Dragonlord of the Savage Empire se-2

by Jean Lorrah

  Aradia had thought him impervious to seduction. So, intending to invite him to her pavilion, she had procured the spicy wine and a drugLenardo thrust her away in horror. “You drugged me?”

  “You can break a command implanted in your mind. It was the only way I could be certain-”

  “By the gods! Ever since, I have hated myself for what I did that day. But it was not my lust at all, it was your manipulation. I trusted you. It never occurred to me to Read the wine.”

  Reading his revulsion, she bristled. “You were manipulating me, weren’t you?”

  “Not by destroying your will.”

  “Only my powers,” she said grimly.

  He saw himself through her eyes and cringed. “Yes, I meant to blunt your powers. Manipulation. Deceit. I’ve learned your savage ways, Aradia, but I will not live by them. I cannot stand what I have become, and I will not have my daughter grow up to be like you. I’m going home.”

  “Lenardo, this is your home. You may throw me out-”

  “No, Aradia, this is your home. You and Wulfston and Lilith can fight out among yourselves how you divide the lands that were mine. I’m taking Julia to Tiberium.”

  “You can’t. They’ll kill you.”

  “Perhaps. But Julia will be placed in an Academy, where she will learn a Reader’s disciplines. I don’t know if her savage heritage can be controlled, but we must try.”

  He didn’t know whether Aradia was trying to Read him; he had closed his mind to her. But she was clever enough to guess.

  “You think Julia will get you through the gates, despite the brand on your arm. Delivering a young Reader from the savages is a fine heroic act.”

  “Aradia, I am expected to return. You know that. I told you I was sent to stop Galen. The brand is just a ruse.”

  “One that almost killed you,” she said. “That’s how much your empire cares about Master Readers. But go back. Tell them of your land left rulerless, theirs for the taking. Maybe it will buy you a few more weeks of life. But it will buy death for hundreds of your people when the empire attacks.”

  “No, Aradia, you will not use me again. I will neither endanger the people who have come to trust me nor send empire troops into the trap you and your allies would prepare for them. I am through with both deceit and power struggles. If you want to stop me, you will have to kill me… and even if you destroy my body, you will have a difficult time gaining the loyalty of my people if I mysteriously disappear.”

  Just then Julia burst in, tugging Wulfston by the hand. “Father, what’s wrong?”

  “We are leaving, Julia. Go and pack. Take anything truly precious to you, for we will not return.”

  “But-”

  “Go! I will explain on the road.”

  Wulfston looked from Lenardo to Aradia, his dark skin graying as he recognized the finality of their confrontation. “What has happened here? Julia said you were fighting.”

  “It’s over, Wulfston,” said Lenardo. “I got a good look at myself as a savage lord. I cannot live this way.”

  “Then change it.”

  Because the young black Adept was completely sincere, Lenardo said, “Perhaps you will change it, Wulfston, or perhaps as you come into the full strength of your powers, you will succumb to the same temptations Aradia has-and I have. Undisciplined power is too dangerous. It may be too late for me, but I can try to see that Julia is not corrupted.”

  “Where will you go?”

  “Tiberium. I could be executed, though I doubt it. They’ll find some harmless job for me, but Julia will be safe in an Academy. Wulfston, will you try to make the transition as painless as possible for the people of this land?”

  Wulfston went to Aradia, who was now sitting on the edge of the bed, and sat down beside her, putting his arm around her. “We will hold your land as your regents until you return.”

  “I won’t return.”

  Aradia, who had sat silently since Wulfston’s entrance, now leaned into the protection of her brother’s arms and said, “Father was right.” Her voice was tense with controlled emotion. “Wulfston, do you remember? ‘You would steal my daughter’s powers,’ he said. He called Lenardo ‘the foul beast who would ravish my daughter.’ ”

  “Ravish?” Wulfston stiffened, all conciliation gone. “He tried to-”

  “He succeeded. But he could not steal my powers. I stole his.”

