Dragonlord of the Savage Empire se-2 Read online

  The tension broke. There was laughter, albeit slightly uneasy, and Aradia dropped the subject. However, Lenardo perceived something brewing beneath her calm surface even as she joined enthusiastically in the festival.

  Zendi was a huge fair for the next two days. There were music, games, wrestling contests, footraces-and prizes of ribbons and banners carrying the scarlet dragon.

  The activity was spread throughout the city, but the center was the forum. In the afternoon light, acrobats and dancers performed for Lenardo and his guests, but after the feast in the evening, a man with a lute came forward, offering to sing.

  Lenardo had left the entertainment up to Helmuth, and so he never knew quite what to expect. What he did not expect was the story of how he had come to rule, made into a song that incorporated the basic facts but somehow made Lenardo the hero, relegating the Adepts to minor roles. It continued with how he had cleverly eluded each attack on his life-an invulnerable lord.

  Embarrassed, he tried to form an apology, but Wulfston said, “That’s how the story should go in your land, Lenardo. When you visit me, you’ll find that I defeated Drakonius single-handed, to hear my bards tell of it.”

  “It’s only right,” Aradia added, “that your people see you as a hero. It will ensure then-love and loyalty. Now reward your man before he makes up something scandalous about you, to an unforgettable tune!”

  The formal activities were over for the night, although people continued to sing and dance. When Wulfston took Lilith to join a group of dancers, Aradia asked, “Have you learned to dance yet, Lenardo?”

  “Somehow I haven’t found time for dancing lessons.”

  “Then let us sit and watch,” she said. “Perhaps when Lilith tires, Wulfston will dance with me. None of your men dare ask me.”

  “Ah, I can provide you with a partner. Ho! Arkus!” The young man was heading the small contingent guarding Lenardo and his guests. “Put off your sword and dance with the Lady Aradia. Surely partnering a great Lady Adept on the eve of your, wedding will bring you good fortune.”

  Arkus blushed but stripped off his sword, saying, “You do me great honor, my lady.”

  When they had gone, Lenardo sat watching the dancers in the flickering firelight. Lilith was attired in green tonight, Aradia in violet, soft summer garments with tight bodices and pleated skirts that swirled as they moved. Wulfston was clearly enjoying himself. Perhaps Lenardo should learn to dance.

  He Read Julia, dancing in a circle of little girls beyond the ring of adults. She greeted his intrusion with a merry laugh and continued concentrating on the steps she had just learned. //I’m not tired, Master Lenardo. Don’t send me to bed.//

  //No, no-go on dancing. I want to learn the steps.// He soon understood the basic pattern and then backed off to watch the differences in male and female movements in the adult dancers.

  When he felt secure, he walked around the circle to collect Julia from among the children. She was delighted but protested, “I’ve never danced with a man.”

  “Read. The other dancers will tell you what to do.”

  They entered the dance at a point mat allowed them to go through the pattern together before changing partners; by that time, Lenardo was feeling the flow of the steps in his own well-disciplined body. When the pattern brought him to Aradia, she said, “You certainly learn quickly.”

  “It helps to be able to Read the best dancers. Unfortunately, I cannot Read the best of all, my lady.”

  She laughed. “You’re learning to turn a neat compliment, too. I knew power would be good for you, Lenardo. You’re growing like a young tree that has reached the sunshine at last.”

  The dance called for her to pirouette and then raise her arms to clap her hands over her head while Lenardo watched, merely keeping rhythm. He had watched several other women perform the move, but Aradia did it with a twist of her hips that set her skirt to swirling, revealing her small feet in their neat slippers, ribbons tied about her delicate ankles. She turned faster, and her garment frothed just below her knees, revealing a swell of calf and enticing Lenardo to imagine what he would not Read.

  The women came to an abrupt halt, and Aradia’s skirts wrapped tightly about her body for one long instant, molding each feminine curve. Then it was over, her dress falling into its usual modest skimming of her figure as Lenardo nearly missed a step, wondering whether he could have imagined the seductive properties of the move that had seemed totally innocent when performed by other women.

