"Dragonlord of the Savage Empire" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lorrah Jean)

Chapter Three

The rope came up bit by bit. Then eager hands pulled Julia and the soldier over the brink as a cheer went up. Divested of ropes, Julia leaped into Lenardo's arms as Arkus and Josa let go, staggering and leaning heavily on each other. The wall fell with a crash, and dust flew up from the mouth to settle over everyone.

In the next few hours, operating purely by rote, Lenardo Read the children and the rescuers, made sure that everyone with injury or strain was healed, distributed rewards to all who had helped in the rescue, and finally bathed the grime off himself in the cold water of the bathhouse. His order that everyone bathe at least twice a week had caused grumbling, but in the heat of summer it was being obeyed. They'd have to get the warm and hot baths functioning by winter. His people might think his insistence on bathing some personal quirk, but they did not understand how cleanliness could disrupt the spread of disease.

By the time Lenardo walked home, Cook had made Julia presentable, and he was beginning to think that he could face her. Home was now a large and beautiful town house that had been looted but not burned-the only choice, Helmuth had insisted, for the Lord of the Land. The place was still empty. Lenardo refused to set carpenters to building him furniture when they were needed to repair other buildings before winter.

His footsteps rang on the mosaic floor in the huge entrance hall. Eventually this might become an all-purpose audience room like Aradia's great hall. By the gods, I'm starting to think like a lord. The title still seemed implausible, and as her teacher, he had instructed Julia to call him Master Lenardo.

She was waiting in his room, which was furnished with a bed, two chairs, and a table, none of which matched. Julia sat on the window ledge, looking out into the courtyard. She did not turn at Lenardo's entrance, but he could feel her terrible tension as she tried to Read his mood.

"Julia," he said, "we must talk."

//Can't we-//

"No. We will discuss this like nonReaders, because you have caused several nonReaders to be badly hurt."

"Nobody was hurt bad," Julia protested, turning to face him and pulling her knees up to her chin, balancing on the sill. "Candida just got her arm broke. It'll be all right in a couple of days. When I got my arm broke, it took weeks to heal. Old Drakonius, he never healed nobody. You're lots nicer."

Ignoring her attempt to placate him, Lenardo said, "Candida's injury is the point, not that Sandor could heal her. He could not have healed her if she had died. Furthermore, Arkus and Josa were also hurt."

"Huh?"

"They expended far more energy than they could afford. Both have collapsed in exhaustion. If I had not Read when Josa's heart went into spasms, Sandor might not have noticed soon enough. She could have died."

"Everybody dies," Julia said coldly, but Lenardo Read that her words were a defense against a world in which ordinary people were considered dispensable.

"People should not die because those in power are careless," Lenardo began.

"Arkus'd be awful sad if Josa died," Julia interrupted. "They're funny, you know? She loves him and he loves her, and neither don't know it. Isn't that funny?"

"No, it is not funny. Neither is it your business. How can I stop you from Reading people's private thoughts?"

"They're always thinking about each other. How can I help knowing?"

"The same way I did not know until you told me-an even worse breach of Reader's Honor. Sometimes one finds out a nonReader's secret by accident. But to reveal it-" He let her feel the revulsion a Reader knew at such conduct and felt her cringe. Then he added, "Tell me why you went into the well."

"There's gold down there," she said eagerly. "More than twenty gold coins. I would've given it to you."

"You are lying. You wanted it for youself. Why? What do you lack?"

"Money for when I grow up. Mama always said she couldn't keep man nor money. She said if she'd kept all the money men gave her, she wouldn't need no one to take care of her."

"And why did you involve other children?" Lenardo pursued, ignoring the empty feeling her words produced in him.

"I couldn't get it alone. They'd each have got a gold piece. Then they'd have owed me more favors."

"You risked their lives and yours."

"I didn't know the well would fall in."

"No, you won't have the skill to Read such stresses for years. Why can't you learn to obey? I wish you could be sent to an Academy. They'd teach you some discipline."

Julia climbed down from the window and stood, shielding her thoughts as best she could. "I need to learn to rule, not obey. If you don't want me, Lord Wulfston will take me."

"What?" Then he remembered a recent letter from Wulfston: "So you have found an apprentice. Congratulations. If you should find any more Readers, I can certainly use someone with even a portion of your skills."

"You've been Reading my letters!"

"Well, you wanted me to practice." Defiant pride.

He stared at her helplessly. "What am I to do with you? Spank you? Helmuth, Josa, Cook-they've all punished you. What good has it done?"

Defiance melted as her eyes grew liquid. "You never punish me. You're the only one that's got the right, Father. Don't you care about me?"

He suddenly remembered that she had called him "Father" in her panic that afternoon. "I'm not your father," he said bluntly, not knowing how to approach the real problem.

"But you must be," Julia insisted. "There's nobody else like us, nobody that can talk in their minds. I feel it. You're the only one like me. You bought me from Mama. I thought you loved me because I was like you, but then you gave me to everybody else-and-and-" Angrily, she struck away the tears that rolled down her cheeks. "My mother was right. Men don't care nothing about their children, except great lords for the pride of it or the fear. I've got your powers. You had to claim me, but you don't want me. You don't love me. You just want me to stop using my powers so I won't use them against yo«!"

Lenardo was astonished. How could he handle this savage child? His only weapon was truth.

Kneeling before Julia, he took her hands. "Julia, you and I are not the only Readers in the world. I'm not your father, but if I were, I would certainly never have abandoned you. You're too young to understand that you're insecure because you never had anyone to rely on, not even your mother. Child, I will give you things you can trust in: your own abilities, the Readers' Honor, other Readers. But what you need right now is one person you can trust, and under the circumstances, that has to be me."

The wide brown eyes searched his.

"I'm going to open my mind to you, Julia. Read me."

Hesitantly, her thoughts met his. //You're not my father?//

//No. I never left the Aventine Empire before last spring.//

Because his memories were totally open to her, she caught a trace of the pain of his branding. //They hurt you,// she said, sliding her hand up his arm to rest over the dragon's head. Ill hate them!//

//No, child, you mustn't hate people you don't know. I have many friends in the empire, Readers like us. You can trust any Reader, Julia, if you yourself are trustworthy.//

Ill don't want other people, just you.//

//You have me. I promise, I'll take care of you. Trust me, Julia.// Stubbornness intruded, born of many disappointments. //Have I ever lied to you or broken a promise?//

//No, but you took me when you didn't want me.//

//I do want you. Can't you Read that?//

//Yes.// But she also felt walled off from him.

