"Jean Lorrah - Savage Empire 04 - Flight To the Savage Empire" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lorrah Jean)

anything I'd done, but because of something Vortius said. Something she was afraid I d overheard.

Astra grabbed one of the bars of the gate and stood there for a moment, now feeling more than angry.
Whatever was going on, she wanted no part of it. But the longer she remained in ignorance, the more
vulnerable she would be toтАФto whatever disaster might be coming.

The gods have made me the most powerful Magis-ter Reader in the empire's finest Academy, she
told herself. There must be a reason for itтАФit's not right that all 1 do is suppress my powers. Yes,
they bring me painтАФbut they find things other Readers can'tтАж like white lotus in that gladiator's
blood. If I don't fight the corruption, am I not just as guilty as those who are spreading it?

Not knowing exactly what she was looking for, Astra scanned the Academy's main building, seeking
Master Portia. If she was cautious enough, and Portia was otherwise occupied, the old woman might not
notice she was being Read.

Portia wasn't in her office. Neither was Master Marina, her assistant. Master Claudia was sitting at
Portia's desk, her attention focused on the yellowed pages of an ancient book. Astra carefully withdrew
without calling attention to herself. // Claudia is in charge, neither Portia nor Marina is on the
Academy grounds. Again.

Unlike Portia, Claudia would not demand an explanation if Astra was late with her medical report. She
could steal a little time to find out what was really going on.

But where to begin? She had no confidants, no informantsтАФ

Morella. Vortius claimed that Clavius had died in the arena because he went to Morella's last night. Astra
had not been Reading for the truth of the man's statements, but it hadn't rung trueтАФcould Vortius have
known about the drug?

Morella owes me a favor, Astra thought as she hurried away from the Academy. Perhaps I can get
her to repay it.

The southeast quarter of Tiberium was called The Maze by those who knew it well, a neighborhood of
taverns, theaters, and brothels. Sumptuous apartments belonging to people made wealthy by these trades
lined some of the narrow streets, which denizens of the quarter roamed in gaudy finery. Here lived people
of new wealthтАФthose who might display silken robesтАж and dirty fingernails.

Here also roamed many of the more unsavory people of the city. Despite the chill, Astra was glad she
was wearing her black Magister's cloak instead of her heavier gray one, for her position as a Reader
would be respected even in this disreputable part of Tiberium. Without such indication, a woman who
walked these streets alone risked insult, or worse.

Seven months before, she had walked through these same streets to Morella's House of Pleasure for the
first time. Licensed and taxed by the government, the bordello required a monthly health inspection of its
employees by a Reader. Like the gladiatorial games, it was a task given to a Reader who had fallen into
disfavor with Portia. That time, Astra had argued with Portia, and knew she deserved the punishment
duty. Still, she disliked it.

Morella hadn't made the job easy. A large, buxom woman of about fifty, she ran her establishment the