But if you can find leaders who understand that striving for the good of their people is what keeps them strong, those are the lords who will aid you in your cause to rid your land of a tyrant.”
Sukuru rose, and bowed to Wulfston. “We will heed your advice, most excellent Lord. Now”-he gestured to one of his retainers, who had stood guard near the door to the great hall all through the meal-“let us present you with a wine of our country-a toast to our success in gaining from you the means to save our land!”
The man handed Sukuru an ornate vessel, slim and beautifully shaped, with two handles near the narrow mouth. This wine bottle could not sit on the table, for the bottom was pointed rather than flat. It appeared to be of fired clay, but it was painted in brilliant colors that flashed like jewels.
Once the wax seal had been broken all the wine had to be poured out. Everyone at the table received a generous portion. Sukuru raised his goblet. “To the defeat of Z’Nelia- and anything we must do to free our land from her evil!”
The wine was sweet, and heavily spiced; they would need no sweet to end their meal.
Suddenly Aradia, who was seated between Wulfston and Lenardo, leaned over and whispered in her brother’s ear, “Come to our room after dinner. Lenardo has Read something.”
Wulfston leaned forward to look at his sister’s husband, but Lenardo was taking a drink of wine.
Obviously he did not want their guests to know what he had discovered.
Wulfston took another swallow of wine and realized that the sweet spiciness was creating thirst more than quench-ing it. And he should drink no more wine; he’d had enough during all the toasts.
He deliberately set his cup aside, and signaled to his butler. “Get a dryer wine from the cellars,” he instructed, “and some fruit juice for me.”
“And for me,” Aradia put in. “I should not drink more wine tonight, either.”
Eager to know what Lenardo had found out-and frustrated at the knowledge that the Readers at his table already knew it-Wulfston wished he could cut the dinner short. But protocol demanded that sweets and fruits be offered, and then entertainment provided.
His impatience grew as his musicians performed, and he found himself yawning. He was bored with the music. Well, what was the good of being Lord of the Land if he couldn’t stop the entertainment when he grew tired of it?
At the end of a piece he rose. “Thank you for your fine music, my friends. Jareth, take them off and reward them suitably. Now, though, I know our guests are tired. My servants are available for anything you might need.”
They dispersed to their own rooms. Wulfston took off his crown and chains of office, as well as the heavily embroidered tabard he had worn for the state dinner. Wrapped in a light woolen robe against the castle’s chill, he felt much more comfortable. In fact almost too comfortable…
He was cold-cold and clammy. His head ached, and when he moved it hurt even more. Forcing his eyes open a slit, Wulfston groaned at the stab of pain from sunlight piercing his brain.
He lay still, calling up healing heat, and almost fell asleep again as it did its work. Finally, though, the poisons in his blood were purged, and he rose to his feet.
Although the sun was high in the sky, the castle was silent.
In the hallway the guard slumped against the wall, so deep in sleep that Wulfston had to touch him to be sure he wasn’t dead. The man woke at his touch, though; he had been put to sleep with Adept powers, not drugged.
“Go-wake the other guards and secure the castle!” Wulfston instructed, and hurried down the stairs.
We are wide open for attack!
In the great hall the board still sat with the crumb-laden cloth upon it. Most of the dishes had been cleared away, but the wine goblets stood at their place. Those where Sukuru and his people had sat were still full.
Whatever Lenardo had Read when Sukuru had handed out the wine had been a ruse-something to attract the attention of all the Readers, so that no one would think to Read the wine.
In the kitchen, Wulfston found the fire out, and Jareth sprawled on the floor. There was no sign of the musicians.
He touched his retainer, and the older man moaned softly as he tried to wake up. He probably drank more of the spiced wine than I did. Wulfston thought, and sent healing fire to cleanse the man’s blood.
Jareth slumped back to sleep.
As Wulfston turned away, his cook came running into the kitchen in her nightgown. “Oh, me lord! What’s happened? No one woke this morning-not one of the servants is up!”
“It’s not your fault,” he assured her. “Sukuru put everyone into Adept sleep. Make a big pot of strong tea, and start breakfast. Jareth should waken soon. Send him to wake up everyone at the dairy and the stables.”
Wulfston, meanwhile, dashed back up the stairs. As he expected, he found Sukuru’s room empty.
Foreboding in his heart, he knocked at the door to Lenardo and Aradia’s room. When there was no response, he opened the door, passed their servants sleeping soundly in the anteroom, and went into the inner chamber.
Aradia lay alone in the bed, her pale hair spread neatly across the pillow as if she had not moved all night long.
Wulfston touched her brow, letting healing power flow before he placed a fingertip gently between her eyes.
His sister blinked up at him. “Wulfston what-? Why have I slept so late?” She sat up, looking around.
“Where’s Lenardo?”
“Aradia, we were drugged,” Wulfston explained. “The wine Sukuru served us-”
“Drugged?!” Aradia’s naturally pale skin grew bone-white, and she clutched her arms across her abdomen. “The baby! Oh, Wulfston-get Lenardo to Read whether our baby’s been harmed!”
“I don’t know where he’s gone,” Wulfston replied.
“Aradia? Wulfston?” It was Julia’s voice at the door to the adjoining chamber.
“Julia, come in!” Aradia cried. “Can you Read where Lenardo is?”
“Not in the castle,” the girl replied at once. “What’s the matter?”
“Please,” Aradia told her, “Read the baby-see if she’s been poisoned.”
“Poisoned!” Julia’s eyes grew round with horror, but she laid a hand on Aradia’s only slightly swelling abdomen and concentrated. “No,” she said at last. “I can’t Read anything but a healthy baby, Aradia, and I’m sure Father will confirm that.”
“You don’t have a headache, Aradia,” Wulfston realized. “Your body instinctively protected your child.
You probably went directly into healing sleep and purged the poison from your blood at once. The drug knocked me out so completely that I couldn’t cleanse it away until I woke this morning.”
“I took only a small taste of the wine,” said Aradia. “But where is Lenardo?” she demanded.
“Wulfston-?”
“Our uninvited guests have gone,” he replied. “Perhaps he followed them. ” But he braced himself so that neither woman could Read him, knowing that if the drug had kept someone with Wulfston’s Adept powers unconscious all night, Lenardo would not have been the one to waken first.
Julia had taken on the abstract look of a Reader seeking something far away. “I can Read as far as the harbor,” she said, “and I can’t find Father anywhere.” Then she gasped, and her eyes focused on Wulfston’s face. “The ship! Wulfston, the ship is gone!”
Julia’s powers, while impressive for so young a Reader, could not extend far out to sea. So Wulfston went to waken Zanos and Astra, for Astra was a Magister Reader who would be taking the tests for the Master level someday soon. If necessary, she could leave her body to Read for the ship, a skill Julia was not quite old enough to begin learning.
By this time, Zanos and Astra had been wakened by their servants and had cleansed the effects of the drug from their own bodies. When Wulfston told them what had happened, Astra said, “You think they kidnapped Lenardo? Why would they do that?”