//Julia, I cannot give you every minute of my day. I have too much work. I'm the only Reader-// It suddenly occurred to him, //Child, would you like to help me?// In the empire, children were given Reading responsibilities within the Academies from the day they entered. There was no Academy for Julia, but the whole city could become her Academy.

//You'll let me work with you? All the time?//

//Not all the time but certainly a great deal more time, if you will work seriously. No tricks, and no spying on people's secret thoughts.//

Tears spilled again, but they were tears of joy. She flung her arms around his neck. Ill promise! I'll be good. Oh, Master Lenardo, I want to be with you. I love you!//

He let her hold on to him for a moment and then gently removed her arms.

"Don't push me away," she pleaded.

"You don't have to touch, Julia." //Between Readers it's the same whether we're touching or not.//

//If it's the same, then I'd rather touch.//

He smiled, brushing her tears away and recalling that Torio had never formed a Reader's aversion to touching. We assumed he needed that reassurance because of his blindness, and we didn't force him as we did the other boys. Taking Julia's hand, he said, "Very well… for now. I'm far behind in today's work. Come along and see if you can learn to Read where the drainpipes have broken."

"Master Lenardo?" Julia's thoughts were guarded, and he did not seek to break her shield. "You could be my father. You could adopt me."

"I will take the matter under consideration."

"What does that mean?"

"I'll think about it."

"Oh." She was silent for a moment and then said, "I'll prove worthy. You'll see."

His first impulse was to discourage such ideas. Then he recalled who he was and where he was. If Julia could be taught honesty and responsibility, one day she would make a far better leader than he was. I may need an heir, and where else am I going to find one?

By the time autumn approached, Lenardo's lands were in good shape, the storage bams were full, and a large section of Zendi was in livable condition. They had, however, very little to trade for goods they did not produce.

Lenardo's land had little forest. His first inclination had been to allow people to hunt freely, but Helmuth warned him, "They'll kill off your game in one season, my lord. It would take years to replenish. You must appoint huntsmen to kill a proper limit and distribute the meat."

Wulfston, on the other hand, had large forests and little farmland. Along the coast, his people fished, and Lenardo sought for something to trade this year, when he could not afford to give up grain. "Trade your abilities," Wulfston wrote to him. "Come Read the iron deposits in the Western Hills and mark them for mining. Then negotiate with Aradia and me for a trade route across your land between my mines and her iron works." It was all so obvious to Wulfston and Aradia, raised to rule.

Lenardo's wider concerns were interrupted one day by Arkus. "My lord, I was your enemy, and you gave me the chance to become your friend."

"You have proved a good friend, Arkus. What is disturbing you?"

"My lord, it's Helmuth."

"Helmuth? But it was Helmuth who first suggested that I put you in charge of the troops from Zendi."

"I know, my lord. He's been most fair with me, but he is your chief adviser, while I am still commander of a fifty-man troop."

Lenardo was sorely tempted to Read exactly what was going on in Arkus' head. "Has Helmuth refused you a promotion? No one's been thinking in military terms since-"

"No, it isn't that. It's Josa." He blushed. "Where she comes from, what she's used to. I'd want to, anyway. I mean-"

"You want to get married," Lenardo finally interpreted.

"Yes, my lord."

"Then what is the problem? Does Josa want to marry you?"

"I think so, but I must ask Helmuth's permission. Josa's father entrusted her to him, to arrange a good marriage for her."

"Would you make her a good husband?"

Arkus sighed. "I'm a soldier, my lord. I don't know how to be anything else, and in peacetime there's no advancement."

Lenardo chuckled. "Arkus, you have spent the past three months rebuilding a city, and there is more to be done-years of work. Go find Helmuth and ask his permission. I'm sure he would be happy to have his niece marry the chief architect of Zendi."

Helmuth, coming to collect Julia for a lesson, was indeed pleased with Lenardo's appointment, but it was Julia who with childish bluntness told him, "What a good idea. Make it a big public ceremony, Master Lenardo. That way he can't ever forget what he owes you."

Lenardo agreed. "It is time for a party, isn't it? Everyone has worked hard all summer. We should hold a festival."

"Oh, yes," the girl said in normal childish excitement at the prospect of a party. But immediately his little savage began to scheme. "We must invite your Adept allies, Aradia and Wulfston and Lilith. That way everyone will see that you have powerful friends, and the Adepts will all be beholden to you."

Helmuth smothered a grin. "The child is right, my lord. I was about to suggest the same thing, although I would not have stated the motive so openly."

Lenardo said, "It was in my mind, too, although I was conscious only of wanting to invite my friends. I will write the invitations today."

The next day, Arkus formally asked Helmuth for Josa's hand, and the wedding became part of the festival plans. Julia quickly found out, for the news spread at once, and she spent hours each day Reading for the workmen still repairing the city. She had, quite effectively, cut Lenardo's work load in half. It seemed wrong to place such a burden on an eight-year-old child, but for Julia Reading was not work but play, satisfying her avid curiosity. She was developing a sensitivity Lenardo had seen only once before in so young a child, in Torio.

Moreover, she was determined to win Lenardo's favor, disciplining herself to be on time, clean, obedient, and- most difficult for her-honest. That afternoon, she bounced into Lenardo's room for her Reading lesson, curls flying, to plop down on "his bed and tell him of her excitement about the wedding.

"I never knew nobody-anybody-who really got married. Only rich people, to other rich people, with dowries and things. Will you find me a rich husband, Master Lenardo?"

"No, Julia. Not if you live up to your potential. Readers do not marry."

He held his breath, but she didn't ask why. instead, in mock dismay, she said, "Oh. I thought you didn't want to adopt me because you wanted me to grow up and marry you."

He let the teasing pass, gratefully, and hoped that he could persuade Aradia to explain to Julia the necessity for both Adepts and Readers to be virgin-sworn. The girl should know before she was old enough to feel the stirrings of womanhood. With her streetwise ways, he feared that Julia would recognize and act on such feelings only too easily.

Lenardo knew well that Readers were not immune to fleshly temptations. In the Aventine Empire, young Readers were strictly watched during adolescence. He himself had nearly yielded to nature's promptings. No, he had yielded, not understanding the power the pretty innkeeper's daughter held over male desire.

She had not understood, either, he now knew. She had been just a girl in her first bloom, enjoying the newly wakened stirrings of sexuality. Lenardo, then age twelve, had wanted her without truly understanding what he wanted. If Master Clement had not caught them in the first stage of passionate kisses and clumsy fumblingLenardo's own willpower had had nothing to do with saving him that day. It was the horror he had Read in Master Clement's mind, much more than his punishment, that had made him understand what danger lurked within a Reader's normal human sensuality. Ever after he had avoided temptation, and eventually his adolescent fantasies had died away. He had helped to guide boys at the Adigia Academy through their own volatile years, but how was he to guide and protect a girl?

