by Jean Lorrah
//I am alive. Galen is dead.//
//Oh.// Shock and sorrow, followed by hope. //Then you’re coming home!//
//Not yet Torio, are you the only Reader in Adigia? Why are you there alone?//
//There were complaints when Master Clement insisted I remain alone, but how else guarantee privacy if you contacted me? The people are afraid of further attack, here on the border. A single Reader can’t help very much.//
//I know,// Lenardo replied. //I wish you could reassure them there is no danger of attack. It’s true, for the Adept who was so determined to beat back the walls of the empire is also dead. But you cannot tell the people of Adigia that. Where is Master Clement now?//
//Tiberium. They’ve housed the academy in a villa there, and the last I heard the senate was refusing funds to build elsewhere.//
//Despite the women’s academy in the same city?//
//They say, “You’re Readers-avoid each other!” They claim the savages have taken so much land, and it costs so much to mount the army against them, that the money simply isn’t there.//
//There will soon be a change in their attitude. Now, you have one final duty in this plan, and then back to your studies. You are at a crucial point in your education, Torio. I’m sorry it was interrupted, even for these few weeks.//
//I don’t know,// said Torio. //Master Clement told me not to get my hopes too high-those who show promise at my age often fail dismally.//
//Torio-he was reacting to Galen’s betrayal. You are the best Reader for your age that I have ever seen-and that means you have the potential to grow into a better Reader than either Master Clement or I. Come now-you’re old enough to know that teachers are human, too, and sometimes say things in the bitterness of disappointment that they regret later.//
//Yes��� I suppose I do know that. I’ll be a teacher myself as soon as I get back to the academy. Master Clement has let me keep the title of tutor and has promised me a class of novice swordsmen once my duty here is done.//
//It is done. But tell me��� how is Decius?//
//Still healing. Master Clement says he is bravely facing his pain and has determined to turn all his energies to becoming a great Reader.//
Still in pain! Lenardo was certain Aradia could have saved Decius’ leg, but even if she could not, she would have been able to take his pain away at once and heal the wound within a day or two.
//Torio, there are so many things I wish I could tell you. I will when I return. Now you must go tell Master Clement that Galen is dead, and the savage threat to the empire is over-permanently, if I can accomplish all I want to.//
//But when will you come home? Master Lenardo-are you a prisoner?//
//No-far from it. But it will be weeks, perhaps months, before I return to the empire.//
//Branded as an exile-how will you return unless someone is here in Adigia for you to contact? Whoever replaces me here will not know about you.//
//I cannot communicate with Tiberium from where I am now, but I can if I come near to Adigia on the other side of the border. Even if the academy moves, so you and Master Clement are not there, Portia never leaves Tiberium. You must not worry about me, Torio. I am safer than you can imagine, and if my plans work out, life in the empire will be much better in the future.//
//Master Lenardo-where are you? If Master Clement wants to contact you-//
Lenardo considered. //No, you had best tell him to wait until I contact him.//
//You’re keeping something from me,// said the boy. //So is Master Clement. When he contacts me, I can tell there are things he’s holding back. He’s worried, Master Lenardo.//
//Of course he is-he’s worried about me! But now you can tell him I’m safe. I’m with friends.//
//Friends? But how can that be?//
//Torio, you are far too good a Reader for your age, and that should tell you you’ve nothing to worry about on your exams. But you will have to accept that I cannot explain everything now. It will all be clear when I come home.//
//Please come soon. I miss you, Master Lenardo.//
//I miss you, Torio. I’ll come as soon as I can. But for now you’ll be happy to get back to your friends at the academy.//
//You’ve always been my best friend,// the boy told him.
//Then trust me.//
//Oh, I do!// Lenardo felt Torio’s reassurance like the unReaderlike hug the boy bestowed on those he loved.
