Jean Lorrah - Empress Unborn

As it turned out, Aradia and Pyrrhus had an appointment with Master Clement after the evening meal.

Julia could not help wondering whether Master Clement wanted Aradia there to discuss what purpose Pyrrhus might serve in the Savage Empire, or if he wanted an Adept for protection. Julia found Pyrrhus’

habit of constantly shielding his thoughts eerie, and wondered if it also disturbed the Master of Masters.

She spent some time with the early scrolls her teacher had picked out of Portia’s collection, Reading Portia’s growing frustration at how little influence Readers had on Aventine politics. The Emperor at that time was Portia’s brother, and it galled her that the very fact that she was family caused him to give her advice little credence.

Julia was far in the past when a sharp “Psst!” broke her concentration with a start. Wicket was at her window, dressed in the clothes she had borrowed for him. It was dark, “Aren’t you ready?” he whispered.

“Yes,” she replied, lighting a candle. She had changed into a cheap but gaudy orange dress belonging to one of the maids. Now she threw her plain blue mantle over it, and she and Wicket #ent out by the servants’ entrance. There would undoubtedly be gossip tomorrow that Marilys had been Read slipping out with Wicket. Julia hoped that her skills were sufficient to make Torus, who guarded the door, accept the surface impression of Marilys.

Once outside, Julia went straight ahead to meet Galerio, Reading to make sure there were no spies on Wicket. He took one of the circular streets to the east, then turned and approached Capero’s house as if coming from one of the elegant inns in that area.

Capero knew who Julia was, but the rest of the gamers were not supposed to. The gaming room was crowded, but the lighting “was concentrated over the tables, leaving the players in subdued light.

Gambling was legal; some people simply did not want to be identified-especially those responsible for other people’s money. Julia was unsurprised to Read no Readers there other than Capero’s Reader and herself. If his patrons found out Julia was there, they would never trust him again, and his business was built on their trust. Julia swallowed as she realized how important it must be to him to get Galerio into his power.

Capero was a minor Adept, of course, as Julia had to search for him visually. She was open to Reading, but not concentrating, lest Capero’s Reader spot her. She wasn’t sure if the woman knew that she was a Reader, or who she was.

Galerio put his arm around Julia as they threaded through the crowded room, Mosca and Antonius in their wake. They had agreed with Wicket to play the coin toss first, while he gambled at cards. All would then move on to the dice table. It would appear they were in the same game by chance.

Capero was a tall, balding man with a thick brown beard liberally sprinkled with white. He was dressed in understated elegance in brown velvet with satin embroidery that glowed softly, an occasional gold thread glinting here and there. The effect, though, was spoiled by his hands, where every finger carried at least one ring, solid gold or silver with huge, gaudy stones.

The owner moved through his establishment, quietly greeting patrons, occasionally glancing toward his Reader, a faded blond woman who sat at the back of the room. She was a Dark Moon Reader, ostensibly in the employ of the city, supposedly there to see that there was no cheating by either the house or the customers. Galerio said the house paid her far better than the city, though, so she quietly ignored subtle techniques that gave the house a higher percentage than allowed by law, at least as long as the extra percentage did not get so high that customers began to complain.

Capero watched Galerio play two tosses, both of which he won. “Good,” said the big man. “But why play a boy’s game? The stakes are too low here to make it worth your bother.”

Julia stopped Reading for a moment to shed uneasiness. Wicket wasn’t even here yet.

“I like this game,” Galerio replied casually. “It takes a certain degree of skill. You didn’t specify that I had to play any certain game, only that I had to win. I don’t care if that takes all night.”

Capero laughed cheerfully. “Be careful you don’t die of boredom!” he warned.

Wicket came in, went to the card table without making any effort to locate Julia or Galerio-a real pro.

He appeared just slightly inebriated, and cheerfully accepted a flagon of ale as he settled into the game.

The barmaid whispered to the dealer as she passed, “That’s the one. Let him win tonight.”

They continued with their plan as Capero played into their hands. By the standards of this establishment, the sums Mosca and Antonius owed were small. Within an hour, Wicket had won almost half that much at the card table, while Galerio won more than he lost at the coin toss. Still, it was obvious he could not win enough at that game even if he did play all night, so he picked up his money and moved to the dice table.

Wicket remained where he was. It would be too obvious for him to move at the same time Galerio did.

Besides, they had to give Capero time to cheat Galerio’s stake and winnings away from him.

But as soon as the dice came around to Galerio for the first time, he threw a winning number. Julia was Reading; he had not used Adept power. Neither did Capero nor any of his men for the moment, letting chance have its way-perhaps until Galerio accepted the honesty of the game.

The surest way to fool a Reader was to have a number of minor Adepts about, posing as gamers, taking turns influencing the dice. It would be almost impossible for a Dark Moon Reader to detect, but Julia could Read the whole room at once. Perhaps Capero thought she was too young to do so.

Galerio threw another winning number before he lost control of the dice, then bet a small portion of his winnings on other players. Again, he won more than he lost, although his winnings did not pile up as Wicket’s were doing.

Julia was beginning to worry about the time; the later she stayed away, the greater the chance that she would be missed. Capero should be making Galerio lose by now, but he wasn’t losing, and Julia could detect no sign of Adept influence-no one going suddenly blank to Reading-anywhere in the room.

She started to Read more carefully-

“Reader! Spy!”

The Dark Moon Reader leaped up. She climbed up on her chair, pointing over the heads of the gamblers, shrieking like a harpy. “Look! Lenardo’s daughter! They’ve sent her in to spy on all of you, find out who’s gambling, who’s winning! Who’s here, who’s with them!”

Suddenly all eyes were on Julia. Some people gathered their money and began edging toward the doors.

“She’s already Read you!” Capero shouted.

“If she escapes,” said another man, whom Julia recognized as Tinius, money-changer and userer, “Aradia and Clement will know all that she learned here tonight.”

“No!” Julia shouted, climbing on a chair herself despite Galerio’s efforts to stop her. “I am not here as a spy, but just as a Reader protecting a friend. Capero agreed-

Capero drowned her words with a loud guffaw. “Is that likely?” he demanded. “Allow the like of her to spy on my good customers?”

There were, of course, no other Readers there. A woman shouted, “Kill her! Show Aradia what we think of her spying on us!” Julia recognized Octavia, who ran the largest brothel in Zendi. Tinius, Octavia-as well as all the rich merchants crowded in here tonight? Galerio had been set up all right-but to get at Julia! To discredit the Readers, who had disrupted their cheating and confidence games ever since Lenardo and Aradia had brought hundreds of them to the city.