Wulfston's odyssey

Chapter Six

Open to Reading as he searched for signs of life in Tadisha’s body, Wulfston Read Kamas broadcast a call for help with the full extent of his Seeing powers. The younger man then tried to take Tadisha’s body, but Wulfston brushed him aside, laying her carefully on the stone floor and invoking his Adept powers to force her heart to beat, her lungs to expand and contract.

“See to your mother and Barak,” he instructed. “Don’t move Barak till I can help him, though!”

“Healers are on the way,” Kamas assured him. “We must summon Tadisha back to her body.”

Wulfston remembered Tadisha insisting that “blood will tell.” Never mind the reason; her brother’s mind was familiar, a signal she would feel safe in following. “Summon her,” he replied. “I will keep her body alive.”

Kamas knelt beside his sister, concentrating. Wulfston wanted to join Kamas in Reading for her wandering spirit, but dared not, for each time he stopped pumping her lungs and heart they stopped functioning.

Unwanted memory reminded Wulfston that when Master Clement had been lost on the planes of existence his body had continued to function. What was there in Africa that threatened Seers who left their bodies? Did Z’Nelia control it, or was she controlled by it? Had she trapped Tadisha, or had the souls of both women been captured by some other force?

Wulfston turned his attention to what Kamas was doing, and Read a strange, tenuous beacon reaching out from the younger man in a tie of blood-kinship. He Read Tadisha in that beacon-and yet not Tadisha, but those characteristics that she shared with Kamas, being of one womb born.

In the warm feeling of fraternal love, Wulfston felt like an intruder. He almost blanked out of the rapport when he felt-

Tadisha’s presence! Gratefully, she reached for her brother and followed him back, her spirit reentering her body.

Once in her body, though, Tadisha lost consciousness.

Where were those healers? Wulfston was just drawing breath to ask Kamas when Tadisha’s chest rose and fell. Her heart fought the steady rhythm Wulfston had imposed, and he let it beat wildly for a moment, until it settled into a fast but even tempo.

Tadisha coughed, then moaned. “Lie still!” Wulfston told her.

Her green eyes opened, dilated with fear. “I… I can’t See!” She tried to lift a hand to her face, and gasped in pain.

“That’s why you must lie still,” Wulfston explained. “Let me heal you, Tadisha.” He concentrated on encouraging the healing force of Tadisha’s own body, but she had little energy left for him to work with.

“What happened?” she asked weakly. “Why did you move my body?”

“It wasn’t us,” Kamas said grimly. “While you were on another plane, Z’Nelia took over your body and attacked us.”

Tadisha’s eyes widened in astonishment. “She can do that? And rob me of my Seeing powers?”

“It’s temporary,” Wulfston assured her. “Z’Nelia used the energy of your body. Let me put you into healing sleep, Tadisha. That will rid you of your pain, and a few days of rest and food will restore your powers.”

“No-I must tell-” She tried to sit up, but fell back with a moan of pain and frustration. “Where is Mother?”

“Unconscious. Kamas, where are those healers?!”

Kamas focused his Seeing beyond his sister, beyond the temple. Wulfston had had to restrain his Adept powers to battle Z’Nelia in Tadisha’s body; his Reading was still good enough to follow Kamas’ mind out into the palace.

Everyone was asleep!

Guards lay crumpled at their posts; Seer-priestesses in brown robes slumped in a circle in a small chapel nearby. The healers Kamas had summoned were in another anteroom, lying in attitudes that told Wulfston the Movers had been pacing in impatient concern, waiting and fearing to be called to the temple.

Wulfston surmised, “Z’Nelia must have put everyone into Adept sleep before she attacked us. Tadisha, you are more Seer than Mover. She didn’t realize how much of your energy she would expend on that task. She didn’t have enough left to kill me.”

“So my call was not answered,” said Kamas. “I must waken the healers.” He started to rise.

A moan of agony came from behind him. “Mother!” Tadisha put her hand on he brother’s arm, without a wince of pain this time, Wulfston noted. At least her body had power to heal that much.

The pain of Ashuru’s burns was pulling her toward consciousness. Wulfston quickly sent her into Adept sleep, and started the healing process. It would keep her pain at bay for the time being, but she needed his concentration on the worst of her injuries, and then healing sleep.

He opened as wide as he could to Reading. A wave of pain assaulted him from Barak. “Kamas,” he said,

“I need your help! Healing both your mother and Barak will diminish my Seeing powers. Come use yours to help me.”

“We need the healers,” the boy insisted.

“I will waken them,” Tadisha said, struggling to her knees.

“Tadisha!” Kamas protested.

“I have no powers now!” she spat like a determined kitten hissing defiance at a bewildered hound. “Help Wulfston heal Mother and Barak. The palace is vulnerable to attack. I can do no good here, so I will go wake the guards.”

“Come,” said Wulfston to Kamas, recognizing that Tadisha assessed her responsibility correctly. The girl rose unsteadily, but moved purposefully toward the door, every bit the queen she would be one day.

