Flight to Savage Empire se-4

by Jean Lorrah

But looking at Zanos, who had overcome his drug craving for her sake, she decided, / must ignore my fear, as Zanos ignored his pain for me, and do what has to be done.

  Apprehensively, Astra let her Reading power stretch beyond the cave, searching for their enemies.

  Zanos woke to a world of light and shadow. He squinted as he sat up, for the noon sun shone almost directly down the rock chimney.

  “Astra?”

  There was no answer. A part of him wanted to believe that his returning memories were nothing but a bad dream, but everything he saw confirmed the truth: Astra had risked everything to free him from Vortius and the white lotus. His feelings of love and gratitude, though, were soured by anxiety. Where was she?

  He climbed slowly to his feet, weak and very hungry. He needed more sleep-but it was hunger that had wakened him. There was probably some food among the supplies Astra had brought, but he couldn’t think of that until he was sure she was safe.

  He heard hoofbeats outside. Was that Astra returning? What if it was someone else?

  He couldn’t get out through the labyrinth-only a Reader could find the way. After a time he heard footsteps-but there were also renegade Readers in the savage lands.

  His back flattened against the cave wall, Zanos braced his meager strength and waited. In moments, Astra came through the entry-and jumped when she saw him.

  “Don’t do that!” she breathed. “I thought you’d still be asleep.”

  His only reply was to grasp her and kiss her, needing the warm reality of her in his arms. She dropped the small sack she was carrying, and at the smell of sun-warmed berries the needs of his body overwhelmed the needs of his heart, and he released her.

  “You frightened me,” he said. “I was afraid Vortius’ men had captured you.”

  “They could have captured both of us,” Astra said as she sat down by the smoldering fire. “I took the horses and set up a false trail-I hope I did it right. I tried to make it look as if we headed back toward the empire.”

  “Good thinking,” he said, sitting down next to her. “That will buy us a little more time.” Ravenous, he tore open the sack and began devouring berries.

  Astra gave him an understanding smile. “I’m sorry I couldn’t bring you back some meat. I don’t know how to hunt or trap-and besides, I can’t cook. The Academies hire cooks. Students just serve the meals and clean up afterward.”

  “I can cook,” he told her. “I had to learn after I gained my freedom. It was a long time before I could afford to pay for meals, and nutrition is important to a gladiator. Don’t worry-I’ll teach you to cook.

  And to use a sword.”

  “A sword? Me?” She laughed at first, then must have seen or Read that he was serious, for she added, “I don’t know a thing about fighting.”

  “The best reason for you to start learning at once. Astra, we don’t know what we’ll face between here and Madura. The more combat skills we have between us, the better. I packed extra weapons among our supplies.”

  “I noticed,” she said. “Very heavy. Zanos… I don’t know if I’m capable of hurting another person. I saw how helpless you were this morning, and if I had to I would try to defend you. But I hope I don’t ever have to!”

  “So do I, but we cannot count on that much good fortune, as far as we have to travel.”

  “Where do we go from here?” she asked, changing the subject.

  “North,” he said, finishing a spring apple and still feeling ravenous. “First we get at least a day’s ride away from Vortius, to gain time to plan. Right now, my powers are too weak to risk a confrontation with him and his men.”

  “You won’t have to confront him. You’re free of him now.”

  “Yes, thanks to you,” he acknowledged. “But what he did cannot go unanswered. He enslaved me and my gladiators with white lotus, and further degraded us by giving us two overseers-Ard and Lanna. ‘

  “So he got them to betray you,” Astra concluded, “by giving them power over their former master.”

  Zanos nodded. “Call it regaining honor or call it seeking revenge, I will see them again before we reach our goal. And this time there will be no Aventine law to protect them!”

  “But how did Vortius force you to take the white lotus? With all your Adept powers-”

  “-I’m no Reader,” he replied ruefully. “Nor am I as powerful an Adept as you think. I can’t do most of the things the savage sorcerers do. I can’t even change the weather, as Serafon can. And no amount of Adept power can protect a nonReader from a cowardly blow to the back of the head. By the time I regained consciousness, wine laced with white lotus had already been poured down my throat… and my mind was no longer my own.”

