Savage Empire

Chapter Five The Quarry Sighted

In (he days that followed, Lenardo set out to discover everything he could about Aradia's alliance with Drakonius. At the funeral feast he had found some curiosity concerning himself.

"You are the man the watchers were seeking, are you not?" asked one man.

"Uh… yes. The watchers," Lenardo replied. He had heard the term before-the watchers had reported the rain clouds.

"You look well enough now," said a red-haired woman. "They said you was an exile Aradia took in, and you was sick and lost your way."

Lenardo knew his accent would identify his empire origins, even if the brand on his arm was covered. "Yes… I got lost," he said uncertainly.

Wulfston, who was seated not far away, put in, "Aradia has asked Lenardo to stay here now. He has useful skills."

Feeling someone staring at him, Lenardo looked down the table to find Helmuth, the old man who had been with the rescue party that first brought him to Aradia. You wear Aradia's sign. Even though Lenardo was Reading only superficial emotions, the old man's suspicious thought came through clearly. Deciding to brazen it out, Lenardo smiled at him and said, "I have not had the chance to thank you for your kindness. I do not believe I have been told your name."

"Helmuth."

"Well, thank you, Helmuth. I owe a great deal to you, and Wulfston, and Aradia. I must find a way to repay all of you."

As he hoped, the man seemed to accept that. After all, Lenardo was accepted into the company at Aradia's table.

Not exactly at Aradia's table, as she was seated in the ornate chair behind the permanent table, with the family of the dead woman. Trestle tables had been added down either side of the great hall to accommodate the large number of guests. Lenardo suspected that Wulfston belonged at the high table but had taken his present seat to keep an eye on Lenardo. He soon found out why.

The red-haired woman was looking him over. "They're afraid of Adepts in the empire, I hear. Was that why you was exiled, a fine-looking man like you?"

"Lenardo has… unusual abilities," put in Wulfston. "I'd not advise you to try your wiles on him, Jenna."

"Someday a woman will tempt you, me black beauty." she replied.

"Probably so," said Wulfston, unperturbed, "but not you, unless all you are seeking is Wulfston's wedding right!"

That puzzling exchange, which was greeted with raucous laughter, reminded Lenardo of the fact that Aradia claimed virginity was necessary to keep her powers intact, yet her father was supposedly a more powerful Adept than she was. The next day, he asked Wulfston about it.

"Aren't you more likely to have Readers born of Readers than of non-Readers?" Wulfston asked curiously.

The two men were in Wulfston's room. Lenardo under orders from Aradia to keep the young Adept occupied in conversation so he would rest physically. He didn't mind, as he had many questions to ask-except that Wulfston had the annoying habit of answering questions with new questions.

"Yes," Lenardo told him, "but the very best Readers remain celibate, virgin, so as never to impair their powers. I take it you, as well as Aradia, are 'virgin-sworn,' as she puts it, for the same reason?"

"True. However, both of us owe it to future generations to pass on our powers. As a man, I can wait for a long time yet, and of course a man's part in the production of a child is quickly done. Nerius regained almost all his abilities, by maintaining celibacy once Aradia was conceived." He gave a sad smile. "He says it took over two years to regain the strength he has now, and that he can-could- sense distinct limitations. I just hope that one day I might attain the power Nerius had before his illness!"

"And Aradia?"

"Her powers were approaching her father's when he fell ill. It is possible she will exceed his abilities, but she owes her people an heir. One day she will have to sacrifice her powers, unless she can find a younger Adept her people will accept as her successor."

"You?" suggested Lenardo.

"I am only five years younger than Aradia. Perhaps my child one day, once our lands are safe from attack. If it destroyed my abilities permanently, I would do it to save Aradia from her mother's fate."

"Aradia's mother… died in childbirth?"

"No. Terrible as that is, it would have been preferable." As Wulfston did not seem to be inclined to continue, Lenardo suggested, "If it's a secret-"

"No. Everyone knows. Aradia's mother was an Adept, of course-two Adepts always produce an Adept child. Is that true for Readers?"

"Yes, although we test all children because sometimes Readers are born in families where both parents are non-Readers."

"You test every single child?"

"Of course. Readers are precious, and all are academy-trained to their highest level of ability."

"That is something to consider-a system for reaching and training every Adept…"

Lenardo noticed that Wulfston was only too eager to change the subject. "What happened to Aradia's mother?" he prompted.

"A woman's part in bearing a child is long and difficult. She could not regain her powers after her child was born. When Aradia was two, she killed herself."

