((Note: italics means thought-speak between sorcerers and the like :italics: means the Drasnian secret language

Ahh yes, here's where things really start to change. The twins are introduced, and, well, there's hints that Polgara is not pleased after all with her marriage to Durnik. You don't like it, then don't read it. And this takes place after the final book in the Mallorean. Like stated in the prologue, ages won't be strictly as they should be. Sorry for all you sticklers out there, but I find it easier to write this way then go and figure everything out until it's exactly as I want it.))

Polgara sighed as she looked through the small window at the snowy landscape outside. She could just make out the large hill in the distance, the same one that Eriond had sledded down multiple times when he was a little boy in her care. Now there were two distant shapes hurtling down it, and there was no doubt in the sorceress's mind that those two shapes were her very own twin children. They were using those sleds that Durnik had built for them without even thinking of what would happen when they used them. Bloody man didn't even remember to build the fence like I told him to! the dark-haired woman thought angrily, her eyes a flashing gray-blue as she pulled on her cloak and strode through the door. She didn't need to watch as it happened, she already knew that both of her children had sledded directly into the creek.

"Durnik!" Polgara shouted, the anger that she was feeling quite evident in her voice. When there was no reply she began muttering, lifting up the hem of her dress as she made her way to the workshop that the blacksmith had constructed for himself. Sure enough he was inside, tinkering with what looked a lot like a new sort of fishing rod instead of the wheels he had said he would be making. Seeing that did absolutely nothing to cool Polgara's rapidly rising temper. "Durnik!" This time, he wheeled around, a guilty look forming on his plain face for being caught.

"Oh, hello Pol," Durnik said. "I was just working on this, I thought that if I added something to hold the string on then I could-"

"I do not want to hear about your latest theory on how you can catch more fish, Durnik," Polgara said in an icy voice, her arms crossed across her chest. "Guess where your children are right now? And why they are there." She did not even give the man a chance to reply before going on. "They sled directly into the creek, again! That is the third time this week. I have told you time and time again to remake the fence that you made for Eriond so that they stop falling in there. But no, something else always catches your eye, something more important than your children possibly drowning if one of them cracks their head upon a rock while they fall." Her eyes flashed dangerously as Durnik flinched back, his look becoming more guilty with each spoken word. "Now, go and retrieve the twins and bring them to me so that they can get a hot bath. Then I want you to make that fence, no excuses." The white lock in her hair seemed to glow as she turned and walked off, still muttering. Once, she had found Durnik's absent-mindedness to be endearing, but that had not lasted very long. Especially not once the twins were born and she was left to raise them on her own.

It was true that Polgara was glad to have her own children to raise at long last. She had dedicated practically her entire life to nothing but raising the heirs of the Rivan Throne until it could be reclaimed, never once saying a word against it. And now that she had twins of her own, all she wanted was someone who would be willing to help her instead of tinkering with a fishing rod that would only be tossed aside come spring! Polgara's eyes slowly changed from mostly blue with hints of gray to almost completely gray with only the slightest bits of blue here and there. They were that color far too often now, as her mother was known to say whenever she made one of her monthly visits.

Polgara's thoughts were pulled away from that unpleasant subject by the sound of the door opening and closing. "You had better not track water in on my floor!" she called, knowing that the twins might just do that. She heard a hurried set of whispers, ended when one of the twins appeared in the doorway where the bathing tub was located. "I see that you are going to go first yet again, my dear Asrana." Her eyes had shifted back to a deep, rich blue at the sight of her daughter, whom was showing promise of one day being as gorgeous as her namesake. "Hop in and wash up then, we do not want your brother to freeze to death while he waits."

"Yes mother,"Asrana said in her light, airy voice as she promptly hopped into the steaming, soapy water. Her night black locks were damp even before she ducked her head beneath the surface of the water, hazel eyes twinkling with a mixture of guilt and excitement. Polgara had the suspicison that her fifteen-year-old daughter had spent far too much time with Beldaran, Ce'Nedra's eldest daughter. That twinkle put to mind the fiery-haired young woman. "You will never guess who we saw today, before we went sledding."