  He cringed at the humiliating memory, but forced himself to continue. “They tied me up and took me to a dark room somewhere. Vortius fed more of the stuff to me, until I believed anything he told me,” He spat out a piece of apple core in disgust. “If not for Serafon, I’d have killed him long ago. I should have!”

  “I understand,” Astra said quietly. “That’s why Serafon never told you that Vortius is her son. “

  In stunned silence, Zanos listened as Astra told him things Serafon had never told him in all the years he had known her. When she finished, he managed to ask, “Vortius doesn’t know?”

  “No. I don’t think she could bring herself to-” Astra stopped suddenly, her eyes focused on something beyond the cave wall.

  “What’s wrong?” Zanos asked. “Vortius?”

  “His men are riding this way again. My false trail didn’t fool them. They’re perhaps a quarter-hour away-”

  “Then let’s go!” Zanos snatched up the blankets and musical instruments, and they quickly repacked everything. Astra led the way out through the caverns. They fastened their supplies to the packhorses and climbed aboard the other two mounts.

  “I know how to avoid them,” Astra said.

  “Then you lead the way,” Zanos said, grabbing up the packhorses’ reins.

  The trail Astra chose took them well east of Vortius’ camp, but Zanos felt as if he had missed a confrontation with his enemy by a hand’s span. And even though the men searching for him were far behind, he could not shake off the feeling that they were being closely pursued.

  “We’re safe now,” Astra announced as she slowed her horse to a walk. “They’ve turned back to their camp.”

  “Vortius is afraid of the hill bandits,” Zanos told her. “That’s why he needed so many men-large bands of robbers in these hills. Another reason you must learn to defend yourself.”

  “I’ve already agreed,” Astra replied. “I just don’t know if I can learn it.”

  The next few miles passed in silence. Astra seemed to be concentrating more than she had been back there when Vortius’ men were following them. He wondered if it was an act, to avoid discussing the lessons she didn’t want to learn. But if she doesn’t learn to defend herself what will happen to her if we’re separated-or if I’m killed? After all, male Readers were trained in swordplay, so it couldn’t be true that a Reader couldn’t stand to harm another person.

  But she was a woman-and his wife. This business of being a husband carried responsibilities he hadn’t fully considered when they were back in Tiberium. / think I’m starting to understand what Serafon meant.

  When they stopped to rest, Zanos used his Adept powers to kill a rabbit, then started a cooking fire to roast it. While he was skinning and gutting it, Astra went foraging again-and only when she returned and he saw her eyes skitter away from the sight of the roasting rabbit did he remember that Readers kept to a vegetarian diet to preserve their powers.

  But she shared what she had found, berries and mushrooms and greens. Nonetheless, Zanos noticed that she kept her face turned away from him as he devoured the meat his body craved.

  Eventually Zanos broke the tense silence. “Are you going to be uncomfortable every time I eat meat?”

  She managed a hesitant smile. “No. I know you need it. I
’ll learn to prepare it for you-Zanos, I understand that you have to eat such food for both your physical strength and your Adept powers.”

  “And I can see why you hadn’t even the strength to lift your own body out of that cave back there. Astra, that’s not a balanced diet.”

  “No, it’s not, ‘ she agreed. “But it will be if I can get some cheese and nuts and good bread. There must be places where we can buy-”

  Suddenly her eyes widened, and she gasped. “A Reader! Zanos-there’s a Reader only a few miles from here-and he’s broadcasting a warning to other Readers!’

  With Zanos standing guard, Astra left her body to Read what was happening on the seacoast. The Aventine fleet was attempting to enter the natural harbor on the west coast of the savage lands. On a hill overlooking the harbor she found the source of the mental voice: a young male Reader was just returning to his body, which lay on a spread cloak. Nearby two men stood facing the sea, both unReadable.

