'It is not always possible for us to follow the customs of the Aventine Empire,' Lenardo said. 'We must seek the right way for Readers to live here, child.'
'Julia,' said Aradia, 'won't you be my daughter, too?'
'Lenardo,' Wulfston added, 'This makes us brothers. Julia, I'll be your uncle. Can you stand so much new family all at once?'
Lenardo hoped that Aradia did not Read that Julia was uncertain about her new mother but delighted to be suddenly related to Wulfston. Searching carefully for the right words, the girl said, 'I think it will be very nice. Are you going to have a real wedding, like Arkus and Josa?'
'Indeed,' said Lenardo, 'and you shall witness for me.'
'When does the great event take place?' Wulfston asked.
'As soon as possible,' Lenardo said, but Aradia objected.
'We've just had a festival, and we must draw up all the agreements between us. Better to fight it out now than after other parties are involved.'
'But Aradia,' Lenardo began.
Wulfston let out a burst of laughter. 'Oh, you are off to a fine start. You haven't even agreed on a date?'
'Midwinter,' said Aradia. 'It will be a marvelous excuse for a party at the dreariest time of year.'
'Surely we can make it sooner,' said Lenardo.
//We're discussing only the formal ceremony,// Aradia told him without thinking.
Julia gasped, and Aradia's shock of realization of what she'd done rang through all three Readers.
The only one unaffected, Wulfston, said, 'Julia, when two people fall in love, it's normal for them to want to marry as soon as possible.'
'But she- But they-'
Wulfston realized then that Julia had Read something to upset her. 'What has happened? Lenardo? Aradia?'
Julia, remembering that nonReaders sometimes projected a thought at a Reader without saying it aloud, stared at Aradia. //Can you Read me?// she demanded.
There was a long moment's suspense before Aradia admitted it. //Yes, Julia, I can.//
Wulfston looked from the girl to the woman and back, then to Lenardo. 'Are they-'
Lenardo nodded. 'Aradia has learned to Read.'
'By the gods,' Wulfston whispered, the Aventine oath of his childhood slipping out in his astonishment. Then he grinned. 'I was right. I never dared to believe it, but I've suspected all along. It is all the same power-the difference is in how you are trained. Aradia, how did you learn?'
She blushed. 'I don't really know how I learned,' she replied finally. 'One morning I just woke up Reading.'
'I can't explain it, either,' Lenardo added.
'What about you?' Wulfston demanded. 'Have you mastered Adept powers now?'
'Not in the slightest,' Lenardo replied. 'Wulfston, I think Aradia inherited both abilities from her father.'
'Of course she did. But I ought to have both powers, too, even if Nerius was my father only by adoption.'
'Wulfston,' said Lenardo, 'none of us, not Aradia in all her studies, not I in my years at the Academy, ever heard of one person exhibiting both Reading and Adept powers… except Nerius.'
'Nerius?' Wulfston frowned. 'Nerius was no Reader.'
'He never consciously used the power. But when you brought me to Castle Nerius while he lay in a coma, he Read me. You remember after we healed him, when he first saw me, he claimed to have seen me in his nightmares?' Aradia mused, 'We thought he simply put Lenardo's face to his faceless fears, but apparently he had actually Read him. And feared him. He tried to kill him.'
'What?' asked Wulfston. 'I don't recall.'
'You were with me,' said Lenardo. 'It was the day you brought me back to Castle Nerius after I had escaped. Nerius had one of his convulsive attacks. Most of his blows went wild, but two were definitely aimed at me. One killed my horse. Then, inside the castle, he flung a spear at me.'
'But it would have hit me,' Wulfston protested, 'if you hadn't knocked me out of the way. Nerius would never have harmed me, Lenardo. I was as much his son as Aradia was his daughter.'
'I know that. He didn't know you were there, Wulfston. Adepts cannot be Read. Nerius was completely untrained as a Reader. Because I am a Reader, he could focus on me, but you and Aradia were unReadable, invisible to him.'
Wulfston pondered that. 'The first day you were well, then, Nerius also tried to hurt you. Do you remember? He flung a shield across the room at you.'
Aradia said, her throat tight, 'I think my father sacrificed his life to save mine. The night of the battle, he knocked me out of the way and took that last thunderbolt himself. How could he know, if he had not Read it? Lenardo, you could not relay as fast as the attacks were coming.'
He nodded. 'Nerius would have done anything to protect you, Aradia. Wulfston-'
'I'm going to learn to Read, Lenardo,' the black man said firmly. 'If you won't teach me, Julia will, and I will teach her Adept powers.'
Both Lenardo and Aradia Read Julia's eager response. The desire for power was as strong in the child as ever.
Remembering that Julia could Read her, Aradia held her response in control and then went blank to Reading, poised to use her Adept powers.
In moments, the atmosphere in the room had changed from happy family camaraderie to armed truce. Julia moved from her seat next to Lenardo to Wulfston's side, saying, 'I'm still learning, but I'll teach you everything I know, Lord Wulfston.'
'And I will teach you all I can, child,' he replied, becoming as unReadable as Aradia, poised for attack.
Lenardo felt hollow. The new^s that was supposed to have united them all instead had brother faced off against sister, daughter against father.
'Wulfston,' said Lenardo, fully open to Reading so that Julia would know he spoke the truth, 'of course I will teach you, or try to. What I said was not an excuse to refuse but an attempt to explain why I have been unable to learn Adept abilities. But you are free to teach Julia all she can learn. Aradia will teach her, too. We are sworn allies, not enemies.'
Wulfston looked to Aradia. 'Sister, does Lenardo speak for you?'
'In this matter, yes. But he speaks truly. He has not mastered even the simplest Adept functions, and he has sincerely tried.'
'But we will try further,' Lenardo said encouragingly. His soothing was not entirely successful; although his guests maintained courtesy, they continued on guard, and Julia felt betrayed.
He tried to make up to the child that day by allowing her to touch, admitting, 'You were right, Julia. There's no harm in touching.'
But as he tucked her into bed that night, Julia hugged him for a moment and then said, 'You've prepared a room for Lord Wulfston.'
'Yes. Josa's father brought her furniture as a wedding present, remember? Arkus and Josa have lent me enough to furnish a room for our guest.'
'But no room for Aradia, and her pavilion's gone. Father, can't you see what she's doing? My mother used men that way-'
'Hush! This is not at all the same thing, Julia. You mustn't be jealous. Just because I love Aradia, that doesn't mean I love you any less. I'm your father now, and I always will be. Soon Aradia will be your mother. You must learn to love her, Julia.'
'She doesn't want to be my mother,' the girl said sullenly.
'Of course she does. Now you go to sleep, and tomorrow you and Aradia spend some time together, get to know each other.'
There were tears in Julia's eyes. 'She's chained your mind and stolen your powers. You don't believe me now, but you'll find out.'
Julia was not Reading. Lenardo knew that she feared Aradia might be eavesdropping, and let it go. He could understand the child's jealousy and uncertainty. He would have to prove to her that she could still rely on him. But Aradia's task would be even more difficult.
