by Jean Lorrah
The pain, the horror of the day he had been wounded there, was on him in a flash of terrified memory-he lowered his sword instinctively to protect his manhood—
And Kimma’s sword sruck him so hard in the center of his chest that despite the padding he was knocked back a pace, stumbled over the tree stump, and landed on his backside with bruising force.
In utter disbelief, he just sat staring up at the woman who-had the fight been real-would have just killed the undefeated champion of the Aventine Empire!
Kimma looked over to where Zanos’ wife stood watching in wide-eyed astonishment. “And that, Astra, is how a woman gets a man to drop his guard. ‘
Blind male instinct rushed through Zanos-he wanted to grab Kimma and strangle her!
But a gladiator who survived was one who learned his lessons with good grace. He felt the hot flush of his skin turn from fury to embarrassment-could almost feel his wife Reading him for fear that something besides his pride had been wounded.
Suddenly it was as if he could see the scene from outside himself, the ridiculous figure he cut, sitting there helpless before the savage swordswoman—
And he burst out laughing. “Kimma,” he said as he climbed to his feet, “I said we can’t count on our opponents fighting fair-but you’ve reminded me of what that really means!”
Astra came to him and touched his arm-as if
Reading were not enough to reassure her that he was all right. Then she turned to Kimma. “You don’t understand-Zanos was once actually wounded that way. His reaction-”
“No, Astra,” he assured her. “Any man would react the same way. It is pure instinct-and the move is one no man would use against another, knowing what it would provoke. When Sporius wounded me, it wasn’t deliberate. He meant to disembowel me, but I made a misstep dodging his blow and-Never mind. I don’t want to remember.
“But my point is this: the threat of permanent damage is quite different from a knee to the groin in street fighting. That traditional low blow is so painful that the recipient often passes out-but there is no permanent damage. You threaten a man with a knife or sword, though, and you rouse his most primitive response.
“I killed Sporius. Accident or no, he had dealt an illegal blow and the match was mine-but I could not think. I merely reacted. He had dropped his guard in horror at what he had done. I had my sword in my hand, but I dropped it-and I broke his neck with my bare hands before the officials could reach us to stop the match. Only after that did I pass out.”
Astra was staring at him. Kimma said, “Astra, what your husband is saying is that if you use this technique to make your opponent drop his guard, you must kill him. Otherwise, he will kill you.” She turned to Zanos, swallowing hard. “My apologies. I knew you had the discipline of a gladiator, and so trusted you to react as you did, since of course I didn’t actually touch you. If I had known of your injury, though, I would never-” She blushed crimson. “Oh, Zanos-I am so sorry!”
“It’s all right, Kimma,” he replied. ” I’m all right. The woman who trained me to use my Adept powers was able to heal me. “
“Oh.” And Kimma’s blush deepened even further.
Astra broke the embarrassed silence. “Show me how to do what you were doing earlier, Kimma. You were leading Zanos a merry chase that would wear down any man but a gladiator.”
From that point on the lesson went better. Astra began to discover her own advantages-and when Kimma left them to their practice once again, Zanos found his wife’s reaction times much improved.
When he praised her, she replied, “I finally realized how to do it when Kimma was choreographing steps for me almost like a dance. It’s like music, Zanos-we don’t stop and think about what notes to play. We just play them. What you said-the body, not the brain. I know it’s going to take long practice-but at least I’ve got the feeling for it now.
But she was worn out; no use to ask more of her today. It would take time to build her endurance-but how much time did they have?
That evening when they retired to their hut, Zanos examined the welts on Astra’s arms and legs, some of them turning into nasty bruises. He placed his hand over the worst of them. “I’ll-”
“Don’t,” said Astra. “The bruises are nothing-and you must save your strength.”
“Taking care of you is what my strength is for,” he replied, and let the healing power flow through the worst of her bruises.