"You are probably right," Polgara said simply, blinking as she saw what looked a lot like a lock of snow-white hair amidst her daughter's hair. "Asrana, did you get into the dye again?" She reached out and tapped the lock, her eyes widening in surprise at the jolt that ran up through her fingers as she touched it. She jerked her hand back, staring in disbelief at her daughter. "Who did you see today? No hemming around it now, tell me, Asrana." Her voice sounded very level and calm, butAsrana flinched back. She knew her mother's moods very well, and her mood right now was on the edge of a thunderstorm.

"It was only Eriond," the girl said, continuing with her washing. The sooner she finished, the sooner she could get out and away from the impending storm. "He smiled at me and touched my forehead, saying that this had been long coming, even if you had chosen to look away and ignore it." Seeing the sparks in Polgara's eyes she was quick to add, "Those were his words, not mine! There was nothing I could do, and he did nothing wrong. All he did was touch my forehead and he is a God, the God of the world. Can't exactly tell him 'sorry, I don't think I can talk to you today'."

Polgara's eyes were closed, her hands clenched tightly on the edge of the bathtub. She remained silent as Asrana, finished with her bath, began to edge herself out of the tub. "Did he do anything to your brother?"

Asranashook her head, wrapping up in a thick towel before starting for the door. Her mother was extremely displeased about the white lock in her hair, though the girl wasn't sure why. It made her look even more like her mother, something whichAsrana strove for. When the others visited some of the stories they related were about how her mother's beauty was still legendary. And she had read her grandfather's and then her mother's book, they spoke of it as well.Asrana wanted nothing more in the world than to be like her mother. "Ontrose looked a little dissapointed when all Eriond said to him was that he was going to be just what you wished for him, even though I could not be that. Whatever that means."

"It means that I am going to have a long talk with Eriond, that is what it means," Polgara said through gritted teeth. "He has no right to do as he has, none at all. You are my daughter and you deserve a real life!"

"Are you mad at Eriond?"Asrana asked, pausing in the doorway. "You can't exactly be that, you know, he is the God of the whole world."

The look that was fixed onAsrana made her swallow hard. "I'm not in the best of moods right now, Asrana, so do not try to tell me what I can and cannot do. I raised Eriond when he was little and I can be mad at him if I want to. And right now I want to be very, very mad."

"Does this mean we're not in trouble for sledding into the creek?"

"Go get dressed and tell your brother that his bath is ready," Polgara said steadily, her tone not matching her stormy eyes as she stood up and strode past her wide-eyed daughter. "You are still in trouble for sledding into the creek, Eriond just happens to be in more. Dress quickly, Asrana, we are going for a visit."

"But it's getting dark outside!"Asrana protested. Polgara turned and leveled her cold gaze upon her daughter. "I'll be back in a moment." As the young woman hurried away she could not help but think to herself. It's a good thing that Kamion, Killane, and Polanna are all off visiting with Zakath and Cyradis in Mallorea. Otherwise they might be catching this as well! The thought that perhaps something else was happening to her two younger brothers and little sister never once crossed her mind. And, in the state that she was in, it didn't brush through Polgara's either.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Belgarath had his nose in yet another dusty old scroll, the stew that the twins had brought over for him and Poledra growing cold on the cluttered dining table. He was so close to figuring out the wind and, if not for Poledra, he would have forgotten about eating completely. For her part, Poledra took it all very well. She simply sat in the corner of the tower that she had claimed for herself, knitting. It was something she had taken it up to occupy her time on the evenings she did not spend flying about as a snowy owl.

The tawny-haired woman looked up from her current project, it looked like it might become a blanket, and sighed. "Old Wolf, that stew has been sitting there for long enough to ice over. One thinks that you are perhaps growing dull in your old age at last. One's daughter is quite correct about you."

"I'll eat when I find a good stopping point," Belgarath muttered, waving one of his hands absently. "You know how long I spent pouring over the Mrin Codex, and the Darine. I have earned the right to study the wind. And have a good tankard of ale now and again. What did you do with the keg that the twins brought over?"