He would have to have Aradia's help, he decided as he went to the bathhouse. It was now in working order, ready for the influx of guests, but Lenardo admitted that if he had not had good reason for repairing the bathhouse, he would have invented one. The relaxing luxury of a proper bath was one sensory pleasure he had always savored.

As he sweated in the steam of the hot bath, his body relaxed and his mind wandered…back to a time at, Castle Nerius just after Aradia had healed his branded arm. Pain and infection were gone, but Lenardo was still very weak. Aradia had insisted on bathing him, her hands soft on his bodyHe pulled himself out of his reverie; such suggestive memories would not do! He missed Aradia and looked forward to seeing her again, but only as a friend, he instructed himself sharply.

Proceeding to the warm bath, Lenardo briskly scrubbed himself down. A group of young boys were spreading-soapy water on the marble and running and sliding down one side of the shallow pool. He smiled at their antics but could not overcome his teacher's training.

"Don't you boys leave without rinsing all that soap away," he warned them. "You wouldn't want anyone to slip and fall."

Their momentary resentment turned to embarrassment when they recognized who had called them down. The intrusion of the adult world spoiled their fun, and with a "Yes, my lord," they cleaned up the soap and left. Lenardo could hear their voices echoing down the hall and the shouts and splashes as they jumped into the frigidarium pool.

NonReaders, nonAdepts-how young and free they were. They could do anything they wanted with their livesAnd so can I, Lenardo reminded himself, rinsing off in the warm water. They will choose responsibilities, limit their lives as everyone must.

He immersed himself up to his chin, and a fragmented vision rose before his eyes, fleeting and incomplete. He and Aradia, bathing together, laughing like children, flushed with desire.

It was gone as quickly as it had come, leaving Lenardo with the sensation of arousal. He fought it down, glad that he was alone. Fragmentary as it was, the vision had all the impact of one of his precognitive flashes, but it could not be true. He could not allow himself to desire Aradia. Even if he did, there could never be fulfillment of desire. She would never risk her powers. No, it was a fantasy, not a vision, and he put it firmly out of his mind.

The festival was Helmuth's responsibility. People from all over the land planned to come to the capital, for most had not yet seen their new lord. Lenardo's watchers worked harder than ever before to spread the news. The watchers were the savage means of sending messages in code, through lights flashed from one hilltop to another. Within a day, everyone in the land knew of the planned festivities.

The three Adepts sent whole trains of grain, fruit, wine, and cider; wagonloads of meat and fish; and herds of sheep and swine. The all-important feast would lack for nothing.

But while Zendi might house its people for the winter in minimum discomfort, there were no proper accommodations for a Lord and two Ladies Adept. Lenardo could provide a house for each but no furnishings. Even in his own house, he had the only bed. Julia's room had a couch that she would outgrow in a year or two, and everyone else still slept on pallets on the floor.

Helmuth had an answer. "Pavilions," he said. "Lord Wulfston thought of it, my lord. He sent a wagon full of blue, white, and black silk. The women wanted to make dresses of it, but I recognized Aradia's and Lilith's colors, and I assume Lord Wulfston has rather appropriately adopted black."

"Where would Wulfston get all that silk?" "He has a seaport, my lord. Merchants call there all the time. Tis a good thing you're allies. You can negotiate free passage between Zendi and the sea."

Lenardo sighed. "Always more plotting. Pavilions?^' ' 'When a Lord Adept makes a progress through his own land-not a march to battle but for some other purpose- he often sets up a silk pavilion as his quarters. Your guests will be appropriately housed. We can put the pavilions in the forum, and the Lords Adept can use their own travel goods inside them. Arkus and Josa will be busy, but we have others now who will see that rain does not spoil anyone's comfort."

"Very well, Helmuth. I leave it in your hands."

"As you should, my lord. Now, what about your own color, for banners? And your symbol?"

"You, too? The seamstress was in here this morning, pestering me about formal attire. I am a Master Reader, and so I shall wear scarlet robes. There was enough material in the supplies we brought with us. Perhaps scarlet banners-"

"No," said Helmuth, "white banners with the scarlet dragon."

"Not the dragon," Lenardo insisted. "That-was Drakonius's symbol."

"The black dragon, on gold banners-and you've not seen a single one left in your land, have you? All burnt, the moment people knew Drakonius was dead."

"Precisely why I should choose another symbol."

"But you carry the red dragon on your arm, my lord- always. People take it as a sign."

"Helmuth, everyone knows it's nothing but the brand of an Aventine Exile."

"No, my lord. People say you were born with the mark, born to defeat Drakonius, to change the black dragon of terror to the red dragon of good fortune."

"What utter nonsense."

"No, it is not nonsense. Your people believe that their destiny and yours are bound up together. You should encourage such beliefs, for who is to say they are wrong? There is an old saying: In the day of the white wolf and the red dragon, there shall be peace throughout the world. Aradia is the white wolf. You are the red dragon, the thing that cannot be, a Reader Lord in a land of Adepts. You are marked with the sign, my lord. Do not deny it."

Wulfston was the first of Lenardo's guests to arrive. He came in style, at the head of his army, dressed in rich brown velvet embroidered in gold, riding a fine bay stallion. His banners bore the wolf's head, but in black on a white field. Lenardo was waiting for him in the forum, with Julia at his side. The girl still had some trouble visualizing what she Read. When Wulfston first came in sight, she gave a start.

//I've never seen a man all black like that before. Aren't you frightened, Master Lenardo?//

//Of course not. Lord Wulfston is our friend.//

//But I can't Read him!//

//Lords Adept cannot be Read, Julia. Considering your propensity for mischief, that is probably a very good thing.//

He stepped forward as Wulfston dismounted, and they exchanged formal greetings for the benefit of the gathered crowd. Julia managed a rather shaky curtsy, watching Wulfston warily. The fact that this was the first person she'd met whom she could not Read bothered her far more than his appearance.

Wulfston walked with Lenardo and Julia back to their house, maintaining formality for the staring crowds. Once they were inside, though, Lenardo found himself caught up in a bear hug.

"My, but I'm glad to see you," Wulfston exclaimed. "I missed you almost as much as Aradia." He held Lenardo at arm's length, looking him up and down. "But you look wonderful. Ruling agrees with you, eh? And your people. I don't have to Read to tell how they love you already."

