Savage Empire

Feeling someone staring at him, Lenardo looked down the table to find Helmuth, the old man who had been with the rescue party that first brought him to Aradia. You wear Aradia's sign. Even though Lenardo was Reading only superficial emotions, the old man's suspicious thought came through clearly. Deciding to brazen it out, Lenardo smiled at him and said, "I have not had the chance to thank you for your kindness. I do not believe I have been told your name."

"Helmuth."

"Well, thank you, Helmuth. I owe a great deal to you, and Wulfston, and Aradia. I must find a way to repay all of you."

As he hoped, the man seemed to accept that. After all, Lenardo was accepted into the company at Aradia's table.

Not exactly at Aradia's table, as she was seated in the ornate chair behind the permanent table, with the family of the dead woman. Trestle tables had been added down either side of the great hall to accommodate the large number of guests. Lenardo suspected that Wulfston belonged at the high table but had taken his present seat to keep an eye on Lenardo. He soon found out why.

The red-haired woman was looking him over. "They're afraid of Adepts in the empire, I hear. Was that why you was exiled, a fine-looking man like you?"

"Lenardo has… unusual abilities," put in Wulfston. "I'd not advise you to try your wiles on him, Jenna."

"Someday a woman will tempt you, me black beauty." she replied.

"Probably so," said Wulfston, unperturbed, "but not you, unless all you are seeking is Wulfston's wedding right!"

That puzzling exchange, which was greeted with raucous laughter, reminded Lenardo of the fact that Aradia claimed virginity was necessary to keep her powers intact, yet her father was supposedly a more powerful Adept than she was. The next day, he asked Wulfston about it.

"Aren't you more likely to have Readers born of Readers than of non-Readers?" Wulfston asked curiously.

The two men were in Wulfston's room. Lenardo under orders from Aradia to keep the young Adept occupied in conversation so he would rest physically. He didn't mind, as he had many questions to ask-except that Wulfston had the annoying habit of answering questions with new questions.

"Yes," Lenardo told him, "but the very best Readers remain celibate, virgin, so as never to impair their powers. I take it you, as well as Aradia, are 'virgin-sworn,' as she puts it, for the same reason?"

"True. However, both of us owe it to future generations to pass on our powers. As a man, I can wait for a long time yet, and of course a man's part in the production of a child is quickly done. Nerius regained almost all his abilities, by maintaining celibacy once Aradia was conceived." He gave a sad smile. "He says it took over two years to regain the strength he has now, and that he can-could- sense distinct limitations. I just hope that one day I might attain the power Nerius had before his illness!"

"And Aradia?"

"Her powers were approaching her father's when he fell ill. It is possible she will exceed his abilities, but she owes her people an heir. One day she will have to sacrifice her powers, unless she can find a younger Adept her people will accept as her successor."

"You?" suggested Lenardo.

"I am only five years younger than Aradia. Perhaps my child one day, once our lands are safe from attack. If it destroyed my abilities permanently, I would do it to save Aradia from her mother's fate."

"Aradia's mother… died in childbirth?"

"No. Terrible as that is, it would have been preferable." As Wulfston did not seem to be inclined to continue, Lenardo suggested, "If it's a secret-"

"No. Everyone knows. Aradia's mother was an Adept, of course-two Adepts always produce an Adept child. Is that true for Readers?"

"Yes, although we test all children because sometimes Readers are born in families where both parents are non-Readers."

"You test every single child?"

"Of course. Readers are precious, and all are academy-trained to their highest level of ability."

"That is something to consider-a system for reaching and training every Adept…"

Lenardo noticed that Wulfston was only too eager to change the subject. "What happened to Aradia's mother?" he prompted.

"A woman's part in bearing a child is long and difficult. She could not regain her powers after her child was born. When Aradia was two, she killed herself."

"How terrible for Aradia," said Lenardo. "They say-servants' gossip-that she claimed Aradia stole her powers and that she tried to kill the child."

"Her own baby? Surely she was mad.".

"Aradia was already showing Adept abilities."

"At two years old?"

Wulfston nodded. "There are legends of great Adepts who emerged from the womb and proceeded to heal their mothers, but those are fancy, I think. Two is early but not impossible. I was three."

"You don't really believe a child could steal her mother's powers?"