"Did you have a bad dream?" Aradia asked. "I was having such a beautiful dream until you shouted and woke me up."

"I didn't shout," he said. "That must have been part of your dream."

She laughed. "Yes, you did. As clearly as anything, you said, "That's impossible!' "

Could he have said it aloud? Never. Not after all his years of training. He was not delirious now. But how could Aradia know? Yesterday she had heard a scream that wasn't uttered. But that is completely impossible.

"Will you stop saying it's impossible and tell me what you're talking about?"

"Aradia," he whispered as chills crawled up his spine. "Tell me what you were dreaming."

"Mmm? It wasn't prophetic or anything. I was just watching the most beautiful sunrise." At his stricken look she broke off, eyes wide. "Lenardo, were you Reading me?" she asked in a small, frightened voice.

"No," he said, slowly shaking his head. "Aradia, you were Reading me."

"But that's-" her eyes searched his "impossible?"

He nodded. "Exactly what I was thinking."

"Coincidence?"

//I was Reading the sunrise,// he projected at the intense level used to test children.

"Well, at this time of day, anyone-" She froze. "You didn't say that, did you?"

//No.//

No. It can't be!

//Obviously it can be, for it is.

Her eyes grew wide with terror, and she reached for Lenardo, overwhelming him with panic as she clung to him, pleading, "No. Stop it. Tell me how to make it stop!"

Chapter Five

Fighting his way out of Aradia's desperate fear, Lenardo tried to project soothing calm. //Aradia, Reading is nothing to be afraid of.// He had never seen such a reaction before. The awakening of Reading ability was a cause for rejoicing, not despair.

//But you can Read me, everything I'm thinking!// Flashes of incoherent scenes that meant guilt to Aradia but nothing to Lenardo.

//You'll learn to shield your thoughts. Besides, there's no one here but me to Read them, and I love you.//

He let the warmth of his caring flow to her, feeling her respond and open to it, giving back joy for joy. Her fear dissolved as she yielded her mind to him as completely as she had her body. For a long time, neither had a coherent thought, but such a height could not be sustained.

Lenardo's own thoughts began to intrude. How could this have happened? And what of his own experience just before Aradia wakened? He had to find out if it had been his imagination, half a dreamVery gently, he removed himself from Aradia's embrace, remaining with his hands on her shoulders. She looked at him expectantly.

He said, "You'll be confused at first about whether people are talking or thinking. Try not to answer their thoughts. That is very disconcerting to nonReaders. It is also against the Readers' Code. Whatever you Read by accident, you are supposed to forget."

"Lenardo, I'm not a child. I can exercise discretion. What I must learn are techniques. Most important, how do I keep you, or especially Julia, from Reading me?"

"The simplest way is to stop Reading."

She frowned. "I can't. Right now I'm getting a sort of echo effect-what you're going to say just before you say it."

"Is it gone now?"

"Yes. What did you do?"

"Stopped Reading. You see? That keeps you from Reading me. There are ways to Read and at the same time keep other Readers from Reading you, but they are difficult to master. They won't work against any Reader more sensitive than you are, and you can slip up and reveal yourself to a less sensitive Reader. For the moment, what you need is to be able to guarantee your own privacy of thought. Refinements can come later."

"How do I stop?" she asked, screwing up her face in concentration.

"Not like that." He laughed. "All right, I'm open to you again."

"I can tell."

//Very well.// He fell into the exercise for teaching children. //Hear the tune playing in my head? Stop listening to it. Just blot it out.//

He sat concentrating on the music, but Aradia's feelings intruded: frustration, anger, fear.

"I can't," she burst out. "I can't shut it out."

"Aradia, relax. That's your own fear preventing you, a double fear. First that you'll never be able to keep the whole world out of your private thoughts, and second that if you once stop Reading, you'll never be able to start again."

"Damn you, Lenardo. How can you Read my thoughts better than I can myself?"

"I have taught hundreds of Readers. Over half of them had the same problem."

"But I'm not a child," she said in irritation. "I'm a full-grown, fully empowered Adept." The small cushion from one of the chairs went sailing toward Lenardo on the force of Aradia's frustration.

He caught it, laughing. "And that solves your problem."

"Hmm?"

"You're not Reading me anymore, and I can't Read you. I should have remembered that when you're functioning as an Adept, I can't Read a thing about you, not even your feelings."

"Oh, you're right. That's a relief, and it seems what's happened hasn't affected my Adept powers." Then, thoughtfully, "Lenardo, exactly what has happened?"

"You're a Reader, Aradia. I've never heard of the ability not appearing until adulthood, but your Adept talent showed first and was trained, and you shut out Reading while you exercised it. And of course you grew up in a society that feared and hated Readers, so you probably suppressed Reading, didn't even recognize it until you got to know and trust a Reader."

"On the other hand," she said, "maybe I caught it from you."

"It's not a disease."

"Perhaps Readers and Adepts don't have two separate talents at all," she suggested. "Maybe it's which one you look for and train and which one you fear. Lenardo, if I can do both, why can't you?"

When he didn't answer, "Try it," Aradia prodded him. '.'Something easy-light the candle."

"I really don't want to carry it out to find a fire."

"No, don't joke. Try to light the candle, Lenardo. Concentrate. It was made to burn. Fire is its natural state. Envision the flame."

Lenardo concentrated until his head began to ache, but no flame appeared. Finally he said, "It's not going to work, Aradia."

"But it has to. If I can Read-"

"You simply have both talents. Some people are painters, and some people are musicians. Rarely, there is someone who can do both. So you have two talents. You are both Adept and Reader."

"Possibly," she said. "But what do I do now?"

"I'll teach you everything I can," said Lenardo. "We'll see how much ability you can develop. Right now, though, you should get some more rest. You said you'd need to sleep till noon today."

"I'm too excited to feel tired. I want to try Reading everything. But what if it's only you I can Read?"

"It may seem that way at first, if you develop the way a child does. It takes a while to Read thoughts other than those a Reader is deliberately projecting. Aradia, you know meditation exercises. Rest this morning and then don't eat until after we try some tests this afternoon."

"Don't eat?"

"One morning's fast can't hurt you, but what kind of dietary compromise can we find for you?"

"Don't even bother to suggest that horse fodder you eat."

"A few days of purifying diet won't hurt you, any more than a few meat meals at your castle hurt me."

"Yes, Master," she said in mock obedience, but she lay down. Although her thoughts were completely unReadable once more, he could see that she went quickly to sleep.

Lenardo had to exercise careful control to stop trembling before he could dress and leave Aradia's pavilion. At home he ate the hot cereal Cook placed before him, not because he wanted it but to avoid another lecture about keeping up his strength. As soon as he dared, he escaped to his room and began to Read.