"They'd respond favorably to anyone after Drakonius."

Wulfston laughed. "I won't frighten you with all the mistakes you could have made, but you've had good luck, too. Especially in finding an apprentice Reader." When he turned to Julia, she stepped back hesitantly, and Wulfston said, "What's this? Surely you're not afraid of me? From what Lenardo told me, I didn't think you'd fear the ghost-king himself!"

He had instinctively taken the right tack. Julia bridled. "I'm not afraid of anyone."

"Then come and greet me properly, child." When he held out his arms to her, she launched herself into his embrace and was picked up easily, corning to rest astride his hip, her head on his shoulder, blissfully at home.

Wulfston hugged her and continued to carry her effortlessly as they walked through the house to Lenardo's room. "What a joy this child must be to you, Lenardo. I can remember Nerius carrying me just this way. I always felt completely safe."

"Master Lenardo doesn't like to hold me," Julia informed him.

Wulfston cast a puzzled glance at Lenardo, who said, "Julia is a Reader. I've explained to you-"

"But she's just a child," said Wulfston, sitting down and establishing Julia on his lap. "Surely at her age-" Then he said apologetically; "Lenardo, if I'm interfering in your discipline, I'm sorry. I didn't think."

"It's all right," said Lenardo, sitting down opposite them. "Julia will outgrow her compulsion to touch as her Reading ability develops. What upset her at first was that she can't Read you." Yet he felt a remote twinge of jealousy as he watched Julia settle happily.

"I can Read you now, my lord," she said, "at least what you're feeling. You're awfully nice."

"You caught me in a good mood," Wulfstone teased, no more taken in by her flattery than Lenardo. Yet it seemed that Wulfston automatically knew more of what Julia needed just now than Lenardo did. No, not what she needs. What she wants.

Julia lifted Wulfston's pendant. "Look, Master Lenardo, just like yours!" Then she held it against her cheek, saying, "No, it tells a different story." "Hmm?" Wulfston looked to Lenardo for clarification.

But Lenardo was just as puzzled. "What do you mean, Julia?"

"When I hold yours, it tells me about you… and an old man, a great Lord Adept… and a soldier, lots of battles-and then another soldier. I never went back any further because he died."

Lenardo felt the tingle of discovery. "Wulfston, do you mind if Julia Reads your wolf-stone? She could have gotten the history of mine from me, but I don't know how, as I've had no occasion to think about it."

"How can anyone Read a stone?" Wulfston asked.

"Let her try."

"You've been building a castle," said Julia. "Before that, another castle… the same old man-battle-he dies-terrible sorrow. He was your father. Before that, years of sadness… back further, great happiness. You and a little girl-such fun! I wish I could play with those children! People call them… Nerius' black and white wolf cubs. Further back you're a little boy, way younger than me. You draw the stone to you-terrible fear! Loss!"

"Stop, child," said Wulfston. With trembling hands, he extricated the stone from her clasp and then looked at Lenardo. "Can you do that?"

"No. It is a rare talent. I didn't know Julia had it until right now. That part about the wolf cubs-I never heard that before. And Julia cannot Read you."

"You can't Read things?" Julia asked Lenardo in astonishment.

"Not that way, Julia, not to tell their history. When I left the empire, of all Readers there were only three with that talent."

"Can nonReaders have it?" Wulfston asked.

"Yes, very rarely.

Wulfston nodded. "Like the many people with a single Adept talent."

"In a way, except that Reading is really a single talent, and one's skills are a matter of degree. Only two skills-this ability to Read the history of an inanimate object and the power of prophecy-never appear without the basic ability to Read thoughts. It's fortunate for me, though, that the varying Adept talents exist. Having none myself would put me at a great disadvantage were it not for all the people willing to use theirs to aid me."

"A lord who knows everything about everybody is as powerful as a lord who can do anything to anybody," said Wulfston.

"People don't seem to mind that much," Lenardo replied. "When they first find out, they panic. But soon they learn that I don't care about their fantasies, their memories-" "But they know you'd care about a plot to sieze power or to hurt or cheat people. You're better off than an Adept, Lenardo. You can stop such things when they begin. I can only punish after the fact."

"Master Lenardo hardly never-ever-punishes nobody," said Julia.

"Yet there is order in his lands, Julia. You grow up to be, just like him, and someday you will be a great ruler, too."

Lenardo was finding the role of "great ruler" as awkward as an ill-fitting garment. Alone with Wulfston, and later Lilith, as cool and placid as ever in her blue traveling gown, he felt comfortable, at home among equals. But on display before his people, formally greeting his guests, he felt like a child playing a game and doing it badly.

Aradia was the last to arrive, in the greatest splendor, all in white-by some Adept power kept free of the dust of the road-and wearing her crown of twisted gold.

//Oh, isn't she beautiful!! was Julia's reaction. //She looks like the queen of all the world.//

But Aradia, too, shed her formality the moment they were away from the crowd, hugging Lilith and Lenardo and then throwing herself into Wulfston's arms. "How I've missed you, little brother. Oh, how fine you look-a true prince." She turned but remained standing with one arm about Wulfston's waist. "Lenardo, you've done wonders. And what audacity, to hold the first celebration when you had the worst conditions to overcome."

"We've made a good start," he replied. "I hope you're willing to put up with some lack of elegance if not discomfort. In all this city, there were not four complete chairs, but by cobbling together some pieces, I've managed so that we can all sit down together."

Lilith said, "The pavilions are a charming idea. Quite proper, if not the usual accommodations one receives in a city."

"You can thank Wulfston and Helmuth for them."

As they sat down, Julia hovered near Lenardo, staring in awe at Aradia. She had been presented to give her curtsy in the forum, but now Aradia said, "Your apprentice, Lenardo-what a beautiful child… and a Reader."

"She was almost killed for revealing her ability, even after I was ruling here."

"Yes," said Aradia. "When you wrote me about it, I realized that people still had their old prejudices. I sent out a decree that no child who showed Reading talent was to be harmed, upon pain of death. If we find any, will you train them, Lenardo?"

"I'll have to," he said. "Until we make peace with the empire, there's no one else to do it."

"Of course I sent out the same decree," said Wulfston.

"And I," said Lilith, "but we have found none."

"In all the population of Zendi," said Lenardo, "Julia is the only Reader I've discovered, and there were empire citizens trapped here when Drakonius took the city twenty-five years ago. In the empire, about one person in ten has some degree of Reading ability. Perhaps one in ten has some Adept talent, but only a few, like yourselves, have the full array of powers. I think over many generations, people carrying Adept powers in the empire have been killed off, while out here those who bear the Reading strain were killed. Both are clearly hereditary. I don't think you will find many Readers, because the strain has almost been killed off."

