by Jean Lorrah
Julia pulled out a yellow tunic with gold embroidery, a belt of gold velvet strands with bits of gold glittering in it, and a cloak of the same dark gold color as the belt.
Wicket nodded, but reached for another cloak, shiny green satin with gold embroidery on the edges.
Julia shook her head; that cloak went over a plain green tunic, and even so Lenardo thought it too gaudy.
Over the yellow tunic…
But Wicket was nodding vigorously, so Julia shrugged, and carefully repacked everything else into the chest.
When they were back in her room, Julia protested, “There’s too much glitter with both the tunic and cloak, and the different colors-”
“-are exactly what a man would wear who’s got rich by his own wits,” Wicket explained, holding the tunic up in front of him. “Hmm. Yer father’s a tall ‘un, isn’t he?”
“Yes, he is. You’ll have to belt it up, and let the cloak fall in long loops. Oh-what about shoes?”
“I’ve got some sandals with me. I’ll shine ‘em up tonight. Thanks, Julia. These will do just fine.” He went to the door, opened it a crack, and peered out cautiously.
“Wicket,” said Julia, “there is no one in the passageway.”
He turned, flashed her a grin, and was gone.
A little after midnight, Julia was awakened by terrified screams from the next room.
Throwing on her robe, she dashed into the hall, Reading nothing to cause Aradia to scream so.
In fact, she could not remember ever hearing Aradia scream, could imagine only one thing that might bring on such a reaction: Lenardo’s death.
Heart pounding, Julia tore through the anteroom. The door to Aradia’s room was open, and Devasin knelt on the edge of Aradia’s bed, trying to touch the sleeping woman’s forehead to waken her. Aradia was tossing in agony.
“Wake up, my lady!” Devasin pleaded. “It’s only a dream!”
“She’s killing me!” Aradia shouted. “Help me! Lenardo, help me!”
Devasin grasped Aradia’s shoulders, and Julia pressed her fingers firmly to Aradia’s forehead, the only safe way to waken an Adept. The violet eyes opened, glazed. “She’s killing me!” Aradia sobbed. “My baby is trying to kill me!”
Julia drew back in horror, but Devasin took Aradia into her arms like a mother comforting a child. “
Twas only a dream, my lady. Your baby is well.” She glanced over Aradia’s shoulder at Julia, who took the cue to Read the fetus. Everything was normal; the child in Aradia’s womb slept peacefully despite her mother’s nightmare.
“The baby is fine, Aradia,” Julia said.
“She’s stealing my powers!” Aradia said.
“No, they’re just weakened by pregnancy,” Julia assured her, trying to hide her distress at seeing the strong, steady Aradia reduced to quivering terror. With Lenardo and Wulfston gone, who would protect Zendi?
But she joined her efforts to Devasin’s, then encouraged Aradia to Read the baby with her, to see it developing normally and sleeping peacefully. Finally, between them, Julia and Devasin got Aradia calmed and back to sleep.
When they left Aradia’s room, Julia asked Devasin, “Has this happened before?”
“Just once,” Devasin replied. But Julia Read worry in Devasin that went beyond concern over a few nightmares.
“There’s more to it than that,” said Julia. “Tell me.”
“I don’t know if…”
“Would you tell my father?”
“He already knows.”
“But he isn’t here, Devasin. So I have to help Aradia for him. If I don’t have all the facts, how can I help her?”
“Oh, young mistress, I don’t know if anyone can help her! It’s happening all over again, just as it did with her mother-and nothing Nerius could do would save her!”
Nerius, Aradia’s father. And the mother who was never mentioned.
“Tell me,” said Julia.
“I was a child,” said Devasin. “My mother was Tarina’s maid. “
“Tarina?”
“Aradia’s mother. Afterward, Nerius would not allow her name to be spoken. He loved her very much-as your father loves Aradia. They risked their powers to have a child. Nerius recovered, but Tarina had a difficult pregnancy even with his help. As her powers waned, she became more and more demanding, more angry at the child.