//Good. Then give Master Clement my message, and apply yourself to your studies-for I am going to have work for you as a Reader such as you have never dreamed of!//
It was with regret that Lenardo broke contact with Torio’s mind. It would be so good to get back among Readers No. It would be so good to have daily contact with Torio and Master Clement, his dear friends��� but he would miss Aradia and Wulfston. I am going to have work for you, he had told Torio. I don’t suppose there’s any hope of persuading Master Clement to venture beyond the pale. I wonder if Aradia could ease his rheumatism?
Lenardo lay back, hands clasped behind his head, contemplating the future. It looked good. He felt good. All his wounds were healed again, but the source of his sense of well-being was not physical. Rather, he felt satisfied with himself for the first time since his failure with Galen.
Lifting his right arm, he looked at the dragon’s-head brand in the flickering candlelight. The mark of the exile-but he did not feel exiled. He felt at home. Readers were having problems in Tiberium; Lenardo would have the power to demand that then-rights be recognized. The senate said there were no funds for a new academy? Suppose it were built here, at Castle Nerius! No-better yet-restore the academy at Zendi! It had been a female academy in Lenardo’s childhood, but with the male academy gone from Adigia Yes, he must speak with Aradia about Zendi! He longed to see the city restored to its former glory, and what better way than to make it the neutral ground on which Readers and Adepts could meet and learn to work together?
Perhaps, thought Lenardo, I was not well suited to the cloistered life of the academy. Or perhaps being there on the border, I Read without being able to accept it that we should not be fighting one another.
He had taken Galen’s exile, Decius’ wound, Galen’s death, all as his own fault. But they were all part of the perpetual war between the empire and the savages.
He stroked his beard, thinking, Now I’m part of both, the Aventine Empire and the savage ��� No, not an empire, but perhaps one day an amalgam of alliances such as Aradia had forged with Lilith. Their alliance had withstood the power of Drakonius.
Filled with hope for the future, Lenardo slept the sleep of deep contentment.
The next day everybody in and about Castle Nerius slept late except Lenardo. He was up at dawn, as usual, and for the first time found the kitchen not only deserted but in a shambles-clearly even the cook and his staff had finally joined in the celebration last night. He found fruit and bread and met the bleary-eyed dairyman bringing in fresh milk-cows, the man grumbled, had to be milked no matter how one had spent the night before. Lenardo helped him pour the milk into the cool stone vats and earned for his efforts a mumbled thanks and, “I don’t suppose you can cure a headache, Master Reader?”
“No, I’m afraid you’ll have to ask one of the Adepts for that.”
“Aye, but they’ll be “too busy curing their own today. Good day to ye!”
Apparently everyone knew who he was by now-even the proper way to address him-but there was none of the fear Nerius had predicted. Aradia’s sworn man, wearer of the wolf-stone���
When Aradia appeared downstairs, looking none the worse for her night of revelry, Lenardo approached her with his ideas.
“An academy of Readers at Zendi?” she asked. “How will you persuade the empire to risk their precious Readers outside their borders?”
“I don’t think they would. Aradia, to make a treaty, both sides must grant concessions. To gain peace, and the aid of Readers, grant me the power to return the land that i
ncludes the city of Zendi to the empire.”
“Give back land honorably won?”
“You won it from Drakonius; thus you would not be giving it ‘back’ to the empire but granting it as a concession -with stipulations. The academy, and free access for Adepts to work with Readers there.”
Her violet eyes studied his face. “And you would be Master of this Academy?”
“I��� I suppose so, one day. I hadn’t really thought about that.”
“Lenardo��� precisely what was your mission on this side of the border?”
“You know it. To find Galen and stop him from aiding Drakonius.”
“And that was all?”
“Yes. But after all I’ve seen here-”
“You are ready to stop merely doing what you are told.” She reached for the wolf’s-head pendant he wore. “Do you wish to continue to wear this?”
“Yes,” he replied. “I will swear loyalty to you, Aradia-freely, as I have fulfilled my agreement with you and won my freedom.”
“You have done far more than fulfill our agreement. But if you swear loyalty to me, that is where your loyalty must stay. If you do not succeed in making the treaty with the empire, you must come back to me.”
