"I will."
Then Torio rode on, Reading only ahead of him, not behind. He rode openly through the streets of the city, greeted by everyone who saw him. Lenardo Read no suspicion. Everyone knew that something was afoot, and so the arrival of a better Reader than their three regulars was no surprise.
Alerted by Secundus, the tower guards were waiting to take Torio's horse and let him mount the tower, where he had access to the pulley system that drew up the immense bar holding the well-fortified gates in place. But there were two guards in the gate tower and others on the walls nearby who could turn and cast spears or shoot arrows at the tower. Torio had not chosen an easy task.
To Lenardo's surprise, Torio greeted Secundus with a hug, but then he realized that the boy dared act no differently now from any other time when he might meet an old friend after several months' separation.
Then Secundus was asking, "Who is with Lenardo, Torio? We were told another Reader has turned traitor and they've stolen a child."
"I don't know. Another Reader and a child was all I was told, too."
Even though Torio was a better Reader than Secundus, the older man had known Torio since he entered the Academy. Lenardo doubted that the boy could lie to him for long. He was approaching the outskirts of Adigia now, with Julia still sleeping in his arms. He sat her up, but she merely gave a murmur of annoyance and tried to snuggle back into his arms.
"Julia, you must wake up," he told her, and touched her on the forehead, between the eyes, the way one woke an Adept. It was the way people accustomed to Adepts also woke Lenardo, and it always brought him wide awake at once. It worked with Julia, too.
"Where are we?" she asked. "Where's Torio?" "On the tower. He's going to try to open the gates for us. Julia, I want you to ride into Adigia alone." " But Father-" "Hush! They're looking for two Readers and a child, together. Torio's already fooled them. Now you ride on ahead of me. Don't Read. I'll be Reading you. There are guards along the way, so try to ride close to a family group. Let the guards think you're with them. Work your way to the gate tower. You can see it over the houses straight ahead."
"Yes, Father. But what about you?" "If I'm taken, you and Torio try to escape. If you want to come back to rescue me, don't do it until you have Aradia and Wulfston to help you. The important thing right now is to get Readers to them in Zendi-if not all of us, then as many as we can. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Father," she said bleakly. She hugged him and then got on her own horse and rode ahead.
Julia had no problem escaping the notice of the guards. She followed an old woman for a while and then seemed to be part of a family of peddlers. She was well on her way to the gate tower by the time Lenardo entered town. He arranged his cloak to disguise his long, lean silhouette and recalled that the many people of Adigia who knew him had never seen him with a beard. He Read no recognition, although several guards scrutinized him as he passed. He rode boldly forward and Read Torio Reading him, carefully keeping it a visual Reading without recognition, waiting for the moment when Lenardo and Julia would be near the gates.
"There he is," Torio shouted. "It's Lenardo!" In a moment's shock at Torio's betrayal, Lenardo almost did not react when the guards at the gate began running at him. Then Torio grabbed one of the guards on the tower crying, "Go get him!" and shoving him down the tower stairs-as if by accident in his excitement causing the man to fall but in reality very deliberately tripping him.
That guard screamed in pain as his leg twisted under him and broke. His fellow started down the stairs to his aid, and Torio leaped to the mechanism to raise the bar from the gates.
"Torio, what are you doing?" cried Secundus, and that brought the second guard back to the top of the tower, sword in hand. Torio turned, drawing his weapon, and closed with the guard as Secundus retreated in shock.
In broad daylight, Torio took advantage of his disconcerting blind eyes. He had learned years ago to appear to be "looking" at a person he was conversing with, but when he fought, he let his sightless eyes drift where they would, causing confusion in anyone used to seeking advantage by looking into an opponent's face. Torio's skill with a sword was well beyond Lenardo's. He outclassed the guardsman easily.
Meanwhile, Lenardo fought with the guards below in the narrow gateway, Julia beside him, both knowing that time was against them as more guards came running in the direction of the struggle. They would be surrounded and taken if Torio didn't get those gates open…
Torio backed his opponent against the tower railing. With sword at his throat, he pushed the guard over. Secundus, unarmed, nonetheless lunged at Torio, who cried, "Let me go, Secundus. I don't want to hurt you."
"You're a traitor," the man cried, trying to grasp Torio's sword arm.
Between a gasp and a sob, Torio said, "Not by my choice. You don't understand what is happening. I'm sorry." He swung his arm high, bringing the sword hilt down on Secundus's head, knocking him unconscious.
Now Torio turned back to the pulleys, straining to turn the wheel meant to be turned by two men. As the bar creaked and began to rise slowly from its brackets, the guards on the walls, who had been looking into the melee by the gate and trying to decide where to shoot, suddenly realized that someone on the tower was raising the bar. A shower of arrows rained about Torio. Miraculously, none hit home. He ducked down and tried to turn the wheel from there, but he lacked leverage. Reading the archers, he stood, drawing their fire, and then he ducked. While they drew new arrows from their quivers, he gave the wheel one more turn. The bar hung free above its brackets. By their own weight, the massive gates creaked outward a handspan. Lenardo and Julia spurred their horses, surging toward the guards to drive them against the gates, shoving.
The mighty bar was now dangling by its ropes just over the guards' heads.
Torio climbed out atop the gate, shielded behind the pulley mechanism from the rain pf arrows, and with a swift swing of his sword-cut through the ropes. The bar fell on the guardsmen, and those it didn't hit were knocked over like toy soldiers by those it did. The gates swung wide open. Torio clung giddily to his perch as Lenardo and Julia struggled over bar and bodies. Lenardo swerved to ride directly under Torio, shouting, "Jump!"
The boy did, landing behind Lenardo on his horse, clutching for a hold, finding it. And then they were riding madly for safety as spears and arrows filled the air about them.
A shattering burst of pain, a single scream, and then Torio's dead weight slumped forward against Lenardo, an arrow through his body.
Chapter Eight
Lenardo dared not stop. Behind them, the guards left alive and uninjured were gathering for pursuit on horseback. Torio had fainted from the pain, but he was alive.
The arrow had gone through the boy's left shoulder, narrowly missing the top of his lung. Still he might bleed to death or fall off the horse before they could ride beyond pursuit. Lenardo clutched at Torio's arms, aggravating the wound but keeping the boy in place as he spurred the horse forward. Now they were out of range of the bowmen on the walls, but mounted guards were pouring through the gateway. Did I bring him with me only to have him die?
The brief stretch of smooth road meant that Lenardo could hold the horse steady while he tried to waken Torio. //Keep going,// he told Julia, who had slowed to the pace of the doubly burdened horse. //Ride ahead. Get help.//
The child did as she was told, fumbling in her saddlebag for something. Lenardo had no time to concentrate on her. The guards were gaining. There were woods ahead; they could try to hide, but with more than thirty men, the guards could spread out and comb the woods easily. Lenardo could never hang on to Torio during a ride over such rough terrain, and so he rode determinedly straight ahead, glad to come to the rutted, uneven part of the road, where his Reading could guide the horse to sure footing while the guards had to go by whatever they could see. The uneven pace, though, jarred Torio, increasing the damage the arrow was doing. Pain brought Torio semiconscious, and he clung to Lenardo with what strength he had.