Kamas knelt reluctantly beside Wulfston, by Ashuru’s body. Wulfston found that healing when he could Read through another’s greater powers was even easier than being guided by a Reader’s words. Soon Ashuru was in healing sleep, and they turned to Barak, drawing his broken bones into alignment, and starting them knitting rapidly ‹ Because these people must be returned quickly to health, Wulfston had to use his own energy in the healing. When the healers finally joined them, Kamas pulled an exhausted Wulfston to his feet.

“Thank you,” the younger man said. “Without your help, all of us might have died.”

“Without me,” Wulfston replied, “there would have been no opportunity for Z’Nelia to attack… and perhaps no reason. Where is Tadisha now? I don’t know if she can achieve healing sleep alone.”

“You’re almost asleep yourself!” Kamas pointed out.

“I have reserves of energy,” Wulfston replied. “It’s part of Adept training. I could heal myself if there were need, but there isn’t.”

By this time, though, Wulfston could hardly follow Kamas’ Seeing, and could Read almost nothing for himseE Tadisha, they found, had sensibly gone to her room, and was sound asleep in her own bed. “She burns with Shangonu’s fire,” said Kamas. “It is well.”

“Healing sleep,” Wulfston identified. So Tadisha had enough of the Mover’s power that her body could call up that state-as Wulfston’s body yearned to do after the long, tense night. Dawn was breaking. He forced himself to stay awake long enough to eat, then went to his own bed, and fell helplessly into dreamless slumber.

“Wulfston! Wulfston, wake up!”

“Mmpf?”

Then he realized that the voice was in his head. “Who-?”

“Wulfston, what happened? Why are you sleeping in the middle of the afternoon?”

“Lenardo!”

Wulfston sat up, wide awake. “Lenardo, has something happened to you?”

“No, but something has to you. Careful-let me control our Reading. I can keep the Seers from listening in. Why is everyone in healing sleep?”

Wulfston started to tell him, verbalizing, but felt Lenardo pick up the whole memory from his mind at once. “You must teach me how to do that!”

“You’ll learn it. Your Reading has improved overnight. You gave control over to me the way a Magister Reader might. Subtlety and control are much harder to learn than distance.”

" I always knew I ought to be a Reader. But you have information for me.”

He “heard” Lenardo’s pleased laughter. “Very good- but the news isn’t. A message just arrived from Norgu: the survivors of the wreck of the Night Queen are to be sold to the slavers in Ketu.”

“Norgu has them?”

“Just the sailors. I still haven’t located Zanos or Astra.”

“Huber?”

“No, not Huber either, although I have tried. Contrary to your exaggerated opinion of my powers, I cannot Read the entire continent of Africa.”

Nor could he Read across the sea to home, although he confessed to Wulfston that he had tried. Ill worry about Aradia. If I dared go out of body, I would try to Read to Zendi. At least I hope she has gone there. I want her under Master Clement’s care.”

Wulfston told him of trying to send Aradia a letter from Freedom Island. Ill don’t know whether my request will be honored, or whether the coins were pocketed and the letter thrown away.”

“If Aradia receives it, at least she will know we reached Africa alive.”

“I will send a letter from here before we set out,” Wulfston assured him. “Tadisha will know a trustworthy messenger.” Then he asked, “Out of body… could you really Read all the way home?”

There was a long mental silence. Then Lenardo replied, III don’t think so, Wulfston. But if I get the chance, I’m certainly going to try!”

But at the moment their concerns were there in Africa. “Can you help the Night Queen crew escape?”

Wulfston suggested. “All of you get out together?”

“They don’t know I’m here. None of them are Readers, and Norgu has me locked up and guarded.”

“Why is Norgu suddenly selling them?”

“Because you want them,” Lenardo replied. Ill can’t predict that boy’s moves. He has too much strength, and he acts on impulse-like giving my ring to you and telling you I was dead.”

Wulfston started. In the turmoil after Z’Nelia’s attack, he had forgotten Lenardo’s ring. But he quickly discovered it now lay gleaming on the table beside his bed. He picked it up and slid it back onto his finger. “Yes-he had to know I’d find out he was lying.”

“But not so soon. He wants you to come to him, Wulfston.”

“Oh, I plan to! Ill get you out of there. Where’s Ketu?”

“Between here and the Karili castle. You can liberate the Night Queen crew on the way-if someone else doesn’t buy them first. White men are considered exotic in Africa.”

“Norgu may be cleverer than we give him credit for,”

Wulfston realized. “He can’t hold you long, so he’s trying to force my hand. Lenardo, I’ll get there as soon as I can. Don’t try to escape on your own. Although you re conspicuous in Africa, I don’t want to have to hunt for you. I’m not that good a Reader yet.”

“You don’t think I could track you down?” Lenardo asked with mild amusement.

“Of course you could, but why complicate matters? Let me come to you. Once the two of us are in the same place, no one in Africa can stand against us!”

Lenardo agreed. “But Wulfston, if you were a trained Reader, I would not have been able to waken you today.”

“Why? Oh-I remember. Readers are not supposed to Read while they’re asleep so they won’t intrude on anyone or broadcast anything.” A prickle of fear went through him. “What am I going to do? I have to sleep!”

“Aradia automatically braces her Adept powers when she sleeps,” said Lenardo. “Apparently you don’t have the same instinct, but cant you do it consciously?”

