and Reading her at once to be sure she was real. She snuggled against him, drifting in contentment, one hand caressing his chest, fingers twining in the hair growing there.
'I love you,' he repeated, and when she turned her face up, he kissed her again.
'I knew we were meant for each other,' said Aradia. 'Mmm. I could stay here forever.'
'No one's going to chase us away.'
Aradia pulled herself up to kiss Lenardo's forehead, his eyes, even the tip of his nose. 'Can a Reader live on love?' she asked.
'I feel as if I could.'
'I fear I'm not so romantic,' she said in mock sadness. 'I'm hungry.'
Lenardo laughed. 'Shall I have supper served here?'
'No. I don't want to share this with anyone else,' She rose to her knees. 'I don't want to share you with anyone else, but I'll manage.'
Lenardo sat up, and they kissed again. He never wanted to stop touching her.
'Let's swim first,' said Aradia, 'then go and eat. And then-'
'And then we'll see what happens,' agreed Lenardo as they climbed to their feet. 'Oh, my-I'll have to put this room back in order first.'
He carried the rumpled sheets out to the linen hamper. When he returned with clean coverings, he found that Aradia had already replaced the mats on the tables. She stood back and watched as he flung the sheets open and each one settled, unwrinkled and perfectly aligned.
Then they swam, dressed, and returned to Lenardo's house for a huge meal. He found himself eating more than usual, even a piece of fish, although he had had eggs for lunch. He had become used to having meat on the table, as he frequently had guests. Tonight, though, the roast actually smelled good, and he didn't avoid looking at Aradia as she consumed great quantities of it. Love does the strangest things!
Although the day that had so changed Lenardo's life seemed long, it was far from over. They had not even been late to supper. Lenardo Read no suspicion of what had happened, although he was sure that his happiness was plain on his face.
For he was happy, strangely, ecstatically happy and unwilling to break the mood by giving thought to the future. Aradia had her own land to rule; soon she would return to Castle Nerius, and it might be months before he saw her again. But tonight, with Aradia falling asleep in his arms under the pale, milky glow of the white pavilion, all he could feel was that at last he knew contentment.
The next morning, not wanting to upset himself and thus Julia, Lenardo did not attempt to leave his body but simply Read Wulfston's castle. As he had located it yesterday, the contact was much easier today. The lesson went well, and when it was over, Julia said, //You're better today. I can tell.//
//Yes, Julia, much better.//
//I'm glad. I'm sorry I got so frightened.//
Ill understand,// Lenardo told her. Ill worry about you, too.// Sensing her desire to retain contact, he asked, //Has Lord Wulfston put you to work yet?//
Julia was only too delighted to give him a detailed account of her activities, which included Reading the foundations of Wulfston's castle so that the architect could take advantage of what was already there. She had made fast friends with the stableboy by warning him of a pebble caught in the hoof of Wulfston's gray mare. That would have earned the boy a beating from the head groom had the horse gone lame while the Lord of the Land was riding it. Relieved of her worry over Lenardo, Julia was clearly enjoying herself. He left her to convey his greetings to Wulfston and went about the day's business with a light heart.
It seemed to be one of Lenardo's flashes of premonition: he knew that Aradia was not going to leave him. No matter how often he told himself that it was wishful thinking, the conviction remained, and he moved in a cloud of good cheer.
Late in the morning, Aradia joined Lenardo at the repair of a burned-out warehouse. Scaffolding had been built across from the buildings on either side, and with great effort men were hoisting heavy roof beams up. Arkus and Josa stood ready to attempt to keep the beams from swinging out of control when the workmen tried to put them in place.
The newly married couple glowed with happiness.I know how you feel, thought Lenardo, but he was surprised a while later to discover Arkus studying him, putting his manner together with the rumor that he had spent the past two nights in Aradia's pavilion and dismissing the obvious conclusion as ridiculous.
Aradia told Arkus and Josa not to waste their strength and guided the beams into place herself. It didn't seem to tire her at all.
'I wasn't moving the beams,' she explained. 'The workmen were. I don't think there's ever been an Adept with the strength to move something that heavy straight up in the air. All I did was let the chance swinging of the beam allow it to go right into place.'
'Now wait,' said Lenardo. 'If you*were guiding the swinging of the beam, then chance was not operating.'
'Yes it was,' she insisted. 'There were all kinds of chances as to what the beam would do. I simply encouraged the chance that it would swing right into place.'
'I'll never learn to think like an Adept.'
'You should,' said Aradia. 'Your Adept talents could be doing much more with far less effort if you knew how to train them. Either Arkus or Josa could have done that job alone today, but the way they do it, trying to will the beam to go where they want it instead of letting it go in the right direction, they exhaust themselves.'
'I'm not sure I understand the distinction,' said Lenardo, 'but I hope you'll teach it to Arkus and Josa.'
'It's simply understanding nature,' Aradia explained. 'You see if there is any way what you want done would happen naturally, and then you let it happen that way. For example, you are in a valley, and a rock dislodges above you. If it comes bouncing down the hillside, what do you do?'
'Me? I run out of its path, hoping it doesn't bounce in my direction.'
'And if you were an Adept?'
'I suppose… I could guide the rock to bounce away from me. Oh, I see-I think. The chances that it would land right on me are not very high, anyway, so I shouldn't waste energy forcing it to the other end of the valley but just concentrate on having it not hit me.'
'Very good,' she said. 'Now, instead of a valley, you're in a canyon. A rock dislodges from the top and is falling straight down on you. As an Adept, what do you do?'
He thought a moment. 'My guess is that it would be almost impossible for an Adept to change the path of a heavy free-falling object. So I run out from under it.'
Aradia waited a moment and then said, 'Right, as far as you've gone. But a rock falling from such a height is going to bounce-'
'And I have to see that by chance it doesn't bounce right on me,' Lenardo said with a laugh. 'Would that I could, not that I have often been threatened by falling rocks.' Recalling the earthquake that had almost brought the Adigia Academy down on him, he added, 'Only once.' Then he said seriously, 'Will you stay here in Zendi long enough to teach some of this to Arkus and Josa and the others? I don't think they've had any formal training in using their talents.'
'People with a single talent usually don't. Wulfston and I worked with a few around Castle Nerius. My father's idea of Academies for Adepts, though-'
'Why not?' asked Lenardo.
She took his hand. 'Think a moment. Suppose you had a group of people with Adept talents, trained since childhood. Together, they might be as strong as a Lord Adept or even two or three. And if they were guided by a Reader…'
'That is the second time you have suggested it, Aradia.'
'Yes, for if it is on my mind, it will be on others'. Here, in your land, is where the first Academy must be, protected by the lands of your allies. Because you are not an Adept, it will not appear to those who might be your enemies as a preparation to mount an offensive. As time passes and you do not use your trained Adept talents to conquer, you will earn more trust.'
'Aradia,' he said in amazement.
'No, Lenardo, I have not lost my head along with my heart. You must be prepared to defend yourself at all times. Lilith, Wulfston, and I know you. We have fought side by side. Other allies will come.'
