Savage Empire se-1

by Jean Lorrah

  Two pairs of violet eyes were, fixed on Lenardo, Aradia’s wide and wondering, Nerius’ calm and demanding. All he could do was speak the truth. “Were you yourself a Master Reader, and given to precognitive dreams, I should say that you were right. As you are not a Reader, and as I know that I mean no harm to you or your daughter, I must say that I cannot explain how you could have seen my face. With all due respect, possibly the nightmares caused by your illness showed you a faceless danger��� and when you first saw me, an intruder in your domain, you grafted my appearance onto your dreams.”

  The old Adept studied Lenardo dispassionately. “I owe you too much not to give you the benefit of the doubt,” he said at last. “Further, my daughter trusts you, and I trust her judgment. Wulfston has argued on your behalf, and I must remember that he is no longer of an age to be swayed by a boy’s enthusiasm for an exotic person with unusual powers.” He smiled. “Has Wulfston told you how that enthusiasm brought him here, almost at the cost of both our lives?”

  “Father, he was only a baby!” Aradia protested. Nerius looked toward his daughter. “Yes, and now he is ‘a grown man and has become your protector in my absence. I almost dread to see what else has changed while I was ill.”

  He turned back to Lenardo. “My daughter has made an agreement with you. My life for your freedom.”

  “That is correct,” said Lenardo. “However, I agreed also to aid Ar-the Lady Aradia with my abilities.” He hoped that the flash of annoyance he caught from Nerius was no more than a father’s overprotectiveness. “I intend to fulfill that agreement,” he continued. “Your needs and mine coincide.”

  “Indeed?”

  “Perhaps the Lady Aradia has told you that I am here in search of Galen, a Reader, a boy I myself trained. I regret that my teaching was not entirely successful. Galen was unable to accept the empire’s refusal to attempt to make peace with her��� attackers. For publicly opposing government policy, he was exiled.

  “Two years passed. When Galen was detected aiding the enemy, I volunteered to come for him, to get him out of the enemy’s hands. In order to move safely here, I had to be an exile. So��� I agreed with Galen, saying things I did not then believe.”

  “And now?” Nerius prompted.

  Lenardo glanced at Aradia, and then back to her father. “The irony is that since my exile, I have come to Galen’s point of view. You see, the empire knows nothing of you, your daughter, the Lady Lilith-Adepts who would be willing to make an honest peace. All they know is Drakonius��� and you must admit that it would be impossible to make a treaty between Drakonius and the Aventine Empire.”

  “Not so long as Drakonius thinks he can conquer you,” Nerius agreed.

  “But other Adepts are now opposing Drakonius. If you had the Empire, the army, its Readers, aligned with you-if Drakonius has the intelligence with which the Lady Aradia credits him, he would not dare attack. There could be peace, and if there were peace between your people and mine, think what progress could be made with Readers and Adepts working together!”

  “I, of all people, cannot argue with that,” said Nerius. “How do you propose to bring this peace about?”

  “First, I must remove Galen from Drakonius’ influence. He appears to have adopted Drakonius’ philosophy of violence. Then, when I return to tell what I have learned here, I will go to the senate and present my case. If I can take with me a statement of your willingness to negotiate���”

  “Master Lenardo, you are a-No, you are my guest and my ally; I will not call you a fool. You are an idealist who has seen little of the world outside the walls of your academies. Don’t you know what will happen if you appear at the gates one day, with or without Galen?”

  “I must contact the Readers who sent me. Otherwise, as an exile, I would be driven away or killed if I tried to re-enter.”

  “Yes. You would be allowed to re-enter. They don’t want you out here, aiding the enemy. Let us suppose, for the sake of argument, that they would not execute you or throw you in prison, but simply return you to one of the academies.”

  “Of course I will eventually return to the academy,” Lenardo said.

