Chapter Five
Wulfston stared at the ring lying glittering on the palm of his hand. Lenardo dead? No!
Norgu swept on out the gate, to where his retinue awaited him.
Wulfston remained in the courtyard, stunned. He stumbled to the watering trough for the horses and sat on its edge, his legs weak with shock.
Traylo and Arlus came running from the castle, straight to Wulfston. Sensing his sorrow, they rubbed against him, whimpering. He slid the ring onto his right hand, then put one hand on the head of each dog.
Their dumb compassion broke through the burning lump in his throat, and his tears fell.
His friend was dead. Not only would he miss him savagely, but how could he face Aradia? Aradia, who even now carried Lenardo’s child?
He must go home at once. Aradia needed him more than ever. Lenardo’s child would need her uncle to help raise and educate her in her fathers stead. And I’ll do right by you, Lenardo, he promised silently, twisting the ring on his finger.
Determination shoved his grief aside. He washed his face in the watering trough, and considered his situation. For the first time, neither the burly guards nor the two female Seers attended him.
But of course they could Read him whenever they wanted to. At least he could make it more difficult for them by bracing to use Adept power. In fact, he realized, he had been doing so instinctively ever since Norgu had told him Lenardo was dead.
Now that the Karili had decided he was not their enemy, how much freedom did he have? He should be able just to walk out of the castle, past the guards at the gate… and into a land where he did not know the language, customs, geography-
He had no money and no friends, but he had responsibilities, Zanos and Astra, Huber, any sailors who had survived the shipwreck-he could not leave them stranded in Africa. First he must find all who had survived. Then they would have to barter their services for passage on a ship home.
Distasteful as it was, the quickest way to earn passage home was as mercenaries in the coming battle with the Savishnon. The Karili had not persuaded Norgu to aid them; they would probably welcome Wulfston’s powers joined with theirs:
Traylo and Arlus suddenly jumped to their feet. The dogs turned as Wulfston did, and ran merrily wagging their tails to greet the Princess Tadisha.
“Is the Assembly over so soon?” Wulfston asked, for he had been about to go back and offer his help in return for theirs in locating his friends.
“No. I asked Kamas to take my place,” she replied. “Lord Wulfston, I am sorry to hear of the death of your friend.”
So she had been spying with her Seeing powers-on Wulfston or on Norgu? Was her sympathy real or feigned? Cautiously, he opened to Reading, ready to reassert his defenses at the first sign of betrayal.
He Read only genuine sympathy as Tadisha said, “You called him your brother.”
“We were closer than many of blood kin. And now, because that fool Sukuru insisted on involving me in his power play, Lenardo is dead.”
At the renewal of his grief, Tadisha reached for his hands, saying, “It’s not your fault! If we hadn’t captured you… I’m so sorry.”
Her green eyes looked into his as she gripped his hands. Suddenly, painfully, the pressure increased. She gasped, “Norgu lied!”
“What?”
She dropped his left hand, and put both of hers around the ring on his right. “This ring-the man who wore it was alive when it was taken from him!”
He stared at her, too much afraid to suffer raw grief a second time to take hope from her words. “How do you know?”
“I have some power to See the history of objects. This ring is new, its history brief. There is much love in it, and no death.”
“Maybe Lenardo just wasn’t quite dead yet,” Wulfston said. “Why would Norgu lie about-?”
“Tell Wulfston I am both alive and well. So he will believe you, tell him-”
“Lenardo? Lenardo!”
The “voice” in his head was so much like Lenardo’s speaking voice that there could be no doubt.
“Wulfston? You can Read?!”
“Yes! Where are you?”
“Five days’ journey from you. I must be very careful, for I am guarded by Seers. They think I’ve fallen asleep in my chair, out of boredom.”
“Are you out of body?”
“No. That I dare not attempt. The Seers were instructed by Norgu-in my presence-that if they found my body unoccupied at any time, they were to move it. I don’t think you know-”
“I’ve been around Readers enough to have an idea,” Wulfston told him with a shudder.
Tadisha could no longer contain her astonishment. “Lord
Lenardo, you are Seeing from Norgu’s castle-without leaving your body?”
“Yes, Lady Tadisha-and I am trusting you not to betray me. Because I dared not leave my body, the only way I had to find Wulfston was to follow Norgu.”
“But five days’ journey-”
“Lenardo is the best Reader in the Savage Empire,” Wulfston told Tadisha impatiently. “Lenardo, I’ve been a prisoner here, but they’ve stopped drugging me. I think my powers will be back to normal soon.”
“Norgu hasn’t drugged me at all,” Lenardo told him. “It took nearly three days free of Sukuru’s potions before I felt completely myself. I’m well, but so far I’ve found no way to evade the Seers Norgu has surrounding me.”
“I’ll come to you,” Wulfston offered.
“Not alone,” Lenardo warned. “Norgu has powers.”
“He’s just a boy,” Wulfston protested. “I am a Lord Adept at the full strength of my powers.”
“I do not know the strength of your powers,” Tadisha put in, “but never has one so young as Norgu shown such power in Africa. And his army has many Seers and Movers, fully loyal to him-they will combine their powers against you, Lord Wulfston, if you attack.”
“If Lenardo can’t escape, and I can’t go to his rescue, then how am I to free him?”
“I have an idea,” said Tadisha. “Lord Wulfston, neither you nor the Savishnon are the primary reason the Assembly gathered here. It was Norgu’s demand that we capture you for him-as if he ruled us all.
The Karili fear what Norgu may be in a few years. Now, while he is still young, we must thwart his domination.”
“Trust her,” said Lenardo. “Tadisha is telling the truth. I will contact you again tomorrow, but I dare not remain in communication for long, lest the Seers guarding me discover it.”
And Lenardos presence was_gone.
Tadisha still held Wulfston’s hand. Now she gave it a tug. “Come back to the Assembly. They are arguing about what we should do now that we have three enemies.”
“Three?”
“The Savishnon first. We must complete our defenses,” she said with a gesture at the newly heightened walls, “for there is now no doubt of their attack. When I left, Mother was proposing riding out to meet them, trying to keep their destruction clear of our towns and villages.
“Second, Z’Nelia… perhaps. Until recently she kept to herself. We thought that whatever powers she had were destroyed or weakened in the battle that produced the Dead Lands. Then, a few months ago, her armies took the lands to the west of hers, on the other side of Norgu’s. Now we learn that she can control a volcano, or raise a storm from across the continent. If she attacked you, why should she not attack anyone else who appears to be a threat to her?”
“Why would she perceive the Karili as a threat?” Wulfston asked. “Sukuru forced me to come to Africa specifically to battle Z’Nelia, so I must appear a genuine menace.”
“Especially now that she has Seen you,” Tadisha agreed.
“What do you mean?”
“You are Zionae,” replied the Karili princess.
“I don’t know what tribe my ancestors came from,” Wulfston said, “but yes, I see resemblances in the few Zionae I’ve either met or Read-Seen.”