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"No," Sadi sighed, rubbing his hand over his scalp, "I suppose not As long as she's happy where she is, we ht as well leave her there"

"She's very happy In fact, she's purring" Velvet frowned slightly "I think you should watch her diet just a bit, Sadi," she said critically "Her little tuain "We wouldn't want a fat snake on our hands, would we?"

"Well, excuse e snag at the top of the pass, and the blue-banded hawk perched on a dead li his feathers with his hooked beak As they approached, he swooped down, and Beldin stood in the trail in front of theara asked hirowled "It scraoodness yes It happens to ht breezes are so unpredictable"

"Your feathers are too soft"

"I didn't design the owl, uncle, so don't blame me about the feathers"

"There's a crossroads tavern just up ahead," Beldin said to Belgarath "Did you want to stop and see if we can find out what's going on down there on the plain?"

"That reed "Let's not ride into trouble if we don't have to"

"I'll wait for you inside then," Beldin said and soared away again

Polgara sighed "Why must it always be a tavern?" she co like to talk, Pol," Belgarath explained in a reasonable tone "You can gather more information in five minutes in a tavern than you can in an hour in a tearoom"

"I knew you'd be able to find a reason for it"

"Naturally"

They crossed over the top of the wooded pass and on down the shade-splotched trail to the tavern It was a low building s crudely chinked with les had curled with the weather and the passage of years Buff-colored chickens scratched at the dirt in the dooryard, and a large speckled sow lay in a lets There were a few spavined nags tied to a hitch rail in front of the tavern, and a Karand dressed in ara reined in her horse as they approached the tavern and the first whiff of its reeking interior reached her nostrils "I think, ladies, that we ht prefer to wait over there in the shade"

"There is a certain fragrance coreed

"You, too, Eriond," Polgara said fir up bad habits this early in life" She rode over toward a grove of tall fir trees some distance away from the tavern and dislance, then joined her there with Velvet, Ce'Nedra, and Eriond

Sadi started to dised slightly "This is not entlemen," he said "I think I'll wait outside as well Besides, it's Zith's feeding ti and leading the way toward the building They stepped over the snoring Karand on the stoop and went on inside

"Split up and spread out," the old man muttered "Circulate and talk to as many as you can" He looked at Silk "We're not here to make a career out of this," he cautioned