He stood drumming his fingers impatiently on the back of a chair, and the others watched breathlessly. At last Polgara opened her eyes with a vaguely regretful sigh. "It's enormous," she said very quietly. "It has every thought these people have ever had—and every memory. It even remembers the beginning, and every one of them shares in it."

"And so did you?" Belgarath asked her.

"For a moment, father. They let me catch a glimpse of it. There are parts of it that are blocked off, though."

"We might have guessed that," Beldin said, scowling. "They're not going to provide access to anything that would give us the slightest advantage. They've been perched on that fence since the beginning of time."

Polgara sighed again and sat on a low divan.

"Are you all right, Pol?" Durnik asked with some concern.

"I'm fine, Durnik," she replied. "It's just that for a moment I saw something I've never experienced before, and then they asked me to leave."

Silk's eyes narrowed slightly. "Do you think they'd object if we left this house and had a look around?"

"No. They won't mind."

"I'd say that's our next step then," the little man suggested. "We know that the Dals are the ones who are going to make the final choice—at least Cyradis is—but this oversoul of theirs is probably going to provide her some direction."

"That's a very interesting term, Kheldar," Beldin noted.

"What is?"

"Oversoul. How did you come up with it?"

"I've always had a way with words."

"There may be some hope for you after all. Someday we'll have to have a long talk.''

"I shall place myself at your disposal, Beldin," Silk said with a florid bow. "Anyway," he continued, "since the Dals are going to decide things, I think we ought to get to know them better. If they're leaning in the wrong direction, maybe we can sway them back."

"Typically devious," Sadi murmured, "but probably not a bad idea. We should split up, though. We'll be able to cover more ground that way."

"Right after breakfast," Belgarath agreed.

"But, Grandfather," Garion protested, impatient to be off.

"I'm hungry, Garion, and I don't think well when I'm hungry."

"That might explain a lot," Beldin noted blandly. "We should have fed you more often when you were younger."

"You can be terribly offensive sometimes, do you know that?"

"Why, yes, as a matter of fact I do."

The same group of young women brought breakfast to them, and Velvet drew aside the large-eyed girl with the glossy brown hair and spoke with her briefly. Then the blond girl returned to the table. "Her name is Onatel," she reported, "and she's invited Ce'Nedra and me to visit the place where she and the other young women work. Young women talk a great deal, so we might pick up something useful.''

"Wasn't Onatel the name of that seeress we met on the Isle of Verkat?" Sadi asked.