Free Polgara the Sorceress by David Eddings Page A

obviously, I hadn’t been.
    I resented my rejection, though. Isn’t that idiotic? I’d been involved in a competition for a prize I didn’t want, but when I lost the competition, I felt the sting of losing quite profoundly. I didn’t even speak to my father for several weeks, and I was even terribly snippy with my sister.
    Then Anrak came down into the Vale to fetch us. With the exception of an occasional Ulgo and a few messengersfrom King Algar, Anrak was perhaps the first outsider I’d ever met and certainly the first whoever showed any interest in me. I rather liked him, actually. Of course he did propose marriage to me, and a girl always has a soft spot in her heart for the young man who asks her for the first time. Anrak was an Alorn, with all that implies. He was big, burly, and bearded, and there was good-humored simplicity about him that I rather liked. I didn’t like the way he always reeked of beer, however.
    I was busy sulking in my Tree when he arrived, so we didn’t even have time to get acquainted before he proposed. He came swaggering down the Vale one beautiful morning in early spring. My birds alerted me to his approach, so he didn’t really surprise me when he came in under the branches of my Tree.
    ‘Hello, up there,’ he called to me.
    I looked down from my perch at him. ‘What do you want?’ It wasn’t really a very gracious greeting.
    ‘I’m Anrak – Riva’s cousin – and I came here to escort your sister to the Isle so Riva can marry her.’
    That immediately put him in the camp of the enemy. ‘Go away,’ I told him bluntly.
    There’s something I need to ask you first.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘Well, like I said, I’m Riva’s cousin, and he and I usually do things together. We got drunk together for the first time, and visited a brothel together for the first time, and even both killed our first man in the same battle, so as you can see, we’re fairly close.’
    ‘So?’
    ‘Well, Riva’s going to marry your sister, and I thought it might be sort of nice if I got married, too. What do you say?’
    ‘Are you proposing marriage to me?’
    ‘I thought I said that. This is the first time I’ve ever proposed to anybody, so I probably didn’t do a very good job. What do you think?’
    ‘I think you’re insane. We don’t even know each other.’
    ‘There’ll be plenty of time for us to get to know each other after the ceremony. Well, yes or no?’
    You couldn’t fault Anrak’s directness. Here was a man who got right down to the point. I laughed at him, and he looked just a bit injured by that. ‘What’s so funny?’ he demanded in a hurt tone of voice.
    ‘You are. Do you actually think I’d marry a complete stranger? One who looks like a rat hiding in a clump of bushes?’
    ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
    ‘You’ve got hair growing all over your face.’
    ‘That’s my beard. All Alorns wear beards.’
    ‘Could that possibly be because Alorns haven’t invented the razor yet? Tell me, Anrak, have your people come up with the idea of the wheel yet? Have you discovered fire, by any chance?’
    ‘You don’t have to be insulting. Just say yes or no.’
    ‘All right. No ! Was there any part of that you didn’t understand?’ Then I warmed to my subject. The whole notion is absurd,’ I told him. ‘I don’t know you, and I don’t like you. I don’t know your cousin, and I don’t like him either. As a matter of fact, I don’t like your entire stinking race. All the misery in my life’s been caused by Alorns. Did you really think I’d actually marry one? You’d better get away from me, Anrak, because if you don’t, I’ll turn you into a toad.’
    ‘You don’t have to get nasty. You’re no prize yourself, you know.’
    I won’t repeat what I said to him then – this document might just fall into the hands of children. I spoke at some length about his parents, his extended family, his race, his ancestors and probable descendants. I drew rather heavily on