  Nerius studied him. “It may be too late for you, raised against nature like a bird taken from its nest by children, that returns to its cage rather than flying free-”

  “Lord Nerius-” Lenardo began in annoyance. “No, let me explain. I grow tired, but I want you to think about this before we meet again. The reason the Aventine Empire cannot hold strong against our people is that those people who have the real power in your society are taught from childhood not to use it. Readers are barred from your government, locked up in academies, made the servants of the ungifted. Lenardo, you ought to rule! By nature, you have abilities that place you above other men -yet you do not exercise them to that purpose.”

  “Power corrupts-”

  “Of course it does!” said Nerius. “Just look at Drakonius. But he has misused his power. His people hate and fear him, and if another conquers his lands and is a gentle and generous master, they will forget Drakonius and become loyal unto death to their new lord.”

  “You?”

  The old man nodded. “You see no dissent in my lands, and my daughter will rule after me in the same fashion. Power can be for good or evil, Master Lenardo-and while one cannot do great evil without power, neither can one do great good.”

  “Then what are you advising me to do, Lord Nerius? Go back and try to take over the Aventine government-become emperor?”

  Nerius laughed. “The people of Aventine would be better off if you did. And if you set your mind to it, you would have a better chance of becoming emperor than of persuading the senate to treat with me and my allies. But I don’t think you have any desire to foment civil war.”

  “Nor to be emperor,” Lenardo agreed.

  “Then let me tell you how to get the Aventine senate to listen to you.”

  “I am a Master Reader-”

  “All the more reason for them to fear you and therefore suppress you. You cannot negotiate from a position of weakness, and in the Aventine Empire society is structured so that Readers, without property, without money, without the right to hold office, are in the weakest position of all.”

  “What would you have me do? Threaten the senate? Suggest that the Readers could make public all their secret actions?” Lenardo said distastefully.

  “I see you are well aware of your power,” said Nerius, “even though you do not exercise it. No-I know as well as you that you cannot do such a thing, and if one Reader could, other Readers could not. I am aware of the Reader’s Code. I respect it. One day, I hope there will be such a code binding upon all Adepts.”

  “Then what is your advice, Lord Nerius?”

  “Do not return to the empire as a Reader, an Aventine citizen petitioning the senate’s favor to grant a hearing. Stay here. Become my sworn man. Then approach the Aventine senate from a position of strength, demanding a hearing for the representative of a Lord Adept. Enter the empire surrounded by my guards, with an Adept or two. Demonstrate what a Reader and an Adept can do together��� and offer peace.”

  “Change my loyalty?”

  “You are an exile. The empire has disowned you. Consider my proposal. I am not asking that you swear loyalty to me today-you cannot yet know me well enough for that.”

  “Nor do you know me,” added Lenardo. “I know that I owe you my life. I also know that you could make a formidable enemy-and I would rather have you as a friend. Go now, and consider it. I must rest Oh-one thing more: ask Wulfston how he came to be my apprentice. Learn something of the way the people of the empire react toward someone with power they have not themselves.”

  Lenardo was grateful to be back in his own room, to come and go at will-and especially to bathe and put on fresh clothes. Then he took a walk in the sunshine and fresh air. There were even more troops camped on the slope beneath Aradia’s castle-were the Adepts responsible for keeping the weather so p
leasant? Wagonloads of food were arriving from far-flung areas of Aradia’s-no, Nerius’ -lands, some escorted by men in Lilith’s blue livery.

  Feeling a need to take his mind off Nerius’ proposal, Lenardo joined a group of swordsmen doing practice exercises. As he had lost his own sword, he wanted practice with the heavier type the savages used. Working himself breathless felt good, but after a rest they broke up into pairs to practice fighting. Lenardo defeated two opponents, then bowed out lest his apparent skill give away his Reading ability.

  There were spectators, but Lenardo paid them little heed. until he put his sword back in the rack and turned to find Helmuth approaching. “I see you are indeed an experienced soldier,” the old man said. “Has the Lady Aradia assigned you a place in her army?”

  “Not yet,” he replied.

  “I’ve got mostly raw lads from the village here, who’ve. never seen a real battle. I could use your skill, if Lady Aradia is willing.”

  “I would be honored to fight at your side, Helmuth,” Lenardo replied, “but I think the Lady Aradia has other plans for me.”

