Jean Lorrah - Sorcerers of the Frozen Isles

When she discovered me alive, she was so surprised that she asked me if I had been raised from the dead. I was angry, and her question seemed so foolish to me that I said yes. I never dreamed she would believe it!”

Dirdra nodded, and stared off toward the distant coastline they paralleled. “Any Master Sorcerer should easily have detected such a lie. Even though you are a sorcerer, too, you are too young to have reached your full powers.”

“I’m no sorcerer,” said Torio. “I have no Adept powers at all.”

Dirdra turned to face him, leaning against the rail. “This division of powers-I do not understand. Once through the land of the Dark Forest, I found only what you call Adepts-no one with the inner sight, although I heard about the Readers in the Aventine Empire, where no one had Adept powers. In Madura someone may have only one or two slight abilities, but anyone as powerful at the inner sight as you are will surely have Adept powers as well.”

“We are learning,” Torio replied. “Our powers are of the mind… and the mind is influenced by what one believes. Perhaps even more so by what an entire society believes. No one in the empire or the savage lands knew until two years ago that it was possible for one person to have both powers.”

“But now that you know,” Dirdra persisted, “why have you not developed the other side of your powers?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps I don’t yet truly believe it’s possible, even though I see my friends doing it. Or maybe it’s that I do not want such ability. I do not want to rule people… and it is so easy to misuse such powers.”

“In Madura,” Dirdra said bitterly, “no Master Sorcerer would worry about such a thing.”

“Ah, but they will lose their powers that way,” Torio pointed out. “That is no trick of the mind, Dirdra.

You said you were surprised I could lie to Portia. So was I-but in misusing her powers she had weakened them. And Drakonius-he became ever more careless of the responsibilities that came with his powers, and we were able to defeat him.”

Dirdra sighed. “You are so young.”

“And you are so much older and wiser?”

“I have more experience of the world,” she replied. “If by misuse of powers, you mean to use other people as you please, with no regard for their suffering, then Maldek misuses his powers daily… and yet they grow and grow.”

“Perhaps they are concentrated on one thing,” Torio offered. “We have heard that your sorcerers have lost control of the climate-that once verdant isles are now frozen wastes.”

“That is true,” she replied, “but the Master Sorcerer has good reason to fear the heat of the sun. You will see-” She broke off, catching her lower lip between her teeth.

Before Torio could reassure her that no blind person became upset at the mention of sight, Dirdra suddenly said, “Lord Torio, are you seeking the Master Sorcerers to have them restore your sight?”

“No,” he replied. “Melissa seeks such knowledge of healing, but not for my sake. But is she chasing rainbows, Dirdra? Could your Master Sorcerers actually do such a thing?”

“Oh, yes. Maldek could do it all by himself… if he wished. But do not ask it, my lord. Even if you were no Reader, nothing could be worth the price Maldek would make you pay!”

The long sea journey in close quarters was a time for the adventurers to get to know one another better.

Torio and Melissa spent each evening together, talking, watching the stars, arms about each other for warmth against the night wind. Such constant closeness made them desire to be closer still-but what of the consequences?

One evening they dared to discuss it with Zanos and Astra. Driven belowdecks by stinging rain, thefour of them huddled into the tiny cabin the married couple shared.

“Yes,” said Astra, “both our powers were weakened for a time after we consummated our marriage. In fact, my Reading was nicely controlled during those few weeks-I had to concentrate in order to Read at all, and the bit of Adept power I had acquired disappeared. But it came back.”

“So did all my powers,” Zanos assured them. “In fact, I think my Adept powers have grown stronger, although I cannot be certain, since I’ve spent the past year learning from experienced Adepts how to use them more efficiently.”

When the younger couple left together, Torio knew that the same thing was on Melissa’s mind as was on his. It would take a few weeks to reach Madura, time for weakened powers to return. If they experimented now…

Melissa shared a cabin with Dirdra, who made no secret of her femininity despite her boy’s clothes-she wore them now, she said, because they were more comfortable for travel than women’s skirts. Neither Melissa nor Astra was interested in testing her claims.

Torio had been given the cabin assigned to a Reader if one were aboard to navigate, although the crew of this vessel were accustomed to finding their way without one. There was hardly room to turn around-but that made it all the cozier when he and Melissa were there together. There was no place to sit but on the bunk, which they did, Melissa leaning against Torio, first letting him kiss her, then participating eagerly.

They were stretched out in the cramped quarters, clumsily pulling at one another’s clothing, when suddenly the ship lurched, almost throwing them off the bunk.

Both automatically Read for what had happened, and found that they had run into a squall. Nothing particularly dangerous in that, except-

“Islands!” they both exclaimed, and tangled with one another, nearly going down in a heap as they struggled to get out of the cabin and warn the captain.

By the time Torio and Melissa lurched up the ladders to the deck, Astra was already with the captain at the wheel, shouting directions into his ear against the wind.

The two younger Readers retreated, but in the swinging lantern light they wordlessly agreed. Yes, there might be three Readers in their party-for Zanos’ powers were not up to the job his wife was doing-but if they put themselves out of commission, that would throw the entire responsibility of Reading onto Astra. It was not only unfair to do so; it was dangerous.

So with one more embrace, they parted-and the next day Torio decided to take his mind off his frustrations and keep himself in condition at the same time by offering to practice swordsmanship with Zanos.

The gladiator first put Astra through a complex lesson, for he insisted his wife be able to handle herself under attack. Torio watched, surprised at how well a woman could perform and wondering what skills she might have achieved if she had begun in childhood, as he had.

When Zanos turned to Torio, he of course saw a tall, lean young man with nothing like the gladiator’s size or strength. A fighter of Zanos’ experience, though, did not judge by appearances. Furthermore, he knew that Torio had survived far more battles than the average man his age, so he certainly had some ability.

But it was clear from Zanos’ first moves that he expected a swordsman of Astra’s skill, with the same advantage of Reading-for he kept himself unReadable, braced to use Adept power although never actually using it.

Torio countered Zanos’ opening moves with the standard countermoves; why give the game away in the first moments? He quickly recognized that the older man was putting him through a routine he himself might use in deciding whether to take a young swordsman on as a pupil.

So he was on the alert for the break with routine-and when Zanos suddenly, without rhyme or reason, lifted his arm as if to strike at Torio’s neck, the Reader was in under his guard instantly, his blunt practice weapon making a resounding thwack against the padding Zanos wore.