“Yes,” Wulfston replied in relief. But what of all the time he had slept, drugged and undrugged, since his Reading had begun, all the strange dreams, the fragments of thoughts and memories? Who could tell what Seers might have been listening in?

When Lenardo withdrew, Wulfston got up and dressed, testing both his Adept and his Reading powers.

He felt normal. In fact, he felt positively good. There were no guards on his room, but the castle was battle-ready. It was exhilarating not to have to leave his room to discover that; he could Read into every part of the castle, out into the courtyard, and to the city beyond. He didn’t “see” what he Read, but sensed it in a way he could not have explained in words.

Having “seen” the visions produced by Norgu and Barak, he now understood the difference between ordinary Reading an what the Readers called “visualization,” a higher-order skill. He wondered if he would ever develop that, or would always be dependent on a better Reader for visualization.

Interesting that in Africa the word for Reader meant “Seer.” He must ask Tadisha whether that meant that the ability to visualize was what distinguished someone with minor powers from someone who might command respect- and power.

At the thought of Tadisha, he Read her room, but it was empty. His conscience prodded him: Readers observed strict rules of privacy. The problem was, not having been a Reader before, he had never learned them! However, he chided himself, Reading into people’s private rooms was certainly forbidden except in an emergency.

Restricting himself to the public rooms of the castle, he found Tadisha in a small dining room off the kitchen, Traylo and Arlus on either side of her, begging for tidbits. “Tadisha?”

“Lord Wulfston,” she acknowledged. “Won’t you join me? I woke up as hungry as a Mover!”

So had he, so he hurried down the stairs. “Your Seeing powers are back.”

“Not yet back to normal, but returning,” she told him.

When Wulfston entered the dining room, Traylo and Arlus came running to meet him, fawning on him as if they had been waiting desperately for his appearance rather than perfectly content with Tadisha.

The Karili princess looked tired, her eyes puffy as if she still needed sleep. She was wearing a silk caftan in shades of green and tan, and her hair was tied back with a scarf of the same material.

She was eating bread and fruit, but only picking at a savory stew whose aroma had Wulfston’s mouth watering. “You need the meat,” he told her. “The weakness of your body will blunt your Seeing more than meat will. After your strength returns you can go back to eating like a rabbit if you want to.” He followed his own advice, helping himself to a liberal portion of the stew. “How are your mother and Barak?”

“Still healing,” she replied. “Our scouts confirm what Norgu showed us of the Savishnon-they are ready to move. The members of the Assembly are returning to their own lands to ready their armies.”

“And that is why you are up,” Wulfston observed. “It’s all your responsibility until your mother is well.”

He was painfully reminded of Aradia taking over rule of their lands, when their father slid inexorably into coma.

“Yes,” Tadisha replied simply.

“Let Kamas do it,” said Wulfston. “Where is he?”

“Still sleeping. He did not go to bed until he had verified that no one was coming to attack us in our vulnerable state.”

“If it’s safe for Kamas to sleep, then it’s safe for you. You should have had your meal brought to you, Tadisha, and gone right back to sleep.”

“I know that now, she replied wearily. “I wouldn’t be much good to anyone”- a yawn interrupted her words — “as tired as I still am.”

But before Tadisha could find the energy to leave the table, Kamas joined them. He wa? tense, but otherwise restored, for he had neither been injured nor used Adept powers. “Our healers commend your skill, Lord Wulfston. How is it that a warrior is trained in healing?”

“Isn’t that the custom here?” Wulfston asked. “At home, the most powerful Adepts are also the best healers.”

“It makes a Mover popular with the people, but it also weakens his powers. You Saw what happened to Norgu’s father.”

Wulfston smiled sadly. “Unfortunately, most Lords Adept in the Savage Lands felt as you do before our Alliance. We can only hope that the future proves our ways right.”

Before he allowed himself to fall asleep that night, Wulfston braced his Adept powers as Lenardo had suggested. If he dreamed, he did not remember it, and in the morning he woke with the sun, refreshed and eager to act.

He would not invade anyone’s privacy this morning, so he assumed that Tadisha and Kamas were still sleeping until a servant came to him. “Queen Ashuru is awake, and is consulting with Princess Tadisha and Prince Kamas. She requests that you join them.”

Ashuru might be awake, but she was far from well. The superficial burns had healed to skin of a reddish-pink. If left to heal naturally now, with no further Adept stimulus, it would regain its normal color in a few weeks without scarring.

The worst of Ashuru’s injuries, though, did not show; she had not left her bed because she could not.

Nerves along her spine had been seared. She had little feeling in her legs, and could move her arms only with effort. One of the healers was trying to persuade her to be put back into healing sleep again. “Please, Queen Ashuru-the sooner this kind of injury is healed, the better your chances for complete recovery.”

But Ashuru waved the healer aside. “Soon, soon;” she promised. “First we must make plans. Lord Wulfston, do you understand what happened in the temple?”

“Z’Nelia entered Tadisha’s body while she was out of it,” Wulfston replied.

The older woman nodded. “Thank Shangonu, not even a sabenu can command a Seer’s body once the Seer returns to it. And despite all, my daughter succeeded in her quest.”

Tadisha’s Vision! Wulfston had completely forgotten it.