Poledra sniffed. "I threw it out."

"You did wh-"

Father!

The old man winced, looking over at his golden-eyed wife and then towards the stairs that led to the door. "I think we have company, Poledra," he said. "Unannounced and not very pleasant company at that, my favorite kind." Then he sent his thoughts out, What is so important, Pol? Can't it wait a few days? "I still want my ale, I'll probably want it even more soon."

No, it cannot. Belgarath winced again as he heard the stone that was his tower's door roll aside, followed by two sets of feet marching up the steps. A moment later two dark heads emerged, looking identical but for the eyes, size, and... the old man's eyes narrowed. Since when didAsrana have a white lock like her mother? "Do you see now, old wolf, why it could not wait!" Polgara demanded, pointing at Asrana's hair. "She has been marked! This was not supposed to happen, father, there was no sign that it would come about. My children were supposed to be normal. They were supposed to lead normal lives, just like everyone else."

"Breathe," Poledra remarked from her corner, golden eyes slightly amused. "Your face is starting to turn red, daughter, and one does not think it would be wise of you to pass out in front of youreldest pup. Come to me, Asrana, and let your mother and grandfather speak." She set aside her knitting and held out her arms, embracingAsrana as the girl rushed into her arms. "My, my," Poledra murmured, touching the lock in her granddaughter's dark hair. "That is a surprise."

"It's not my fault, grandmother,"Asrana insisted, her hazel eyes filling with tears. She had received quite the tongue lashing from her mother on the ride over, and Polgara was famous world over for those. "A-a-all I did was t-talk to him. I couldn't have known he would do this."

"I know. Now, why don't you tell me how the cottage is? Simply ignore them, your mother always had a temper on her." Soon enough,Asrana was smiling as she regaled her grandmother will tales of what she and Ontrose did during the days, and of all that she was learning from the books that Belgarath brought her. She was quite used to her mother yelling at someone else, it happened with her and father all the time lately.

"Eriond did this," Polgara raged, her eyes flashing. The last time she could remember being this angry had been when Garion, Silk, and Belgarath had gone off to fight Torak and left nothing but a note. Only that time she had been in her own rooms, able to break whatever she wanted. If she started breaking things in here then her mother could get upset. Poledra's calm was hard to break, but it could be done. "He did this to myAsrana with his own hand. Touched her forehead and that lock appeared. I thought she had tried to dye her hair like mine again, until I touched it. Then I realized what it truly was." Her eyes narrowed and her tone became demanding. "Father, make it go away."

Belgarath raised an eyebrow. "Polgara, be reasonable. Something like this cannot be made to go away by anyone, not even the Gods. She was meant to be marked from birth, even if it didn't show itself until Eriond touched her. It's a gift, Pol, not the curse that you are naming it.Asrana would be happy about it if you hadn't practically lashed the skin from her bones with that razor of a tongue of yours. Haven't you noticed how she watches whenever one of us does something? She idolizes every last thing about you, Polgara, and that includes the Will and Word. Ontrose doesn't want it." He snorted. "He'd probably be happy if he turned out just like that husband of yours. Kamionis just like him, idolizing everything Ontrose does. Killane wants to be a knight like Mandorallen, which I will never understand.But Asrana's different, she wouldn't be happy if she was just like everyone else." His brow furrowed and he tapped a finger against his desk. "For that matter, Polanna seems to be like that as well."

Polgara shook her head, the lock in her hair seeming to flare. She wanted to be angry about this and everyone else be damned, she would be angry until she decided that she didn't want to be anymore! "If you can't make it go away," she said, her voice betraying only a little of the anger she felt, "Then I will find Eriond and make him take it away."

"You're being very unreasonable about this, Pol," Belgarath informed her. "Just take some time to think before you do anything rash. You have a history for doing rash things."

"I knew you would be no help, father," Polgara said icily. "So I will have to take care of this myself." In truth, she knew that her father was right, but she would rather bite off her own tongue than admit it. She also wanted to at least be able to say that she had tried to make Asrana's life as normal as anyone else's. As normal as all of her children's would be.