“I would want to,” he replied. “If I cannot persuade the senate or the emperor to listen to me��� then you will have one Reader, Aradia, and perhaps we shall find more among your people.”
“The empire will think you a traitor.”
“All but three people think so now. I am sure that, with your strength to back me, I can persuade the empire that making a treaty with you is to their benefit”
The wolfish grin showed her teeth. “With my strength to back you. Yes, Lenardo, you are beginning to understand how to work with nature-human nature. You shall have the power you require and the chance to learn to use it wisely. Now,” she added more seriously, “there is a ceremony to be performed before Lilith leaves. Tomorrow afternoon, will you swear fealty to me before Lilith, Wulfston, and my officers?”
“Gladly, my lady.”
The ceremony was held in the great hall, again cleared of tables, including the permanent one that had burned in the battle of Adepts. Aradia’s treasure chest stood open, along with numerous other chests of gold and jewels, plunder brought back by the army. Other chests held gold and silver corns. Lenardo judged that there was as much value there as in the Aventine Empire’s depleted treasury, unhesitatingly delivered by Aradia and Lilith’s soldiers. Lenardo recalled Arkus saying that day in Zendi that Drakonius’ soldiers were allowed to loot as they pleased-and I suppose he didn’t care if they killed each other over the loot, once the battle was over.
Aradia, wearing the circle of twisted gold that had been Nerius’ crown, began the long list of awards: to every soldier and watcher a measure of silver, to every wounded man two measures, to the family of every man killed a gold mark, and on to detailed grants to the communities that had sent men and supplies to her army.
Then each of the officers assembled there received one of the twisted gold bracelets, and Lenardo recalled that there was enough value in one to build and furnish a modest home. More than one mind among the younger officers began to fill with marriage plans, while others thought of horses or oxen, of new clothes for wives and children, and standing out from the common melee someone’s plan to build a mill to grind grain.
Charging the officers with taking their men safely home and distributing their awards, Aradia turned to Lilith, Wulfston, and Lenardo. “Although Master Lenardo long since gave his personal pledge to me, and proved his value and loyalty right well in the battle just past, he has not made a public declaration of fealty. Master Reader?”
When Wulfston had rehearsed him in the ceremony, Lenardo had been glad to find it needed no rewording to avoid conflict with his Reader’s Oath. He knelt before Aradia and held the wolf-stone in both hands. “I, Lenardo, Master Reader, take this sign in pledge to Aradia, daughter of Nerius, and my liege lady. I promise to protect her life, her people, and her goods, and to defend her life with my own.”
Aradia took his hands, saying, “I accept your pledge. Arise, Master Lenardo, my sworn man. I promise to protect your life, your family, and your goods, and as with all my people, to defend your life with my own.” She kissed him on both cheeks, quite formally, and he stepped back, his part in the proceedings over.
Aradia then announced, “As you know, the battle just past resulted in the deaths of Hron, Trang, Yolo, and Drakonius, and the forfeit of their people, lands, and goods to me. The lands of those Lords Adept will require hard work and a strong hand to be made good for their people. I cannot rule them all, nor should those who kept loyalty to my father and me, risking all against Drakonius and his henchmen, go unrewarded.” She stepped to the wall, where the three shields still hung, and took down the one with the golden boar.
“Hron betrayed the alliance he had made with me. He paid for that broken pledge with his life and the forfeit of all that he owned. To Lilith, my ally who supported me, and who kept her pledge and her honor, I award the lands which formerly belonged to Hron.”
She held the shield before her, and a smell of scorching rose as the paint shriveled and blackened and the image of the boar burned away. Then she handed the shield to Lilith, who said, “May the land and its people prosper under my rule. Thank you, Aradia.”
“The lands belonging to Trang and Yolo I retain for my own,” said Aradia. “The lands that Drakonius ruled, however, are larger than all these lands combined. Therefore, I divide them, and give to my brother Wulfston, Lord Adept, the lands from the western sea, eastward to the natural border formed by the Western Hills.”