  Now it was his turn to clap and stamp, the men’s version of this movement calling for more complicated footwork. He concentrated on that but slowly became aware of Aradia’s eyes on him and of the picture he presented.

  He was dressed appropriately for a savage lord, in a silk shirt and hose in muted gold, topped with a richly embroidered tabard that under normal conditions rode modestly down over his hips. The dance movements, though, pulled it up to reveal the full length of his legs, even the bottom curve of his buttocks.

  Again he realized that he had been through this figure half a dozen times without embarrassment. It was only under Aradia’s scrutiny that he became aware of being on display. She was watching him avidly. He felt himself blush, but he determinedly kept to the pace of the dance as the final move called for him to take Aradia in his arms. Her violet eyes laughed up at him, but she said nothing. They were both breathing heavily, but it was a strenuous dance. Nevertheless, Lenardo was acutely conscious of his hand on Aradia’s waist, her other hand in his, the peculiar intensity of performing the steps in unison.

  The dance separated them then, and Lenardo’s pulse returned to a rate that could be accounted for by the exercise. He went through the steps with two more women and was not aware of anything seductive in the moves. He performed his own steps without embarrassment, and by the time the music ended, he was quite certain that he had imagined the peculiar ambience of his dance with Aradia. Still, he was glad that she had finished the dance some distance away from him.

  Julia, breathless and weary, was happier than Lenardo had seen her since the day he had showed her the joy of touching another Reader’s mind.

  “You really should go to bed, child,” he told her.

  “I’m too excited to sleep. Can’t I stay up and watch?”

  “Lie down on the cushions where Arkus left his sword, and watch until you fall asleep. I’ll carry you to bed.”

  “If you’re going to hold me, wake me up for it.”

  He sighed. “Julia, when are you going to stop thinking you get something more from touching flesh than from touching minds?”

  “When it isn’t true,” she said. “But it is true,” she added. “You’d know that if you didn’t-” lie to yourself was in her mind, but she dared not speak the words.

  He smiled at her. “You have years of growing up, child. All I can tell you now is, wait and see.”

  The next day was crowded with formal events. Lenardo had nothing to present his guests that remotely approached the value of the gifts they had sent him, but he could grant them free travel across his lands. After that, he began the announcements of formal offices, from the minor village heads up to official appointments for Arkus and Helmuth, in each case handing out a reward along with the title.

  The last scheduled event was the wedding. Lenardo, however, had decided to add an event not on the schedule. Julia was sitting with the three Adepts, amusing herself through the long ceremony by Reading far and near, still trying to acquire the clear visual perception that was a young Reader’s first major hurdle. She was dressed all in yellow today, a beautiful child sitting carefully in her first grown-up dress with its tight bodice and skirt of narrow pleats. Lenardo had instructed the seamstress to pattern Julia’s outfit after the ones Aradia and Lilith wore, but his own was pure empire garb.

  All summer, Lenardo had worn the all-purpose empire hot-weather outfit: a knee-length tunic. Soon the cool, comfortable, easy-to-make garment had become standard male garb throughout Zendi. Hai
r and beards were trimmed in imitation of Lenardo’s shorter style, and the women put up then-hair and modeled their dresses on those of the women who had come with Lenardo from Aradia’s lands.

  His people were proud of Lenardo. He had surprised them today, for they had never seen the formal attire of a Master Reader before. He wore a white ankle-length tunic, banded and belted in black, and over it a floor-length robe of scarlet, the sleeves bias-cut and so wide that they almost touched the ground. When he lifted his hands, the wide sleeves fell from his wrists like wings. It was the first time he had ever worn the robes.

  Never in his life had he made so many decisions. The matter of clothing was trivial; his other decision for this occasion was not, and he had really made up his mind only last night, when he had carried Julia to bed. She had cuddled against him when he picked her up, and at home, when he laid her on her couch, she gave a small cry of pain. Wondering if she had made herself sick with excitement and rich food, he Read her and found her in the midst of a nightmare.