“Thank you,” she whispered, snuggling up against him like a sleepy child. But she wasn’t a child-she was his wife. “Kimma said your breasts were bruised,” he said, laying his hand over her left breast through the soft cloth of her gown. “We’ll see if we cant rearrange the padding tomorrow-maybe Kimma can find something more cushiony.”
His hand could not be still, but gently pressed her breast, feeling the nipple respond. So did his own body, and without thinking, he bent to kiss her mouth.
Tired, Astra remained passive for a moment, but then her own feelings woke and she put her arms around him. Instantly, he was aflame with postponed desire as Astra cuddled against him.
But when he pulled back and began to lift her gown away from her body, she suddenly pulled it out of his hands, saying, “No, Zanos! You know we can’t!”
“Then why-? What did you think we were doing?”
In the dim light he could see only surprise on her face. “I thought-it just feels so good to touch each other-”
He groaned, awareness of her total innocence making her seem more a stranger than on the day they had met. “Astra-now you must learn a lesson in anatomy. A man can’t be satisfied with just touching-at least not that way. I love you, and you arouse desires we dare not fulfill.”
“I’m sorry!” she whispered, and pulled away. “Oh, I wish we were somewhere safe-that I didn’t have to Read to the castle of the Blue Lion tomorrow-that you didn’t have to preserve your powers lest we be attacked. Zanos… how long is it going to be like this? All the way to Madura? Are we never going to dare to express our love?”
The next day, Astra asked Javik, “Have you ever been married?’
“No.” He studied her. “I never dared.”
“I thought you said you had been placed on the Path of the Dark Moon. The Masters arrange marriages for all such Readers-to ensure the next generation for the Academies.”
“I’m sure they would have,” he replied. “I was only fifteen when they failed me, though-too young for the responsibilities of marriage. I was assigned to Trel’s village as assistant to their Reader, who was over seventy years old then. He didn’t survive Drakonius’ takeover-but I did, and had to learn to Read then as best I could to keep my people safe.
“Sometimes I’ve thought about the future-about
who will Read for the Settlement after I’m gone. But every time I decide I should marry and have children, hoping that at least some of them will be Readers, some new danger crops up, and I need every bit of my meager powers to protect us.” He smiled sadly. “I suppose I’m still not too old-but I’m so accustomed to relying on my powers that even if the world were to become a safer place, I’m not sure I could bring myself to risk losing them.”
“Are you sure you would?”
“Nothing is sure,” Javik replied. “I know that most Readers’ powers return after they’ve been married for a while. Or at least return in part. Unless that’s a myth, too! So much of what we were taught in the Academies has turned out to be false-but I left so young that now I’m not sure what we were really taught, and what was just gossip circulated among the boys. I take it you are asking because you and Zanos have not yet…?”
“That’s right. And what do you know about Adepts?”
“The same, so far as I know-which only makes sense.” But then he suddenly became UnReadable for a moment, saying, “Let me show you where Seriak’s encampment is, near Lady Lilith’s castle. It will be a pleasure Reading with a Magister-it’s many years since I’ve worked directly with another Reader.”
They lay down on the mats in Zanos and Astra’s hut, Zanos standing guard over them, Trel and Kimma outside. When they left their bodies, Astra felt that uncertainty in Javik she had sometimes felt in the students at the Academy who were just learning to do this-fear that once out of body, they would not be able to return.
But Javik’s presence reached out to hers and became steady and secure. Then he led northward, following landmarks instead of using the technique Astra would have used had she ever visited Lilith’s castle before-simply imagining the place and suddenly being “there.”
However, it was still only minutes before they “saw” the castle, a huge structure sitting on a steep mountainside. Something about it implied great age and benevolent wisdom.
Javik led her to the hills beyond-where there were signs of a deserted camp, but no people. “Seriak was camped here just a few days ago.”
“But he’s gone now,” Astra told him, Reading in every direction without locating any large groups of people except in villages. “The Lady Lilith has returned home-perhaps he’s afraid to stay so near an Adept. As long as were here, let’s have a look at that castle.”