  But Wulfston paid no heed to Aradia’s satisfied tone. He rose, stalking Lenardo like the wolf that was his emblem. “You deliberately-you dared to-”

  Lenardo could not answer-he could not move: Wulfston held him under Adept control.

  “I should kill you,” Wulfston said. “If ever I see you again, I will. But for Julia’s sake, go.”

  Aradia asked warily, “Will you keep the child, Wulfston?”

  “A Reader? How could I ever trust her? She is a child now, but she would grow up to be like her father. No, Lenardo. Take her back to your empire and let things return to their natural order. We are born enemies, and we must never again forget that fact.”

  Wulfston took Aradia’s arm and led her out past Lenardo, who still could not move. He wanted to explain, but Wulfston would never believe in his sister’s treachery. Even if Aradia had betrayed Lenardo, it was not without his full cooperation.

  The spell lifted suddenly, and Lenardo collapsed to his knees. He wished he could just lie down and forget everything, but he couldn’t. He must get Julia away before either Adept decided that she might be worth keeping after all. He changed quickly into traveling clothes and called for horses and food for a journey. His own packing was simple: the barest necessities. He was a Reader again; he needed no crown, “ho seal of office, no treasure. Even the robes of the Master Reader that he had worn at the festival he left in the chest. He had forfeited the right to wear them.

  The wolf-stone pendant he left lying on top of the chest, for he no longer had any loyalty to Aradia. How neatly she had manipulated Wulfston today. Would she finally win her brother to her plan? And Lilith? It was no longer his problem. To the Aventine Empire, Aradia’s plans could mean a chance to rebuild and recoup losses if she set the savages fighting among themselves. With his newfound powers, he could Read what was happening here, keep the Emperor informedIf he was once granted the opportunity to display what he could now do, he need not fear execution.

  He was just leaving the room, when Helmuth entered. “My lord, where are you going? Why was I not told of your travel plans? You must have a retinue-”

  “No, Helmuth. Julia and I are leaving. No one else.”

  “But it is not seemly, my lord. And messengers must be sent ahead, accommodations prepared.”

  “No, Helmuth.”

  The old man studied him sadly. “Something is very wrong, my lord.”

  “Yes. And the only way I can correct it is to take this journey. When I am gone, you do whatever Lady Aradia or Lord Wulfston says. Tell Arkus.”

  “But when will you return?”

  Lenardo looked into the anxious eyes and Read the sincere concern for him. If he told the truth, Helmuth and many others would quickly guess that Aradia and Wulfston had driven him away. He did not want any kind of revolt, Adept punishments of his people”I cannot say, Helmuth. Take care of my people for me and obey Aradia and Wulfston.”

  “Yes, my lord.”

  Lenardo and Julia were seen leaving the city, of course, by the Southgate, where Lenardo had entered on his search for Galen-was it only four months ago?

  People waved, and Lenardo waved back. He must make it appear that nothing unusual was happening. Once they were on the main road south, few people came near enough to recognize them. A man and a child in traveling clothes might be anyone, their fine horses indicating no more than that they had found favor with the Lord of the Land.

  Julia was astonishingly silent as Lenardo set a pace to cover ground as rapidly as possible without overtiring their horses. Finally she asked, “Father, where are we going?”

 
; “Home,” he replied.

  “But we just left home.”

  “We are going to my home, Julia, back to the Aventine Empire where I came from. There you will meet other Readers and get a proper education.”

  “You’re not going to leave me there?”

  He Read her panic, the normal child’s fear of losing a parent, compounded by the terrible uncertainties she had known in her short life. “No, Julia,” he told her. “I’m going to stay in the empire, too.”

  He didn’t tell her mat once he placed her safely in Portia’s hands, they would never see each other again. Once she touched the minds of her teachers and classmates in the Academy, she would forget him as quickly as he had forgotten his own parents. I will be the one who will sorely miss Julia, he realized sadly.

  Lenardo intended to Read ahead, contact Master Clement, and have his message relayed to Adigia so that the gates would be opened for them on their arrival. He would not rest securely until they were within the walls of the empire.