"How terrible for Aradia," said Lenardo. "They say-servants' gossip-that she claimed Aradia stole her powers and that she tried to kill the child."

"Her own baby? Surely she was mad.".

"Aradia was already showing Adept abilities."

"At two years old?"

Wulfston nodded. "There are legends of great Adepts who emerged from the womb and proceeded to heal their mothers, but those are fancy, I think. Two is early but not impossible. I was three."

"You don't really believe a child could steal her mother's powers?"

"I don't know," said Wulfston. "The very act of sex limits the powers of both parties, even if no child is conceived. It is the only instance of the state of the body affecting Adept abilities. It is a mystery, Lenardo-the passing of life from one generation to another. It is best not to question such things too deeply."

"Why not?" asked Lenardo, who had been taught to seek knowledge above all.

"People who become obsessed with that mystery become depressed and may even..-. abandon life." Wulfston's tone, and the euphemism, suggested that suicide was unacceptable here.

"Wulfston," said Lenardo, "do you not believe that a person's life is his own, to do with as he sees fit?"

"No! My life, for example, is pledged to Aradia. I would give it in her defense, but I have no right to abandon it, no matter what grief or pain I suffer."

"But there are circumstances… What about Nerius? He is dying, and while he lives he is a danger to those around him-"

Tears brightened Wulfston's eyes. "He's alive! Yes, he will die, but from that tumor in his brain, not from…" The man shuddered at the thought. "Suicide!"

Lenardo waited while the young Adept regained control. "Wulfston," he said gently, "we have differing beliefs in this matter. In the Aventine Empire, suicide is not acceptable as a coward's way of avoiding debt, pain or punishment When a situation is hopeless, forever, why should a dying or dishonored man continue to endure? We have no Adepts to stop the pain of the grievously ill.

Nerius' situation is even worse-he is hurting, even killing, the people he loves. He doesn't know it-I can Read that. If he did know, don't you think he would expect you to stop him?"

"Yes, of course," said Wulfston. "But we have stopped him, Lenardo. We didn't have to take his life to do it."

"What value is Nerius' life to him now?" Wulfston stared at him. "Life is the greatest value. Without life there is nothing."

Lenardo recalled yesterday's funeral service, with no mention of deities or an afterlife. "Wulfston, what do you think happens to you when you die?"

"To me? Nothing. When life ceases, that is all."

"The body dies, but the person, the mind, the… individual must continue."

"That is superstitious nonsense, like the gods you swear by," Wulfston scoffed. "If the mind survived, Adepts would certainly make their presence known. Why, a powerful lord could go right on ruling after his body was returned to the elements! There are fantastic stories of that very thing, but everyone knows they are fairy tales. I suppose you believe in the winged folk of the wood, too?"

"If I ever Read one, I would believe!" Lenardo replied impatiently. "Wulfston, every Reader knows the mind-the personality-is a separate thing from the body. We experience it! And if it is separate, then there is no reason for it to die when the body dies."

"Have you… Read the presence of someone… after his body has died?"

Lenardo could sense Wulfston's desire to be told yes. But he could not have the man's confidence in him built on lies. "No, I myself have not-but others have."

"They told you they had. It's all superstition to chain your mind."

"You accuse Readers of chaining minds? You, who casually implant suggestions-?"

"Clean and simple barriers against pain," said Wulfston, "or to hold prisoners as we held you. Would you rather have been chained in a dungeon?"

"It would have been more honest!"

"Honest!" Wulfston glared at him, but then his fury subsided. "That will always be the crux, won't it? How can either of us judge the other's honesty?"

And why do we care so?

Lenardo's Reading abilities approached normal as his strength returned. He ate the huge meals Aradia provided, slept all night and part of each day, and on the third day woke on schedule at dawn, feeling completely rested. Having given his word not to leave his room, he lay still and Read beyond the castle, finding the flat rock where the only sign left of the funeral pyre was a bit of ash drifted by the morning breeze.

In the nearby fields, people planted and cultivated with the same instruments he had seen farmers use at home. Lenardo knew little about agriculture-Readers didn't need such skills.

Before the castle, people were rebuilding the house that had burned down-the ones on either side were only scorched, although they should have all gone up like torches. While Wulfston and Aradia were occupied, what Adept had miraculously contained that fire? This notion of stray Adepts among the common people, untrained…

He watched, focusing in on the carpenter in leather apron, gnarled hands carefully placing support timbers. Then he expanded his view, moving along the road, finding girls carrying food and water to the workers in the fields, and beyond them, on the grassy hillside, a flock of sheep tended by three young boys and a dog.