  She found her mother, but it was as if the woman could not see or hear her. Then Lenardo appeared. She saw him through the crowd, lost him, found him at the end of a long, narrow passage and tried to run to him. He walked on, out of sight. Again she found him, ran to him, tried to throw her arms around him, but he thrust her away, saying, “No, child. I am not your father.”

  “But I love you,” she sobbed.

  “Don’t touch me,” said Lenardo.

  Julia’s dream brought back a memory. For many months after he had come to the Academy, Torio had had nightmares in which he lost the power to Read and was plunged back into darkness. Both Lenardo and Master Clement had often had to hold the boy in the night until his fear subsided.

  Now Lenardo sat down on Julia’s couch and took her in his arms, telling her, //It’s all right. I’m here.//

  She didn’t wake, but her dream turned to bliss. Safe at last, she clung to him as he reassured her. //Sleep now. If you need me, call. I’ll be here for you.//

  Since he had made the commitment personally, he might as well make it publicly. A search through the treasure chests yielded the token he needed.

  Now, before his people gathered in the forum, he called, “Julia. Come here, child.”

  //???// But she came quickly, excitement stirring her blood.

  Lenardo turned her to face the crowd, his hands on her shoulders. “As most of you know, this is Julia, a Reader like myself. She is progressing well in the use of her gift and is learning the Readers’ Honor.”

  Julia glowed with happiness as the crowd cheered. Making public speeches, Lenardo was learning, was not very different from lecturing in a classroom and certainly got a more enthusiastic response.

  “So on this day of celebration and recognition, I want to make formal something that has been growing in my heart ever since this child came into my life. Here, before my people, before my allies and dearest friends, I ask you all to bear witness as I declare this child, Julia, to be my adopted daughter-”

  In the wild applause drowning out his words, Lenardo fastened the gold fillet he had found in the treasure chest across Julia’s brow. She reached up to touch it in disbelief, all thought suspended as the cheering died down and Lenardo finished triumphantly, “-hereafter to be known as Julia, daughter of Lenardo.”

  Turning Julia to face him, he knelt, feeling her restrain her longing to throw her arms about him, merely letting him kiss her formally on either cheek. Her warmth came instead in a joyous rush into his mind. //You do want me! You do love m’e!//

  //Yes, child, and now I am your father.//

  After that, the wedding was almost an anticlimax, although not, of course, for the principals. Josa was so happy, she looked positively beautiful, but Lenardo Read that Arkus, proudly paying the bride-price to Josa’s father, who had come in Aradia’s train for the occasion, had long since looked beyond Josa’s exterior to the spirit beneath. If he could not Read them, he might have thought the quiet, steadfast young woman and the boisterous soldier an unlikely match.

  The couple pledged to live, work, and rear children together, with their families as witness to the pledge. As Arkus had no family, Lenardo witnessed for him. Then, his official duties over, he joined his guests.

  Tomorrow morning Lilith would leave, as would most of the people who had piled into the city for the festival. Wulfston and Aradia planned to stay a few extra days, and after that Wulfston wanted Lenardo to come with him, “just for a couple of weeks, so I can start mining before bad weather sets in.”

  “I understand,” said Lenardo, “but there’s still so much to do here. Julia is a tremendous help, but-”

  “You said Julia can locate metal, didn’t you?” Aradia asked.

  “Yes, she’s good at that-one of the first skills she learned.”

  “Well, that’s all Wulfston needs. Why don’t you lend him your daughter?”

  “Aradia-” Wulfston protested, but she went right on.

  “You do trust Wulfston with Julia, don’t you?”

  “Of course I do. The worst he could do is spoil her to death. Actually, she could locate your iron ore as well as I could, Wulfston, but she’s had so little training-”

  “I understand,” said Wulfston. “You don’t want to go away from Julia, or send her away, either one-and I can’t blame you.”

  “However,” said Aradia, “you have made Wulfston a promise, Lenardo. If Julia can do the job and cannot do your work here in Zendi-”

  “I’ll talk to her,” said Lenardo. “You must remember that she’s only eight years old.”