"What would happen," asked Julia, "if a Reader and an Adept had a baby? Maybe the child would have both powers." She paused thoughtfully. "Lord Wulfston, will you marry me?"

"How old did you say you are, Julia?"

"Eight."

"Ask me again in ten years."

But when the laughter had faded, Aradia said, "How nice it would be if we were all Readers. Letters are not the same as being together. I think Reading would be much better, almost the same as really meeting."

"It is the same," said Lenardo. "Better than-" He cut off, wishing that he could recall the words, for it was clear from the faces of the three Adepts that they understood: Better than really being with people who cannot Read.

"Then Julia is an even greater blessing to you than I realized," Aradia said tightly. "Have you been terribly lonely among us, Lenardo?"

"No, I haven't," he replied honestly. "I expected to be. Lack of contact with other Readers should be the worst part of exile, but I have found I can make friends with nonReaders, very close and dear friends. Aradia, the fact is that ever since I met you-and Wulfston-I may have been angry, frustrated, fearful… but the one thing I haven't been is lonely. I have missed you, though. I keep feeling our separation is temporary, when I know that from now on we will meet only infrequently." "Perhaps not," Aradia said thoughtfully. "What are you plotting, Aradia?" Wulfston asked. "Suppose the four of us were more than allies? Between us, we hold the largest area under one rule outside the Aventine Empire."

"But we are not under one rule," Lilith pointed out. "We could be," Aradia replied. "We could form a central government, pool our resources, and be safe from any upstart, even one with the power of a Drakonius or a Nerius."

"But under whose rule would that central government exist?" Wulfston asked. "A beast with two heads tears itself apart. A beast with/owr heads-"

"I don't mean something like the Aventine Empire," Aradia protested. "Not a hereditary ruler. Certainly no such foolishness as a senate elected by the common people. No, I'm talking about a natural government by those with power, a government of Lords Adept… and Readers." "You have not answered Wulfston's objection," Lilith observed. "The four of us get on as friends and allies, but if we pooled our lands and attempted to govern as a body, we would soon quarrel over laws, projects, whose people were getting the most favors. Wulfston is right. It would tear us apart, Aradia."

"Obviously," said Aradia, "someone would have to be superior to the others, to decide when all could not agree. The strongest Adept-"

"Excellent, sister," said Wulfston. "I shall work diligently for the next few years, for by the time you form this government, I may well be the strongest Adept."

Sensing anger building and fearing any disagreement that might hinder his plan to attempt a treaty with the empire, Lenardo broke in, carefully keeping his voice at that pitch of total rationality that indicates the proposal of something completely absurd. "No, you are both wrong. Obviously, a Reader ought to head this new government. Only a Reader can truly know what the people want and need."

The three Adepts stared, taking him seriously for a moment. Then Julia chimed in, "The best Reader, and that's me! I have Reading powers Master Lenardo doesn't."

The tension broke. There was laughter, albeit slightly uneasy, and Aradia dropped the subject. However, Lenardo perceived something brewing beneath her calm surface even as she joined enthusiastically in the festival.

Zendi was a huge fair for the next two days. There were music, games, wrestling contests, footraces-and prizes of ribbons and banners carrying the scarlet dragon.

The activity was spread throughout the city, but the center was the forum. In the afternoon light, acrobats and dancers performed for Lenardo and his guests, but after the feast in the evening, a man with a lute came forward, offering to sing.

Lenardo had left the entertainment up to Helmuth, and so he never knew quite what to expect. What he did not expect was the story of how he had come to rule, made into a song that incorporated the basic facts but somehow made Lenardo the hero, relegating the Adepts to minor roles. It continued with how he had cleverly eluded each attack on his life-an invulnerable lord.

Embarrassed, he tried to form an apology, but Wulfston said, "That's how the story should go in your land, Lenardo. When you visit me, you'll find that I defeated Drakonius single-handed, to hear my bards tell of it.''

"It's only right," Aradia added, "that your people see you as a hero. It will ensure then- love and loyalty. Now reward your man before he makes up something scandalous about you, to an unforgettable tune!"

The formal activities were over for the night, although people continued to sing and dance. When Wulfston took Lilith to join a group of dancers, Aradia asked, "Have you learned to dance yet, Lenardo?''

"Somehow I haven't found time for dancing lessons."

"Then let us sit and watch," she said. "Perhaps when Lilith tires, Wulfston will dance with me. None of your men dare ask me."

"Ah, I can provide you with a partner. Ho! Arkus!" The young man was heading the small contingent guarding Lenardo and his guests. "Put off your sword and dance with the Lady Aradia. Surely partnering a great Lady Adept on the eve of your, wedding will bring you good fortune."

Arkus blushed but stripped off his sword, saying, "You do me great honor, my lady."

When they had gone, Lenardo sat watching the dancers in the flickering firelight. Lilith was attired in green tonight, Aradia in violet, soft summer garments with tight bodices and pleated skirts that swirled as they moved. Wulfston was clearly enjoying himself. Perhaps Lenardo should learn to dance.

He Read Julia, dancing in a circle of little girls beyond the ring of adults. She greeted his intrusion with a merry laugh and continued concentrating on the steps she had just learned. //I'm not tired, Master Lenardo. Don't send me to bed.//

//No, no-go on dancing. I want to learn the steps.// He soon understood the basic pattern and then backed off to watch the differences in male and female movements in the adult dancers.

When he felt secure, he walked around the circle to collect Julia from among the children. She was delighted but protested, "I've never danced with a man."

"Read. The other dancers will tell you what to do."

They entered the dance at a point mat allowed them to go through the pattern together before changing partners; by that time, Lenardo was feeling the flow of the steps in his own well-disciplined body. When the pattern brought him to Aradia, she said, "You certainly learn quickly."

"It helps to be able to Read the best dancers. Unfortunately, I cannot Read the best of all, my lady."

She laughed. "You're learning to turn a neat compliment, too. I knew power would be good for you, Lenardo. You're growing like a young tree that has reached the sunshine at last."

The dance called for her to pirouette and then raise her arms to clap her hands over her head while Lenardo watched, merely keeping rhythm. He had watched several other women perform the move, but Aradia did it with a twist of her hips that set her skirt to swirling, revealing her small feet in their neat slippers, ribbons tied about her delicate ankles. She turned faster, and her garment frothed just below her knees, revealing a swell of calf and enticing Lenardo to imagine what he would not Read.