Satisfied that he could Read over a normal distance once more, Lenardo was about to test his limits when the kitchen maid appeared with his breakfast. "Beggin' yer pardon, my lady asks that ye attend her in the great hall at yer earliest convenience."

So he didn't linger over breakfast, but ate the bread, fruit, and cheese, and left the meat-time to return to a normal diet to bring his abilities back to peak efficiency. "Normal" was still far short of Lenardo's usual powers.

In the great hall, Aradia was receiving petitions. She was dressed more splendidly than Lenardo had ever seen her. Over a rose-colored dress similar in design to the one she had worn at the funeral, she wore a surcoat of rich blue velvet, with panels of gold embroidery. For the first time, too, she was wearing jewelry: gold pendant earrings, and two bracelets of gold on her left wrist.

Before Aradia knelt a man in tan trousers and a homespun tunic. Lenardo half-Read, half-recognized that this was the owner of the house that had exploded in Nerius' unconscious attack.

"Rren," Aradia was saying, "you are kind enough to allow me to make reparation without petition. You and your family were fortunate to escape from your burning home unharmed. You lost everything, however, through my fault."

"Nay, m'lady, you couldn't know-"

"I knew my father's seizures. He never before reached outside the castle, though, and never struck a living being. He never will again-I guarantee it."

"Aye, m'lady. No one doubts that."

"But you must have your home restored. I have ordered the carpenter to rebuild for you."

"Aye-he has already started."

"Good," she said. "But once you have your house again, you will want furnishings, and you will wish to repay your friends who are putting up your family. There-" she took one of the gold bracelets from her left arm, "-that should cover the value of anything you might require."

"Oh, my lady, this is of far greater value-"

"You must not refuse me, Rren."

"Uh… no, m'lady. Thank you, m'lady."

Still staring at the bracelet in his hands, he continued to mutter thanks as he made his bow and left.

"Now," said Aradia, "bring in the prisoner."

Lenardo remained on the steps, wondering if Aradia had sent for him to Read her prisoner. A Reader's testimony was not admissible in empire courts, but it could be used to discover concrete evidence. When Aradia did not call him forward, he sat down on the steps to watch the proceedings.

Two of Aradia's guards brought in a third man, shackled hand and foot. Although his outward attitude was defiant, Lenardo could not shut out the fear that radiated from him. Whatever he had done, he did not feel guilty, but he was in an agony of terror at being brought before Aradia.

Fighting to restrain his curiosity, Lenardo did not Read the man until Aradia demanded, "You are one of Drakonius' watchers?"

The man did not answer, but Lenardo Read that it was true. And that set him free to Read, to probe deeply for Drakonius' whereabouts-for Galen's!

What Lenardo Read was that this man was looking for him. The description was too good-it could only have come from Galen. The one thing the watcher didn't know, however, was that the man he sought was a Reader.

Aradia, meanwhile, was questioning the frightened prisoner and getting no response. "Were you coming into my lands or leaving them when you were captured?" she asked.

"Coming in," he replied sullenly-a half-truth. He had indeed just come in, discovered that Aradia's watchers were also searching for Lenardo, and started back across the border lands to report what he had learned when he was captured. He had not managed to make his report. Lenardo was confused by the fact that the man seemed to think he could have made his report without crossing back into Drakonius' lands or meeting anyone. Try as he might, he could not Read how the watcher thought to do so. The man's mind was darting like a wild bird in a cage, battering against the bars.

Aradia did not know how to question the man to bring to the surface of his mind the information she wanted. Lenardo considered going down to offer help, but she didn't want her men to know he was a Reader. The fact that Drakonius had not let his watchers know was further evidence that he was indeed in danger if so exposed.

"You will tell me what you were doing in my lands," Aradia was saying, the dangerous-wolf look in her eyes.

The watcher panicked. Hideous images flickered through his mind-pain, dismemberment, flame; an Adept could keep a tortured prisoner alive and in agony indefinitely. He had seen Drakonius do so!

Lenardo had no idea what Aradia intended to do to the man, but whatever the threat, it was the wrong move. As the watcher cowered before her, his psychic presence suddenly went blank-as blank to Reading as an Adept's! He realized that this was one of those men with some minor Adept-power-like the young soldier he had met in Zendi -and that he had been driven by terror of Aradia to use it… on himself.