“But then Aradia was born, such a beautiful little girl. Everyone thought Tarina would recover, and love the child.
“Only… Tarinas Adept powers did not return. Months passed, and she became more and more distraught. She imagined that Aradia showed Adept talent. A baby less than a year old! Tarina started saying Aradia had stolen her powers.
“Nerius tried to help Tarina, but she became more and more hysterical. My mother stayed with her constantly, because Tarina would fly into rages and threaten to… take back the powers Aradia had stolen, was the way she put it.
“Finally, Nerius would not allow Tarina to see Aradia unless he was there. And when Aradia was two, she really did start to show Adept powers.”
“At two years old!”
“Yes. Nerius was delighted-but it set Tarina off worse than ever. I remember her rage, and my mother trying to calm her. Aradia was walking by then, but a closed door kept her in her nursery because she could not reach the latch. Then one day, when she had been left napping, she found that she could unlatch the door with Adept power, and went exploring… into Tarina’s room. I was there, with my mother and Tarina. Mother was teaching me embroidery. The door opened.
“Tarina’s chair faced the door. When she saw the child, she snatched up a heavy candlestick to set the girl on fire. The flame blew out, though, so she tried to crush Aradia’s skull with the base.
“My mother grasped her arm to stop her-and Tarina hit my mother instead.
“I screamed. Tarina picked up the bloody candlestick and went for Aradia again, shouting that she would kill her and take her powers back.
“By this time Aradia was screaming and crying. I don’t know how Mother remained conscious, but when I tried to help her, she said, ‘Save the baby!’ and I turned to try.
“Tarina lifted the candlestick to crush Aradia. When I tried to pick up the child, Tarina hit my shoulder, knocking me aside, and was about to swing at Aradia when the candle lit again. That was Aradia.
“Tarina screamed, swung-and the candlestick exploded in her hand.
“That was Nerius, running to see what all the noise was.
“Tarina shouted. ‘You want her! You don’t want me!’ and ran out of the room.
“Nerius picked up Aradia, made sure she was all right, then came over and healed Mother. Then he healed my shoulder. And all that time, no one thought of Tarina. None of us will ever know whether Nerius knew what she was doing. She ran to the end of the hall, took a knife from the display, and plunged it into her heart. Tarina died by her own hand.”
A tear trickled down Devasin’s cheek. “And now Aradia dreams she is like her mother. May they be only dreams! She never says such things when she is awake. But the dreams frighten me, Julia-almost as much as they frighten Aradia.”
The next day, Aradia seemed normal. Julia was back to her lessons, with Aradia and Decius in the morning, Master Clement in the afternoon. In the days between lessons, Decius had been practicing harmless Adept tricks, and had learned to move small objects. “The only trouble is,” he explained with a laugh, “moving a stylus from one side of my writing table to the other sent me to sleep for an hour. It’s much simpler just to pick it up by hand!”
“You’ll learn not to expend extra energy,” said Aradia. “That is excellent progress, Decius.”
Knowing that she must go out tonight, at a time Aradia would not approve, Julia was on her best behavior. She tried to duplicate Decius’ tricks, to no avail. However, she did not allow frustration to upset her today, although she was glad when Aradia took Decius off to the hospital to start teaching him to heal.
Wicket appe
ared at the noonday meal, and murmured to Julia, “Contact made. All set.”
Pyrrhus raised an eyebrow to see his friend sharing a secret with Julia, but for once made no snide comment. He looked exhausted, and Julia wondered fleetingly what Master Clement had put him through.
Then it was Julia’s problem to hide her excitement over the evening’s plans from Master Clement when she joined him in the Academy library.
It was not difficult to hide her thoughts, however, when the Master of Masters said, “I have found the records we’ve been looking for,” and held out a scroll to her. This one was new, still supple, but Julia Read without unrolling it. And without touching it. She did not want to feel the essence of Portia in those last days of power-madness. What the woman had written was poisonous enough.