Tadisha looked much better today, rested and healthy. “Lord Wulfston,” she said formally, “we can no longer blame you for bringing trouble upon us, for it is Shangonu’s will that you be here, now, when Savishna rises and Z Nelia seeks power. I had a True Vision:

“The Savishnon will move inexorably toward the east. Since there is no longer a way directly from their lands to

Z’Nelia’s, they will pass through our lands and Norgu’s first, destroying as they go. If we mass our armies and deploy our powers against them, we can hold them to the north-for now.”

“Why is there no way from the Savishnon lands into Z’Nelia’s?” asked Wulfston.

“The road is gone,” Kamas replied.

“Gone? Where?” Wulfston asked. “You can’t take away a road. You can temporarily block a pass with an avalanche; you can tear down bridges; you can flood a valley the road passes through. But with Adept powers it’s easy enough to clear away rubble, rebuild bridges and dams. Z’Nelia’s people have had four years to do so.”

“The Dead Lands,” Ashuru said grimly, “lie in the path the Savishnon would have to take to reach Johara from the north.”

“I see,” he replied.

Ashuru continued, “Lord Wulfston, do you understand why it is not always possible to obtain a Vision of what one seeks-or why such Visions are often incomplete?”

“Yes,” he replied, having been privy to much discussion on the matter after Torio developed the rare gift of prophecy. “The future is affected by both the past and the present. It appears that some events are fated-the will of the gods, the Aventines would say. No matter how we try to stop them, those events happen. The fall of Tiberium was such an event.

“True prophecies concern only such events, which are often foretold many years before they occur. But they are not detailed.” He was staring at his hands as he spoke, and suddenly Lenardos ring came into focus. “The design on this ring,” he continued, “represents a prophecy. ‘In the day of the white wolf and the red dragon, there will be peace through all the world.’ All our world, at any rate, for the white wolf is Aradia, my sister, and Lenardo is the red dragon. Their union represents the unity we have achieved, Readers and Adepts together. And there is peace.”

He could not voice the thought that forced itself, unbidden, into his mind. The prophecy does not say how long that day will last. If I don’t bring Lenardo back to Aradia-

“Yes,” said Ashuru, “prophecies and Visions give only part of the information we would like to know, for all the rest depends on events and decisions that change from day to day. Tadisha’s Vision told that you will play a key role in the upcoming battle, Lord Wulfston. What it did not tell was who will win.”

Tadisha spoke. “The battle will be between the greatest forces ever raised on our continent, and you will be a central figure. That battle will change the fate of Africa.”

Wulfston asked, “What do you mean by ‘central figure’? Or ‘changing the fate of Africa’? Where does Z’Nelia fit in? Because I’m here, will the Savishnon be defeated? Or-?”

Ashuru interrupted with a snort of laughter. “If we could answer that kind of question, we would be gods ourselves.”

Then what good did it do to put Tadisha in such danger? He did not voice the question, although he suspected that Ashuru Saw it despite her weakened condition. If she did, she pretended not to. “So,” she said, “you are a part of our battle plan, whether we want you or not. Shangonu protect us all.”

“I will help you all I can,” he replied. “But first I must ask your aid. The crew of my ship are to be sold at the slave market at Ketu. So that I may rescue them, I ask an escort who knows the land, the language, the customs.”

“And has money to buy your men,” added Ashuru.

Buy them? Before he could protest he realized she was right-the simplest solution was best. “Thank you,” he replied. “I will repay you, of course.”

“There will be no need for repayment,” Ashuru replied. “Either you will lead us to victory, in which case payment is trivial, or you will lead us to our death. And no debts can be repaid to the dead.”

“I will take you to Ketu, Lord Wulfston,” said Kamas.

“I will go too,” Tadisha added. “We must move our armies into position against the Savishnon, and we have promised to help you rescue Lord Lenardo. I am well enough to travel. Mother requires much more healing-”

“With the permission of your healers, Queen Ashuru,” Wulfston said, “I will add my powers to speed your recovery.”

“Your help is accepted,” said the healer, “if the queen permits.”

Ashuru nodded; she was growing weaker.

“One more thing,” said Wulfston. “I must question Barak. His wounds ought to be healed by now.”

“You forget his great age,” said the healer. “But you may speak with him when we waken him to give him nourishment this evening.”

Ashuru struggled to stay awake. “What else do you think Barak can tell you?”

“The rest of the story of Z’Nelia,” he replied.

“Then,” Ashuru said, her voice weakening, “I must be here. Tadisha-” She groped weakly in her daughter’s direction, and Tadisha grasped her hand. “Promise me. Make the healers wake me, too.”

Tadisha looked to the healer, who gave a fatalistic shrug. “I promise, Mother.”

Ashuru drifted off, going automatically into healing sleep. If they had had time to spare, Ashuru could have recovered eventually at this rate. But they did not have that time. Wulfston spent the next two hours joining his powers to those of the healer, aiding Ashuru’s body to heal.

That evening Wulfston, Tadisha, Kamas, and Ashuru gathered at Barak’s bedside. The Grioka watched them warily. “What do you seek of me now? I have Told all I know.”

“I think not,” Wulfston replied. “In fact, you lied to us.”