As the man collapsed before her, Aradia knelt at once beside him. His heart had stopped, but Lenardo Read it forced to start again when Aradia concentrated. But it didn't take hold. In the bare moments it took for Lenardo's long legs to carry from across the room, he realized that an Adept always had the means of suicide at hand by stopping his heart-but that it was ineffective before a stronger Adept, who could reverse the process. He Read, though, that this man was irretrievably dead. His power was not to move things-it was to create fire. And he had done so, to his own brain. It was cooked through.

The smell of burnt flesh was rising as Lenardo reached,. Aradia's side. She rose, staring in honest horror at what had happened. Although her thoughts were as unReadable as always, her nausea matched his own. She closed her eyes and turned away, saying, "How could he be so desperate? I had to know, but I wouldn't have hurt him-"

She squared her shoulders, becoming the calm leader again. "Remove the body," she instructed the soldiers. When they had gone, she turned to Lenardo. "Drakonius has watchers in my lands."

"They are looking for me," he replied. "You Read him?"

"That is all I could Read-except that he did not report to Drakonius before he was captured."

"Then why didn't he tell me that? There was no need for him to die."

"Aradia… do you treat your prisoners as Drakonius treats his?"

Her lips thinned. "I should have known. Father would not have made that mistake. He would simply have implanted the desire to speak truth before the man was brought before him. But, Lenardo, if you were Reading him, why didn't you warn me?"

"I didn't know what he was going to do. And if I had known, and shouted it across the great hall… Wulfston has warned me that your people would kill me if I gave myself away."

"Wulfston has told me a great deal about you, too," Aradia said. "You frustrate him."

"Frustrate?"

"He knows what great value you could be to us, and how dangerous you would be working against us. He wants to trust you… as I do, Lenardo."

"Don't," he said, not ready to discuss even a truce until he had had time to think over the scene he had just witnessed.

"There-you see? That is frustrating. You appear to be a man whose word we could take-if you would give it."

"What do you want from me, Aradia?"

"Your loyalty. If you were my sworn man, you might use your powers openly. No one would dare question your motives."

"Why should I give you my loyalty?"

"Because we have the same ideals. Wulfston told me why you were exiled. I can protect you from what you fear."

"What I fear?"

"Lenardo-do you not fear pursuit? Leaving here and running northward while you were still so weak-that was not the act of a rational man. Do you expect retaliation? Would the Readers send someone after you, to kill you lest you join with us?"

At this rate, how long before she figures out I am in pursuit of Galen? "Why should they? They know the savages will kill anyone who shows the ability to Read."

"But I did not kill you, did I? And Drakonius did not kill the Reader he used to attack Adigia, although he may have been killed since. I wonder." She took off the remaining gold bracelet and tossed it into a chest by the wall. When she lifted the lid, Lenardo caught a flash of brilliant metal.

Gold, silver, jewels, coins-an immense treasure! And I thought there were no ornaments worn here. Aradia still wore the small gold pendant earrings, but nothing more except the rich embroidery of her surcoat, a far cry from the many rings, bracelets, and necklaces a wealthy woman of the empire might wear.

Aradia clapped her hands sharply, and a man entered from the inner hallway. "Pepyi, have the treasure chest shut away."

"Yes, m'lady."

Aradia started up the stairs. "Are you going to leave the chest there, unguarded?" asked Lenardo.

"The lock can be opened only by an Adept. Would you care to try to lift the chest, Lenardo? It will take six strong men to put it away-and I do not believe six of my men at one time would conspire against me."

"The value of the items in that chest might make them consider it."

"Why? They want for nothing. Also, the punishment for theft would make them think twice."

"And what is the punishment for theft?" The memory of the tortures he had seen in the watcher's mind made his skin crawl.

"Years ago, my father found an excellent solution for nonviolent crimes. The criminal is simply struck dumb."

"What?"

"He cannot speak. That does not prevent him from making reparation. It is, of course, a handicap, a great embarrassment, because everyone knows why he cannot speak. Since it is difficult to communicate with others, he must commune with himself-and by the time the command is lifted, and they can speak again, most such people have reformed their ways."

"That's a terrible thing to do!" Was there no limit to the ways these Adepts manipulated people?

"It is painless. It does not separate the criminal from his family or make him incapable of honest work. He cannot run away, for he carries his punishment with him. Furthermore, only once, since my father instituted this method of punishment, has someone who suffered it repeated his crime."

"And what about the poor creature who is born dumb? He will be taken for a criminal under punishment."

Aradia stared at Lenardo in shock. "To be without Adepts-how horrible! You actually allow a child to grow up with such handicaps, deaf, dumb, blind-?"

"You can cure all of those?"

"Almost always in an infant. You saw Pepyi below? He was born blind, but my father cured him when he was just a baby-as soon as his parents discovered he couldn't see. It took over a year, but he sees."