  Julia immediately hated the idea, but she did not say so. He could feel her trying to Read what he wanted her to say, and he kept his own thoughts neutral.

  “It would be only for two weeks,” he said, “and you like Lord Wulfston. I must tell you, Julia, that with only two Readers, the time will quickly come when we must divide our skills.”

  “We already do,” she replied, “but I know you’re here in the city. I can’t Read even from here to Northgate. If I go into another land-”

  “I can Read that far, Julia. We’ll set a time, every day, when I will contact you. You can’t miss your lessons for two weeks, you know, whether you go or I do.”

  “You mean you’ll go if I don’t? Then what difference does it make?” She remained silent for a moment and then added, “One day I shall rule a land of my own. I must think of what is best for our people. I shall go and repay your debt to Lord Wulfston.” The grand lady disappeared, and the little girl was back. “Besides, he holds me on his lap, and he told me if I ever visit his land, he’ll take me to the sea. Have you ever seen the sea, Father?”

  “Yes, I have. I know you’ll have a good time, Julia, and I know you will Read accurately for Lord Wulfston. I’m proud of you.” He let the warmth of his feelings flow to her, and she responded in kind from across the room.

  Still, it was hard for Lenardo to watch Julia ride away with Wulfston a few days later.

  Aradia had not yet set her departure date and made no mention of one now. The white pavilion stood alone in the forum.

  “Poor Julia,” Lenardo said to her as they walked back to his house. “When I adopted her, I didn’t realize she would immediately inherit my debts.”

  “You did find yourself an heir rather quickly.”

  “Afy heir, perhaps,” he said as they entered his room, ‘ ‘but I did not name her heir to my lands because I cannot know how good a Reader she will become-and I’m not altogether certain a Reader ought to try to hold power this way.”

  “But you are doing beautifully,” Aradia protested. “Look at all you have done for your people in a single summer.”

  “In a totally artificial situation. Suppose you had given me land with different Lords Adept as neighbors? How long before they discovered that I am no Adept and that the most fearsome thing any of my people can do is start a few fires? How long do you think I would hold such lands?”

  “If
your Adept opponent has no Reader, he becomes a bear on a tether. You tell your minor Adepts where he is, and he goes up in flames, or his heart is stopped-and his lands are yours for the taking. Besides, you have powerful allies. No one would dare attack the alliance that defeated Drakonius. In fact, I have already received tentative overtures from two other lords to join our alliance.”

  “That’s wonderful, Aradia. You may yet achieve peace through all the lands of the Adepts.”

  “It’s not that simple. Remember Hron. He was my ally only until he thought Drakonius could defeat me.”

  “Unfortunately, nature does not always bestow the gifts of great power on those with great strength of will.”

  “You are thinking of Galen as well as Hron,” said Aradia. “Such people must be guided. Lenardo, my father always said that the greatest strength lay with those who; were right. Conversely, right lies with the strongest, and even the strength of a Drakonius is powerless against it. I ‘have a plan that will bring peace and prevent defections such as Hron’s.”

  “The empire of Adepts you mentioned earlier?” “Yes. Wulfston is right that a government must have one head, but he is wrong that the solution is many governments. Moreover, our alliance is not binding on our heirs. Wulfston and I do not even have heirs, while you and Lilith are each training a child whose potential is yet unknown.”

  “I didn’t know Lilith had an apprentice.” “Her son. He is eleven and probably the reason Lilith’s power is not equal to mine. She chose to have a child young, while her powers were still growing. There is a theory that a woman may thus regain most of her ability once her child is born. It seems to have worked for her, but of course no one will ever know what strength she might have had.”

  “And is her son an Adept?”

  “Of course. He will be a Lord Adept, but it will be ten years yet before we can begin to predict his mature powers.” Aradia rose abruptly and went to the window, looking out into the courtyard. With her back to Lenardo, she said, “I must think about an heir myself… and soon. Despite the danger to a woman, I want my own child, Lenardo.”