Jean Lorrah - Flight to Savage Empire

“Thank you,” she replied, suppressing a cough. “I didn’t know you played. Lanna tells me you hold music parties.”

“Yes-the professionals put up with my playing,” he said wryly. “As a boy I spent much more time practicing swordsmanship than music, and now that I have time for music I’m too old to develop great skill.”

Lanna put the pins back into Astra’s rebraided hair, and quietly left the room. Alone with Zanos, Astra found herself once again examining her feelings about him. Why should I feel uneasy ? she asked herself.

He seems to want to be my friend. Surely I could Read any ulterior motive . But part of the tension she felt was coming from Zanos, she realized. He was smiling at her as she tunelessly strummed the lute, but a part of his mind was studying her with great curiosity.

Would it be wise to tell him what she’d discovered at Morella’s?

Suddenly he put the flute to his lips and began playing a tune she found vaguely familiar. Without thinking, she began to harmonize on the lute. The tension faded as their musical talents merged into a single entity.

On the second go-round, the song took on a vitality of its own, bringing Astra a joy she had never known before. Zanos was wrong to deprecate his talent-he had a natural vigor, a perfect sense of rhythm, and an inventive style.

Astra’s spirit soared with the music’s intensity, and she Read outward almost without being aware of it.

Her powers focused on Ard and Lanna, who were in the hall outside-dancing to the music! Her smile broadened as she “watched’ them and felt their shared pleasure. The movements were a romance for them, expressing love for each other-

Other minds intruded. Male Readers!

Astra abruptly stopped playing, causing Zanos to do the same. Her throat tightened painfully as she said,

“You’re about to have two more guests.” She jumped to her feet. “Two male Readers. Magisters. Zanos, we mustn’t see each other-in fact, I’d rather they didn’t know I was here. “

“I understand, ” he said, now also on his feet. “Go into the kitchen. “

Suppressing a coughing fit, Astra merely nodded as she put down the lute and quickly left the room. She shielded her mind as best she could. All she could do now was hope that the two Magisters wouldn’t bother to scan the villa.

Their names were Darien and Primus. Their voices carried from the entry hall to the kitchen just loudly enough for Astra to overhear without Reading. Zanos did not invite them into the comfortable music room, she noted.

“We know you must be looking forward to the wrestling season, Zanos,” Darien was saying. “It will give you a chance to recover from your losses in the gladiatorial games.”

“And what does that have to do with you Readers?” Zanos asked, although his tone of voice suggested he already knew.

“We’re here to protect you from further losses,” Primus said glibly. “You want to be certain all your wrestlers are healthy and fit to compete. Magister Darien and I have the duty of Reading the health of the wrestlers this season.”

So , Astra realized, another part of the corruption puzzle: extortion .

“And just how much would it cost to make sure my wrestlers are judged healthy?” Zanos asked quietly.

“Merely ten marks of gold,” Darien replied.

“For each of us,” Primus added.

Zanos laughed-a loud, hearty laugh that astonished both men. “I hear that when one of you Readers gets injured, any other Readers near you suffer the pain,” he said. “Is that right? Good-then I only have to beat one of you, for both of you to fully understand my answer-”

Astra Read Zanos’ hand grab Primus’ throat, hard enough to terrify him. The gladiator shoved the Reader toward the door. Darien got there first, opened the door, and fled into the street. Zanos pushed Primus through the open doorway and watched in satisfaction as the Reader fell on the wet cobbles, then scrambled to his feet, following his colleague.

“You’ll pay for this indignity, Zanos!” Primus screamed as he backed away from the villa, shaking his fist.

“You’ll pay dearly!”

The gladiator didn’t reply, just closed the door. But as he bolted it and reentered the music room, Astra Read anger mixed with fear. She rejoined him, noting how grim he looked.

“I knew they’d be coming sooner or later,” he told her. “Lakus, my former owner, told me last year that the Readers wait until a stable owner has tasted

prosperity-and wants to keep it-before they start demanding money.”

Astra blinked. “Did you think I was-?”

“Involved in that? No,” he replied, “or you wouldn’t be trying to help me. You did say earlier that you were coming to tell me something you discovered at Morella’s. What was it?”

“I think I found out how Clavius was given the white lotus,” she told him. “Clea, one of Morella’s girls, was Clavius’ favorite. And now she’s disappeared. Her last customer was someone called Varan-”

Zanos shook his head. “You’re on the wrong trail,” he said firmly. “Varan is a harmless old man who drinks too much. No one could trust him to be sober enough to do his part in a conspiracy. Clea probably got a message after Varan left. I understand what you’re thinking-Clea was paid to give Clavius white lotus in his wine whenever he visited her… until that last time before his final match.”

“Yes,” Astra nodded, coughing. “The exertion of combat used up the last of the drug in his bloodstream.

Then his body failed him at the critical moment, and Metrius was able to kill him.”

“I don’t believe in coincidences,” Zanos said. “Clavius’ death, Clea’s disappearance, two Readers coming here today-all of it is part of the same plot… a plot too big for me to fight.”

“Too big for you to fight alone ,” Astra corrected. “You need help from others.”

He looked at her, puzzled. “What others? Vortius and his friends have half the city in their grip.”

“Others who have as much to lose as you do: the stable owners. If they’ve been paying corrupt Readers not to disqualify their fighters, then each owner must be as angry as you are. If all of you refuse to pay, the extortionists would have to back down or there would be no wrestling matches this season. That would deprive some very important, powerful people-including the Emperor-of their entertainment.”

Zanos sat there for a long moment, considering her words. Astra realized that his reluctance to jump at the idea came from the concept of having to unite with his rivals. In his world, each man fought alone for survival.

But finally he nodded. “It might work, Astra. Thank you. I hope I can convince Lakus, Gareth, and the others to cooperate.”

“You can do it,” she said with a smile-and was again seized with a sneezing fit.

“You’re sick!” Zanos said. “Let me have Lanna prepare a room for you-”

“No!” she insisted. “I must go back to the Academy. It’s nothing but a cold, Zanos-just an annoyance that will be gone in a few days. If my clothes are dry-”

He did not argue, but walked her back to the Academy. It was a long and miserable walk for Astra, trying to respond to the stories Zanos told, to hide from him just how bad she was feeling. Fever was making her dizzy by the time she stumbled into the infirmary-but the healer on duty was busy with three little girls and left Astra to brew her own tea with lemon and honey to take back to her room.

When she woke the next morning she felt even worse, but told herself that if she just moved around-

She skipped breakfast, drank more tea, and went to teach her first lesson in a fog of pain. What voice she had was an octave lower than usual, and the strain of scolding a student who hadn’t done her practice sent her into a coughing fit that tinged her handkerchief with blood. The child fled, and moments later Master Claudia came into the music room. “Astra! How could you let yourself get into this condition?”