"I have a friend who is blind," said Lenardo. "The optic nerves-the nerves from the eye to the brain-did not develop normally. Could you…?"

"Is he a grown man?"

"He's seventeen."

"No, I don't think anything could be done now. When a baby is developing and growing, it is relatively easy to correct such defects. I am sorry for your friend."

"Torio would laugh at your pity. Fortunately, he is a Reader-one of the best I've ever known. One day he will be far better than I am."

"And how good are you, Lenardo?" They had stopped at the top of the stairs. "What do you mean?" asked Lenardo.

"There are degrees of ability among Readers just as there are among Adepts, Wulfston tells me. What is the level of your skills?"

As he hesitated, not wanting to tell her he had just been admitted to the highest rank, she said, "No-your ratings would be meaningless to me. Come into my study."

She led him through her bedroom, where she paused to remove her earrings and exchange the velvet surcoat for a worn and ink-stained robe, and into a smaller room with large, many-paned windows of clear glass. The walls were lined with books and scroll-cases-as many, it appeared, as in the academy library! So here was one savage who could read and write.

"You are a scholar?" he asked.

"One cannot go everywhere and experience everything. Books bring knowledge one could never gather in a single lifetime. But of all these books, Lenardo, many of them from the Aventine empire, not one explains the techniques of Reading."

"It cannot be taught by books," he explained. "One learns to Read by demonstration and experience."

"Very well. I want a demonstration."

"If you have not the talent-"

She smiled. "No, I did not mean you could teach me to Read. I want to find out how well you can do it." There was a table by the window, stacked with books and papers in uneven piles, a wax-encrusted candlestick holding down one stack. There were a tablet and stylus, quills, ink-all the supplies of a scholar, in deplorable disorder.

Aradia picked up the wax tablet and, holding it so Lenardo could not see, said 'Tell me what I am writing."

"I, Aradia, daughter of Nerius, heir to-"

She stopped, turned the stylus, and rubbed out the words as she said, "I suppose that's an easy trick."

"Yes, but it's not the easiest. The first sign of Reading ability is to pick up another person's thoughts. I cannot touch yours, so I had to do a visual Reading of what you wrote."

"Let's try something a bit harder. You see the large red-bound volume in the middle of the top shelf?"

As there was only one book bound in red, he said, "Yes."

"Look at the first page-I mean, Read the first page to me."

"I can't."

"Oh," she said disappointedly.

"It's not that I can't Read it," explained Lenardo, "it's that I can't read it. Although I speak your language, I have never learned your alphabet."

"Here," she said urgently, thrusting the wax tablet into his hands, "copy it down! It doesn't matter if you don't know what it means!"

The tablet's surface did not show the rub-marks of the stylus; it was as smooth as if the wax had been remelted. Concentrating, he began to copy the characters in the book, letters made up all of straight lines, intended to be carved, not written.

Aradia watched avidly, until he had copied three lines. "That's enough," she said and went to the bookcase, stretching up on tiptoe for the book. Just as Lenardo was about to go reach it for her, it conveniently tilted forward and fell into her hands.

Eagerly, she opened it to the first page and compared what was written there with Lenardo's version. "You write with the precision of a scribe," she said. "It's perfect."

She looked up at him, her face flushed. "Lenardo, if we could only work together…"

"We can," he said, pressing his advantage. "Aradia, Drakonius is looking for me. I assume that that means danger to you if he finds out where I am. I know it means danger to me."

"How did he find out about you?" she asked suspiciously.

"His Reader knows me."

"Have you been in contact?"

"No. I've been too ill to search for him… and I do not know whether Galen is working freely for Drakonius or is being forced to do so."

"Of course," she said. "How stupid of me. You came here seeking this other Reader, Galen." She tilted her head, studying him. "To join him? Or to remove him from your enemy's arsenal of weapons?"

"Whatever my original motivation," he replied, "I now see that he cannot be left in Drakonius' power, even if he is there willingly. And that means I need your help, Aradia. I will Read Drakonius for you if you will help me remove Galen from his power."

"You realize that I am trying to extricate my people and myself from Drakonius' power?"

"I had surmised as much."

She searched his face, and he could feel empathically how her longing to trust him deepened. Then she said, "I am powerless to move against Drakonius. He knows that. I dare not leave my father for more than a day at a time. I cannot lead my army, even in defense… unless you will help me."

'To do what?"

"To cure my father!"

"Aradia, there's no way-"

"You can Read the exact location of his tumor, and I can remove it!"