Within the castle, Astra Read—
She withdrew quickly, Javik following her without question.
“Readers! Two of them, Javik!”
“Yes-I Read them, too. This is where Lord Wulfston sent his two hostages, Amicus and Corus. How far can Master Readers travel out of body, Astra? Could they communicate with Tiberium?”
“No-that must be why they brought them here. I’m going to try to Read them more closely. Don’t communicate with me, or they’ll Read our presence.”
“Just lead-I’ll follow.”
The two Master Readers were not in the dungeon, as Astra would have expected, but languishing in lavish guest quarters on the second level. Both men appeared to be in good health, well fed, and comfortably attired. Only the locked doors with guards stationed outside gave evidence that the two Masters were prisoners and not guests.
Master Amicus was staring out one of the narrow windows, openly thinking about the homeland now lost to him forever, an invitation for Master Corus to communicate, Astra understood-but a possible danger to her if he caught her eavesdropping. But there was too much information to be gathered for her to withdraw.
The savages wanted Amicus and Corus to see the peaceful intentions of the alliance, and eventually persuade the Emperor to consider a peace treaty.
What they didn’t know was how the Aventine Readers feared the savage sorcerers’ mind-twisting powers. They would never trust the word of Readers who had been the prisoners of the Lords Adept.
Even if the empire eventually conquered the savages and he and Corus were released, their own people now regarded them as dead men. What did the future hold, then? He had been forced to swear on his Reader’s Oath that he would not take his own life-but could a dead man be bound by an oath?
Astra empathized with the man’s sense of isolation-made especially piquant by the presence of another Master Reader in the next room, firmly closed to Reading. Amicus was offering an apology-but Corus refused to listen.
By the simple expedient of waiting for his thoughts to turn to it, she found out how Amicus had wronged Corus when they were captured by the savages. Amicus and Corus, out of fear, had done nothing about their suspicions-even knowledge-of Portia’s corruption. When Lenardo had been prying for what they knew, Corus might have confessed-except that Amicus had attacked him-had actually grappled mind to mind as Portia had with Astra! No wonder the other man was unforgiving.
I wish he had confessed. 1 wish 1 had. They probably would have killed us, but—
Astra Read Amicus’ heartfelt wishes that he could undo all the wrong decisions he had ever made-and most of all, that he could make it up with Corus and once more be friends, fellow Readers. It was hard to be sympathetic, though, with someone who wished he had taken a different path only because of where the one he had chosen had ultimately led.
Corus remained steadfastly closed to Reading-Astra guessed that he would never trust Amicus again.
Then her errant powers picked up a surface thought from Corus-something very peculiar. Not Reading, he was not sending his thoughts out clearly the way Amicus was-she wished the other Reader would stop trying to get through so she could Read-Corus was glad that he would not be returning to the empire! He felt… safe? There was a phrase running through his mind, like a talisman: “When the moon devours the sun, the earth will devour Tiberium.”
“A prophecy?” Zanos asked when Astra told him what she and Javik had learned.
“It sounds like one-but from so long ago that the prophet who spoke it is long forgotten. Lenardo and his friends believe it-and believe that it will happen soon. Lady Lilith is preparing to join with the other alliance members in some plan to avert disaster.”
“The earth will devour Tiberium,” Zanos mused. “That has to mean another earthquake. Are you sure they don’t plan to cause one? There’s a solar eclipse due sometime soon.”
“About Summer Festival,” said Astra. “That would fulfill the part about the moon devouring the sun, all right. Zanos, I can’t Read Lilith at all-she has full Adept powers. I found her by visualizing, and she was directing her retainers to prepare for her absence. She told them she was needed to help prevent a disaster. Of course, she could have been lying.”
