"Master Lenardo hardly never-ever-punishes nobody," said Julia.
"Yet there is order in his lands, Julia. You grow up to be, just like him, and someday you will be a great ruler, too."
Lenardo was finding the role of "great ruler" as awkward as an ill-fitting garment. Alone with Wulfston, and later Lilith, as cool and placid as ever in her blue traveling gown, he felt comfortable, at home among equals. But on display before his people, formally greeting his guests, he felt like a child playing a game and doing it badly.
Aradia was the last to arrive, in the greatest splendor, all in white-by some Adept power kept free of the dust of the road-and wearing her crown of twisted gold.
//Oh, isn't she beautiful!! was Julia's reaction. //She looks like the queen of all the world.//
But Aradia, too, shed her formality the moment they were away from the crowd, hugging Lilith and Lenardo and then throwing herself into Wulfston's arms. "How I've missed you, little brother. Oh, how fine you look-a true prince." She turned but remained standing with one arm about Wulfston's waist. "Lenardo, you've done wonders. And what audacity, to hold the first celebration when you had the worst conditions to overcome."
"We've made a good start," he replied. "I hope you're willing to put up with some lack of elegance if not discomfort. In all this city, there were not four complete chairs, but by cobbling together some pieces, I've managed so that we can all sit down together."
Lilith said, "The pavilions are a charming idea. Quite proper, if not the usual accommodations one receives in a city."
"You can thank Wulfston and Helmuth for them."
As they sat down, Julia hovered near Lenardo, staring in awe at Aradia. She had been presented to give her curtsy in the forum, but now Aradia said, "Your apprentice, Lenardo-what a beautiful child… and a Reader."
"She was almost killed for revealing her ability, even after I was ruling here."
"Yes," said Aradia. "When you wrote me about it, I realized that people still had their old prejudices. I sent out a decree that no child who showed Reading talent was to be harmed, upon pain of death. If we find any, will you train them, Lenardo?"
"I'll have to," he said. "Until we make peace with the empire, there's no one else to do it."
"Of course I sent out the same decree," said Wulfston.
"And I," said Lilith, "but we have found none."
"In all the population of Zendi," said Lenardo, "Julia is the only Reader I've discovered, and there were empire citizens trapped here when Drakonius took the city twenty-five years ago. In the empire, about one person in ten has some degree of Reading ability. Perhaps one in ten has some Adept talent, but only a few, like yourselves, have the full array of powers. I think over many generations, people carrying Adept powers in the empire have been killed off, while out here those who bear the Reading strain were killed. Both are clearly hereditary. I don't think you will find many Readers, because the strain has almost been killed off."
"What would happen," asked Julia, "if a Reader and an Adept had a baby? Maybe the child would have both powers." She paused thoughtfully. "Lord Wulfston, will you marry me?"
"How old did you say you are, Julia?"
"Eight."
"Ask me again in ten years."
But when the laughter had faded, Aradia said, "How nice it would be if we were all Readers. Letters are not the same as being together. I think Reading would be much better, almost the same as really meeting."
"It is the same," said Lenardo. "Better than-" He cut off, wishing that he could recall the words, for it was clear from the faces of the three Adepts that they understood: Better than really being with people who cannot Read.
"Then Julia is an even greater blessing to you than I realized," Aradia said tightly. "Have you been terribly lonely among us, Lenardo?"
"No, I haven't," he replied honestly. "I expected to be. Lack of contact with other Readers should be the worst part of exile, but I have found I can make friends with nonReaders, very close and dear friends. Aradia, the fact is that ever since I met you-and Wulfston-I may have been angry, frustrated, fearful… but the one thing I haven't been is lonely. I have missed you, though. I keep feeling our separation is temporary, when I know that from now on we will meet only infrequently." "Perhaps not," Aradia said thoughtfully. "What are you plotting, Aradia?" Wulfston asked. "Suppose the four of us were more than allies? Between us, we hold the largest area under one rule outside the Aventine Empire."
"But we are not under one rule," Lilith pointed out. "We could be," Aradia replied. "We could form a central government, pool our resources, and be safe from any upstart, even one with the power of a Drakonius or a Nerius."
"But under whose rule would that central government exist?" Wulfston asked. "A beast with two heads tears itself apart. A beast with/owr heads-"
"I don't mean something like the Aventine Empire," Aradia protested. "Not a hereditary ruler. Certainly no such foolishness as a senate elected by the common people. No, I'm talking about a natural government by those with power, a government of Lords Adept… and Readers." "You have not answered Wulfston's objection," Lilith observed. "The four of us get on as friends and allies, but if we pooled our lands and attempted to govern as a body, we would soon quarrel over laws, projects, whose people were getting the most favors. Wulfston is right. It would tear us apart, Aradia."
"Obviously," said Aradia, "someone would have to be superior to the others, to decide when all could not agree. The strongest Adept-"
"Excellent, sister," said Wulfston. "I shall work diligently for the next few years, for by the time you form this government, I may well be the strongest Adept."
Sensing anger building and fearing any disagreement that might hinder his plan to attempt a treaty with the empire, Lenardo broke in, carefully keeping his voice at that pitch of total rationality that indicates the proposal of something completely absurd. "No, you are both wrong. Obviously, a Reader ought to head this new government. Only a Reader can truly know what the people want and need."
The three Adepts stared, taking him seriously for a moment. Then Julia chimed in, "The best Reader, and that's me! I have Reading powers Master Lenardo doesn't."
The tension broke. There was laughter, albeit slightly uneasy, and Aradia dropped the subject. However, Lenardo perceived something brewing beneath her calm surface even as she joined enthusiastically in the festival.
Zendi was a huge fair for the next two days. There were music, games, wrestling contests, footraces-and prizes of ribbons and banners carrying the scarlet dragon.
The activity was spread throughout the city, but the center was the forum. In the afternoon light, acrobats and dancers performed for Lenardo and his guests, but after the feast in the evening, a man with a lute came forward, offering to sing.
Lenardo had left the entertainment up to Helmuth, and so he never knew quite what to expect. What he did not expect was the story of how he had come to rule, made into a song that incorporated the basic facts but somehow made Lenardo the hero, relegating the Adepts to minor roles. It continued with how he had cleverly eluded each attack on his life-an invulnerable lord.