The women came to an abrupt halt, and Aradia's skirts wrapped tightly about her body for one long instant, molding each feminine curve. Then it was over, her dress falling into its usual modest skimming of her figure as Lenardo nearly missed a step, wondering whether he could have imagined the seductive properties of the move that had seemed totally innocent when performed by other women.

Now it was his turn to clap and stamp, the men's version of this movement calling for more complicated footwork. He concentrated on that but slowly became aware of Aradia's eyes on him and of the picture he presented.

He was dressed appropriately for a savage lord, in a silk shirt and hose in muted gold, topped with a richly embroidered tabard that under normal conditions rode modestly down over his hips. The dance movements, though, pulled it up to reveal the full length of his legs, even the bottom curve of his buttocks.

Again he realized that he had been through this figure half a dozen times without embarrassment. It was only under Aradia's scrutiny that he became aware of being on display. She was watching him avidly. He felt himself blush, but he determinedly kept to the pace of the dance as the final move called for him to take Aradia in his arms. Her violet eyes laughed up at him, but she said nothing. They were both breathing heavily, but it was a strenuous dance. Nevertheless, Lenardo was acutely conscious of his hand on Aradia's waist, her other hand in his, the peculiar intensity of performing the steps in unison.

The dance separated them then, and Lenardo's pulse returned to a rate that could be accounted for by the exercise. He went through the steps with two more women and was not aware of anything seductive in the moves. He performed his own steps without embarrassment, and by the time the music ended, he was quite certain that he had imagined the peculiar ambience of his dance with Aradia. Still, he was glad that she had finished the dance some distance away from him.

Julia, breathless and weary, was happier than Lenardo had seen her since the day he had showed her the joy of touching another Reader's mind.

"You really should go to bed, child," he told her.

"I'm too excited to sleep. Can't I stay up and watch?"

"Lie down on the cushions where Arkus left his sword, and watch until you fall asleep. I'll carry you to bed."

"If you're going to hold me, wake me up for it."

He sighed. "Julia, when are you going to stop thinking you get something more from touching flesh than from touching minds?"

"When it isn't true," she said. "But it is true," she added. "You'd know that if you didn't-" lie to yourself was in her mind, but she dared not speak the words.

He smiled at her. "You have years of growing up, child. All I can tell you now is, wait and see."

The next day was crowded with formal events. Lenardo had nothing to present his guests that remotely approached the value of the gifts they had sent him, but he could grant them free travel across his lands. After that, he began the announcements of formal offices, from the minor village heads up to official appointments for Arkus and Helmuth, in each case handing out a reward along with the title.

The last scheduled event was the wedding. Lenardo, however, had decided to add an event not on the schedule. Julia was sitting with the three Adepts, amusing herself through the long ceremony by Reading far and near, still trying to acquire the clear visual perception that was a young Reader's first major hurdle. She was dressed all in yellow today, a beautiful child sitting carefully in her first grown-up dress with its tight bodice and skirt of narrow pleats. Lenardo had instructed the seamstress to pattern Julia's outfit after the ones Aradia and Lilith wore, but his own was pure empire garb.

All summer, Lenardo had worn the all-purpose empire hot-weather outfit: a knee-length tunic. Soon the cool, comfortable, easy-to-make garment had become standard male garb throughout Zendi. Hair and beards were trimmed in imitation of Lenardo's shorter style, and the women put up then- hair and modeled their dresses on those of the women who had come with Lenardo from Aradia's lands.

His people were proud of Lenardo. He had surprised them today, for they had never seen the formal attire of a Master Reader before. He wore a white ankle-length tunic, banded and belted in black, and over it a floor-length robe of scarlet, the sleeves bias-cut and so wide that they almost touched the ground. When he lifted his hands, the wide sleeves fell from his wrists like wings. It was the first time he had ever worn the robes.

Never in his life had he made so many decisions. The matter of clothing was trivial; his other decision for this occasion was not, and he had really made up his mind only last night, when he had carried Julia to bed. She had cuddled against him when he picked her up, and at home, when he laid her on her couch, she gave a small cry of pain. Wondering if she had made herself sick with excitement and rich food, he Read her and found her in the midst of a nightmare.

She found her mother, but it was as if the woman could not see or hear her. Then Lenardo appeared. She saw him through the crowd, lost him, found him at the end of a long, narrow passage and tried to run to him. He walked on, out of sight. Again she found him, ran to him, tried to throw her arms around him, but he thrust her away, saying, "No, child. I am not your father."

"But I love you," she sobbed.

"Don't touch me," said Lenardo.

Julia's dream brought back a memory. For many months after he had come to the Academy, Torio had had nightmares in which he lost the power to Read and was plunged back into darkness. Both Lenardo and Master Clement had often had to hold the boy in the night until his fear subsided.

Now Lenardo sat down on Julia's couch and took her in his arms, telling her, //It's all right. I'm here.//

She didn't wake, but her dream turned to bliss. Safe at last, she clung to him as he reassured her. //Sleep now. If you need me, call. I'll be here for you.//

Since he had made the commitment personally, he might as well make it publicly. A search through the treasure chests yielded the token he needed.

Now, before his people gathered in the forum, he called, "Julia. Come here, child."

//???// But she came quickly, excitement stirring her blood.

Lenardo turned her to face the crowd, his hands on her shoulders. "As most of you know, this is Julia, a Reader like myself. She is progressing well in the use of her gift and is learning the Readers' Honor."

Julia glowed with happiness as the crowd cheered. Making public speeches, Lenardo was learning, was not very different from lecturing in a classroom and certainly got a more enthusiastic response.

"So on this day of celebration and recognition, I want to make formal something that has been growing in my heart ever since this child came into my life. Here, before my people, before my allies and dearest friends, I ask you all to bear witness as I declare this child, Julia, to be my adopted daughter-"

In the wild applause drowning out his words, Lenardo fastened the gold fillet he had found in the treasure chest across Julia's brow. She reached up to touch it in disbelief, all thought suspended as the cheering died down and Lenardo finished triumphantly, "-hereafter to be known as Julia, daughter of Lenardo."

Turning Julia to face him, he knelt, feeling her restrain her longing to throw her arms about him, merely letting him kiss her formally on either cheek. Her warmth came instead in a joyous rush into his mind. //You do want me! You do love m'e!//

//Yes, child, and now I am your father.//

After that, the wedding was almost an anticlimax, although not, of course, for the principals. Josa was so happy, she looked positively beautiful, but Lenardo Read that Arkus, proudly paying the bride-price to Josa's father, who had come in Aradia's train for the occasion, had long since looked beyond Josa's exterior to the spirit beneath. If he could not Read them, he might have thought the quiet, steadfast young woman and the boisterous soldier an unlikely match.

