The plane of privacy was dangerous; only Readers of the highest ranks could achieve it, and even they rarely used it. Only once before had Lenardo actually come here to achieve privacy: when he, Clement, and Portia had plotted his exile so that he could attempt to take Galen from the enemy.

He was surprised that Clement was already teaching Torio, who had not yet passed his preliminary examinations.

//Now, Lenardo,// said Clement, //What are we to do with you?//

//All I want is to return home, Master. I have accomplished my task: Galen is dead, and the alliance of powerful Adepts who were attacking the empire has been destroyed.//

//You will have to be tested under Oath of Truth before the Council of Masters.//

//Of course,// said Lenardo.

//Portia is respected by the Senate. She can have your exile revoked. Then you can help me rebuild our Academy.//

//No, Master,// Lenardo interrupted. Ill cannot return to the Academy, for I have broken my Reader's Oath.//

//No!// It was a flash of pain from Torio. //No, Master Lenardo, you couldn't-//

//I did,// he insisted calmly. //It seemed necessary at the time. All I ask is the same treatment accorded any failed Reader: a job, a place to live… and a place in Portia's Academy for my daughter.//

// Your… daughter?// asked Clement.

//A Reader, Master, born among the savages. I took her into my protection lest they kill her, and then I adopted her.//

Relief flooded from the other Readers. //Under such circumstances,// said Clement, //what choice did you have? You could not let a child die just because she is female. The portion of your oath requiring you to protect a fellow Reader took precedence. The Council will have to pronounce judgment, but I am sure you will be readmitted to the Academy. How old is the child?//

//Just turned nine.//

//And where is she now?//

Ill took a room at an inn before coming here.//

//We cannot leave a child at an inn. We'll put her up with a family for tonight, until she can be tested. But you must not continue-//

//Master Clement,// Lenardo said stopping him. Ill have broken more than one part of the Code. I am no longer celibate.//

Shocked silence. Then Torio's protest: //It's not so. You couldn't have.//

//It's not possible,// Clement added. //Lenardo, your powers are not diminished. They have grown-grown far more in the few months you were away than I have ever seen a Reader of your age achieve. Son, believe me, the savages have placed a false memory within your mind, hoping to weaken your abilities. If it were true, you would not be able to leave your body, let alone achieve the plane of privacy, or walk unnoticed among Readers. If we must send you to Gaeta to remove this false memory, we will do so, but you may rest assured that it cannot possibly be true.//

//Master, I regret to tell you that you are wrong. It was no illusion. I sacrificed my powers deliberately, to diminish the powers of an Adept who survived the battle in which Galen was killed. She was my ally until peace was achieved and she realized that she is now the most powerful. In savage terms, that gives her the right to rule. She would have used me, and she would have used Julia-my daughter-had we remained within her sphere of influence.// Lenardo started to add that he knew how to break a command implanted in his mind by an Adept-when he suddenly recalled: //Master Clement, I did not know when I was exiled that the Adepts had the power to place thoughts in people's minds. How did you know it?//

Ill did not know it when you left us, Lenardo, or I would have warned you. Portia should have.// No physical reactions were possible in this nonphysical plane, but Lenardo perceived from Clement something distinctly like a long, sad sigh. //Since returning to Tiberium, I have sat regularly on the Council of Masters and learned much that was never reported to us out on the border. You must be cautious, Lenardo. There is great distrust of Readers among powerful nonReaders. If any member of the Council should decide you are too dangerous, a word to any senator would be your death warrant.//

//I know that, Master, but I am not dangerous. Furthermore, my powers have increased greatly, although I do not know why. The Council will want to study me, to discover the reason so that all Readers may increase their powers.//

//Master Lenardo,// said Torio, //did you not contact me one morning, about a week ago? I thought I felt-//

//You did, Torio.//

//But you seemed startled. I thought you were trying to come home and feared you had been interrupted, captured. I left my body-//

//Torio,// Master Clement chided, //you have just learned that skill, and are not to attempt it unsupervised.//

//But Master Lenardo seemed so agitated. I Read to Adigia. I couldn't get lost there. But I couldn't find you, Master Lenardo.//

//No, Torio. You couldn't find me because I was in Zendi.//

//Zendi!// Master Clement was horrified. //You left your body in Zendi and came all the way to Tiberium? Lenardo, you could have lost contact with your body forever. If the situation required such a risk, why did you contact Torio rather than me?//

//There was no risk. Torio, I contacted you by accident, and I was so startled to find myself Reading Tiberium that I withdrew. You see, that was the morning I discovered my new powers. I had not left my body. I was Reading directly.//

//From Zendi to Tiberium?// Master Clement's skepticism was tinged with the fear that Lenardo had gone mad. //No one has ever Read over such a distance. To Read a single day's journey without leaving one's body is the stuff of legends.//

//So is a Reader walking among other Readers undetected,// Lenardo reminded him. //Master, when we return to our bodies, I will demonstrate.//

Demonstrate Lenardo did, for Clement, Torio, and Portia, whom they contacted at once. Her first response to Lenardo's return was anger.

//We tread a difficult enough path as it is,// she flashed. //How dare I inform the Senate that an exile has not only come within the pale but is wandering free in Tiberium? The plan was that you be let in at a gate.//

//Savage soldiers were lying in wait for me at the gates. I planned to climb the wall, but the earthquake conveniently opened a path for me.//

//That little tremor?//

//Along the border it was very severe, fortunately at its worst where no one lives.// As an example of his powers, he Read the earthquake area for them, showing the acres of fallen timber and fissures in the earth where the quake had been centered, just a few miles from where he and Julia had nearly met their death.

All three other Readers could have Read that on their own, but only by leaving their bodies behind. Even Portia was impressed, Lenardo noted, that he did it sitting on Master Clement's couch, never losing contact with his physical being.

He then took them beyond the forest, across fields and through villages to Zendi. The city was bustling, as was Lenardo's house, where Wulfston counseled with Helmuth while Aradia directed the people who had accompanied her from Castle Nerius in packing. To Lenardo's relief, she was completely closed to Reading. He didn't want to contact her, and he had brought enough shocks to the Masters today without revealing that there was an Adept who could Read.

The preparations were for Aradia's departure. The watchers had reported major quake damage in her lands, and so she was returning to aid her people. Wulfston's lands had hardly been touched; he was staying in Zendi. Lenardo Read that although he was still puzzled, Helmuth accepted the fact that Wulfston was acting as regent for Lenardo.

//"Regent?" "Lord Lenardo?"// Portia questioned indignantly.

//It is a shame,// he replied. //The old man was my friend; the people trusted me. The Lords Adept will keep up the charade only as long as it suits their plans. Even if there were Readers there, Lords Adept cannot be Read.//