“As Wulfston moved forward to give his formal thanks, Lenardo felt a warm triumph to note that Aradia had neither claimed for herself nor given away the central portion of land from well north of Zendi to the Aventine border at Adigia. So she had set aside land to cede to the empire in negotiating peace. He felt inordinately pleased that she had taken his advice, and more certain than ever that peace could be achieved.
Until Aradia turned to the assembly once more, saying, “Finally, the portion of land southward from the border of Lilith’s land, east from Wulfston’s, and west from mine, I give to Lenardo, Lord Reader, to hold or to distribute as he sees fit”
Lenardo was dumbfounded. All eyes turned to him as he stared in shock for a moment, then burst out, “Aradia, you can’t-”
“The land is mine, honorably won. I choose to give it to you. Will you not thank your liege lady, my lord?”
The public assembly was no place to argue. Mustering all the grace he could, he said, “I am unworthy of the honor you do me, my lady, but I thank you.”
That was the end of the ceremony. As soon as most of the officers were out of the room, Lenardo hurried after Aradia, who was heading for the staircase with Lilith and Wulfston.
“Aradia-why did you do that?” he demanded. “I thought you were going to hold that land to negotiate with!”
She turned. “I would like peace with the empire, Lenardo, and you may be the one person who can achieve it.
Truly, I think the Aventine government’s terror of Adept and Reader alike will prevent there ever being peace between us-but if there is a chance, I want to give it to you. My father was right: you must negotiate from strength, not weakness. There would be a degree of strength in negotiating as my emissary, but I think the only true chance you have-and that a slim one-is as a lord in your own right, representing an alliance of Lords Adept.”
“But-”
“Go claim your lands, my lord. Make the people your own. Think of what I have said and what you know of human nature.” She looked up at him, her violet eyes huge and deep. “If you must prove to yourself that I am right, to the detriment of us all, go now-present yourself to the Aventine emperor and give him the lands I have just given you: that is your right. He will take them, I guarantee it And after that, he will listen to nothing you have to say;
I guarantee that, too.”
Lenardo stared at her, realizing how acutely she read the truth he dared not admit to himself. “Then what do you expect me to do?”
“Go teach your people to love you, as my people love me. You will have to overcome the fear Drakonius instilled in them, but if you work with human nature you will gain their undying loyalty as Drakonius never did. Then, Lenardo, we will work out a scheme to negotiate peace.”
“Lenardo,” said Wulfston, “we share a border. We should be allies. Will you swear here and now, each to come to the other’s defense in time of need?”
“Defense? My personal service, of course, Wulfston, but I’m not an Adept, and I don’t have an army.”
“Neither have I,” Wulfston said with a laugh, “but Aradia and Lilith will lend us troops until we train our own. If we make alliances with them, that is.”. In moments, a four-way alliance was concluded, there at the bottom of the great staircase, Lenardo too bewildered to do more than follow the Adepts’ lead. As the four began to climb the stairs, Wulfston hung back, saying to Lenardo, “My sister has plans for you.”
“I know.”
“No��� I don’t think you realize all her plans. I’m not sure if Aradia does.”
“She’s sending me away from her,” Lenardo pointed out.
“Just as she is sending me away,” said Wulfston. “To grow. I still have much to learn. I suppose I’ll learn it faster if I don’t have Aradia to pull me out of a jam.”
“You pulled her out, in that last battle,” said Lenardo. “I’ll breathe easier, knowing I have you for a neighbor.”
They caught up with the women, and Lenardo said, “Aradia, I don’t have the power-”
“Lenardo,” she interrupted, “I have given you only what you have the right to. Can you not see that your powers, although different, are the equal of mine?”
His powers. He had used that term for his abilities all his life, but he had never thought of them in the sense the Adepts did, as giving him the right to control others. “I am no ruler,” he said as they moved down the hall. Aradia followed him into his room, clearly wanting to speak privately.