The technique used on Pyrrhus was an experiment-one Portia deemed highly successful. The only reason it was not repeated was that the Adept she had used left Tiberium. If he had returned, or if she had been able to find another who could do the job, Portia would have crippled others.
When she had Read it, Julia asked, “Do you think Pyrrhus will feel any better knowing he is the only Reader they did that to?”
Master Clement replied, “I don’t know. Possibly there are some acts that cannot be forgiven. I never believed that, but now I wonder. How could Pyrrhus possibly forgive Portia? Could I, if she had done that to me? But if Pyrrhus cannot forgive, he cannot heal.”
There are some acts that cannot be forgiven. Julia understood why Aradia’s father might have allowed his wife to die after she tried to kill their daughter.
Should she tell Master Clement about Aradia’s dreams? No, she should urge Aradia to tell him. It was what Aradia would urge on Julia were their situations reversed.
Master Clement was piling scrolls on the desk. “Julia, take these home with you, and read them in the order in which they were written. Seeing how Portia changed over the years may help you understand her, as it has helped me.”
Julia only nodded and gathered up the scrolls. Her thoughts were on how to get away to join Galerio an hour after sunset.
As it turned out, Aradia and Pyrrhus had an appointment with Master Clement after the evening meal.
Julia could not help wondering whether Master Clement wanted Aradia there to discuss what purpose Pyrrhus might serve in the Savage Empire, or if he wanted an Adept for protection. Julia found Pyrrhus’
habit of constantly shielding his thoughts eerie, and wondered if it also disturbed the Master of Masters.
She spent some time with the early scrolls her teacher had picked out of Portia’s collection, Reading Portia’s growing frustration at how little influence Readers had on Aventine politics. The Emperor at that time was Portia’s brother, and it galled her that the very fact that she was family caused him to give her advice little credence.
Julia was far in the past when a sharp “Psst!” broke her concentration with a start. Wicket was at her window, dressed in the clothes she had borrowed for him. It was dark, “Aren’t you ready?” he whispered.
“Yes,” she replied, lighting a candle. She had changed into a cheap but gaudy orange dress belonging to one of the maids. Now she threw her plain blue mantle over it, and she and Wicket #ent out by the servants’ entrance. There would undoubtedly be gossip tomorrow that Marilys had been Read slipping out with Wicket. Julia hoped that her skills were sufficient to make Torus, who guarded the door, accept the surface impression of Marilys.
Once outside, Julia went straight ahead to meet Galerio, Reading to make sure there were no spies on Wicket. He took one of the circular streets to the east, then turned and approached Capero’s house as if coming from one of the elegant inns in that area.
Capero knew who Julia was, but the rest of the gamers were not supposed to. The gaming room was crowded, but the lighting “was concentrated over the tables, leaving the players in subdued light.
Gambling was legal; some people simply did not want to be identified-especially those responsible for other people’s money. Julia was unsurprised to Read no Readers there other than Capero’s Reader and herself. If his patrons found out Julia was there, they would never trust him again, and his business was built on their trust. Julia swallowed as she realized how important it must be to him to get Galerio into his power.
Capero was a minor Adept, of course, as Julia had to search for him visually. She was open to Reading, but not concentrating, lest Capero’s Reader spot her. She wasn’t sure if the woman knew that she was a Reader, or who she was.
Galerio put his arm around Julia as they threaded through the crowded room, Mosca and Antonius in their wake. They had agreed with Wicket to play the coin toss first, while he gambled at cards. All would then move on to the dice table. It would appear they were in the same game by chance.
Capero was a tall, balding man with a thick brown beard liberally sprinkled with white. He was dressed in understated elegance in brown velvet with satin embroidery that glowed softly, an occasional gold thread glinting here and there. The effect, though, was spoiled by his hands, where every finger carried at least one ring, solid gold or silver with huge, gaudy stones.
The owner moved through his establishment, quietly greeting patrons, occasionally glancing toward his Reader, a faded blond woman who sat at the back of the room. She was a Dark Moon Reader, ostensibly in the employ of the city, supposedly there to see that there was no cheating by either the house or the customers. Galerio said the house paid her far better than the city, though, so she quietly ignored subtle techniques that gave the house a higher percentage than allowed by law, at least as long as the extra percentage did not get so high that customers began to complain.
