"First thing tomorrow morning, why don't we go see that old man, Dalian ? We'll tell him right out that you're supposed to present yourself to Cyradis. I think it's time to start pushing a little."

"Right," Zakath agreed.

Dalian , however, proved to be as unresponsive as all the rest of the citizens of Kell. "Be patient, Emperor of Mallorea," he advised. "The Holy Seeress will come to you at the proper time."

"And when is that?" Garion asked bluntly.

"Cyradis knows, and that's all mat's really important, isn't it?"

"If he wasn't so old and feeble, I'd shake some answers out of him," Garion muttered as he and Zakath walked back to the house.

"If this goes on much longer, I might just ignore his age and infirmity," Zakath said. "I'm not in the habit of having my questions evaded this way."

Velvet and Ce'Nedra were approaching the house from the other direction as Garion and Zakath reached the broad marble steps. The two young women were walking quickly, and Ce'Nedra's expression was triumphant.

"I think we managed to get something useful at last," Velvet said. "Let's go inside so we can tell everyone at once."

They gathered again in the domed room, and the blond girl spoke to them quite seriously. "This isn't too precise," she admitted, "but I think it might be all we're likely to get out of these people. This morning, Ce'Nedra and I went back to that house where those young women work. They were weaving, and that's the sort of thing that tends to make people a little less than alert. Anyway, that girl with the large eyes, Onatel, wasn't there, and Ce'Nedra put on her most empty-headed expression and—"

"I most certainly did not," Ce'Nedra said indignantly.

"Oh, but you did, dear—and it was absolutely perfect. She stood there all wide-eyed and innocent and asked the young women where we could find our 'dear friend,' and one of them let something slip that she probably wasn't supposed to have. She said that Onatel had been summoned to serve in 'the place of the seers.' Ce'Nedra's eyes went—if possible—even more vacant, and she asked where that might be. Nobody answered, but one of them looked at the mountain."

"How can you avoid looking at that monster?" Silk scoffed. "I'm a little dubious about this, Liselle."

"The girt was weaving, Kheldar. I’ve done that myself a few times, and I know you have to keep your eyes on what you're doing. She looked away in response to Ce'Nedra's question, and then she jerked her eyes back and tried to cover her mistake. I’ve been to the academy, too, Silk, and I can read people almost as well as you can. That girl might as well have screamed it out loud. The seers are somewhere up on that mountain."