"No, Aradia. My surgical skills are good enough for emergency measures, but even the finest surgeon dare not cut into the human brain. It would kill your father at once."

"Cut into-? What are you talking about?"

"Removing the tumor."

"By cutting? No, Lenardo! I am an Adept. I shall just- remove it! You must draw it for me, or make a model in wax. It must be exact-even more precise than these letters -but you can do it, can't you?"

"I… don't know," he replied, caught up in the idea. "I said I would help you with healing-but this. If you were off by a hair's breadth, you would kill him. The shock might kill him anyway."

"He is dying, Lenardo! If we do nothing, he will be dead within the fortnight." She lowered her eyes. "For three days I have been strengthening his body again, hoping you could do… what you have proved today. You are fully recovered, are you not?"

"No. You don't understand the precision required. I would have to fast and meditate-"

"How long?"

"At least two days."

"Then start now!" Her eyes were glittering with tears. Lenardo saw his chance of gaining Aradia-and Wulfston-as allies.

It was not mere selfishness, though, he realized; he wanted to use his abilities in this strange new way to save a life, but he wondered what Aradia would do to him if he failed. She looked so frail and delicate, and she commanded such power. He could circumvent any command she planted in his mind, but he could do nothing against physical attack. He remembered Wulfston saying, "The best thing I could do would be to stop your heart right now."

Dared he risk his life now that he knew where Galen was?

Then Aradia said, "Lenardo, if you save my father's life, I will grant you your freedom. I will form an alliance with you, to our mutual advantage, to remove Galen from Drakonius' power."

It was everything he could have asked-unless he failed. But he could not consider the possibility of failure.

"Very well," said Lenardo, "I will do it. You understand that while removing the tumor may allow Nerius to live, I cannot predict whether he will recover his faculties."

"I understand," she replied. "His life is all I ask of you. Now, as I have your word, you have the freedom of the castle-within reason. Do not enter anyone's private rooms uninvited… although I suppose you could Read anything you wanted, right from here."

"First, the number of dresses in your chest does not interest me," said Lenardo. "Second-and more important -it is forbidden to intrude on another's privacy out of mere curiosity."

"But if you were spying on an enemy?"

"For the time being, Aradia, I shall not consider you my enemy. Drakonius, however, may be enemy to both of us-and you know he is spying on you. Aradia, as I do not know Drakonius' specific location, I cannot Read from here, cannot contact Galen to find out if he is Drakonius' ally or prisoner. If you could show me on a map where Drakonius is-"

"I don't know," she said. "He moves constantly, but I can tell you the general area. He will be somewhere in the Western Hills, probably along the river."

"I cannot Read that far from here-not in my present condition, and even if I were at peak performance I could not do so without a specific location."

"I too would like to know exactly where Drakonius is," Aradia mused, "and exactly what he is doing. We can get nearer by riding out to the border tomorrow. Would that help?"

"Yes, indeed. At least I'd have a better chance."

"Then go and rest. We'll have a long ride tomorrow. Is there anything you need?"

"There's something I don't need-any more meat with my meals. Otherwise… could I have some different clothes?"

"Of course. The tailor is working on others already."

"I mean… could I have something less… exposed? I've noticed that Wulfston's clothes are of much the same design, but they're cut fuller, the tops longer."

Her smile became wolfish again. "Wulfston gives his own instructions to the tailor. But very well, Lenardo, I'll take care of it."

"Thank you, Aradia."

"You're welcome. One thing more-in public, your proper form of address to me is 'my lady.'"

"Yes, my lady," he replied, aware that the title was to remind people of her power. But he could give her that now. It was part of a pact that would soon be fulfilled- and then he would be free and have help in his quest for Galen.

Aradia and Lenardo set out at dawn the next day- alone. Lenardo was momentarily surprised, until he realized that an Adept required no guard. So he was surprised again when Aradia took him into the guard room and girded on him the same sword he had taken the night of his escape.

"I trust you know how to use it?" she asked.

"Of course. I instructed novices at the academy. However, could you not defend yourself better than I?"

"The sword is a symbol that you would defend me if you had to. You would, wouldn't you?"

"Yes. I would."

It was a beautiful day, warming as the sun rose. Aradia had apparently issued orders quickly yesterday, for this morning Lenardo had been provided with a new outfit in blue and green, with the more modest cut he had requested. He had also been given boots of softest leather, that molded to his feet and clung to his calves like a second skin.