  Before the mysterious expansion of his powers, Lenardo would have had to ride to the wall, find a secure place to hide, and leave his body in order to Read all the way to Tiberium. Now, though still several hours from the border, he could contact Master Clement without even stopping.

  But just as he decided to do so, he Read pursuit. Arkus and a troop of ten men were galloping along the road several miles behind them. Lord Lenardo, Arkus projected. Lord Wulfston wants you to return to Zendi.

  I’ll just bet he does. “Julia, we are being pursued. We must hide.”

  She didn’t question him but followed him off the road into a patch of woods. In a few minutes the soldiers galloped past, Arkus still broadcasting his order.

  Julia looked wide-eyed at Lenardo. //Why don’t you trust Lord Wulfston anymore?//

  //We dare not trust any Adept, Julia. I fear it is you he wants, to bend to his will… or to Aradia’s.//

  //They couldn’t. I’m a Reader. I’d know-//

  //You have forgotten already how Drakonius treated people to make them obey him.//

  //Lord Wulfston’s not like that. And anyway, a Reader can always get away, like we’re doing.// They were continuing through the woods, pausing each time they had to cross an open area to Read whether anyone might see them.

  //Galen could not get away,// Lenardo told her. //I’ve mentioned Galen, my student, who went over to the enemy, Reading for Drakonius and his henchmen.//

  //Yes. That’s why you came here-to stop him.//

  //That’s right. But Julia, Galen was not an evil person, merely young and very foolish. He blamed other people for his problems instead of trying to solve them himself. And I suppose that is why he allied himself with Drakonius, thinking such a powerful Adept would give him wealth and power in exchange for his services. But do you know t what Drakonius made him do, to test his loyalty?//

  //No. What?//

  //Help him attack Adigia, the town Galen had come from, where all his old friends were.//

  Julia did not respond, trying to shield her thoughts as she pondered that. Then she observed, //If anyone did that to me, I would think it was wicked. But if I was trying to test someone’s loyalty, what better way?//

  //Child, you are far too old for your years,// Lenardo told her wearily.

  //But what happened? Did Galen pass the test?//

  //He Read a fault in the rock beneath the Academy at Adigia. By jarring it just a little, the Adepts could cause an earthquake.//

  //Oh, I remember. The ground trembled in Zendi. But it didn’t work right. Almost our whole army got killed. The mountain fell on them.//

  //Yes, and Drakonius blamed Galen.//

  //Did Galen do it?//

  //We will never know, child. By the time I found him, Galen’s mind was so twisted from Drakonius’ tortures that he himself did not know when he spoke truth.//

  //What did Drakonius do to him?// Julia asked with childish curiosity.

  //The soldiers are far ahead of us now,// said Lenardo. //We can return to the road, where we can move faster.//

  //The watchers will tell everybody.//

  Lenardo could Read that Wulfston’s command to him to return was being relayed throughout the land, but the message would have to be sent by foot or on horseback into every settlement, for only the watchers knew the code of flashing lights. By the time it had disseminated widely, Lenardo and Julia would be in the no-man’s-land near the border, where no one lived.

  It was incredibly easy for two Readers in a mind-blind society to elude pursuit. Aradia could do nothing. Her powers were far less than Julia’s.

  Ill was caught by watchers once, Julia. I won’t be again, nor will you.//

  The little girl might not have been able to do it alone. Lenardo estimated that her range was about what his had been limited to by illness and exhaustion the time Aradia’s watchers had located him. But with Julia Reading near and Lenardo far, they were able to use the good road to travel quickly when there was no one about and leave it to skirt settlements and avoid other people on the road.

  They passed harvesters in the fields, making no attempt to hide when they Read that these people had no idea that they were fugitives. There was a sharp contrast between the well-clothed, well-fed, well-housed people they passed and the hungry, hopeless people Lenardo had Read along this same road on his journey northward last spring. So I have done some good, he thought. Aradia and Wulfston will keep it up. They would never let their people suffer the way Drakonius did.