  “They refuse to turn back, Wulfston,” the Reader said as he sat up. “They think their army is too big to be defeated.”

  The older of the other two-a young black man with the bearing of a leader-frowned angrily. “I expected as much. Let them know that we are about to give them a demonstration.”

  The Reader lay down again on his cloak, and did not even bother to close his eyes before leaving his body. He’s blind! Astra realized. This had to be the renegade Torio, whom the savages had raised from the dead!

  Astra Read him move among the shiploads of soldiers, sailors, and Readers, “heard” him broadcast another warning, telling them that their ships would never reach shore. Back on the hilltop, the black man put a hand on the arm of his other companion, a frail-looking youth who was also blind. “Ready, Rolf?”

  “Yes, my lord,” the boy replied, and both of them became unReadable once again as a strong wind suddenly rose, shaking the Aventine vessels to and fro. Astra watched their sorcerers’ powers in action with horrified fascination. Only two people trying to stop that vast flotilla-and she felt they actually might succeed!

  The “demonstration” ended with no damage to the ships or their occupants.

  Torio pleaded with the Aventine Readers to make

  the fleet reverse course, but the invaders refused to turn and run from two Adepts and a renegade Reader.

  It was after sundown when the first ship neared the shore, ready to unload troops and Readers. But the two Adepts conjured up another windstorm out of the cloudless sky, much fiercer than the first. Ships whirled like toys-one capsized, breaking apart and spilling people into the churning waters.

  Astra watched helplessly as at least a dozen people drowned-six of them Readers. Their mental screams clawed at her like the screams of those who had died at Gaeta.

  Zanos put more wood on the fire to keep off the evening chill, then carefully placed a blanket over Astra’s still body. Every few minutes he checked to be sure she still breathed.

  His mind went back to the ordeal they had shared in the cave, both in and out of their bodies. It seemed like much more than one day had gone by since then, while this waiting for Astra to return felt like an eternity.

  I should be with her, he told himself. If he could do that Reader’s trick while he was under the influence of the drug, surely he could do it easily now that he was back in control of himself.

  But someone had to remain here, guarding Astra’s body in this strange forest while her spirit performed a Readers prime function: to search out truth. And after watching the care she had taken before leaving her body-looking for a smooth and level patch of ground, spreading a blanket on the spot, and then gingerly positioning her body on it-he knew that there was more to this trick than he had thought. There was so much he could learn from her, perhaps as much as he wanted to teach her about-A soft moan signified Astra’s return. Zanos dropped to one knee beside her as she sat up, obviously upset. “Are you all right?” he asked. “What happened?”

  “We’re in more danger than we thought,” the Reader replied, and told him what she had just witnessed.

  “These Adepts may not really be able to turn ships to stone, but their methods are just as effective.”

  “Wait,” said Zanos, settling beside her. “There’s something you said that I don’t understand. This Torio warned the Aventine Readers three times to turn back? And the Adepts gave them a demonstration of their power and a chance to retreat?”

  “Yes, but-”

  “Astra, if I had that much Adept power, and an army invading my lands, I might bother with one warning before defending myself-but certainly not three! And the storm. You said it destroyed only three ships?

  What about the others?”

  “They managed to get away,” Astra replied.

  “When the Adepts ran out of energy? They couldn’t sink all the ships?”

  “… no, ” Astra admitted. “I had the impression that they could have kept the storm going for some time, but-” She stared at him. “Zanos, are you defending the savages?”

  “No,” he replied. “I’m just sharing my feelings that there is something wrong-something unexpected here. You said the three savages told the survivors of the shipwrecks to come ashore?”

  “Yes, and the Reader broadcast a promise that they wouldn’t be harmed. He was wasting his time, though. No Reader would risk it, and none of the other survivors could Read his message.”

  “What about you?” Zanos pressed. “Did you believe his message? Was he sincere in wanting them to come ashore?”

  “Well, of course he was-think what they could do

  with a dozen more Readers, their minds twisted like Torio’s to work against their own people!”

