Dragonlord of the Savage Empire

Meanwhile, though, very few people were worse off than they had been under Drakonius. The vast majority, for the first time in their lives, were adequately fed and housed, and they worked with a will in return. Lenardo saw Helmuth's wisdom in not denying their leisuretime pleasures.

He could have used a hundred Readers, and frequently longed to be rid of the one he had. It wasn't that he didn't like Julia; no one could help loving the child, and that was her undoing. Lenardo had little time to spend with her, and so he assigned Helmuth to teach her to read and write and Josa to teach her "whatever girls are supposed to know." As it turned out, the old man melted at Julia's smiles, while Josa, a plain girl of an age when her society warned her to prepare for a life of lonely spinsterhood (Twenty-jive this winter! Lenardo once caught her plaintive thought), took out her frustrated motherhood on the little girl, who, cleaned up and fed, her hair a halo of dark curls about her face, was turning into a pretty creature indeed.

Since Julia accepted Lenardo's authority and worked eagerly on her lessons in Reading, he did not at first realize that she was not performing equally well for her other teachers. Nor did any of them know the games she played when she was not under adult supervision.

A ruined city was a dangerous playground. The completely burnt-out sections were off limits, but Julia did not consider that the order applied to her. Unfortunately, she had little trouble persuading other children to join her in exploring and treasure hunting. They stole a rope and some digging tools and went into the abandoned northwest sector, where Julia Read a cache of coins at the bottom of an old well. They lowered Julia and two strong boys into the well to bring up the treasure, but inevitably their efforts caused the walls to start to collapse. When the three children above tried to haul up the rope, the terrified ones in the well all scrambled to be pulled up at once. Their thrashing dislodged more dirt to fall in on them, along with one of the girls hauling from above.

The other two children ran screaming for help, but long before they could reach the forum, Lenardo's mind was torn with, //Master Lenardo! My lord! Help!// and then a mental screech of panic, //Father! Father,// and a terrifying sense of suffocation.

"The gods help us," he cried, setting off at a run across the forum, Reading the whole picture before he had gone twenty paces.

Arkus loomed before him. "My lord-"

"Get men, ropes-follow me! Hurry!"

Arkus relayed the order and quickly caught up with Lenardo. When they encountered the two breathless children, Lenardo stopped only long enough to tell them: "We know. Help is on die way."

All the while, he was projecting to Julia, //I'm coming. Don't move,// for the struggles of the children threatened to bring more dirt down on them.

At the site, Lenardo Read all four children alive. The girl who had fallen in had a broken arm, but the other three were only scratched and bruised. They were half buried, though, and more wall threatened to cave in. "Where are those ropes?"

"They're coming, my lord," Arkus replied, peering cautiously into the depths of the well. "Who's down there?"

"Julia. Three other children. They know better!"

"Father?" a frightened voice called up to them.

"Hush! We're here. Keep still, all of you." Men arrived with ropes, followed by Josa, Helmuth, and Sandor.

"Lower me into the well-" Lenardo began. "No, my lord," said Arkus and Helmuth with one breath.

"The walls are collapsing. Someone must go down for them."

"We'll hold the walls," said Arkus. "Josa-" The young woman hurried to his side, taking his hands and saying fearfully, "But heavy earth-"

"We don't have to move it," Arkus replied, "just make it stay in place. My lord, tell us where to concentrate. Someone small should go down there."

"I'll go, sir," said one of Arkus' soldiers, a compactly built young man with muscular shoulders.

In moments, although it seemed to take forever, the men laid a beam across the top of the well so that the soldier could be lowered without hitting the walls.

Arkus and Josa, facing each other with hands joined, concentrated on keeping more dirt from falling on the children.

The injured girl was brought up, and Sandor had her asleep and healing before the soldier reached the bottom of the well again. He had to dig the others out. One by one, he slung the rope about the boys and sent them up while he freed Julia.

She had calmed down, her confidence in Lenardo overpowering. But I'm not doing anything, he thought. If only I had Adept powers. Dust drifted down from the side of the well, and he said, "The side opposite. This side's already fallen. Hold that side!"

Arkus and Josa paled, but the wall held. With agonizing slowness the soldier freed Julia, started to put the sling on her"No," Lenardo called. "Both of you-the walls could go at any moment."