“Were,” corrected Pyrrhus. “Or,” sudden feral hope, “Portia’s cohorts?”
“All dead,” said Master Clement. “And Lenardo and I have restructured the Council of Masters so that there can never be an inner circle like Portia’s again. It is no longer possible to hide from the majority of Masters what the central few are doing-and the central few change yearly.”
“Then who could have done such a thing? It would take several Master Readers to control as large a group of people as that. How could they not be Read?”
“The same way whatever Adepts are causing whirlwinds and hailstorms are not being Read,” said Aradia. “They have to be Readers, too-or have Readers working with them. And our best Readers can find no trace of their existence!”
“They are misusing their powers,” Master Clement said, frustration clear in his voice. “We know that weakens them! And even Lenardo cannot project thoughts or feelings at just one person; such thoughts would be Read by any Reader nearby.”
“There would have to be a number of Readers working together, to control so many people at once,”
added Aradia. “I cannot believe our Readers would not detect them.”
Master Clement nodded grimly. “We are dealing with something that is theoretically impossible.”
“No,” said Pyrrhus. “We are dealing with somebody crafty enough to make it look impossible-someone who wants to terrify you.”
“Well, he’s certainly doing a good job!” observed Wicket.
Pyrrhus gave an icy smile. ” I could do it” he said.
“Eh?” Wicket asked.
“‘I didn’t do it,” he added, “but I know how it was done.” This time the smile was smugly self-satisfied.
“Well,” said Wicket, “are you waiting for applause, or are you going to tell us?”
“Please tell us,” Aradia added.
“It would take at least a Magister Reader, although we’re probably dealing with a Master,” said Pyrrhus.
“A single person could do it, using one of the techniques taught at Gaeta. Implanting a command, with something to key a later action.”
“Of course!” said Master Clement, relief clear in his voice. But he did not spoil Pyrrhus’ explanation.
Seeing that neither Aradia nor Wicket understood, Pyrrhus continued, “Sometimes a person with mental illness is violent, toward others or himself. It may take months or years for Readers to cure him-and in the meantime the person would have to be locked up to protect himself or others, were it not for implanted commands. Usually it is simply ‘Whenever you hear a key word, stop what you are doing and become completely calm.’ And then some uncommon word is given as the key, and the person can return to his family between treatments. If he becomes violent or self-destructive, anyone can stop him by shouting the key word.”
“Ingenious,” said Aradia. “By the way, a Lord Adept can also implant commands in people’s minds; we are not necessarily dealing with a Reader. But either way, we could not Read anyone driving that roomful of people, because nobody was driving them at the time they became violent.”
She nodded, working it out. “I see how it was done. Ahead of time, each one had the command implanted to go to Capero’s this evening, and try to kill Julia when she was revealed as a Reader. The ones who were confused and afraid,” she added, “were people who just happened to go to Capero’s tonight, not part of the plan-but they were outnumbered.”
“It’s not quite that simple,” said Master Clement. “An implanted command that goes strongly against a person’s feelings and beliefs doesn’t work very well. Sometimes not at all. Sometimes it sends the person into shock because what he believes opposes the command he must obey.”
“Ah, but the people at Capero’s tonight were gamblers, brothel owners, merchants who resent Readers keeping their measurements and accounts honest,” said Aradia.
She smiled at Pyrrhus. “That’s twice in one evening you have served me well-first rescuing Julia, and now assuring us that we are not dealing with some supernatural force. I will reward you with gold, of course-in fact, I would like to reward you with a house, if you will stay in Zendi and work for me.”
“Work for you?”
“First, help me find this renegade Reader or Adept who is attacking our people. It may be someone with both powers, but if so he will have one strongly, one only weakly. “
“Why is that?’ Pyrrhus asked.
“The two powers are the same,” said Master Clement, “and yet they are in conflict. Usually a person becomes proficient in the talent which manifests earlier, and develops the other weakly or not at all. Using Adept powers depletes the body, which reduces Reading ability. That is why, at my age, I see no reason to attempt to waken my Adept powers.”
Pyrrhus’ lip curled into a sneer as he asked, “You really think you have Adept powers?”
“Oh, there is no doubt of the potential,” the Master Reader replied. “Except for the most minor talents, anyone who has one power has both. Aradia has just succeeded in awakening Adept powers in Decius, one of our young Magister candidates.”
Wicket was staring, wide-eyed. “But that means-”
Aradia could not help smiling at him. “Yes, Wicket, that’s what it means.”
Wicket jumped up, and thumped Pyrrhus so hard on the back he almost knocked the man over.
“Pyrrhus- that’s how you do it! How I did it tonight, after Julia told me what it was!”
Regaining his balance, Pyrrhus stared haughtily at his friend, who was practically dancing with joy. “Do what?”
“Always hit your mark. Never miss. Pyrrhus-you’re an Adept! Just like me!”
Pyrrhus shook his head in mock sorrow. “Wicket, I always feared that you would go mad one day.”
“Wicket is right, Pyrrhus,” said Aradia. “Both Master Clement and I Read what happened at Capero’s.
You used Adept power to control your weapons, and so did Wicket.”
For the first time, Aradia saw Pyrrhus at a loss for words. He stared first at her, then at Master Clement, then Wicket, went to the couch Wicket had vacated, and sat down as if he didn’t trust his legs to hold him. “It’s not possible,” he said finally.
“Of course it’s possible-in fact, it is a natural compensation for losing your ability to Read,” Aradia said.
“Compensation?” He nearly choked on the word. “For Reading? How can you Read at all and say that?”
“That’s not how I meant it, Pyrrhus,” she replied gently. “I meant that the body and mind compensate when any sense is taken away, the others becoming sharper. Certainly no blind nonReader would feel that more acute hearing makes up for lack of sight, but it is still nature’s way of attempting to do so.
When you lost the ability to Read, you naturally began to develop the other half of your power.”
“Then why didn’t I know it?” Pyrrhus asked.
“Because you continued to think of yourself as a Reader,” said Master Clement. He smiled. “Look at you. You still eat like a Reader, don’t you?”
“Why not?” Pyrrhus shrugged.
“Because,” said Aradia, “a Reader’s diet doesn’t give an Adept adequate nutrition. That’s why you’re too thin, and why you’ve never had enough power to manifest anything that could not supposedly be accomplished with a strong arm and a good eye. And of course you didn’t know you were an Adept.
What you believe determines what you can do.”
Master Clement added, “If you had known you have Adept powers, and been trained to use them efficiently, you would not have been injured in the marketplace.”
“True,” said Aradia. “When you saw the vat of oil about to spill on the child, you would have directed the flow another way, protecting both the child and yourself. You’ll soon learn to accomplish what you want with the least expenditure of energy. Even Lords Adept do so, since we prefer not to spend half our lives in recovery sleep.” A new thought occurred to her. “Pyrrhus, you were a Master Reader in all but final testing and ceremony.”