The couple pledged to live, work, and rear children together, with their families as witness to the pledge. As Arkus had no family, Lenardo witnessed for him. Then, his official duties over, he joined his guests.

Tomorrow morning Lilith would leave, as would most of the people who had piled into the city for the festival. Wulfston and Aradia planned to stay a few extra days, and after that Wulfston wanted Lenardo to come with him, "just for a couple of weeks, so I can start mining before bad weather sets in."

"I understand," said Lenardo, "but there's still so much to do here. Julia is a tremendous help, but-"

"You said Julia can locate metal, didn't you?" Aradia asked.

"Yes, she's good at that-one of the first skills she learned."

"Well, that's all Wulfston needs. Why don't you lend him your daughter?"

"Aradia-" Wulfston protested, but she went right on.

"You do trust Wulfston with Julia, don't you?"

"Of course I do. The worst he could do is spoil her to death. Actually, she could locate your iron ore as well as I could, Wulfston, but she's had so little training-"

"I understand," said Wulfston. "You don't want to go away from Julia, or send her away, either one-and I can't blame you."

"However," said Aradia, "you have made Wulfston a promise, Lenardo. If Julia can do the job and cannot do your work here in Zendi-"

"I'll talk to her," said Lenardo. "You must remember that she's only eight years old."

Julia immediately hated the idea, but she did not say so. He could feel her trying to Read what he wanted her to say, and he kept his own thoughts neutral.

"It would be only for two weeks," he said, "and you like Lord Wulfston. I must tell you, Julia, that with only two Readers, the time will quickly come when we must divide our skills."

"We already do," she replied, "but I know you're here in the city. I can't Read even from here to Northgate. If I go into another land-"

"I can Read that far, Julia. We'll set a time, every day, when I will contact you. You can't miss your lessons for two weeks, you know, whether you go or I do."

"You mean you'll go if I don't? Then what difference does it make?" She remained silent for a moment and then added, "One day I shall rule a land of my own. I must think of what is best for our people. I shall go and repay your debt to Lord Wulfston." The grand lady disappeared, and the little girl was back. "Besides, he holds me on his lap, and he told me if I ever visit his land, he'll take me to the sea. Have you ever seen the sea, Father?"

"Yes, I have. I know you'll have a good time, Julia, and I know you will Read accurately for Lord Wulfston. I'm proud of you." He let the warmth of his feelings flow to her, and she responded in kind from across the room.

Still, it was hard for Lenardo to watch Julia ride away with Wulfston a few days later.

Aradia had not yet set her departure date and made no mention of one now. The white pavilion stood alone in the forum.

"Poor Julia," Lenardo said to her as they walked back to his house. "When I adopted her, I didn't realize she would immediately inherit my debts."

"You did find yourself an heir rather quickly."

"Afy heir, perhaps," he said as they entered his room, ' 'but I did not name her heir to my lands because I cannot know how good a Reader she will become-and I'm not altogether certain a Reader ought to try to hold power this way."

"But you are doing beautifully," Aradia protested. "Look at all you have done for your people in a single summer."

"In a totally artificial situation. Suppose you had given me land with different Lords Adept as neighbors? How long before they discovered that I am no Adept and that the most fearsome thing any of my people can do is start a few fires? How long do you think I would hold such lands?"

"If your Adept opponent has no Reader, he becomes a bear on a tether. You tell your minor Adepts where he is, and he goes up in flames, or his heart is stopped-and his lands are yours for the taking. Besides, you have powerful allies. No one would dare attack the alliance that defeated Drakonius. In fact, I have already received tentative overtures from two other lords to join our alliance."

"That's wonderful, Aradia. You may yet achieve peace through all the lands of the Adepts."

"It's not that simple. Remember Hron. He was my ally only until he thought Drakonius could defeat me."

"Unfortunately, nature does not always bestow the gifts of great power on those with great strength of will."

"You are thinking of Galen as well as Hron," said Aradia. "Such people must be guided. Lenardo, my father always said that the greatest strength lay with those who; were right. Conversely, right lies with the strongest, and even the strength of a Drakonius is powerless against it. I 'have a plan that will bring peace and prevent defections such as Hron's."

"The empire of Adepts you mentioned earlier?" "Yes. Wulfston is right that a government must have one head, but he is wrong that the solution is many governments. Moreover, our alliance is not binding on our heirs. Wulfston and I do not even have heirs, while you and Lilith are each training a child whose potential is yet unknown."

"I didn't know Lilith had an apprentice." "Her son. He is eleven and probably the reason Lilith's power is not equal to mine. She chose to have a child young, while her powers were still growing. There is a theory that a woman may thus regain most of her ability once her child is born. It seems to have worked for her, but of course no one will ever know what strength she might have had."

"And is her son an Adept?"

"Of course. He will be a Lord Adept, but it will be ten years yet before we can begin to predict his mature powers." Aradia rose abruptly and went to the window, looking out into the courtyard. With her back to Lenardo, she said, "I must think about an heir myself… and soon. Despite the danger to a woman, I want my own child, Lenardo."

Even her emotions were beyond Reading. Every defense was up. Before Lenardo could say anything, she continued.

"My parents wanted their own child as heir. They risked their powers for me. My father recovered… but my mother-"

Lenardo knew the story. Aradia's mother had blamed the child for her diminished powers. "It doesn't have to be that way," he said quickly.

"But it might be! I hardly remember my mother, but because of her I would not dare emulate Lilith. If I ever decide to have a child, I want the father of that child with me to raise and protect and train it if I cannot. As my father was there for me."

"Surely any man worth considering would want-" She turned, her eyes flashing. "You think it is that easy? A fully empowered lord who would not simply take the child for himself and cast me aside if my powers were permanently damaged?" "There is Wulfston-" "Wulfston is my brother."

"What I started to say is that Wulfston would protect you in such a situation. But he is not your brother by blood, Aradia."

"He is in every other way," she replied. "If my father had taken Wulfston ward instead of son, raised us not to think of each other as brother and sister, we might have been drawn to each other, or we might not. Father wanted us to have a tie as strong as blood, not dependent on attraction after we reached adulthood, and not to be severed if and when we each chose other partners. An unbreakable alliance, Lenardo. Surely you can see that there is no changing our sense of family now. Wulfston and I could not possibly be lovers. We could never have a child."

