Cyradis turned her pale face away slightly, and the faintly triumphant smile which touched her lips said quite clearly that she saw a great deal more than she was willing to reveal. She looked back to the Mallorean Emperor, her eyes innocently wide. “Wouldst thou indeed take some small pleasure in my company?" she asked.

"Thy company would fill my days, Cyradis," he said.

"Then gladly will I accompany thee to Mal Zeth," she said, for thou art now my truest friend and dearest companion."

Garion motioned with his head, and he and Hettar went on aft.

"What were we doing?" Hettar asked. "That seemed like a private conversation."

It was," Garion told him. "I just needed to be sure that it took place, that's all. I was told that it was going to happen, but prefer a little verification now and then."

Hettar looked puzzled.

"Zakath's been the loneliest man in the world," Garion told him. "That's what made him so empty and soulless and so dangerous. That's changed now. He isn't going to be lonely any more, and that should help him with something he has to do”

"Garion, you're being awfully cryptic. All I saw was a young lady rather skillfully wrapping a man around her finger.”

"It did sort of look that way, didn't it?"

Early the next morning, Ce'Nedra bolted from her bed and ran up the stairs to the deck. Alarmed, Garion followed her. "Excuse me," she said to Polgara, who was leaning out over the rail. Then she took her place beside the ageless woman, and the two of them stood for some time retching over the side. "You, too?" Ce'Nedra said with a wan smile. Polgara wiped her lips with a kerchief and nodded. Then the two of them embraced each other and began to laugh.

"Are they all right?" Garion asked Poledra, who had just come up on deck with the ubiquitous wolf pup again at her side "Neither one of them ever gets seasick."

"They aren't seasick, Garion," Poledra said with a mysterious smile.

"But why are they…"

“They're just fine, Garion. More than fine. Go on back down to your cabin. I’ll take care of this.”

Garion had just awakened, and his mind was a little foggy. So it was that it was not until he was halfway down the stairs before it slowly dawned on him. He stopped, his eyes very wide. "Ce'Nedra?" he exclaimed. "And Aunt Pol?" Then he, too, began to laugh.

The appearance of Sir Mandorallen, the invincible Baron of Vo Mandor, in the court of King Oldorin caused an awed silence. Because of Perivor's remote location, Mandorallen's towering reputation had not reached the island, but his very presence, that overpowering sense of his nobility and perfection, stunned the king's court. Mandorallen was the ultimate Mimbrate, and it showed.