Captives

The watchman replied, 'A new report, my lord-look!'

Melissa followed the direction the man pointed, and «saw» from a hilltop beyond the fields a light flash on, off, on again for a longer time, then off… slowly it dawned on her that it was a code. This was the way the savages, without Readers to transmit their messages, told what was happening at a distance.

Melissa was Reading Rolf, for all three savages spoke in their own language, which she did not know at all. Rolf was the easiest to Read-but he could not see the flashing light and hence could not interpret the code. As Wulfston read it aloud, though, Rolf assimilated it-and so did Melissa. 'Enemy moved three miles inland, ten miles south of nearest community. Still marching northward.'

Wulfston took Rolf's hands in his. 'Here we are,' he said, laying the boy's left hand on the map where the castle was marked, 'and here is where our enemy is now.' He laid Rolf's right hand on the area described in the watcher's message. Then he turned to speak to the other man. 'Glyn, acknowledge that message. We're going to try to let foul weather encourage them to make camp. I don't want them to reach any of our villages if we can stop them.'

The watchman picked up a lantern, turned it toward the hillside where the other light had shone, and began to open and close the cover in rhythm. Melissa turned her attention to Wulfston and Rolf-but both were concentrating now, and had become unReadable.

She studied the map, then allowed herself to «move» southward, farther than she had ever been from her body before. As she had been taught, she noted landmarks, refusing to be afraid. By the time she reached the marching Aventine army, storm clouds were already gathering overhead. Could the Adepts work at that distance? The clouds compacted until the air could no longer hold their moisture, and a steady rain began to fall. Although the army was spread out over several miles, the rain was centered on them… it moved with them as they marched, turning the sandy earth to mud, sucking at their feet.

As long as they kept moving, none of the Readers with the army could leave their bodies; they would not notice Melissa unless she deliberately contacted them. They were all Reading, of course, so she easily located them, spread through the line of march, a Reader with every unit. At the back of the army she found the medical personnel-the women Melissa had been traveling with. With relief, she met the motherly mind of the woman who cared for the trainees at Gaeta. //Magister Phoebe!//

Surprise, relief, and welcome. //Melissa! Can it be? Where are you, child? We thought you had drowned!//

//Melissa! Are you all right?// from the other women, her colleagues and friends.

//I'm fine, alive and-if I can stay out of my body long enough-relatively safe.//

//Did anyone else survive? We felt Celia die-//

//No,// she replied sadly, //only nonReaders survived, except for me.//

Other Readers, those she knew only from having touched minds with them on the sea journey, fixed on her. //You were with Magister Jason,// interrupted Master Amicus. //He was badly injured-do you know if he survived?//

//No… he died,// she told him, unable to hide the sting of her grief. She felt the Master's suspicion-out of body, she should not feel such strong emotion, and while it was natural for a student to grieve at the loss of a teacher and mentor, she knew her feelings were too far beyond that to hide. //He died rather than be captured,// she told them. //The savages might have been able to save his life, but he would not risk letting them twist his mind.//

//If they hadn't already.// This from Master Corus. //And you, Melissa-where are you?//

Two Master Readers were focused on her-she could never get away with a lie. Why did she feel she ought to lie? //I am… in the castle of one of the savage lords,// she replied-and instantly knew why she should not have said it.

//Traitor!// Master Amicus projected. //You felt it, Masters-she would have lied to us, but realized we would detect it. Jason corrupted her, as we feared!//

//No!// How could they distrust her? //No one corrupted me! Listen to me! Lord Wulfston is alone here-his allies will take hours, perhaps days, to come to his aid. They're sending the storm to slow you, so they will have time to gather their armies-//

//Listen to yourself!// Master Corus cut off her attempt to give them vital information. //First you say there is only one Adept to fight us, and then you say they are causing the rain. As to gathering an army-when has the savage army not been prepared and ready? You have been sent to deceive us, woman.//

//Foolish child,// said Master Amicus. //If there were Adepts close enough to cause the rain, do you not think Master Readers could detect them?//

//If there were Adepts close enough to cause the rain,// added Master Corus, //they would already have attacked.//

//Maybe… maybe they can only manipulate something like clouds at this distance,// Melissa said uncertainly. //I don't know-I'm only telling you what I saw here. I'm trying to help you! Masters, ask me under Oath of Truth.//

//While you are out of your body? What would that prove?// asked Master Corus.

//I did not believe it.// Great sadness from Master Florian, one of Melissa's teachers at Gaeta. //I thought Portia was grown overly suspicious in her old age-but now I see she was right. Melissa, how could you turn against your own people like this?//

//I haven't turned. Master Florian, make them believe me! There is one Lord Adept in the castle, and a boy who can control the weather. He's blind, but-//

//Oh, child, they have twisted your mind indeed if you think Torio can control the weather,// said Master Florian.

//Torio? No-he is working for Lord Wulfston as a Reader. This other boy, Rolf-//

//Could they confuse her that much in one day?// asked Master Corus.

//It must have been Jason,// Master Florian said miserably. //I trusted him completely-I never understood why Portia suspected him. Now I see what he did to this girl, a fellow Reader-his student. By the gods, I was wrong. Portia knew what she was about, making Jason chief navigator for the fleet. He had to lead us to the enemy-and with so many other Readers-better Readers-in the fleet, there was no way for him to warn them.//

//They killed him for betraying them,// said Master Corus.

//No-// Melissa began. Torio had been broadcasting to the Readers in the fleet to turn the ships, not telling Wulfston where a particular Reader was. Then she realized the implications of what Master Florian had just revealed. //Portia made Jason chief navigator-to test him?//

//Maybe he did warn them,// mused Master Amicus. //He was on deck-and so was this girl, on her ship. They may have meant to jump ship and join the savages. Jason may be guiding them against us at this very moment.//

//No!// Melissa protested. //No-Jason never did anything wrong. He died because Portia put him in that lead ship! She killed him!//

//We must make camp,// said Master Corus, and began to broadcast that to the other Readers.

//No!// Melissa told them. //Keep moving. They want you to stop! They'll have time to gather their army-//

//Ignore Melissa,// Master Amicus told the Readers. //She has betrayed us. Our enemies want us tired out when we meet. Make camp. The Readers will keep watch.//

Melissa could not believe what had happened, her consciousness drifted above the Aventine army making camp in the mud while warm, dry pallets were prepared for the Master Readers so they could leave their bodies.

If they discovered that Melissa had told the truth, what would that mean to them? To people who could callously send a fellow Reader to his death because they distrusted him…

The Council of Masters had killed Jason. They-Portia foremost, but all of them who had agreed to her plan-had placed him in the forefront of that fleet expecting him to betray himself or die. But he had remained loyal. And what had it gotten him? Death, while those who were supposed to be his friends and protectors gleefully assumed his guilt.

Oh, Jason!

If only the Readers were not turning on one another, she seemed to hear his mental voice. You will be suspect, he had told her. They will seek to render you harmless. He had meant that they would marry her off, to blunt her powers. How innocent he had been-he would never have dreamed that, without evidence, they would call her traitor. But he had known they