He heard Tadisha’s sharp gasp-obviously one did not speak so to a Grioka-but Barak appeared more fearful than offended.

“You told us,” Wulfston continued, “that after the battle at Johara four years ago, you left as soon as the lava had cooled. I do not think a Grioka would do that. The story was not complete. You would have waited until Z’Nelia either died or recovered. She recovered, and I think what you discovered the next time you were in her presence sent you into exile.”

Barak nodded. “Blood will tell, Lord of the Black Wolf. You will not let me keep my secrets any more than Z’Nelia would. It is true-driven by a Grioka’s need to know the end of the story, I stayed in Johara while Z’Nelia’s spirit wandered… and returned. Once she was well, I sought audience to my sorrow.

“I learned what truly happened on Mount Manjuro, when Z’Nelia released the fire demon. What I did not expect, though, was that Z’Nelia learned my greatest secret as well.

“Z’Nelia had always been a most powerful Mover, with little ability to See. She returned from the land of the dead with her Seeing powers increased manyfold. She Saw my betrayal of her father, many years before.

“It was not long after the Aresh, the Time of Change,” Barak replied to Wulfston’s look of confusion,

“when the first Movers and Seers appeared in Africa. There were several generations of turmoil, as those with powers overthrew hereditary tribal leaders, and some created new tribes. Often these new leaders would then fight one another. There was war, and for a long time little security for anyone.”

“Yes,” replied Wulfston. “That was very much the way things happened in the lands where I grew up.

Only in my father’s generation did some Lords Adept seek peace.”

“Nerius was not your father,” said Barak. “Listen-I will tell you who you are. In your grandparents’

generation there were born in Djahat, the seat of the Zionae before the Savishnon drove them eastward, twin sisters, both extremely powerful Movers. As they grew to womanhood and came into their full powers, it was inevitable that they would both seek the throne-but only one could have it.

“While their father, Nelatu, yet lived and held the throne, both women married men with strong Mover powers, and bore children. Raduna bore a son, and Katalia a daughter. Raduna’s son was a powerful Mover, but Katalia’s daughter showed only the smallest trace of such power, and no Seeing ability at all.

“To avoid a power struggle for the throne of Djahat at his death, Nelatu declared Raduna his heir, and her son Desak after her. He also arranged marriages for his grandchildren. Desak had just passed his initiation into manhood, and was married to a girl who already showed great Seeing ability. But Katalia’s daughter, several years younger than Desak, was betrothed to the son of a distant cousin in whose line neither Moving nor Seeing powers had ever manifested.

“The children were betrothed in the temple of Shangonu, and lived in the palace. They were daily reminded that it was the will of Shangonu that they love one another, and marry when they came of age.”

Barak gave Wulfston a gentle smile. “It appears that they did not forget.”

“My parents?” Wulfston asked. “But how did they come to be slaves in the Aventine Empire?”

“When Nelatu died, the throne passed peacefully to Raduna-but then came the Savishnon hordes.

Raduna and her husband died in the battle for Djahat, and the Zionae were driven eastward, to take refuge in the mountains near Johara. Desak was powerful, but still very young; Katalia and her husband saw an opportunity to seize the throne from their nephew before he came to his full powers.

“At that time, over fifty years ago, I was newly Grioka. I had completed my apprenticeship, learned all the old tales, and was beginning to Tell my own. I watched the palace being built at Johara, and Told the old tales to Desak, who liked me because I was also young, and eager to Tell of adventure.

“Yes,” Barak sighed, “I was young… and foolish. Griokae should stand outside their Tales, never irivolve themselves. Yet when I knew that Katalia was plotting against Desak, what was I to do? He was the rightful King of the Zionae, Nelatu’s chosen heir. I… told him. I earned his gratitude, and his trust.

“And I learned why Griokae must never become involved. Desak pretended he did not know of the plot against him. He invited his aunt and uncle, and his cousin and her betrothed, to a family dinner-where his Seers revealed their plot! Katalia and her husband were helpless, for Desak had laced their food with kleg. He slaughtered them, before the eyes of their daughter and her betrothed.

“The children were, technically, still that: in the next year, both would have undergone initiation into adulthood, and then been permitted to marry by Zionae law. But on that day they were still children, innocent under our law even if they had known of their elders’ plot, which they did not. I knew that, and told Desak so, staying his hand when he would have struck down his cousins as well.

“I persuaded Desak that his position was precarious enough without slaying two defenseless children. Yet he feared the girl, for Nelatu’s blood ran in her veins, and he saw in her or her children a future threat. He wanted the two dead, but would not kill them himself, so he charged their execution to the one man he thought he could trust.”

“You,” said Wulfston.

Barak nodded. “I could not kill them, but I could not allow them to remain in Africa, either. It is an evil thing to sell another into slavery, but it was all I could think of to preserve both those children’s lives and the unity of the Zionae nation.” He smiled sadly. “But Shangonus plans are not to be so lightly thwarted.

The confrontation was merely postponed, for here you are, the son of those two children, returned to fight Z’Nelia for the throne of the Zionae.”

“I don’t want the throne of the Zionae.”

“Z’Nelia will never believe that. That is why she has tried repeatedly to kill you.”

