Ventus by Karl Schroeder

Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 588
palace and into the night.
She has escaped.
And she let me live.
Lavin stopped walking, waited until his head steadied,
then looked up past the swans, at the stars. Never, in all the
long days of this war, had he imagined such an end as this. On
the one hand, it was far from over. Two days ago he had hoped
that tonight he might have her as his prisoner, hating him
surely, but safe. He had feared she would be dead. But that
she should be free! And had spared his life! He could not
come to terms with it.
She must be riding now, somewhere in the darkness.
Would she end that ride by bedding down in the arms of
General Armiger? Lavin hugged himself and closed his eyes.
He must not think of that. All that mattered was that, as dawn
rose tomorrow, she would be alive.
And yet... she would not be safe. In some ways this was
the worst outcome. He could pray that she would flee to
another nation, and retire in anonymity in some town.
Knowing Galas as he did, Lavin knew she would never do that.
No, there were only two possibilities now. Either she
would run afoul of his outriders or pickets in the desert towns-and
be killed--or she would find some pocket of supporters and
try to rebuild her army. And then there would be another siege,
this one much shorter and sharper--and she would probably be
killed. Lavin knew she would die rather than surrender.
So far, no one knew she had escaped. That was his only
card, and he would have to play it carefully.
"Sir!" He turned his head to find a battered-looking
soldier puffing his way through the sands. "Commander Hesty
has found the woman you were after."
"Ah. Very good." Lavin nodded sharply.