And Astra knew, knew as surely as if Portia had confessed it aloud, that the mother was her mother-
that Portia had made Cassandra see Astra, her newborn infant, dead-so Portia could take the child, daughter of two strong Readers, and raise her to her own uses!
My mother didn’t desert me! Portia betrayed her- betrayed me! My mother loved me, but Portia made her Read me as dead!
Just then, “Drink,” Portia told the bride and groom, proffering the goblet.
Astra looked up, fearing to find that Portia had Read her discovery, but the Master of Masters was too caught up in what she was doing to notice.
Astra Read within herself to gain control, waiting until her pounding heart stilled. When she dared Read outward again, she refused to join in the rapport until she made sure she would not give away her thoughts. Her anger bubbled up, threatening to focus on Portia’s hypocrisy. She had to calm down!
There was nothing she could do here-nothing she could do at all until the wedding was over and she had time to think and plan.
Seeking to fix her mind elsewhere, she Read Tressa and Stephano directly in front of her. Stephano had just drunk the spiced wine, and was handing the goblet to Tressa, who drank deeply. Astra started to Read Tressa, found her still caught in the rapport Portia had created, and shied away, her Reading uncontrolled, everything flowing in on her as she fought to keep her roiling emotions out of the rapport.
Tressa, reaching for Stephanos hands, dropped the wine goblet. It still contained some wine, and Astra stepped back by reflex as it splashed toward her white dress.
And as she focused gratefully on the wine, her wild powers Read it, not just wine and spices-but beneath, something else in the wine-
To calm herself, she let curiosity take hold, her Reading powers fixed on the wine pooling on the marble floor. The analytical technique she had learned at Gaeta took over-she recognized the alcohol, cinnamon, a tiny touch of mandragora, and-
Entranced, Astra took apart every ingredient, not realizing, until a murmur and a movement of everyone in the temple recalled her to herself, that Portia had ended the beautiful marriage rapport.
At that very moment, Astra found the last ingredient in the wine, and looked up sharply in horror, to find Portia’s eyes on her even as her rebellious mind was telling her something even more terrible than Portia’s treachery to one young woman long ago-it was treachery to all the Readers the Master of Masters ordered married off, set on the Path of the Dark Moon by diminishing their powers with-
White lotus!
Chapter Four
Astra fled the temple, fled the Academy grounds, fled from every lie in her life.
Fled from Portia.
In her emotional state, her powers were open to the thoughts of everyone she passed. But she could tolerate that, almost ignore it, as her mind scanned for Readers watching her, following her out of body.
Nothing so far, but-
Only after she was many streets away from the temple did she allow herself to stop and catch her breath.
This is madness! If Portia’s the one in the wrong, why am I the one who’s running away?
“Because you’re a coward, Astra,” she muttered to herself, “just as you told Tressa. Portia has the power to destroy you, and now you ve given her a reason!”
There had to be someplace to hide, even from the Master of Masters, if only long enough to make a plan…
Zanos! He’d know what to do. But he’s got so much to worry about right now, fighting that death match-
Of course! The arena! The last place a Reader would go, especially when blood sports were in progress!
As she approached her destination, the young Reader scanned the arena’s medical room. She was not surprised to find a male Magister Reader languishing there, closed to Reading to shut out the carnage going on above him. With any luck, his mind would stay closed, unable to Read any alert Portia might send out in an attempt to find Astra.
She focused her powers on the gladiators’ preparation rooms. There was Zanos, getting ready for his match. It had to be coming up soon. She would have to wait until the match was over.
If he survived-
But he has to win! He just has to. I need his help… I heed him.
The gates to the arena were closed, the seats filled to capacity. The tumultuous roar of the crowd was the loudest Astra had ever heard. She closed herself to Reading as best she could, concentrating on what to do next. Composing herself, she approached the men guarding the gate. “Medical emergency,” she said briskly. “Open the gates, please.”
Once admitted, she moved quickly to the ramp to the underground area. Above her, the excitement of the crowd was a great tent of mental energy, sheltering her-
An icy touch stabbed at her mind.
Portia!
“You cannot elude me so easily, child,” the Master of Masters told her.
“I’m not a child!” Astra countered, pressing her back against the tunnel wall and shutting her eyes in concentration.
“Nevertheless, I know what’s best for you. Come home, Astra. There is no place for you outside the Academy.”
“No! Let me alone!”
The icy touch became a pain, attacking her concentration. Portia was trying to bend her to her will, control her mind by projecting images of pain and fear.
Astra rejected them-but they became more in-
tense. She had no choice; she let herself slip down to the tunnel floor and broke free of the pain by leaving her body.
The bloodlust of the arena crowd was now a familiar horror, but there was a power in this collection of emotions that cried out to her frustration and fear. If she could control it, turn it against Portia-
“Astra, listen to me,” Portia demanded. “You don’t understand what you Read in the marriage cup-”
III Read more than just white lotus, Portia. I Read you-today, and when I was delirious in the infirmary.” The crowd’s fury brought out her own indignation, and her wild talent suddenly told her, “You Read me as I lay close to death, and I reminded you of Cassandra, my mother. You remembered the day of my birth, while she was still weak, her powers blunted-how you deceived her into thinking I was dead!”
Portia gave no reply, for none was necessary-Astra could Read past her shields now, Read everything she was thinking, every conspiracy-
Every murder.
Astra’s self-loathing at the way she had turned away from knowing what Portia was doing turned to anger against the Master of Masters.
“Why, Portia? Why did you try to make me part of your schemes?”
“You know why,” the old woman replied. “Child of two strong Masters-you are something unheard of in the history of the Reader system. At the peak of your powers, you could have become the strongest Master Reader who ever lived!”
“And you planned to use me to continue control over the Readers,” Astra realized. “You tried to make me your protege, but your plan had one flaw. You couldn’t take Cassandra’s place as my mother because you didn’t love me. You don’t know how to love-truly love-anybody!”
It was all there in Portia’s mind, open to Astra’s powers. The Master of Masters had been born into the Emperor’s family, the only person of royal lineage ever to develop a Reader’s powers. Once those powers were discovered, how anxious that family had been to pack her off to the Academy, away from the power they intrigued for.
Portia could not show love to Astra because it had never been shown to her.
But Astra had no time for sympathy. Knowing the past did not change the present, and the present could very well end in Astra’s death-for she now knew too much.