“He’s clumsy,” Zanos put in. “Let’s suppose Melissa’s right, and we came along just at the time when Maldek had realized that forcing people to do his will wasn’t satisfying. Maye he really is trying to make friends with us-but all he can think to do is find out what we’re looking for, and give it to us.”
“He’s trying to buy your friendship,” said Dirdra.
“He’ll learn that only friendship gains friendship,” said Melissa. “Astra is right. We ought to assume that Maldek means well until he proves otherwise.”
Torio remained quiet through the exchange, for Dirdra expressed his feelings quite well, and he didn’t want to fight with Melissa.
She, however, knew what was on his mind, and confronted him after supper that night. “Why didn’t you say what you thought this afternoon?”
“What do you mean?”
“Torio, you may be able to hide your precise thoughts from me, but your feelings are on Dirdra’s side, against Maldek.”
“And why are you so much for him?” Torio asked. “Read what his people think about him- how they hid when we went into town, how Bryen distrusted his motives. What’s wrong with you, Melissa? Can’t you see that he’s putting on an act?”
“No, I don’t see that!” she exploded. “Why would he bother? Torio, the man is putting forth every effort to make up for what he did to us. He’s starting work at healing Kwinn in the morning. Maybe Dirdra will come to see that he’s trying-”
They were climbing the staircase leading to the upper hallway where their rooms were. From Zanos and Astra’s room came a sudden shout that stopped them in their tracks: “No! By Mawort, even if you are my brother, I’ll never again kill for sport!”
“But the money, Zanos-”
“Money? Is that all you think of, Bryen?”
“Money is power-if you don’t have any other kind. And even Maldek needs money.”
“Zanos, please-calm down,” came Astra’s voice.
“When my own brother wants to put me back in the arena? Bryen, you make your living out of other men’s pain! Don’t think I don’t understand- that’s how I bought my way out of slavery, and won the money to get out of the empire.” He let out a bitter laugh. “Only to lose it to a cheating, power-hungry gambler just like you!”
The door to the gladiator’s room slammed against the wall as Zanos burst out. He rushed by Torio and Melissa without even seeing them, Bryen following at a discreet distance.
Torio had seen Zanos do this before. Trained to violence, he had taught himself to walk away from a brewing fight before he hurt someone. Bryen didn’t know the risk he took by pursuing him.
But Astra did-and her mother Read her fear and exclaimed, “What kind of man have you married, Astra? How could a Reader live daily with such violence? And he has taught you to carry a sword-”
“Mother, I love Zanos. He won’t hurt Bryen- that’s why he walked away.”
“But he’s such a… brute. Oh, my daughter, if only I could have been there to guide you-”
“You broke your oath as much as I did mine!” said Astra. “Don’t you talk about guiding me-at least I knew about the corruption in the Academy system before I deserted it. Portia attacked me because I knew too much-because of this wild Reading talent I inherited from you and my father. Did it ever occur to you that the Academy rules which prevent Master Readers from having children are there to save children from growing up as I did, unable to control? It’s a wonder I didn’t go mad, and end my life at Gaeta with the healers tying knots in my mind!”
“So you chose to have your children with that- that animal?”
“Zanos is a good man-how can you call yourself a Reader and not recognize that?” And Astra also burst from the room, sailing past Torio and Melissa, who stared at each other and realized-
“He’s got us divided!” exclaimed Torio. “Maldek could not defeat us as a group-but he now has us separated, so he can-” Dread suspicion directed his Reading to the end of the hall. “Where’s Dirdra?”
Only Kwinn was in Dirdra’s room, curled up on the end of the bed, sound asleep. An Adept-induced sleep, obviously, or he would never have allowed Dirdra to leave him alone.
And in Maldek’s throne room, Dirdra stood before the Master Sorcerer, who was telling her, “I am truly sorry that I cannot restore Kwinn exactly as he was before-but I know you will teach him to be a good man, and love him as much as you always did.”
She regarded him with suspicion as she agreed, “That is true.”
“Dirdra, I am asking your forgiveness.”
Torio and Melissa took each other’s hands, not daring to make a mental comment or even let their feelings surface lest Maldek Read them spying. Could Melissa be right? This was one time Torio would be glad to be proved wrong.
“When I see my brother restored to the man he was-and when in his eyes I see a man’s intelligence-then, Master, I will forgive you with all my heart,” Dirdra said with her customary dignity.
Maldek smiled his most charming smile, stood, and descended the steps from his throne. He came to Dirdra-too close, daring her to retreat. She stood her ground, and he let his overpowering maleness overshadow her as he said, “I will be happy to accept it then. In the meantime, you may have friends, Dirdra, but in one way you are as lonely as I am-as Kwinn was for you while you were gone.”
He looked down into her eyes. “I kept him with me as a reminder of you-your image was the one thing always clear in his mind.” He put his hands on her shoulders, ignoring the slight increase in the stiffness of her posture. “I missed you, Dirdra.”
He bent his head, kissing her unyielding lips. Dirdra was not thinking at all, fearing anything that escaped her control would trigger Maldek’s anger and end her hopes for Kwinn. Maldek must have known what she was doing, but he continued gently kissing her cheeks, her eyelids. “You have no need to fear me. I wouldn’t hurt you. Let me share with you, Dirdra. Think of what pleasure a Master Sorcerer can provide-”
“Please, Master, do not touch me further,” Dirdra said quietly, firmly.
He lifted his head, but did not take his hands from her shoulders. “Dirdra, you are mine. You are my subject, and I can do with you what I will-but instead I offer you freely-”
“Master, you do not offer freely the chance to refuse you.”
Maldek’s eyes glinted coldly. “It is irrational for you to refuse me. Rokannia, a Master Sorceress, is on the sea, bound for Madura. When she arrives, she will once again ask of me as a favor what you will not take freely given!”
“Rokannia wants your child, not you,” said Dirdra. “She would raise that child to your strength without your cruelty. Together they would free the Western Isle of your tyranny-perhaps Madura, too, for it would be your child’s inheritance.”
Her green eyes stared up at him defiantly. “Do you think that people without the inner sight have no minds? You want me only because I refuse you. Would that I had given in at the very beginning-you would have discarded me without harming my brother.”
“And I shall have you now, and discard you as I please-”
“Zanos! Astra! Cassandra!” Torio broadcast at the strongest intensity. “Maldek is threatening Dirdra!”
He and Melissa ran toward the throne room, Gray surging ahead of them. The guards barred their way, but Melissa had the power to make them sleep. As they collapsed, sliding down the wall, Torio flung the door open.
“Where are your fine promises and good intentions now, Maldek?” he demanded.
“Spying on me, Torio?” asked the sorcerer conversationally.
“Merely making certain of Dirdra’s safety. We share a bond of friendship.”
Zanos arrived, trailed by Bryen, while Cassandra met her daughter at the juncture of the passageways, and the two women marched defiantly into the throne room together.
“Torio was right!” said Melissa. “You haven’t changed, Maldek-you just wanted us to think you had.”