“So could Serafon,” Zanos said suddenly. “She’s not too old to have come with us-look at Trel! I think she knew that prophecy, too, and stayed behind to use her own powers to help avert disaster, or to save people if it happens.”
“So either she will be working alone against the force of the savages and nature,” Astra said, “or she will soon have plenty of help. The members of the savage alliance plan to take every minor Adept and the few Readers they have and sneak into the empire.”
Every day Astra and Javik Read both to Zendi and back to Lilith’s castle. There was no sign of Seriak—
apparently he had tired of waiting and gone elsewhere to plot for power. To Astra’s relief, there was also no sign of Vortius. If Zanos became involved in the fate of the Settlement, perhaps he would eventually grow beyond his need for revenge.
Everything they could Read pointed to the savage alliance’s sincerity in trying to prevent disaster in Tiberium. Some among them knew Aventine Readers on the Path of the Dark Moon-and brought about an uneasy treaty to get the network of Readers they needed for their project.
“I wish we could join them!” said Javik. “I’ve come to believe they intend only to help.”
But when the Lady Lilith left her castle, riding straight south to meet with Wulfston, Lenardo, and Aradia near where they would enter the empire, Zanos wondered, “Why are they leaving now? Summer Festival is twenty days away. ‘
“I don’t know,” Astra admitted. “They’re following Lord Lenardo-that’s all I’ve been able to make out.”
Trel was apprehensive. “It’s all very fine for those strong Adepts and Readers to go try to save the Aventine Empire-but who’s going to look out for their lands while they’re gone?”
The idea, it seemed, was for potential enemies not to know they were gone. The watchers sent their messages as usual: hill clan movements, weather warnings, trade caravans. But never a word about the movements of the Lords Adept.
Each day Astra and Javik Read out of body, finding life proceeding in Zendi, in Wulfston’s castle, and in Lilith’s just as if the rulers were at home. But while in the southern lands people saw their rulers seldom, at Lilith’s castle there were no crowds for the Lady Adept and her son to walk concealed among… and the local peasants began to wonder why they were never seen.
One day as Astra and Javik were about to withdraw from their surveillance, Astra felt Master Ami-cus’ sudden startlement.
Carefully, she Read with him. He was Reading northward, to the deserted outlaw camp. It was still empty, but below it, on the road leading to the castle, rode a dozen men.
&n
bsp; Strangers, the watcher on the hillside flashed to the one on the castle tower. Merchants, by the look of them.
But Amicus could Read the real threat, miles away, just outside Lilith’s border: a small army, perhaps two hundred strong. Certainly enough to take the castle, provided the Adepts were away!
Astra Read the Master Reader’s indecision-should he call for the guard and give warning? Would he be believed? Besides-he was being held prisoner here. Why aid his enemies? If that army attacked before Lilith returned, what hope had the people around here of defending the castle?
But the invaders were pure savages-if they won, and then found out he was a Reader, they would certainly kill him. Those so-called merchants were scouts for the distant army. He could Read what they discovered, follow them back to their camp, assess their chances-If it appeared they would win, he would pose as a nonReader and throw in his lot with them while he decided whether to sell them his skills or make his escape. But if Lilith returned before the attack, then he would give the warning, and try to make a powerful friend in the Lady Adept.
Amicus’ self-serving meditations sickened Astra, and she withdrew from his mind lest her feelings give her away to him. The group of men posing as merchants approached the castle and hailed the watch. “Fine goods to offer the lord or lady of this excellent household!” cried their leader-and as he did so, the thought occurred to the two watchmen that their
lady had been remiss in rewarding them lately-they deserved the silver coins the man held out, glistening in the sunlight.
“A small reward for your service, men-get me an audience with the ruler of this land, and you will be rewarded further.” And again, images formed in the men’s minds, of golden coins, of silk for their wives-and of Lilith denying them, taxing them, taking their lands. All lies-but for that one moment, they believed that their mistress had wronged them, and deserved to lose their loyalty.