  //What did Drakonius do to Galen?// Julia’s tenacious curiosity demanded to be satisfied.

  Ill don’t know all of it, child. When I found him, he was caged like an animal. One tune I Read Drakonius break the bones in Galen’s hand-as a warning, he said. He healed him afterward, but that did not lessen Galen’s pain at the time.//

  //Do you think Aradia or Lord Wulfston would do something like that?//

  //Their methods are more subtle, Julia. Aradia once kept me locked in her castle by planting in my mind the idea that I could not open the door of my room. I don’t know if you can understand that that is much more wicked than outright torture.//

  She thought it over. //If they can make people think whatever they want, why don’t they make us think we want to go back?//

  Ill don’t think they could implant an idea in the mind of a healthy Reader. They did it to me when I was very ill, while they had me in healing sleep. I was not yet completely well when I found out what they had done, drove the command from my mind, and escaped. So they know they cannot hold a Reader that way. And Aradia tells me no one can be forced by that method to do something he believes to be wrong. It may be that Drakonius tried to chain Galen’s mind, and Galen caused the avalanche to fall on Drakonius’ army without knowing what he was doing. But now we’ll never know.//

  //Did you kill Galen, Father?//

  //No, not personally. I was guiding Aradia, Wulfston, Lilith, and Nerius. They trapped Drakonius and Galen with the other Adepts and burned them to death.//

  He withdrew into his own thoughts, remembering having no time to think or to grieve-not over Galen and not over Nerius-but having to go on into the combat between the armies, with Drakonius’ troops still fighting fiercely, not knowing that their leader was dead.

  At the mass funeral three days later, Lenardo had not been able to bring himself to speak for Galen. He could not believe that all the boy’s bright potential had died so horribly, nor was his ability to accept Galen’s death aided by the fact that those who had gone to collect the charred remains in the burnt-out canyon found nothing but a few scattered bones.

  Suddenly, imposed on the memory of that charred canyon, rose the vision that had plagued him months before: Castle Nerius in ruins beneath the golden harvest moon, Aradia dead”Father! Father, they’re coming back!”

  Julia’s cry jolted Lenardo back to the present. Four of Arkus’ men were indeed coming back toward them. He and Julia rode quickly over a swell of ground, the o
nly nearby shelter. On the other side, they reined in, got down from their horses, and pulled the animals’ heads down as they crouched, waiting. The horses began to crop the stubble in the newly harvested field. Lenardo wished for a moment that a field of grain shielded them, until he realized that in an unharvested field they would have left a trampled trail to lead the soldiers right to them.

  The men were moving slowly, peering out on either side of the road. They didn’t expect to find their quarry in the fields, though. As they passed, one of the men ordered, “Erik, Tav, ride around that patch of woods ahead, then come through it toward us.”

  Lenardo Read the soldiers carefully. They were puzzled but doing their duty. Why the Lord of the Land would be hiding from his own troops was a total mystery. At least two of them were of the opinion that it was a war game to see whether nonReaders could figure out how to capture someone who could Read their every move, part of whatever plans Lord Lenardo and Lady Aradia had been working on together.

  Julia, Reading with Lenardo, smothered a giggle. He touched her touseled curls and told her, //We won’t have any trouble eluding that kind of pursuit, will we?//

  When the soldiers were out of sight, Lenardo and Julia took to the road again. The sun was low in the sky as they reached the part of the road that had fallen into disrepair. Close to the wall, the road became a wide highway again, but for many miles it narrowed to a badly rutted wagon track, full of holes that could throw a horse if the rider was not careful.

  Ironically, there was plenty of shelter here and no one to take shelter from. The fields had been abandoned in Lenardo’s childhood, and the woods encroached on them, after all these years almost coming together to form a forest.

  They were still more than two hours from Adigia, and Julia was getting tired and cranky. They stopped to eat and rest, while Lenardo Read on ahead to find Arkus setting a trap.