“How does she know who I am, when until now I didn’t know myself?”

“When she Saw my betrayal of Desak, she knew your parents had survived. And the moment she Saw you she must have known, as I did, who you are. What other pure Zionae, with great Mover’s powers, would come from the northern lands?”

As if out of nowhere, a question formed in Wulfston’s mind. “What is the meaning of Kana la sabenu Z’Nelia?”

Tadisha gasped. “Where did you hear that?”

“On Freedom Island, from a drunken man who tried to kill Chulaika. What does it mean?”

It was Barak who answered: ” Death to the mad witch Z’Nelia.’ “

“I might have known,” Wulfston said. “Tell me the rest of the story. What happened after you sent my parents away?”

“Desak ruled, violently, impulsively-but he kept the lands of the Zionae as a stronghold against the Savishnon. His wife bore him two daughters, but no sons. Although he feared a repetition of what had happened between his mother and her sister, it happened that Z’Nelia had great Mover’s powers, while her sister had none. There was no question as to Desak’s heir.

“He chose for Z’Nelia’s consort a man who was also a great Mover. It was a political marriage, uniting his daughter with the only Mover with the power to be a threat to the royal family. Desak died soon after Z’Nelia bore a son, and her husband in effect ruled the Zionae for some years-until she approached the peak of her powers. Then came the attack of the Savishnon, and her defeat of them, as you have Seen.”

“Z’Nelia’s family,” Wulfston prompted. “Did she kill them?”

“She meant to kill them. In fact, when she returned from Mount Manjuro to Johara she thought she had.

For they betrayed her. Matu-”

“Norgu’s father? Norgu is Z’Nelia’s son?” Wulfston demanded in astonishment.

Tadisha gasped. “Shangonu protect us! If they should ever unite against us-!”

“Unlikely,” said Barak. “Z’Nelia will never trust Norgu again after he turned against her at Mount Manjuro. You see, Matu betrayed Z’Nelia with her own sister. Z’Nelia had grown more powerful than Matu, and he resented it. Their son, Norgu, showed exceptional powers for so young a child. Her sister had no powers of her own, but saw in Matu’s child the chance to gain someone with powers whom she could control. So when he was quarreling with Z’Nelia over who ruled in Johara, she seduced Matu, and became pregnant.

“In the face of the Savishnon threat, Z’Nelia pretended to forgive them, claiming that she would welcome the child her sister carried-her own husband’s child. But when they went to Mount Manjuro, she used her Mover’s powers to topple the faithless couple into the volcano.”

“This was four years ago,” said Wulfston. “Z’Nelia’s sister-can it be Chulaika?”

“That was her name, although it is no longer to be spoken in Z’Nelia’s lands.”

Wulfston looked to Ashuru, Tadisha, and Kamas. “So that is what this is all about! Did you know?”

“No,” said Ashuru. “How could we?”

“They could not,” Barak affirmed. “It was not to be Told. Not only Z’Nelia-Norgu will kill me if he finds out I have told you.”

“Then, since you have told this much,” said Wulfston, “you might as well finish the story. Z’Nelia tried to kill Matu and Chulaika at the volcano.”

“Nbrgu loved his father,” Barak continued. “When Z’Nelia tried to kill him, Norgu turned against his mother, and she pushed him into the volcano with the others. Norgu and Matu together had the power to save themselves and Chulaika, but Z’Nelia returned to Johara thinking them dead. Matu, Norgu, and Chulaika fled west, and found lands for themselves.”

“Chulaika bore Chaiku, and after Matu died she decided to return from the dead to depose her sister,”

Wulfston finished. “Probably Norgu’s growing power made her move now-and drag me into it because she needed someone with strong powers to stand a chance against either Norgu or Z’Nelia. ” He shook his head, all that he had learned too much to assimilate at once. “Before anything else can happen, I am going to Norgu’s castle for Lenardo.”

“I will follow as soon as I can ride,” the Grioka replied. “That is a tale I will have to know.”

“You may ride with me,” said Ashuru. “We will be only a day or two behind you, Lord of the Black Wolf.”

Ashuru followed their progress on the three-day journey to Ketu, either Kamas or Tadisha reporting to her each evening. Wulfston worried that enemy Seers might listen in, but the messages were only of their own journey, no mention of Ashuru’s plan to keep the Savishnon to the north.

There was no further contact from Lenardo. With Norgu back at his castle, the Master Reader was more closely observed, but the lack of contact was another worry.

Letting the army continue toward Norgu’s lands, Wulfston accompanied Tadisha and Kamas on the road to Ketu. He let his Karili friends do the Seeing, only occasionally Reading through them. For all he knew, he could be broadcasting “Come and get me!” to Z’Nelia every time he damped his Adept powers to Read something.

As nothing happened-no attacks, nothing either Kamas or Tadisha could See that seemed suspicious-he was feeling rather self-congratulatory as they topped a hill and came in sight of the trade city.

Traylo and Arlus suddenly stopped, their hackles rising, as they snarled at a patch of brush at the side of the road.

“Lord Wulfston, for Hesta’s sake, will you call off your dogs?”

He recognized the voice. “Zanos!”

