Julia said, “Aradia is still in the parlor, and Master Clement hasn’t left yet. We have time. Come on.”
“What happened to your Reader’s Oath?” asked Wicket.
“All I did was check that they’re still in a public room,” said Julia.“Come on-and be quiet. Devasin will be in the anteroom leading to the corridor.”
She took Wicket out the low-silled window into the courtyard, and into Lenardo and Aradia’s room, where her father’s clothes were kept ready in his chest. His red Master Reader’s cloak lay on top, with several white, black-edged tunics beneath it. Once those were lifted out, though, there was a mixture of Aventine and savage-style clothing, all in the finest materials, much of it sumptuously embroidered.
Julia pulled out a yellow tunic with gold embroidery, a belt of gold velvet strands with bits of gold glittering in it, and a cloak of the same dark gold color as the belt.
Wicket nodded, but reached for another cloak, shiny green satin with gold embroidery on the edges.
Julia shook her head; that cloak went over a plain green tunic, and even so Lenardo thought it too gaudy.
Over the yellow tunic…
But Wicket was nodding vigorously, so Julia shrugged, and carefully repacked everything else into the chest.
When they were back in her room, Julia protested, “There’s too much glitter with both the tunic and cloak, and the different colors-”
“-are exactly what a man would wear who’s got rich by his own wits,” Wicket explained, holding the tunic up in front of him. “Hmm. Yer father’s a tall ‘un, isn’t he?”
“Yes, he is. You’ll have to belt it up, and let the cloak fall in long loops. Oh-what about shoes?”
“I’ve got some sandals with me. I’ll shine ‘em up tonight. Thanks, Julia. These will do just fine.” He went to the door, opened it a crack, and peered out cautiously.
“Wicket,” said Julia, “there is no one in the passageway.”
He turned, flashed her a grin, and was gone.
A little after midnight, Julia was awakened by terrified screams from the next room.
Throwing on her robe, she dashed into the hall, Reading nothing to cause Aradia to scream so.
In fact, she could not remember ever hearing Aradia scream, could imagine only one thing that might bring on such a reaction: Lenardo’s death.
Heart pounding, Julia tore through the anteroom. The door to Aradia’s room was open, and Devasin knelt on the edge of Aradia’s bed, trying to touch the sleeping woman’s forehead to waken her. Aradia was tossing in agony.
“Wake up, my lady!” Devasin pleaded. “It’s only a dream!”
“She’s killing me!” Aradia shouted. “Help me! Lenardo, help me!”
Devasin grasped Aradia’s shoulders, and Julia pressed her fingers firmly to Aradia’s forehead, the only safe way to waken an Adept. The violet eyes opened, glazed. “She’s killing me!” Aradia sobbed. “My baby is trying to kill me!”
Julia drew back in horror, but Devasin took Aradia into her arms like a mother comforting a child. “
Twas only a dream, my lady. Your baby is well.” She glanced over Aradia’s shoulder at Julia, who took the cue to Read the fetus. Everything was normal; the child in Aradia’s womb slept peacefully despite her mother’s nightmare.
“The baby is fine, Aradia,” Julia said.
“She’s stealing my powers!” Aradia said.
“No, they’re just weakened by pregnancy,” Julia assured her, trying to hide her distress at seeing the strong, steady Aradia reduced to quivering terror. With Lenardo and Wulfston gone, who would protect Zendi?
But she joined her efforts to Devasin’s, then encouraged Aradia to Read the baby with her, to see it developing normally and sleeping peacefully. Finally, between them, Julia and Devasin got Aradia calmed and back to sleep.
When they left Aradia’s room, Julia asked Devasin, “Has this happened before?”
“Just once,” Devasin replied. But Julia Read worry in Devasin that went beyond concern over a few nightmares.
“There’s more to it than that,” said Julia. “Tell me.”
“I don’t know if…”
“Would you tell my father?”
“He already knows.”
“But he isn’t here, Devasin. So I have to help Aradia for him. If I don’t have all the facts, how can I help her?”
“Oh, young mistress, I don’t know if anyone can help her! It’s happening all over again, just as it did with her mother-and nothing Nerius could do would save her!”
Nerius, Aradia’s father. And the mother who was never mentioned.
“Tell me,” said Julia.
“I was a child,” said Devasin. “My mother was Tarina’s maid. “
“Tarina?”
“Aradia’s mother. Afterward, Nerius would not allow her name to be spoken. He loved her very much-as your father loves Aradia. They risked their powers to have a child. Nerius recovered, but Tarina had a difficult pregnancy even with his help. As her powers waned, she became more and more demanding, more angry at the child.
“But then Aradia was born, such a beautiful little girl. Everyone thought Tarina would recover, and love the child.
“Only… Tarinas Adept powers did not return. Months passed, and she became more and more distraught. She imagined that Aradia showed Adept talent. A baby less than a year old! Tarina started saying Aradia had stolen her powers.
“Nerius tried to help Tarina, but she became more and more hysterical. My mother stayed with her constantly, because Tarina would fly into rages and threaten to… take back the powers Aradia had stolen, was the way she put it.
“Finally, Nerius would not allow Tarina to see Aradia unless he was there. And when Aradia was two, she really did start to show Adept powers.”
“At two years old!”
“Yes. Nerius was delighted-but it set Tarina off worse than ever. I remember her rage, and my mother trying to calm her. Aradia was walking by then, but a closed door kept her in her nursery because she could not reach the latch. Then one day, when she had been left napping, she found that she could unlatch the door with Adept power, and went exploring… into Tarina’s room. I was there, with my mother and Tarina. Mother was teaching me embroidery. The door opened.
“Tarina’s chair faced the door. When she saw the child, she snatched up a heavy candlestick to set the girl on fire. The flame blew out, though, so she tried to crush Aradia’s skull with the base.
“My mother grasped her arm to stop her-and Tarina hit my mother instead.
“I screamed. Tarina picked up the bloody candlestick and went for Aradia again, shouting that she would kill her and take her powers back.
“By this time Aradia was screaming and crying. I don’t know how Mother remained conscious, but when I tried to help her, she said, ‘Save the baby!’ and I turned to try.
“Tarina lifted the candlestick to crush Aradia. When I tried to pick up the child, Tarina hit my shoulder, knocking me aside, and was about to swing at Aradia when the candle lit again. That was Aradia.
“Tarina screamed, swung-and the candlestick exploded in her hand.
“That was Nerius, running to see what all the noise was.
“Tarina shouted. ‘You want her! You don’t want me!’ and ran out of the room.
“Nerius picked up Aradia, made sure she was all right, then came over and healed Mother. Then he healed my shoulder. And all that time, no one thought of Tarina. None of us will ever know whether Nerius knew what she was doing. She ran to the end of the hall, took a knife from the display, and plunged it into her heart. Tarina died by her own hand.”
A tear trickled down Devasin’s cheek. “And now Aradia dreams she is like her mother. May they be only dreams! She never says such things when she is awake. But the dreams frighten me, Julia-almost as much as they frighten Aradia.”
The next day, Aradia seemed normal. Julia was back to her lessons, with Aradia and Decius in the morning, Master Clement in the afternoon. In the days between lessons, Decius had been practicing harmless Adept tricks, and had learned to move small objects. “The only trouble is,” he explained with a laugh, “moving a stylus from one side of my writing table to the other sent me to sleep for an hour. It’s much simpler just to pick it up by hand!”