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 hi 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, lif e 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 mel 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 ReadersNo. It would be so good to have daily contact with Torio and Master Clement, his dear friends… but he would miss Aradia and Wulfston. / am going to have -work for you, he had told Torio. 7 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 hi 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 hi Lenardo's childhood, but with the male academy gone from AdigiaYes, 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, 7 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 hi a shambles-clearly even the cook and his staff had finally joined hi the celebration last night. He found fruit and bread and met the bleary-eyed dairyman bringing hi 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 includes 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.'
