Jean Lorrah - Sorcerers of the Frozen Isles

“Very good!” said the gladiator with a grin- and attacked at that same moment.

Torio caught Zanos’ sword with his, and used the fighter’s own momentum to twist his wrist.

The move would have disarmed any other opponent. Zanos, though, had the sheer brute strength to hang on to his grip and force Torio to disengage before the gladiator reversed the torque on him. Fortunately, the young Reader could sense the tension of the gladiator’s muscles preparing for the next move, and keep one step ahead of him.

For although Zanos was amazingly fast for his size, Torio was faster-he turned the disengage into a strike at Zanos’ thigh before the other man could bring his sword fully around to parry. This time it was a stinging slap to bare skin, but Zanos only laughed in delight.

“By the gods, Torio-I’d hire you for my stable of fighters any day! Who would expect such fire under that scholarly exterior?”

And Zanos stopped holding back. Soon he got a blow in, and continued trying to maneuver the Reader into positions where the gladiator’s strength was an advantage, while Torio sought to use his greater speed.

With their differing styles but equal cunning, they were evenly matched. Their bouts on the long days of the sea journey often ended in a draw, both men happily played out.

But there were things Torio could learn from Zanos. Hand-to-hand fighting, for example, without weapons. Zanos was only too happy to teach him that, as well as how to use a knife as a weapon.

And Torio, although the youngest of the three Magister Readers on this journey, was the most skilled.

Astra’s wild powers were stronger, but she still often lacked control, and gladly handed her husband over to Torio to learn how best to use his small Reading talent.

So the lengthening days passed as they sailed out of the Southern Sea and northward along the shores of strange countries. The ship’s captain knew ports where it was safe to go ashore, take on water and food, and trade for supplies and trinkets.

At each such stop the sailors had leave to visit the taverns, while the passengers chafed at the delay.

Finally, though, they accepted that the captain would govern his crew as he thought best, and began to enjoy the occasional day ashore.

Dirdra was not the only refugee who had fled Madura in recent years; the farther north they traveled, the less the language was like the dialects of the savage tongue they were accustomed to, but the easier it was to find someone who spoke Maduran. Eventually they reached a land called Brettonia, where to Torio, Melissa, and Astra the language seemed to be Maduran itself, although Zanos and Dirdra claimed it was simply a related dialect.

It had been nine days since their last stop, for when they passed the land of the Dark Forest, the ship’s captain had warned that the people there were hostile to strangers, letting them pass only on the high sea or on the main road Dirdra had traveled. So they had stayed far out to sea, the Readers fascinated at the way the captain navigated by sun and stars when they were out of sight of land.

It was early summer in Brettonia, and everyone was delighted to go ashore. The little port city perched on a cliff above the harbor, and the five adventurers climbed the winding path in search of a bathhouse, fresh fruit and vegetables, and an inn where they could get a good meal rather than the stuff served in the quayside taverns to which the sailors quickly repaired.

Yellow daisies with dark brown centers grew beside the cliff path. Torio picked some and wove them into a garland for Melissa, who thanked him with a kiss.

But she blushed rosily when they found themselves in the baths-for the custom here was for families, or groups of friends such as these obviously were, to bathe together without regard to sex.

The “bathhouse” was merely a structure at the opening to some underground mineral springs. At this time of day there was no one else bathing, so the attendant rented them soap and towels, showed them around, and then left them to their own devices.

Zanos unself-consciously stripped and plunged into a pool of bubbling water. Astra waited only until he surfaced, shaking water from his hair and announcing, “It’s warm!” Then she joined her husband.

But Torio and Melissa had never quite been naked together. That they were restricting their Reading lest Astra and Zanos perceive their uneasiness at a public unveiling only made their shyness more pronounced.

Just as Torio decided the best thing to do was to be bold, and started taking off his clothes, Dirdra said,

“How can you be embarrassed? You are Readers-you see everything anyway.”

“Certainly not!” replied Melissa. “The rules of privacy are drilled into us as children.”

Dirdra had divested herself of the layers of loose garments which obscured her figure, and now stood in nothing but a shirt of soft cotton. “There are no such rules for Master Sorcerers,” she said, “and when we First met-”

Astra came to the edge of the pool. “How often must I apologize, Dirdra? There are times when the only way to control my wild Reading talent is to brace for Adept powers-but I do not want to blank out constantly the powers I have relied on since childhood. Please understand that it was entirely my fault that we invaded your privacy when we first met. Torio or Melissa would never do such a thing.”

“And I couldn’t ,” added Zanos. “I can just barely Read at all-mostly Astra projects to me.”

“I promise,” said Astra, “that I will never deliberately invade your privacy… nor would I use anything I discover against you.”

Dirdra looked from Astra to Zanos, then back to Torio and Melissa. “I… I know. Just these few weeks-you, with all your powers-you’ve accepted me, although I have none. Never in all my travels did I find that. Those with power use it to control others-but not you. Lady Astra, you need ask no forgiveness, but”-as Astra drew breath to protest- “I give it as you desire it.”

With that, Dirdra slipped off her shirt and plunged into the pool, where Astra hugged her.

Torio and Melissa, of one mind, grasped the moment when attention was diverted from them to throw off the rest of their clothes and dive into the pool.

With three Magister Readers, the group could enjoy the baths without worrying about security. Someone would be sure to notice if anyone else entered the caverns. Nonetheless, their weapons lay ready beside the pool, a precaution Zanos and Astra lived by.

The water was exhilarating: warm and tingling as a brisk massage. It was about shoulder-deep on Torio, deep enough to swim, or just stand and let the currents swirl pleasantly around them.

Melissa and Astra loosed their long hair to wash it free of salt from their ocean voyage, and soon soap bubbles were added to the natural effervescence of the pool.

The men soaped their hair and beards, too. It was inconvenient to try to shave each day on a journey-and Torio had discovered with secret pleasure that at last he could grow a real man’s beard.

When all were clean, Zanos led the charge into a larger cavern, where a small waterfall tumbled over the rocks above them. The cave was open to the sky, bringing a shaft of sunshine to warm them when they emerged shivering from the deep pool at the foot of the cascade.

Zanos discovered that he could climb the rocks to about twice his height, and dive into the pool. When Astra followed, Melissa tugged at Torio’s hand. “Come on-let’s try it!”

Astra jumped in feet first, but Zanos had dived head first, arms extended. Not to be outdone, even though he had never dived from such a height in his life, Torio tried to copy Zanos’ form- and struck the water so hard with his chest and stomach that the breath was knocked out of him.