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"Have you lost your senses, Pol?" he heard Mister Wolf say soot every legion in Tolnedra looking for her by now"

"This is my province, Old Wolf," Aunt Pol told his so that on't be bothered by the legions"

"We don't have the time to coddle her," the oldto be an absolute little monster You saw the way she acted toward her father"

"It's no great chore to break bad habits," she said, unconcerned

"Wouldn't it be sie to have her taken back to Tol Honeth?"

"She's already run away once," Aunt Pol answered "If we send her back, she'll just run away again I'll feel hness where I can put my hands on her when I need her When the proper ti for her"

Wolf sighed "Have it your way, Pol"

"Naturally"

"Just keep the brat away froe Do any of the others knoho she is?"

"Garion does"

"Garion? That's surprising"

"Not really," Aunt Pol said "He's brighter than he looks"

A new erow in Garion's already confused mind Aunt Pol's obvious interest in Ce'Nedra sent a sharp pang through him With a certain amount of shairl was receiving

In the days that followed, Garion's fears quickly proved to be wellfounded An inadvertant remark about Faldor's farm had revealed quite early to the princess his fore heartlessly to browbeat him into a hundred stupid little errands every day To make it all worse, each time he tried to resist, Aunt Pol would firmly remind him to pay more attention to his manners Inevitably, he became quite surly about the whole business

The princess developed a story about the reason for her departure frorowing ue At first she seemed content to be on a simple excursion to visit relatives; then she dropped dark hints about flight froly old merchant Next, there were even darker hints about a plot to capture her and hold her for ranso effort, she confided to the was politically ain power in Tolnedra

"She's an awful liar, isn't she?" Garion asked Aunt Pol when they were alone one evening

"Yes, dear," Aunt Pol agreed "Lying is an art A good lie shouldn't be embellished so much She'll need a lot more practice if she plans to make a career of it"

Finally, about ten days after they had left Tol Honeth, the city of Tol Borune caht in the afternoon sun

"It looks like this is where we part company," Silk said to Jeebers with a certain a into the city?" Jeebers asked

"I don't think so," Silk answered "We don't really have any business to take care of there, and the usual explanations and searches just waste tio around Tol Borune and pick up the road to Tol Rane on the other side"