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CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Polgara arrived late that same afternoon No one saw fit to raise the question of how she had crossed the hundreds of intervening leagues in the space of hours instead of weeksThe sentry who had been standing watch atop the battlements and who escorted her to the sickroohtly wild look in his eyes, as if he had just seen so about which he would prefer not to speak

Garion, at the moment she arrived, was in the midst of a discussion with one of the court physicians about the therapeutic value of bleeding, and the conversation had reached the point where he had just picked up a sword to confront the startledthe bed with lancet in hand

"If you try to opendeclared firara said crisply, "that will do, Garion" She removed her cloak and laid it across the back of a chair

"Aunt Pol," he gasped with relief

She had already turned to face the four physicians who had been tending the little queen "Thank you for your efforts, gentlemen," she told them "I'll send for you if I need you" The note of dismissal in her voice was final, and the four quietly filed out

"Lady Polgara," Ce'Nedra said weakly from the bed

Polgara turned to her i Ce'Nedra's tiny hand in hers "How do you feel?"

"My chest hurts, and I can't seem to stay awake"

"We'll have you up and about in no tiara assured her She looked critically at the bed "I think I' to need more pillows, Garion," she said "I want to prop her up into a sitting position" Garion quickly went through the sitting roo to the corridor outside

"Yes, your Majesty?" the sentry said as Garion opened the door

"Do you want to get me about a dozen or so pillows?"

"Of course, your Majesty" The sentry started down the corridor

"On second thought, make that two dozen" Garion called after hiara," Ce'Nedra was saying in a weak little voice" If it ever gets to the point where you have to make a choice, save ara replied gravely "I hope you've purged yourself of that particular nonsense now"

Ce'Nedra stared at her

"Melodrama has always made me just ever so faintly nauseous"

A slow flush crept up Ce'Nedra's cheeks

"That's a very good sign," Aunt Pol encouraged her "If you can blush, it h to take final note of trivial things"

"Trivial?"