could fire the gas with hardly an effort. //Aradia, Aradia!// he projected, but it was no use. Concentrating her Adept powers, she was completely blind to Reading, and she was leading a small band toward Southgate. Within minutes she would be in range to be killed in the explosion of the gas. If Lenardo did not set it off, though, she would be one Adept against four-certain death even with her increased powers.
Lenardo remained in the front ranks of the retreating army, calling on every side for a fire talent, Reading Aradia approaching her doom. No time! No time to find anyone else.
Torio reached him, Reading with him, saying, 'I can't find a fire talent, either. It won't work, Master Lenardo.'
And Galen easily focused on the two Readers together and began describing their location to Hjon.
//Galen,// Torio gasped. //Galen, it's Torio. We were friends.//
//If you're Lenardo's friend, you're not mine. You chose the wrong side, Torio. My friends have the power, not yours.//
'I have it,' Lenardo said suddenly, desperately.
'Have what?' Torio asked in bewilderment.
'The power to fire the gas. If Aradia can Read, why can't I do Adept tricks? Fire is easy, she says. Easiest of all-'
He stopped, knelt, and concentrated, Reading the pocket of gas, trying to visualize it flaming. His head began to hurt, but nothing happened. Aradia was only a few streets away. He couldn't warn her.
He couldn't warn her because she couldn't Read and do Adept tricks at the same time. He had to work blind- Read the spot-stop Reading-concentrate-heat-fire- flame-willThe earth beneath him heaved and buckled, and then Lenardo was slammed to the ground on a wave of compression. He tried to Read what was happening but couldn't. Blind as he had never been since earliest childhood, he knew only the physical pain of the air knocked from his lungs, the roar of the explosion, the screams, the choking dust, grit in his eyes keeping him from seeing as Torio rolled him off his cloak and covered both of them with it to shelter them from the debris raining out of the sky.
The noise and the feel of matter falling on them went on and on as Lenardo's horror built. He could not Read. He was trapped within his physical senses… forever? On a wave of physical and emotional exhaustion, he passed out.
Lenardo woke to the ground shivering beneath him. He had no sense of passing time and for an instant thought it the explosion of another pocket of marsh gas. But it was a tremor, not a jolt, and he felt at once that he was no longer tangled with Torio on the rocky ground but alone in a comfortable bed.
A soft weight dropped beside him on the bed, and Aradia's hand touched his forehead. 'Lenardo! Lenardo, can you Read? Who's doing it this time?'
The tremor was already dying away as he tried to Read. He could. No vast range, but he could find the center of this slight quake and be thoroughly certain that no Adept was causing it.
'Just an aftershock,' he said to reassure Aradia, opening his eyes to meet anxiety in hers.
She smiled in relief. 'I can't Read well enough. I thought…' Her normal calm returned. 'No, we have killed all of our enemies this time. You did it, Lenardo. You saved us..And we found all the bodies. No one escaped.' 'Galen?' 'I'm sorry.'
He sighed, too tired to feel genuine grief. His body felt like lead. Before he could allow himself to sleep again, he asked, 'Julia? Torio?'
'They're both fine. They were of great help, though Torio was guarding you like some fierce animal when I finally reached you. He told me what you did.' Her violet eyes glowed in triumph. 'I was right, Lenardo. Now nothing can stop us.'
He didn't have the strength to argue. It would have to wait until he was fully recovered. But he managed a sardonic smile. 'It certainly stopped me.'
She laughed. 'You did what every new Adept does: expended far too much energy on a simple task. You'll learn. Sleep now.' 'If I'm needed-'
'You're not. It's all over. All the wounded are recovered or in healing sleep. The dead will wait for the funeral tomorrow. Now that I know you will recover, I can sleep as well.'
'Recover? I wasn't hurt.'
'You couldn't Read. Torio was terrified for you. I'll tell him that his fears were groundless. Stop fighting sleep, Lenardo. Your people are safe.'
There was something else nagging at the back of his mind, but it would not come clear before he sank once more into unconsciousness.
The next time he woke, it was dawn, and Aradia lay beside him, her head on his chest, her pale hair shimmering in the morning light.
Aside from being ravenously hungry, Lenardo felt normal. He tried Reading, easily locating Julia asleep in her room, Torio in one nearby, Wulfston hi the suite on the other side of the courtyard, and Cook already preparing breakfast in the kitchen.
Outside, the forum was the same as on any morning, with a few people stirring, drawing water from the fountain. All the buildings, though, were as crowded as they bad been at the festival. His people would not go home until their familiar rituals had been completed.
Where Southgate had been, there was a huge crater. No need to barricade that entry point now. Repairs had already been effected at Eastgate, although surely after the abysmal failure of an alliance of four Adepts to take the city, there would be no further attacks.
I did it, he thought contentedly, and knew himself worthy to be Lord of the Land. Worthy in powers. Now I must be worthy in devotion. I will never desert my people again.
His powers. Would they be passed on to another generation? At last he Read Aradia. He had been wrong. She was not pregnant.
She woke and looked at him hi puzzlement. 'What's wrong?'
'You are not carrying my child.'
'No. You knew that.'.
'I was so ready to run from you that I did not Read you thoroughly before I left, Aradia. It was unforgivable.'
'You thought I lied to you?'
'No, I forgot how limited your Reading is and took your word. You could have been wrong, though you were not.'
She sat up. 'Lenardo, we must attend to our duties. Before we face the others, though, I must ask your forgiveness.'
'And I yours,' he replied.
She took his hand. 'I want your child. I will risk my powers willingly. But I am glad I am not pregnant now.' She squeezed his hand tightly. 'Read the truth, please! I was glad I dared use my powers to the fullest in the battle just past and neither have them impaired by pregnancy nor fear that I might harm our child. You know that is true, Lenardo.'
'Yes.'
'But there is a more important reason to me. If I carried your child now, I would never know if it had been conceived in love or in deceit. It could have happened the day I tricked you, Lenardo. It may seem foolish to you, but I am very glad that I will never have to wonder if a child of ours was conceived against your will.'
'Never fear,' he said tenderly, drawing her into his arms and kissing her. Then he said, 'We are still going to disagree, you know.'
'I know,' she replied, 'but we'll do it openly. No more deceit. That goes for you, too, Lenardo.'
'I deeply regret the one time I sought to deceive you.'
'More than once. I was your liege lady, and you chose Julia as your heir without consulting me. My father would have considered that reason enough for anything I cared to do to you. My brother did not.'
'Wulfston?'
'When I told him why you left-' she swallowed hard. 'He is much like you, open and direct. He was horrified, not at my taking action but at my method. He is right, Lenardo: I should have told you plainly of my disapproval. From now on, I shall.'
'I'm sorry, Aradia. I'm afraid I wasn't fully aware of what I had done. I intended only to make Julia my