  Helmuth glanced around and drew close to Lenardo, speaking in a low voice. “Is it true, then, that you’re an Adept, exiled from the empire when they discovered your powers? Everyone is saying that’s why my lady and Lord Wulfston spend so much time with you.”

  “Is that what you think, Helmuth?”

  “I have my own suspicions,” the old man said, “and if I’m right, you know what they are.”

  Indeed, Helmuth did suspect Lenardo was a Reader. “There are��� things I cannot speak of at this time,” Lenardo said. “The reason for my presence is for the Lady Aradia to reveal, not for me.”

  “Very well,” said Helmuth. “I trust her, as does everyone here. But anyone who betrays her trust���”

  “I have no intention of doing so,” said Lenardo, wondering if anyone else had the same suspicion. The rumor that he was an Adept he encountered everywhere; the rumor that he was a Reader might-start a panic. But he Read that Helmuth had shared his suspicions with no one, and would not.

  “Just take care, lad,” said Helmuth, “that your actions live up to your intentions.”

  As Lenardo’s intentions were to aid Aradia in the coming struggle against Drakonius, he went back to his room and Read the enemy stronghold again. Frustratingly, he came in on the very end of a meeting between Drakonius and Galen.

  “You prove yourself to me this time,” the Adept was saying as he got up to leave Galen’s room, “and you’ll have your freedom. Betray me again, and this time I’ll kill you��� and not pleasantly.”

  Galen was shielded against anyone Reading his thoughts, but Lenardo clearly Read the pain that suddenly lanced through the boy’s right hand. Muscles convulsed, tendons and ligaments drawing Galen’s fingers back grotesquely, while he screamed in agony. There was a snap, and then another, as bones broke-and then the hand went lump.

  Galen fell to his knees, sobbing as he held his injured hand against his chest. Drakonius put a hand under his chin and raised his face up to look into his eyes. “You remember this lesson,” he said. “If you betray me again, I won’t do that to just one hand. I’ll do it to your whole body, break every bone, and then I’ll throw you into the forum in Zendi to die, where everyone can see what happens to the enemies of Drakonius.”

  “I did not betray you, my lord,” Galen gasped through his tears. “I shall never betray you. You are my liege lord.”

  “As long as you remember that��� Here.” He took Galen’s hand, and Lenardo felt the familiar healing heat flow through it as the bones began to knit. The pain disappeared. “Go to sleep now, boy-we’ll have need of your skills soon enough.”

  For what? Lenardo longed to know, but he dared not try to contact Galen at that moment. So he followed Drakonius, who went down to the river’s edge, walked out onto one of the fortifications, took hook and line from his pocket, captured a passing dragonfly, and proceeded to go fishing!

  This was a general preparing for battle? It made no sense-at all, as Lenardo told Wulfston when the two men, unable, to converse in the hubbub of the great hall, took their evening meal up to Wulfston’s room, where they could talk while they ate.

  “He’s waiting for something,” said Wulfston, “or someone. Our watchers report Hron’s movements, and Yolo’s, but not Trang’s. On the other hand, Drakonius is far from stupid. If his Reader has told him that you Read his stronghold once, he’s expecting you to do it again. Perhaps he wants you to find him fishing.”

  “I don’t think he would have wanted me to find him torturing Galen,” said Lenardo, and he told Wulfston of the scene.

  “That is typical of Drakonius,” said Wulfston. “We’ve told you he rules by fear. When he takes a new territory, he’ll publicly torture a few influential people, then heal them and keep their loyalty through threats of further pain.”

  Lenardo’s appetite had disappeared. Wulfston noticed his reaction and said, “No one here-not Nerius, not Aradia, not I-would harm somebody simply as an example.”

  “But as a punishment?”

  “One might as well not have power if one is unwilling to use it. There is no need for gratuitous torture, but people must know that punishment will be swift and unpleasant, or some will not obey. It is always best to demonstrate justice early with light punishments-exactly the way one teaches a child.”

  To lighten the tone of the conversation, Lenardo said, “I suppose Adept children can get into a great deal of mischief.”