Aradia pointed out the new extension of the irrigation system and, a little further on, an iron works. "It would be preferable to have our weapons made further from Drakonius' border, but this land is useless for anything else, and there is a good road northeast to the forest, where charcoal is made for smelting."

"An Aventine road," said Lenardo.

"Probably. Drakonius certainly didn't build it. He never builds anything except defenses."

"Then you took this land from Drakonius?"

"My father helped Drakonius win some battle long before I was born. When Drakonius asked what he wanted as reward, he asked for these lands that had been abandoned. Drakonius thought my father a fool, but he granted his request. Now the lands are ours… as long as we can hold them."

"That's the way everything is here, isn't it? Yours for as long as you can hold it."

"That is the way of nature," Aradia replied. "The nature of people, though, is such that they can work together, protect one another, so that a man is not torn between working his land and defending it. My people know I will defend them; thus they are loyal to me."

"I wonder," Lenardo mused, "if there will ever be a day when people can live peacefully, without fear of attack?"

"I don't know," Aradia replied. "Perhaps if no one were hungry or cold, or lacked a roof over his head…"

"Is that the world you want, Aradia?"

"Yes. Since I made the treaties with Lilith and Hron, Drakonius has not diverted his efforts from trying to take the Aventine Empire to fight three strong Adepts. For three years there has been peace in our lands-and no beggars in our lanes. Everyone has honest work, and the old and infirm are cared for."

"What of those who don't want to work?"

"Such people find themselves out of place, so they go off to join the hill bandits or cross over into Drakonius' lands."

"Exiles," Lenardo observed.

"Yes. If all the world were peaceful, where would such people go? Perhaps we would have to set aside a land for them and let them contend with one another."

"Then you believe some people are evil by nature?"

"Evil? In general terms, we would say that someone who inflicts pain for his own pleasure is evil. Yet that person exists by nature, as do storm and drought and flood. Evil to one person is good to another; the best we can do is work as closely as possible with nature."

"But… what are your values, Aradia?" Lenardo was deeply puzzled now. "How do you decide right from wrong?"

"Life is the highest good. That which prevents death contributes to life-hence peace is better than war. But it is not simple. Sometimes one chooses one life over another -just cultivating a field, the farmer kills the plants he calls weeds, so the food crops will grow. We kill and eat animals. How do you decide right from wrong, Lenardo? Or does your Reader's Code cover every possible choice?"

"No human law could do so. But we do believe that right conduct has a higher authority than simply what men can observe-what you call nature. There is a higher, sentient force, usually personified as the gods, although that simple belief has fallen into disfavor. The powers ascribed to those ancient manlike gods are painfully close to the powers of Adepts."

"Then what do you believe in?"

"A higher authority, the force that created the world."

"Nature," said Aradia.

"Wulfston tells me you believe that when life ends, the person-his consciousness, his personality-ends as well."

"Of course. We do not believe in ghosts, Lenardo."

"Then what is the point of living?"

"Life! It is all we have!" she said vehemently. "I shall live my life to the full, until it is taken from me by force!" Remembering what Wulfston had said about Aradia's mother, Lenardo tactfully shifted the subject. "We believe that the point of life is to please the gods. However, that philosophy does not solve the problem of good and evil, any more than yours does. Even today, it is possible to get a debate going as to whether something is good because it is pleasing to the gods, or pleasing to the gods because it is good."

"And what good does it do to please the gods?" asked Aradia.

Lenardo was stopped cold. In ten years of teaching, he had fielded every possible question on the subject-he had thought. But Aradia approached from a different direction, attacking the question instead of seeking an answer. He thought about it for a moment. "Presumably it does the same good to please the gods as it does your people to please you."

Aradia laughed, then said, "Here is the best place to stop. A bit further on is the trail into the borderland, where you were attacked by the bandits. This is the closest we can come to Drakonius' lands and remain within my borders." A small spring flowed from a rock into a pool the size of a hand bath-a natural fountain. Grass and a few trees grew where they could reach the moisture, forming a tiny park. Someone had placed small rocks to form a fireplace, but Lenardo and Aradia had no need of a fire this warm spring day.

"Tell me how to search for Drakonius," said Lenardo. "He was not in Zendi when I was there, but it is a place to start, as I can Read it easily. I once lived there."

"You have to have been there?"

"No, but it is a great help in Reading over long distances. An even greater aid is to have someone to contact at the other end."

"Try your powers. Read to Zendi. See how far recovered you are."

It took a slight effort, but Lenardo knew the exact location of the city. In a few moments, he was in the middle of the town, "looking" around at the milling crowds, the beggars, the filth-it was exactly as he remembered. He was grateful he didn't have to smell it.

