The Defender by Rachel Rossano

Author:Rachel Rossano
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2019-10-10T04:00:00+00:00

* * *

Zezilia

“He is avoiding me, Renato. I know I am not imagining things.” I frowned over at my brother, only a black shadow on a horse next to mine.

“He gets in these moods sometimes, especially right before making big decisions. It isn’t you, Sis. I am certain. He has been a bear for the past week. All that waiting back with the aegypti irritated him. Just give him a day or two to straighten things out in his head, and he will be back to normal. Well, at least he will be back to normal for him.”

I didn’t agree. “When was the last time he spoke to you?”

“Last night before I went to bed. Why?”

“The last words we exchanged were in the wagon when he examined my mind.”

Renato grunted. “That is hardly telling. He was giving orders, packing, and then leaving. We all were. And when we made camp, you were asleep before you even left the horse. This morning he barely spoke to any of us. Only Korneli has managed to get anything even close to resembling a conversation, and he is going to be limping for days because of it. You’re reading into things.”

We rode in silence for a while. My thoughts rushed through my head in a torrent, distracting me from every attempt at concentration. Then, just as I was trying for the third time to recite the passage I was memorizing from the Revelation, a rich, warm taste flooded my senses.

“Zez?” His sending was tentative and almost apologetic.

I responded with a welcome.

“I am sorry that I have been avoiding you.” He paused as though seeking the right words. “There was something crucial to decide, and I needed to pray.”

“Something about me?”

He hesitated. A brief struggle flickered across my senses. “Yes, it is concerning you. Can you join me up here?”

“Just a moment.”

“Hadrian wants to speak with me,” I informed my brother.

“See, he isn’t avoiding you.”

I debated telling him that Hadrian had just apologized to me for just that, but I decided not to. “He wants me to join him in front. I will be moving up.”

“Good luck. Hopefully, he has worked his way out of his mood.”

I didn’t bother to reply. Instead, I reached out for Korneli’s mind. Once his nutty taste lingered on the edges of my thoughts, I sent. “Hadrian wishes to speak with me.”

“Good.” He edged his horse off to the side of the trail to let mine pass. “Don’t let him avoid you again,” he sent and then abruptly withdrew his connection.

Using energy sight and the strange sensitivity I had to his presence, I brought my horse parallel to Hadrian’s. He turned his head to acknowledge my arrival but didn’t say anything. We rode this way for a few moments. I knew he wasn’t sending, but he was emoting on a level that I couldn’t ignore. I also couldn’t really identify the emotions as they washed over me. They were in such a jumble. Remembering Korneli’s words, I took a deep breath and reached out for his mind.

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