Capero watched Galerio play two tosses, both of which he won. “Good,” said the big man. “But why play a boy’s game? The stakes are too low here to make it worth your bother.”
Julia stopped Reading for a moment to shed uneasiness. Wicket wasn’t even here yet.
“I like this game,” Galerio replied casually. “It takes a certain degree of skill. You didn’t specify that I had to play any certain game, only that I had to win. I don’t care if that takes all night.”
Capero laughed cheerfully. “Be careful you don’t die of boredom!” he warned.
Wicket came in, went to the card table without making any effort to locate Julia or Galerio-a real pro.
He appeared just slightly inebriated, and cheerfully accepted a flagon of ale as he settled into the game.
The barmaid whispered to the dealer as she passed, “That’s the one. Let him win tonight.”
They continued with their plan as Capero played into their hands. By the standards of this establishment, the sums Mosca and Antonius owed were small. Within an hour, Wicket had won almost half that much at the card table, while Galerio won more than he lost at the coin toss. Still, it was obvious he could not win enough at that game even if he did play all night, so he picked up his money and moved to the dice table.
Wicket remained where he was. It would be too obvious for him to move at the same time Galerio did.
Besides, they had to give Capero time to cheat Galerio’s stake and winnings away from him.
But as soon as the dice came around to Galerio for the first time, he threw a winning number. Julia was Reading; he had not used Adept power. Neither did Capero nor any of his men for the moment, letting chance have its way-perhaps until Galerio accepted the honesty of the game.
The surest way to fool a Reader was to have a number of minor Adepts about, posing as gamers, taking turns influencing the dice. It would be almost impossible for a Dark Moon Reader to detect, but Julia could Read the whole room at once. Perhaps Capero thought she was too young to do so.
Galerio threw another winning number before he lost control of the dice, then bet a small portion of his winnings on other players. Again, he won more than he lost, although his winnings did not pile up as Wicket’s were doing.
Julia was beginning to worry about the
time; the later she stayed away, the greater the chance that she would be missed. Capero should be making Galerio lose by now, but he wasn’t losing, and Julia could detect no sign of Adept influence-no one going suddenly blank to Reading-anywhere in the room.
She started to Read more carefully-
“Reader! Spy!”
The Dark Moon Reader leaped up. She climbed up on her chair, pointing over the heads of the gamblers, shrieking like a harpy. “Look! Lenardo’s daughter! They’ve sent her in to spy on all of you, find out who’s gambling, who’s winning! Who’s here, who’s with them!”
Suddenly all eyes were on Julia. Some people gathered their money and began edging toward the doors.
“She’s already Read you!” Capero shouted.
“If she escapes,” said another man, whom Julia recognized as Tinius, money-changer and userer, “Aradia and Clement will know all that she learned here tonight.”
“No!” Julia shouted, climbing on a chair herself despite Galerio’s efforts to stop her. “I am not here as a spy, but just as a Reader protecting a friend. Capero agreed—
Capero drowned her words with a loud guffaw. “Is that likely?” he demanded. “Allow the like of her to spy on my good customers?”
There were, of course, no other Readers there. A woman shouted, “Kill her! Show Aradia what we think of her spying on us!” Julia recognized Octavia, who ran the largest brothel in Zendi. Tinius, Octavia-as well as all the rich merchants crowded in here tonight? Galerio had been set up all right-but to get at Julia! To discredit the Readers, who had disrupted their cheating and confidence games ever since Lenardo and Aradia had brought hundreds of them to the city.
Until this moment, Julia hadn’t been afraid. Now, alone, she faced dozens of people who hated her-some of them with Adept powers! “Help!” she sent out to any nearby Reader. “Capero’s establishment! They want to kill me!”
Galerio kicked over the dice table, Mosca and Antonius adding their efforts.