  Zanos nodded, but asked, “Did anyone else go ashore?”

  “Yes,” Astra admitted reluctantly. “There were people from Lord Wulfston’s lands to help soldiers and sailors get ashore. What do you make of all this, Zanos?”

  “When someone invades your land with an army,” he explained, “do you waste manpower and resources taking any prisoners but valuable hostages? The commanders of the army would make bargaining tools—

  but from what I know of military tactics, the commanders approach the shore only after the land has been secured. So all this ‘Lord Wulfston’ has got is foot soldiers and seamen to feed and house-a cadre of his enemies inside his own land. That sounds incredibly foolish to me.”

  “Maybe he plans to turn them all into loyal savages,” Astra suggested. “Twist their minds against the empire.”

  “Three shiploads of people?” he reminded her. “That’s at least sixty people, probably more. Even supposing this sorcerer has that much power, he hasn’t got the time. That fleet will find a place to land and march into his territory from another direction. Wulfston will have to meet the invaders and protect his people-or his own subjects will turn against him.”

  Astra shook her head in confusion. “Why would he rescue Aventine citizens from a storm he created? He could have drowned them all. Zanos, you can’t suggest it was out of the goodness of his heart. Wulfston and Torio were the Reader/Adept pair who devastated the hospital at Gaeta!”

  She was right-anyone capable of such an act would not be motivated by humanitarian principles. “I don’t know,” he replied. “But there’s more to these savages than we thought, Astra. We certainly can’t assume we understand them!”

  The next morning, Vortius broke camp and continued north. Zanos and Astra did the same, using hill trails that paralleled the gambler’s course, but always kept them out of his sight. In recovering from his ordeal with the white lotus, Zanos had remembered that ten of the caravan’s packhorses carried nothing but sacks of gold, a fortune to rival the Emperor’s treasure house.

  “That gold represents misery and death, all caused by Vortius,” he told Astra. “Before I kill him, I have to find out what he plans to do with it, why so many had to suffer for his greed.”

  Zanos was unReadable, waiting for Astra to offer to try to Read
Vortius’ plans. She refused to take the cue, reluctant to take part in his vengeance. I’m afraid again, but why fight if we don’t have to, and for no good reason?

  When the caravan stopped to rest and feed the horses, so did Zanos and Astra. And that was when Zanos insisted on beginning his wife’s lessons in swordsmanship.

  The short sword he gave her might have been light by his standards, but she found it unwieldy. And Zanos was a harsh taskmaster, insisting that she repeat the primary exercises until her shoulders ached and her palm was blistered-and although she put her best efforts into following his instructions, he soon lost patience.

  “Astra, you’re not even trying!”

  “Yes, I am!” she cried, throwing the sword away from her in disgust. “Zanos, I’m not a fighter! I can barely lift that thing, let alone make all those fancy moves.”

  The gladiator took several deep breaths, obviously bringing his temper under control. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “It may seem I’m asking too much of you,

  but I know I’m not. You may not be a swordswoman, but you are a fighter. You fought the corruption in the Readers’ system-”

  “No, I didn’t,” she said on a stab of shame. “Tressa wanted to fight it, but I was too frightened. I fought Portia only when she attacked first-she forced me to defend myself.”

  “And we may meet attackers who will force you to do much worse,” Zanos stated matter-of-factly. He picked up the sword and wiped the blade clean. “Here.” He replaced it on the belt too large for Astra’s slim frame. “That’s enough practice for the moment, but I want you to keep wearing it.”

  “Keep tripping over it, you mean!”

  “You’ll learn to move with it. Come on-Vortius will be moving soon.”

  They covered several miles of hill trails without exchanging a word. Astra’s powers monitored Vortius’

  party without her having to concentrate on the task, leaving her conscious mind free to think about what she had left behind. Tiberium might have become too dangerous for her to stay there, but it had been home, and she missed it. She remembered teaching music to the young girls at the Academy, ignoring her current aches and pains by remembering-Smoke!