Requiem Read Free Page A

from the captain addressed to you, General.”
    Rudolfo raised his hand. “Enough,” he said. The rage Winters saw in his eyes startled her and she would have looked away, but he did first. He scanned the crowd. “Where’s Charles?”
    “I’m here,” the old man said.
    “What of Isaak?”
    Winters turned in time to see Charles meet Rudolfo’s stare. “Lady Winteria is correct,” he said. “We should speak privately. These are sensitive matters.”
    Rudolfo took a long, deep breath. He’s wrestling with his anger, she realized. “Very well,” he said. Then he dismounted and handed the reins over to a scout who materialized at his arm. He looked first to Charles and then to Winters. “Walk with me. Both of you.”
    They set out at a brisk pace, their breath frosting the night air. Rudolfo set that pace with long, deliberate strides, and when they were sufficiently away from the others, he slowed them. “Tell me,” he said.
    Winters started at the beginning, updating him on Cervael’s death and the Mass of the Falling Moon, through Neb’s appearance and then disappearance with Isaak and the Watcher.
    Rudolfo listened intently, his hands folded behind his back as he walked, and occasionally he interrupted to ask questions. When she reached the part about Jin Li Tam’s sister, he raised his eyebrows.
    “A Tam in the Y’Zirite Blood Guard?”
    “Yes,” Winters said. “Lady Tam said the woman told her to go with the regent when he asked.”
    He nodded. “Continue.”
    This is the part I dread telling him. She did not know why, but the thought of it knotted her stomach. Winters took a deep breath and continued. “Lady Tam also bid me tell you that she loves you and that you bear her grace above all others but your son. And that she would see him back to you.”
    She saw him flinch at the words, and when he turned his eyes upon her, she saw anguish now mixing with his rage. “And you’ve known this ten days gone but did not send word of my wife and my son? Nor send word about my first captain?”
    Winters looked away. “I did not, Lord.”
    “Why?”
    Look him in the eye. She forced her eyes toward his. “Aedric bid me not to. He knew you would try to pursue them. It’s in his letter.”
    Now Rudolfo drew in a breath and slowly let it out. He turned away from her and toward Charles. “And tell me what you know about Isaak,” he said.
    Charles looked at Winters, then back to Rudolfo. “I fear he is dead, Lord.”
    Dead. Winters blinked back sudden, unexpected tears. This was what she’d feared, and hearing him say it aloud hollowed out a part of her.
    “What leads you to believe that?” Rudolfo asked.
    “I believe his sunstone overheated, Lord, during his fight with the Watcher. I think the earthquake was an explosion underground—a large one.”
    How large, she wondered? Her mouth went dry, and Rudolfo asked before she could find the words.
    “What about Neb and the Watcher?”
    Yes. What of them? Charles glanced at her before answering, and she knew from the look on his face that she did not want to know what he was going to say.
    He looked away from her. “I don’t see how they could have survived if they were nearby. Especially underground.”
    No, Winters thought. Neb left the way he came. He went to do what needed doing. He went Home-Seeking. Isaak went with him. “But we can’t know for sure,” she said. “Neb was…” Her words trailed off as she thought about them. “He was different when we saw him. He came out of nowhere and he was stronger.” She shuddered at the memory of his choked voice, feeling the heat of his hands upon her body. Be whole. “He was faster.” She looked to Charles. “You saw it?”
    “Some,” Charles said. “Mostly, we heard it. But she is right, Lord. Neb was holding his own against the Watcher.”
    “That is curious.” Rudolfo stopped and stroked his beard. He looked at Winters. “You’re right. We cannot know for sure what’s become of