra," he showed them. "Logic would seem to dictate that our route of escape should lie in that direction - toward the nearest frontier."

"All right," Belgarath conceded.

"Let us then seem to make all haste toward Tolnedra, leaving behind us abundant evidence of our pa.s.sage. Then, at some point where rocky ground would conceal signs of our change of direction, let us turn and strike out to the northwest toward the Vale. Might this not confound them? May we not confidently antic.i.p.ate that they will continue to pursue our imagined course? In time, certainly, they will realize their error, but by then we will be many leagues ahead of them. Pursuing far to our rear, might not the further discouragement of the prohibited Vale cause them to abandon the chase entirely?"

They all looked at the map.

"I like it," Barak said, effusively slapping one huge hand on the knight's shoulder.

Mandorallen winced and put his hand to his injured ribs.

"Sorry, Mandorallen," Barak apologized quickly. "I forgot."

Silk was studying the map intently. "It's got a lot to recommend it, Belgarath," he urged, "and if we angle up to hers" He pointed. "-we'll come out on top of the eastern escarpment. We should have plenty of time to make the descent, but they'll definitely want to think twice before trying it. It's a good mile straight down at that point."

"We could send word to Cho-Hag," Hettar suggested. "If a few clans just happened to be gathered at the foot of the escarpment there, the Murgos would think more than twice before starting down."

Belgarath scratched at his beard. "All right," he decided after a moment, "we'll try it that way. As soon as Relg leads us out of Ulgo, you go pay your father a visit, Hettar. Tell him what we're going to do and invite him to bring a few thousand warriors down to the Vale to meet us."

The lean Algar nodded, his black scalp lock bobbing. His face, however, showed a certain disappointment.

"Forget it, Hettar," the old man told him bluntly. "I never had any intention of taking you into Cthol Murgos. There'd be too many opportunities there for you to get yourself in trouble."

Hettar sighed somewhat mournfully.

"Don't take it so hard, Hettar," Silk bantered. "Murgos are a fanatic race. You can be practically certain that a few of them at least will try the descent - no matter what's waiting for them at the bottom. You'd almost have to make an example of them, wouldn't you?"

Hettar's face brightened at that thought.

"Silk," Lady Polgara said reprovingly.

The little man turned an innocent face to her. "We have to discourage pursuit, Polgara," he protested.

"Of course," she replied sarcastically.

"It wouldn't do to have Murgos infesting the Vale, would it?"

"Do you mind?"

"I'm not really all that bloodthirsty, you know."

She turned her back on him.

Silk sighed piously. "She always thinks the worst of me."

By now Ce'Nedra had had sufficient time to consider the implications of the promise she had so unhesitatingly given to UL. The others would soon leave, and she must remain behind. Already she was beginning to feel isolated, cut off from them, as they made plans which did not include her. The more she thought about it, the worse it became. She felt her lower lip beginning to quiver.

The Gorim of the Ulgos had been watching her, his wise old face sympathetic. "It's difficult to be left behind," he said gently, almost as if his large eyes had seen directly into her thoughts, "and our caves are strange to you-dark and seemingly filled with gloom."

Wordlessly she nodded her agreement.

"In a day or so, however," he continued, "your eyes will become accustomed to the subdued light. There are beauties here which no one from the outside has ever seen. While it's true that we have no flowers, there are hidden caverns where gems bloom on the floors and walls like wild blossoms. No trees or foliage grow in our sunless world, but I know a cave wall where vines of pure gold twist in ropey coils down from the ceiling and spill out across the floor."