He had known that, and yet it was somehow reassuring to have it formally stated that Wulfston's protectiveness of Aradia, particularly when they had first met, had no other basis than brotherly devotion. But why should he care? He had no designs on Aradia; he even had a potential heir and thus no reason ever to risk his own powers. Yet if he were to risk them for anyone-He cut off the absurd train of thought. Aradia would seek an Adept to father her child one day, not a Reader. She was trusting to his friendship in revealing her concerns this way. He had no right to the urge he felt to take her in. his arms and promise her his care and protection.

She was watching him warily. Deliberately, he forced his tense muscles to relax and sat back in his chair. "If we make the peace we seek, no Adept will have to have such fears of losing power, even temporarily. Already our alliance protects us."

Aradia's violet eyes grew dark with… what? Surprise? Then she shook off the moment's vulnerability and accepted his change of mood. Coming to sit opposite him again, she said, "We must have more than an alliance. Would Julia retain alliance with me if you were gone? Would Lilith's son honor his mother's commitments? Who protects Julia's rights if you die while she is too young to rule? If any one of us should die tomorrow, war could erupt over the disposition of our property."

"I see," said Lenardo, grimly noting Aradia's tenacity. "That must happen often."

"There is only one way to stop it: with a central government that takes precedence over the local lords and has the strength to maintain order. In that one thing, the Aventine Empire is right. They have no internal wars over who owns what."

"No wars," he agreed. "Fights and occasionally murders; the empire is by no means crime-free. But no internal wars or cities destroyed as Zendi was. Disputes are settled in the courts."

"Then you agree with me?"

"That a central government would benefit our people? Certainly. However, the kind of government-"

"A government of the strongest," she said. "A natural government with the strongest of all Adepts at its head. Wulfston and Lilith fear that their lands would be taken, but that is not my intention. They would rule their own way, as would you, Lenardo. All the Lords Adept would be part of my council."

"Your council?"

"Only the most powerful of Adepts can make this plan work. You would all be bound to me, your armies and your powers at my disposal, but in return you would be protected, and your chosen heirs after you. For example, I have promised Lilith that if anything happened to her, I would take her son as my apprentice. But suppose she died suddenly? Before I got there, her neighbors could overrun her land and kill her son. But if I were Empress, no one would dare. I could hold the land of an heir until he was grown, and then, provided only that he proved a true Lord Adept-or Reader-he would receive it. All would answer to me. If a Lord Adept died without an heir, instead of his neighbors warring through his land, I would choose who was to rule it, peacefully."

"Why you, Aradia?" Lenardo asked.

"Because I can do it. No, because you and I can do it together. We can set up a government that will long outlive us. We are fated to do it." She took his right hand and traced the dragon's head on his forearm with one finger. "You have taken the red dragon as your symbol."

"That just happened. Aradia, surely you don't believe in that old saying-"

"Then you've heard it. You know we are meant to seize the chance, now, while I am the only Adept with a Reader to guide me."

"You could start a war. Is that how you plan to achieve peace?"

Aradia shook her head. "You've changed so much, but you still have much to learn. It is necessary to demonstrate power in order to rule peacefully. Even you have had to have people executed."

"Three in all, and all in the first few days I was here."

"You see? Demonstrate power on a few, and the rest come into line."

"I won't help you, Aradia."

"Not today," she said, holding his hand in both of hers. "I will be thirty years old next spring. The last and slowest growth of my powers will come in the next five years, and in that time I and my allies have our own lands to rebuild. Then, Lenardo, you will help me convince others, or perhaps Julia will."

It was a patent threat. As she stood there, gently holding his hand, she could as easily kill him. She could stop his heart. If she didn't want a body to dispose of, she could burn him to ashes. Then she could take Julia and bend the child to her will. Was Wulfston a part of the plot? Had he taken Julia out of the way in case Aradia decided to kill Lenardo?

"Five years," he said.

"Oh, perhaps not so long. You will learn, Lenardo. Every day you are more like one of us. Look how happy you have made your people, and think how much better, safer, their lives could be."

When Aradia left him, Lenardo sat down on the window ledge, numb. I thought I knew her! I thought she truly expected me to make a treaty with the empire. What is she? Benevolent dictator, true, but is that not what I have become? Now she wants to rule the world, and who is to stop her? I can pretend to cooperate… until she tests me.

What was he to do? His first instinct was to ride after Wulfston and bring Julia home. Yet he had sensed sincerity in Wulfston's indignation when Aradia first brought up her plan. Julia might be safer with Wulfston than in Zendi just now.

He must convince Aradia that she was wrong. She believed that might made right. He had been in the savage lands long enough to know that there was no use trying to bridge that basic philosophical gap.

Aradia had thought out reasons for her plan that were sound enough. If she could rule peacefully as she described, people would be better off. She would hardly take seriously the argument that power corrupts and would deny that anything she had said was a threat against Lenardo or Julia.

How can I convince her she's wrong? I can't.

He felt as frustrated as he had months ago, when he had found himself a helpless prisoner in Aradia's castle. He had won her respect then… through his powers. Power was one thing Aradia respected. She considered herself to be the most powerful practicing Adept. What would convince her that she did not have enough power to become Empress?

A thought licked at the back of his mind, from a realm so absurd he could not even let it take form. Yet having considered and discarded all reasonable approaches to the problem, Lenardo finally allowed the absurd thought to surface: The only thing that permanently weakens an A-dept's power is sexual activity.

And what am I to do, try to rape her? He could think of more pleasant ways to commit suicide.

The thought was a long time coming, but it finally thrust, its way into his consciousness: I must seduce her.

It was surely the most ridiculous thought he had ever entertained. What did he know about women? And what would happen if he succeeded? His own powers would be impaired-but how badly? Only failed Readers ever engaged in sex, to produce new generations of Readers. No Master Reader had ever…

If those Readers who did not reach the top two ranks still retained some Reading ability, a Master Reader ought to retain a great deal. Certainly he would lose range, accuracy-exactly the things that made him most valuable to Aradia in battle. That was all to the good. And if he lost it all-if he found himself blind even to thoughts-was it not a necessary sacrifice to stop Aradia?

The thought terrified him. No one ever loses it all, he told himself firmly. He would certainly be able to continue to rule Zendi, to teach Julia until he could make peace with the empire and get her proper tutors. And then, with Readers spreading into other lands, Aradia would not be able to put her plan into action, no matter how much of her own power she might retain or recover.

Very well, he had a plan.

But by every god who had ever amused himself by dallying with human women, how was he ever going to implement it?