A tall figure came out of the brush, a man dressed in a deep-hooded robe, with long sleeves that covered his hands. The fabric trailed the ground, covering every bit of Zanos’ white skin, the hood hiding his head.

But when he faced Wulfston he threw the hood back, revealing the familiar freckled face under the thatch of flaming hair.

But the blue eyes were haunted, and there were lines in Zanos’ face that told of a man driven.

“Where is Astra?” Wulfston had to ask, although he knew that if Zanos’ wife were alive she would be at his side.

“Drowned,” was the curt reply. “Old Huber, too. We both tried to reach her when the ship sank. He was closer. The whirlpool that dragged her under took him along.”

Wulfston instinctively reached out a han’d in attempted comfort. “I’m sorry-” he began.

Zanos shook him off. “I will avenge her,” he replied flatly. Then he eyed Tadisha, Kamas, and their retinue. “You’ve come to get the Night Queen crewmen out of the slavers’ pens?”

“Yes,” said Wulfston, “and then to rescue Lenardo. He’s just two days’ journey from here. Come and meet my friends, and we will tell you our plans.”

They went off the road to where a clear brook meandered through the meadow, and sat and talked as they ate their midday meal. Zanos had been living off the land. He looked gaunt, but Wulfston was not certain how much of that was grief, and how much deprivation. His fair skin was red with sun-and windburn. Under the robe he wore his Aventine tunic, now torn and threadbare. His sandals were also his own, stained with seawater and repaired with rawhide.

“Where did you find a robe long enough for you?” Wulfston asked.

“Haven’t you noticed? The people in this land are very tall, like Sukuru.”

“The Warimu,” Tadisha supplied.

“Yes, of course. Zanos, have you seen or Read any sign of Sukuru or Chulaika? I haven’t.”

“Read?” asked Zanos. He had been braced to use Adept powers ever since they had encountered him.

Now Wulfston felt him drop his defenses to Read him.

“Yes, Read,” he admitted. “Probably at about your level, although I haven’t had the opportunity for training or testing yet.”

“Congratulations,” Zanos told him, but there was no joy in the perfunctory courtesy.

“Zanos…?”

The man’s haunted blue eyes fixed on Wulfston’s. “It was a joy to Read with Astra while she lived. But it became a curse when I suffered her death. She died calling out to me-reaching out to me-and I could not reach her!”

The gladiator’s thoughts cut off abruptly. “I will avenge her death, ” he repeated. “But first I will help you free the Night Queen crew. I’ve been into town. The eight white men reported for sale are definitely Captain Laren’s men, but I didn’t know how I was going to break them out of there alone.”

“Zanos,” said Wulfston, “we are going to buy them.”

“You will contribute to the slave trade!”

“We need our strength for another battle,” said Kamas.

“But slaving is wrong!” Zanos protested. “Bah! You people probably profit by it-but Lord Wulfston, surely you want to destroy the slave pens!”

“Zanos, I do not approve of slavery,” Wulfston replied, keeping his temper by recalling that this man had been a slave and would never forget the experience. “But you have to understand that if we call that kind of attention to ourselves in Ketu, we will give ourselves away.”

“You’ve thrown in with them!” Zanos gasped. ‘That’s why they wanted you in Africa-to help them fight this Z’Nelia.”

“There is a war brewing. We could find ourselves friendless, in the midst of a battle in which we would appear enemies to every side.”

Zanos looked down at his hands, then over at Wulfston. “We? You look as if you belong here.”

“Only to you,” the Lord Adept replied grimly. “I am as much a stranger in Africa as you are, Zanos. It is only by chance that I have made some friends. With their help, I’ll have the Night Queen crew free by nightfall. If you will not help, at least do not interfere.”

Their eyes locked. At last Zanos said, “You know where Lenardo is, and I don’t. You are probably right not to call attention to yourself as a Lord Adept. Very well. I will not interfere in your… purchase.”

Because of the impending war, the market for exotic slaves had dropped. Kamas bought the group of eight white men for what Tadisha said was a fifth of what they would have brought a month before.

When Kamas brought them to Wulfston, their feelings were surprise and relief. “My lord, we should have known you’d find us!” exclaimed Telek, the strong, muscular sailor who had challenged Zanos on board ship. “And have you found Lord Lenardo?”

“He is at Norgu’s castle,” Wulfston explained.

“Norgu!” exclaimed Telek. “That bastard. He’s the one who sold us to the slavers!”

One of the other sailors added, “My lord, we were there, and did not see Lord Lenardo.”

“Norgu didn’t want you to. But Lenardo is there, all right. I’ve been in contact with him. Do you know of anyone else who survived? We don’t want to leave anyone stranded in Africa.”

“No, my lord, ” said Telek. “It seemed all the others with Adept or Reading powers were killed in the storm.”

“As if we were their special targets,” Zanos confirmed bitterly.

Nevertheless, it felt so good to speak his native language, to be among people from home, that Wulfston wished they could take the time to share the stories of their adventures. But Lenardo was waiting.

Within the hour they were on the road, the Night Queen crew eager to act against the man who had sold them into the slave pens.

They rode until an hour past sunset, then made camp. If they started early the next day, they could get close enough to Norgu’s castle that only a short ride the next day would take them there, fresh and ready to fight if necessary. It would probably be necessary; it was unlikely that Norgu did not know there was an army approaching his castle.

