Polgara the Sorceress. David Eddings

      ‘If we can find out where and when one of those ceremonies is taking place, we can swoop in during the entertainment and round them up,’ Anrak said. ‘We’ll have enough to indict the whole Cult.’ He thought for a moment. ‘If you can hold off until the autumn equinox, you’ll probably get every Cult-member on the Isle. That’s a big day for the Cult.’

      ‘Oh?’ Daran said. ‘Why’s that?’

      “There’s a tradition that Torak cracked the world on the autumnal equinox. I’m not sure why, but the Cult always celebrates the event. Every district in Cherek, Drasnia, and Algaria has its own Cult party on that night.’

      ‘I’ve got informants among the general population,’ Kamion mused. ‘It shouldn’t be too hard to find out where those ceremonies take place. I’ll put out the word, and we should have what we need in a week or so.’

      Daran sighed disconsolately. ‘Another perfectly good idea just went down a rat-hole,’ he mourned.

      ‘Which idea was that, dear?’ I asked him.

      ‘I was hoping that I could make Elthek himself take up farming, but if we exile the whole lot of them, the ordinary people in the Cult are probably going to feed the priests.’

      ‘Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much about that, Daran,’ Anrak said. ‘I’ve sailed along the north coast of the Isle. There are lots of islets up there, but none of them is really big enough to support more than a half-dozen people. If he wants to eat, Elthek’s going to have to get his hands dirty.’

      ‘Marvelous,’ Daran beamed.

      Kamion’s spies advised us that, unlike the Cult practice in the other Alorn kingdoms, the Cultists here all gathered in a narrow gorge in the mountains rearing above the Citadel. Evidently our Deacon believed in keeping a firm grip on his adherents.

      Kamion and I had a small argument about a week before the autumnal equinox. He was very upset when I told him that I was going with him to that gorge. ‘Out of the question,’ he told me. ‘It’ll be too dangerous.’

      ‘And what are you going to do if it turns out that the Deacon can really perform magic, Kamion? You won’t be able to help Daran very much if Elthek turns you into a toad, you know.’

      That’s absurd, Pol. Nobody can do that’

      ‘Don’t be too sure, Kamion. I probably could – if I set my mind to it. If Elthek does have talent in that area, I’m the only one on the Isle who can counter it. I’m coming along, Kamion, so don’t argue with me about it.’

      The soldiers who were to take the Cult into custody were all carefully selected, and for reasons of security they were not told what their mission was going to be. Kamion dispatched them into the mountains in squads with instructions to stay out of sight. The Cultists started drifting into the city in the waning days of summer, and then began drifting out again after a few days as Elthek sent them up the gorge to make preparations for the celebration. The whole affair took on an almost comic aspect with groups of armed men creeping around in the forests assiduously avoiding each other. I spent a great deal of my time in feathers during those two weeks, flying from tree to tree as I kept an eye on the Cultists to make certain that there weren’t any last-minute changes of plan.

      Our plan was really quite simple. We decided to secrete a fair number of highly respected nobles and commons in the woods on the steep sides of the gorge to observe Elthek’s ceremony, and then, when we had enough damning evidence – and when the Cultists were too drunk to stand – we’d send in the soldiers to round them all up. It wasn’t until the day preceding the autumnal equinox that Kamion and I quite firmly told Daran that he wouldn’t be going along. ‘You’ll be sitting in judgment, your Highness,’ Kamion told him. ‘You’ll lose all appearance of impartiality if you lead the attack.’

      ‘But – ’ Daran started to protest.

      ‘No buts, dear,’ I said. ‘If you were actually the king, it might be different, but you’re only your father’s regent, so you have to be a little careful. It’s your father’s throne you’re defending, not your own.’

      ‘It will be.’

      ‘There’s a lot of difference between “will be” and “is”, Daran. You have to give the appearance of impartiality in this situation. You can spend tomorrow evening sitting in front of a mirror practicing expressions of shock and outrage. Then, when Anrak, Kamion and I drag the Cultists before you and present the case against them, no one can accuse you of having been in on our scheme from the very start. Appearances are very important in situations like this.’

      ‘Your Highness might want to keep in mind the fact that witchcraft’s a capital offense,’ Kamion pointed out. ‘In actuality, you could burn the lot of them at the stake.’

      ‘Could I really do that, Aunt Pol?’ Daran asked me.

      ‘Don’t get carried away, dear. Sentencing them to exile’s really an act of mercy, you realize.’

      ‘Part of the idea here is to build your reputation, your Highness,’ Kamion explained.

      ‘I don’t think it’s very fair,’ Daran sulked.

      ‘No, your Highness, it’s not. It’s politics, and politics aren’t meant to be fair. Oh, incidentally, after the trial, it might not be a bad idea for you to agonize over your final judgment for a week or so.’

      Daran stared at him blankly.

      ‘It’ll give me some time to spread word of the charges and our proof all over the Isle – public relations, you understand.’

      ‘I know what I’m going to do to them, Brand.’

      ‘Of course you do, dear,’ I told him. ‘Just don’t do it so quickly. Give Elthek and his cohorts some time to worry before you pass judgment on them.’

      ‘Where am I going to keep them while I pretend to be making up my mind?’

      ‘Elthek’s got a fairly extensive dungeon under the temple of Belar, your Highness,’ Kamion suggested without even cracking a smile. ‘As long as it’s there anyway – ’

      Daran burst out laughing at that point.

      And then the day arrived, dawning murky with the threat of incipient rain. ‘Wonderful,’ Anrak said sourly, looking out the window of our blue-draped conference room as morning stained the sky over the Isle. ‘I hate crawling around in the woods when it’s raining.’

      ‘You won’t melt,’ I assured him. ‘If you’d like, you could bring a cake of soap along tonight. I think it’s almost time for your annual bath.’

      ‘I think you did me a big favor that day back in the Vale when you turned down my marriage proposal, Pol,’ he replied.

      ‘What’s this?’ Daran asked.

      ‘I was young and foolish at the time, Daran,’ Anrak explained. ‘Some men just aren’t meant to get married.’

      That gave me something to think about. Daran would be twenty-three years old on his next birthday, and I didn’t really want him to grow too accustomed to bachelorhood.

      It rained off and on all that day, a filmy, misty kind of rain that wreathed the towers of the Citadel and obscured the city and the harbor. The sky cleared in the late afternoon, though, and we were treated to one of those glorious sunsets that almost make living in rainy country worthwhile.

      No, I didn’t have anything to do with it. You know how my father feels about tampering with the weather.

      The nobles and commons who joined us that evening to serve as witnesses were all men of impeccable character and good reputation. They were not, despite Anrak’s objections, coached or prompted in any way. Indeed, they were not even advised in advance that they were going to spend