The sun darkened for a moment, and Lenardo "looked" up to see a cloud passing, other clouds piling up in the west.

To Aradia, he said, "It's going to rain in Zendi by evening, and the clouds will reach here by tomorrow."

"You're better than the watchers!" said Aradia. "They won't know until tomorrow. Did you see anything interesting?"

"No-nothing but the same overcrowded conditions I saw in person. How do I find Drakonius from here?"

"He's got a string of fortresses in the Western Hills that he built as he forced the walls of the empire back. If you can find him, try to Read how far he has progressed in rebuilding his army. And whether he has other Adepts with him."

"You think he may be preparing to strike against you?"

"I know it must come. Had Drakonius won at Adigia, he would have been able to say to us, 'You see? You'd better come in with me next time!' But as he lost, he will try to force us to join him, to prove his strength. And if he finds out where you are, my lands will be his first target."

So Lenardo Read back to Zendi, then allowed his perceptions to rise, heading west, finding the hills with ease, although details were blurred. Following the river southward, he began to feel stretched, tenuous, as if his connection with his body might snap. It was pouring rain here, making visual Reading difficult.

When the river took a turn directly west, increasing the distance he was trying to Read even more rapidly, Lenardo almost gave up. He was beginning to wonder if he would be able to Read anything smaller than a river or mountain anyway-when suddenly a cluster of human minds drew his attention.

There were twenty or more people, spread through a warren of caves in the cliffside. Below was a large stretch of beach, where an army might camp-but there was no army there now, although defenses had been built along the beach.

Aradia wanted to know how many Adepts were here; that would mean attempting to Read everyone, to see how many could not be Read. It was getting harder and harder to focus. How could he-?

Suddenly, a lighthouse in the fog, there was the touch of a compatible mind. Galen!

//Yes? WHAT? Who's there?// //Galen-are you well?//

//Lenardo!// All the joy of the boy's enthusiasm welcomed him. //Magister Lenardo 1 You've come at last! How did you find me? Where are you?//

Something behind that final question, a certain tension of hidden motives, made Lenardo recklessly drop contact with his body. He'd pay when he returned with cramped muscles and pinched nerves, but now he could Read freely… and Galen could not follow him back to Aradia, even if the boy could Read that far.

//I'll come to you, Galen,// he temporized. //Are you well? You haven't been hurt?//

//Where are you?// again, with an edge of desperation.

Maybe the boy was hurt. He was certainly frightened.

//I'll find a way to get you out of there-// Lenardo began.

//No!// A burst of panic, followed by enforced but tenuous control. //Why should I leave? I'm never going back to an empire that locks Readers up in the academies and out of the senate, an empire that's afraid of us. Come join me. I'll prove I was right, Lenardo. I'll show you what our powers are for.// But the boy did not believe his own words.

//Galen-can't you see what they've done to you? You've broke one of the commands they implanted-you can easily cast out these thoughts. They're not your own.//

//They said you were exiled! I've been Reading all over the land for you. They told me you had come to see things our way, that you were in Zendi, and then you disappeared. Where are you?//

Lenardo tried another approach. //Galen, you were right; it is possible to make peace with the savages. Everyone will know you destroyed Drakonius' army-//

//You destroyed them!// Galen raged suddenly. //I felt you touch my mind, distracting me! Now they don't trust me, because of you! I should have killed you when I had the chance!//

Beneath the boy's ramblings, Lenardo caught thoughts, suspicions: the Code a hypocrisy… Lenardo trying to keep Galen from achieving rank as a Reader… betraying him in his testimony at the trial… jealous of Galen, refusing to admit he was becoming the better Reader…

It was all nonsense-but how had Drakonius found these strange thoughts, to knit of them a snare for Galen's mind? Or was it possible they were not of Drakonius' invention, but rather the result of Galen's exposure for two years to the Adept's manipulations, transferred to his own disappointments?

At that moment, Lenardo could have wished for an Adept's skill to force Galen to calm down. The boy seemed not to have grown up at all-if anything, his adolescent mood swings had gotten worse. //Galen, I want to help you-//

//You! You coward! You let me be exiled-branded! You said you'd stand by me, and you didn't. You hate me because I'm a better Reader than you are. Everyone who's the best at something is hated. Now you want to trick me into going back to be executed. It won't work, Lenardo. I know you now, and I hate you!// Lenardo's mind flinched, • but he could not avoid the intensity of the boy's hysteria. //I hate you! I'm going to find you and kill you, Lenardo, so you'll never betray me again!//