Tadisha and Kamas contacted Ashuru, who was on the road now, moving toward them. Her army should join theirs the next day.

They had not yet crossed the border into Norgu’s lands, but that border was visible from the hill where they had posted sentries. After the evening meal, Wulfston climbed the hill, trying to Read to Norgu’s castle. It was a foolish gesture; he could not Read even as far as he could see from the top of the hill in the moonlight. Was Lenardo Reading their progress? Why didn’t he make contact?

Wulfston exchanged passwords with the sentries, then walked down the hill a short way to where someone had felled a tree to form a bench. The view in the moonlight was exquisite, but he was in a little hollow where he could not be seen from above or below; he suspected that this must be a favorite courting spot for young people from the village whose fires twinkled below.

He felt Tadisha’s mind touch his, and gave her a wordless welcome. In moments she came to sit beside him.

“Can you See to Norgu’s castle from here?” he asked.

“Not without going out of body,” she said in a soft voice that would not carry beyond their sheltered hollow. “You should not be attempting to See it, either. We want Norgu to think our movement is simply positioning our troops against the Savishnon assault. And who knows what Savishnon Seers might make of your thoughts?”

“From what Barak showed us, they simply take anything foreign as something to be destroyed.”

“Let’s not talk about the Savishnon,” said Tadisha, “or Norgu, either. Is your land so beautiful in the moonlight, Lord Wulfston?”

“The moon shines on the whole world,” he replied. “Its light reveals beauty everywhere.” He turned to look at her face, silvered, with golden glints in those eyes that glowed like a cat’s.

She turned her face to his, but before he dared follow his own desire, she leaned toward him, murmuring,

“Then you could learn to love this land as much…” Her voice trailed off as her lips brushed his, producing almost a spark as he started back.

Tadisha straightened, peering at him. “Wulfston, are you afraid of me?”

“Of you? No. Of another woman trying to control me? I will always be wary of that.”

“I’m not trying to control you!” she said indignantly. “I like you!”

“And you would like me to stay in Africa,” he observed.

“This is your homeland.”

He shook his head. “No, Tadisha. This is the home of my ancestors, but it is not my home. I understand now why my parents never wanted to return to Africa; they would not have wanted me here, where Chulaika and Z’Nelia use me as a pawn in their games of power, and you and your mother- I’m tired of women pushing me around!”

Tadisha smiled. “You sound just like Kamas!”

“I understand just what he’s going through,” he told her seriously. “My parents often left me in the care of my sister until they were killed, and then Nerius took me home and handed me over to Aradia. It’s difficult to explain. I don’t want you to think I don’t love her. I do. And she loves me, but she is only now beginning to accept me as her equal. And I don’t know if she’ll ever stop trying to manipulate me.”

“And you think I am trying to manipulate you?” Tadisha asked. Wulfston heard what sounded like honest amazement in her voice. Then she said thoughtfully, “I must be very careful how I treat Kamas. I would not want his having an older sister with stronger powers to confuse his thinking. I certainly don’t want my younger brother to have trouble understanding the difference between manipulation and caring.”

Queen Ashuru caught up with them on the road the next day, bringing good news. “The combined army of the Assembly has driven off the first assault of the Savishnon. They have turned eastward, traveling across the plain rather than rampaging through our lands. But such an army needs supplies. When they grow hungry, they will turn southward again. Can there be any hope of gaining Norgu’s cooperation?”

“Perhaps,” suggested Wulfston, “now that we know why he hates his mother we may persuade him to join us against Z’Nelia.”

The next day they reached Terza, the small city grown up around Norgu’s castle. No one paid them much attention as they rode up the main street toward the castle walls. Obviously Norgu frequently had distinguished visitors.

But while the streets bustled with morning activity, the castle was strangely quiet. The gates were still closed, and no guards stood watch atop the walls. Drifting high above the castle’s turrets Wulfston saw-

No, it can’t be! Surely not the eagle he had seen at the lake. Yet curiosity prompted him to try to see through this bird’s eyes, for it commanded a view of the entire castle.

At his mental touch, the eagle broadcast such a rupulsion that he was rocked in his saddle. Obviously not the same bird!

Yet the memory of seeing through the eyes of that eagle prompted another memory: the view Norgu had given the Assembly of the Savishnon armies. Strange… it had been much like the eagle’s view, from above. Had Norgu also used an eagle, perhaps this one-?

Tadisha, who had been watching and Reading him, now turned her Seer’s powers toward the castle.

Wulfston opened his own powers to the full-

Where was Lenardo? Why didn’t he greet them?

Tadisha, Ashuru, and Kamas all were Seeing now, for they met no minds guarding against intrusion.

Wulfston Read with them the empty courtyard, the gates closed but unbarred, the empty stables-

And inside, empty rooms. No servants, no retainers… and no guests.

But in Norgu’s main hall, devastation.

The place had been firestormed.

Charred and blistered remains of furnishings surrounded a blasted corpse. And Norgu, seated in the midst of the ruin, physically unharmed but mentally blank, his eyes fixed in a glassy stare, seeing nothing.