Ventus by Karl Schroeder

Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 728
opening, and lay staring at the false sky inside the moon. Way
up there, guy wires thrummed with the tension of trying to hold
the moon in position against the buffeting mountain winds.
The bast was speaking to him, but he ignored it. The
semaphore message had been read aloud by the lieutenant, and
the commanders and soldiers left aboard the moon were in an
uproar.
Galas commands General Lavin to surrender his army.
Only she could be so audacious.
He sat up, vertigo forgotten. "Lieutenant! Reply to that
message!"
"Sir! What should we say?"
He thought about it, heart racing. "Ask her... ask her this:
'What was the name of the inn?'"
"Sir?"
"Just send it." He felt lightheaded now, but not because
of the vertigo. He lay down again.
If she was alive... if she was alive, he could never look
her in the face again. Yes, he had loved her, but he had also
failed her--both as a man and as a soldier. It no longer
mattered what she felt for him in return. He knew his real
value, and with that knowledge came a certain measure of
calm. He also knew what he could do to let her know he was
sorry, and that too was a healing thought.
It seemed to take forever for his message to be relayed.
He knew the answer was the right one, however, by the third
letter.
"Nag's Head."
That was the inn where he had first met Galas. Nobody
else knew that, except maybe her old bodyguards, who had all
retired long since, and wisely held their tongues.
Lavin rolled to his feet, staggered, but stayed up. "Send