Garion turned Chretienne so that his aunt would not see his smile. They took a bit more care setting up camp that night, choosing a small grove of aspens backed by a steep cliff and with a deep mountain river at its front. As the sun sank into the eternal snowfields above them and twilight filled the ravines and gorges with azure shadows, Beldin returned from his wide-ranging vigil. "Isn't it a bit early to be stopping?" he rasped after he had shimmered and changed.

"The horses are tired," Belgarath replied, casting a sidelong glance at Ce'Nedra.

"This is a very steep trail."

"Wait a bit," Beldin told him, limping toward the fire. "It gets steeper on up ahead."

"What happened to your foot?"

"I had a little disagreement with an eagle—stupid birds, eagles. He couldn't tell the difference between a hawk and a pigeon. I had to educate him. He bit me while I was tearing out a sizable number of his wing feathers.''

"Uncle," Polgara said reproachfully.

"He started it."

"Are there any soldiers coming up behind us?" Belgarath asked him.

"Some Darshivans. They're two or three days behind, though. Urvon's army is retreating. Now that he and Nahaz are gone, there's not much point in their staying."

"That gets at least some of the troops off our backs," Silk said.

"Don't be too quick to start gloating," Beldin told him. "With the Guardsmen and the Karands gone, the Darshivans are free to concentrate on us."

"That's true, I suppose. Do you think they know we're here?"

"Zandramas does, and I don't think she'd hide the information from her soldiers. You'll probably hit snow sometime late tomorrow. You might want to be thinking about some way to hide your tracks." He looked around. "Where's your wolf?" be asked Garion.

"Hunting. She's been looking for signs of her pack.''

"That brings something up," Belgarath said quietly, looking around to make sure that Ce'Nedra was out of earshot. "The wolf told Garion that there's a large animal of some kind in this area. Pol's going to go out and take a look around tonight, but it might not hurt if you nosed around tomorrow, as well. I'm not in the mood for any surprises.''

"I'll see what I can find."

Sadi and Velvet sat on the far side of the fire. They had placed the little earthenware bottle on its side and were trying to coax Zith and her children out with morsels of cheese. "I wish we had some milk," Sadi said in his contralto voice.

"Milk is very good for young snakes. It strengthens their teeth."

"I'll remember that," Velvet said.

"Were you planning a career as a snakeherdess, Margravine?"

"They're nice little creatures," she replied. "They're clean and quiet, and they don't eat very much. Besides, they're very useful in emergencies.''

He smiled at her affectionately. "We'll make a Nyissan of you yet, Liselle."