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The shape laughed, an ugly, dusty kind of sound "Thou art a fool, boy," it said "Fear me, for the day will come when I shall surely destroy thee"

"Not surely," Errand replied calmly He peered closely at the shadow-shrouded forure of Cyradis he had ly substantial shape was not really here, but so its malevolent hatred across the eh now not to be afraid of shadows"

"We will meet in the flesh, boy," the shadow snarled, "and in thatshalt thou die"

"That hasn't been decided yet, has it?" Errand said

"That's e have to o" The dark-robed shape drew in its breath with a sharp hiss

"Enjoy thy youth, boy," it snarled, "for it is all the life thou wilt have I will prevail" Then the dark shape vanished

Errand drew in a deep breath and glanced skyward at the circling Beldin He realized that not even the hawk's sharp eyes could have penetrated the spreading treeliure had stood Beldin could not know of the ed the stallion's flanks, and theyin the golden sunlight toward home

CHAPTER SEVEN

The years that folloere quiet years at the cottage Belgarath and Beldin were often away for long periods of time, and when they returned, travel-stained and weary, their faces usually wore the frustrated look of h Durnik was often on the strea all of his attention to the proble some wary trout that a thumbnail-sized bit of polishedbehind it in the current was not merely edible but irresistibly delicious, he nonetheless s in that scrupulously tidy condition which announced louder than words that the proprietor of any given farh rail fences, by their very nature, zigzagged and tended to round, Durnik firht He was quite obviously constitutionally incapable of going around any obstacleThus, if a large rock happened to intrude itself in the path of one of his fences, he i a fence builder and becaara ie was immaculate Her doorstep was not merely swept but frequently scrubbed The rows of beans, turnips, and cabbages in her garden were as straight as any of Durnik's fences, and weeds were absolutely forbidden Her expression as she toiled at these seely endless tasks was one of dreas as she worked

The boy, Errand, however, tended on occasion toward vagrancy This was not to say that he was indolent, but many of the chores around a rural far the sa fireas not one of Errand's favorite pastiarden seeht Drying the dishes seemed an act of utter folly, since, left alone, the dishes would dry themselves without any assistance whatsoever He ara to his point of view in this particularher agreement as he demonstrated with all the eloquence at his command that the dishes did not really need to be dried And when he had finished, su display of sheer brilliance, she smiled and said, "Yes, dear," and implacably handed him the dishtowel

Errand was hardly overburdened with unre toil, however In point of fact, not a day went by when he did not spend several hours on the back of the chestnut stallion, roae as freely as the wind

Beyond the tih the cottage was remote, visitors were not uncommon Hettar, of course, rode by often and sometimes he was accompanied by Adara, his tall, lovely wife, and their infant son Like her husband, Adara was an Algar to her fingertips, as much at home in the saddle as she was on her feet Errand was very fond of her Though her face always seerave, there lurked just beneath that calhted hiirl, with her flawless features and alabaster skin, carried about her a light, delicate fragrance that always seees of his consciousness There was so about that scent Once, when Polgara was playing with the baby, Adara rode with Errand to the top of a nearby hill and there she told hiinated

"You did know that Garion is my cousin?" she asked hihold once -it was in the winter when everything was locked in frost The grass was brown and lifeless, and all the leaves had fallen from the bushes I asked him about sorcery -what it was and what he could do with it I didn't really believe in sorcery -I wanted to, but I just couldn't bring rass around it; then he turned it into a flower right in front ofGarion would do Did it help you to believe?"

She sether There was so else I wanted him to do, but he said that he couldn't"

"What was that?"

She blushed rosily and then laughed "It still embarrasses me," she said "I wanted him to use his power to make Hettar love me"

"But he didn't have to do that," Errand said, "Hettar loved you already, didn't he?"

"Well -he needed a little help tovery sorry for ot the flower and left it behind on the sheltered side of a hill A year or so later, the whole hillside was covered with low bushes and these beautiful little lavender flowers Ce'Nedra calls the flower 'Adara's rose,' and Ariana thought it h we've never been able to find anything it cures I like the fragrance of the flower, and it is mine in a sort of special way, so I sprinkle petals in the chests where I keep h "It makes Hettar very affectionate," she added