Chapter 6: The Other Place

The Lady Polgara was angry. Silk had left a few hours ago and had still not returned. It was just after noon, and they needed to get ready to leave Val Alorn in the morning.

"Where is he?" she said for about the millionth time.

"Relax, Pol," Belgarath said. "He'll be back."

"But father, what if he doesn't come back? What if he's hurt? What if…"

"Enough of the 'what ifs', Pol. No sense in worrying. What will happen will happen."

Polgara gave Belgarath a very level look, which he completely ignored.

"I'll bet Silk got sidetracked by some merchant and is now ripping the poor guy off. Either that or he's in some tavern, cheating at dice," Garion said. He had known Silk for a while now, and these really were the most likely explanations.

"You know what I think," Barak said, smirking. "I think he got hit from behind, dragged into a cheese shop, stuck in a box, and transported to another world by sorcery."

Polgara was about to reprimand him, but Belgarath, who had caught on to the joke, spoke before she could, also smirking.

"And I bet the label on the bow says 'imported silk'."

"Stop it both of you. We all know that's impossible!"

"Nothing's impossible, Pol," Belgarath replied. He, Barak, and Garion burst out laughing. Polgara looked skyward, said "Men!" and left the room.

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Durnik and Hettar were walking through the streets of Val Alorn, trying to enjoy one last afternoon of rest before the journey got started again. They were also trying to get to know each other, seeing as they had just met.

At first, Durnik had been slightly apprehensive about this tall, fierce-looking Algar warrior, but, after a bit of discussion, he discovered that he had a lot in common with Hettar.

Hettar decided that he liked this Sendarian blacksmith. He could see that Durnik was very kind and put his heart and soul into everything he did, which was something that was highly valued in ALgaria.

The two of them turned to look out at the harbor. They could see their ship being prepared to sail. Just then a man approached them from behind with a message from King Anheg.

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Anheg of Cherek sat in his study reading over a report with a worried frown. Unable to concentrate any longer, he set the report down on the table and crossed to the window. He stood looking out at Val Alorn, his mind trying to push away the thing that was worrying him, but it was impossible.

Anheg stood staring out the window for a few minutes thinking about the problem at hand, but his thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in," he said.

One of his soldiers came in carrying a tankard and a barrel of ale under one arm. "Where do you want this, Anheg?"

King Anheg turned. "Well, it's about time. Stick it over there by the table. And don't forget to fill the tankard."

The soldier complied. Just before leaving, he turned to his king and said, "Oh, by the way, Anheg, the people you wanted to see are here."

"All of them?"

"How should I know how many there were?"

"Just send them in," he scowled.

A few minutes later, Polgara, Belgarath, Garion, Durnik, Hettar, and Barak filed in. King Anheg, in the act of drinking deeply from his tankard, motioned to them to find a seat. Once they were seated, it became clear that Anheg was struggling with something, so Belgaratht decided to help, or rather to bully it out of him.

"Alright, Anheg. You've dragged us all up here, so will you just hurry up and get to the point. What is it?"

Anheg looked at him, uncertainty and apprehension written on his face.

"Anheg," Belgarath said. "We're never going to get anywhere if you don't do something. Just tell us what's wrong."

King Anheg pointed at the note he had received earlier that was lying on the table. Polgara, who was closest, reached over and grabbed it. Her calm expression turned to one of shock as she read.

"Oh, dear," she said a few moments later, after the gravity of the message had sunk in. Belgarath reached fop the note and she handed it to him silently. He, too, became stunned when he looked at it. Everyone in the room was staring at him, and, after he became aware of this, he began to read it out loud.

"Dear King Anheg

I know that you have other matters on your mind right now, so I'll keep this short. Kheldar has been captured. I don't know how, or by who, but I did see him being dragged into a building. He was unconscious, so it obviously wasn't his choice to go, and seeing as it is your kingdom and Silk just happens to be a good friend of yours, I'd assumed that you would want to know. I'm quite sure that you'll be wanting to do something about soon. I don't know much about those who kidnapped him, so there's no telling how long they'll keep him alive. Don't forget that he's Rhodar's only nephew and Rhodar has no children as of yet. You'd better count yourself lucky that I didn't go off and tell Rhodar right from the beginning, but out of respect for you I decided to give you time to act first before informing my king. Good day to you, Anheg, and good luck trying to avoid a conflict with Drasnia over this."

The room was silent as Belgarath finished reading the note. The stunned silence was broken by a soft voice coming from Barak.

"Who sent this to you, Anheg?"

"I don't know. Probably one of Rhodar's little cohorts (they're all spies anyway) but that's not the probem. The problem is figuring out what to d-"

At that moment, there was a knock on the door, which swung open a few seconds later to admit Brand, the Rivan Warder; Cho-Hag of Algaria, who was being supported by one of the Cherek soldiers; and none other than King Rhodar of Drasnia himself. After the soldiers had left and closed the door, Rhodar looked around the room with a cheery smile.

"Anheg, my friend, "he said in a voice just as cheery. "You should have told us you were having a council."

"Rhodar, I…" Anheg spluttered. All at once, Rhodar dropped his cheerful act.

"Look Anheg, I already know what's happened, just as I know about that note. No less than half a dozen spies saw what happened to Silk, and that fellow who wrote you the note was only one of them. The rest all came straight to me. I don't blame you, Anheg. I can't blame you for what happened to my nephew anymore than you can blame me for what happened to your soldiers."

"Rhodar, I'm sorr… hey, wait!" Anheg exclaimed. "What happened to my soldiers?"

"Umm, never mind. It doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does, Rhodar. Tell me what exactly-"

"That's not important right now. What is important is finding Silk. If we get to him before he's hurt, we'll call it even, ok? Now, let's get down to business."

End of Chapter 6