  Wulfston laughed. “Oh, indeed! I remember when Aradia and I decided we’d rather drink wine than milk, so we soured all the milk in the dairy for two days-and on the third day Nerius made us drink it anyway. And of course children can’t resist spooking horses-or making them refuse to move. It’s a wonder anyone was willing to live around here, with two Adept children playing pranks.”

  “But you never did anything really dangerous?”

  “Oh, yes. The one time I remember Nerius actually paddling us with his own hand-when anything at a distance was unsatisfactory-was the time we set fire to the woods just west of here. We almost burned up with them.”

  Remembering what Nerius had told him, Lenardo asked, “How did Nerius come to take you in, Wulfston?”

  “I was very young when he saw signs in me, which is why he knew I would be a Lord Adept. People who have merely one ability develop the talent at eight or ten.”

  “What happened to your own family? They were not Adepts?”

  “No-although it seems my mother had one talent.” He went to the mantel and picked up a bowl from the collection of pottery that lined it. Handing it to Lenardo, he said, “My mother made that.”

  “But it’s Aventine.”

  Wulfston smiled sardonically. “I was born a citizen of your empire-a free citizen, although my parents had been slaves. They earned their freedom and citizenship, and moved from Tiberium to a small village near the border, where they made pottery. It wasn’t easy for a black family outside the capital, but their work was the highest quality, and they made their way. My sister was born first, and I was born a few years later. I can’t remember much except being happy there. I was only three when-”

  “You began showing Adept powers,” Lenardo marveled.

  “Yes. At first it was great fun. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I could make the birds and squirrels and rabbits come to me. The other children loved that-and no one associated it with Adept powers, which they always thought of as destructive. In fact, I think people thought it was an early sign of Reading.”

  The young Adept pointed to the design of fine lines in the bowl Lenardo held. “No one recognized that as an Adept skill either.”

  “I wouldn’t,” said Lenardo. “It’s beautiful, the work of an artist-but why Adept?”

  “Because it’s all done freehand. My mother would just take a stylus and inscribe the design-but it has a precision an ordinary human hand cannot match. Nerius recogn
ized ��� it, but of course he didn’t say anything.”

  “Nerius?”

  “Our village was near the border, but not on one of the main roads. When Nerius wanted to come into the empire-”

  “What! An Adept going in and out of the empire?” Lenardo was stunned.

  Wulfston laughed at his dismay. “Lenardo, there is nothing to keep an Adept out of the Aventine Empire! If I want to go in, I can climb a wall in a deserted area, or enter through one of the gates, making the guards open it for me and then forget I’d ever been there-”

  “By the gods,” whispered Lenardo. “You could have been among us-”

  “Yes. The only danger is the chance of encountering a Reader.”

  And he might not notice you, Lenardo realized, recalling how hard it was to find the Adepts in Drakonius’ stronghold. “And even if you were recognized,” he murmured, “no prison could hold you.”

  “However, we don’t want the Aventines to know we walk among them.”

  “Then you should not have told me, Wulfston.”

  The black man studied Lenardo. “You won’t go back,” he said. “Certainly not back to your old way of life. You don’t know how much you’ve changed in the time you’ve been here; If you go back at all, it will be as Nerius’ representative.”

  “Do you still think you can force me to think your way?”

  “No, and I never thought so. But you are an intelligent man. You already know that an honorable peace is the only chance for the empire to survive. What you have yet to accept is that Nerius is right about how to obtain that peace.”

  “You still have not told me how you came to be Nerius’ apprentice, Wulfston. What did he do-steal you away from your family?”

  “Not exactly. He saw the Adept skill in my mother’s work, and-so he watched her children. He knew the danger if either of us showed Adept powers-unless, of course, they were similar to our mother’s. My parents, like all new citizens, were fiercely loyal to the empire. Nerius dared not reveal his identity prematurely. He could not come to our village often, either-perhaps once in three or four months, each time stopping with us on the pretext of buying pottery. He would play with my sister and me. I know now that his games tested our powers.