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Requiem. She herself was still half a daughter
of Saraph, half a shameful thing.
    She nodded. "For Requiem."
    They had taken just a
step forward when he swooped from the sky, wings wide, and landed in the
courtyard before them.
    Ishtafel.
    Stars of Requiem.
    Meliora's heart burst
into a gallop, and she hissed and reached into her cloak for her spear.
    "My dearest Meliora!"
He held his lance in one hand, his shield in the other. "And if it isn't the
little pack rat with her collection of jewels. Such lovely ladies shouldn't
stray far from the beauty of the palace."
    Meliora froze for an
instant, staring at him. The man who had slaughtered countless souls. Who had
lied to her, cut off her wings, locked her to rot in the dungeon. Rage. Rage
filled her, and her halo of dragonfire crackled to life around her head, and
she tossed back her hood before the flames could burn it.
    "Stand aside, Ishtafel."
Meliora lifted her halved spear. "Stand aside or I will—"
    He laughed. "Or you
will what? Cut me, my dear sister? Perhaps I underestimated you; you have,
after all, found your way out here rather quickly. But you don't truly think
that you can defeat me in battle, do you? A pampered little princess against an
ancient warrior who has conquered the world?"
    "I am no longer a
princess." Meliora stared into his eyes. "I am a warrior of Requiem."
    Ishtafel hefted his spear.
"I slew a million warriors of Requiem. Only days ago, sweet sister, we danced
in the grand hall of our palace. Come to me now. We will dance again."
    Tash drew her dagger,
claimed from the prison guard, and held the blade before her.
    Before her courage
could abandon her, Meliora raced forward, spear lashing.
    Ishtafel swung his
lance in an arc. Meliora had snapped her spear in half to hide it in her cloak,
abandoning the lower half in the dungeon. With his longer range, Ishtafel
easily parried her thrust. Almost lazily, he drove his lance forward, nicking
her left arm.
    Her blood sprayed
across the courtyard, pattering against Tash, and Meliora cried out.
    Tash screamed, blood on
her face, and tossed her dagger. Yawning, Ishtafel raised his shield, and the
dagger slammed against it and fell to the ground. Ishtafel kicked it aside.
    Fear flooded
Meliora, but she refused to surrender to it.
    I am starlight.
    I am
the wind.
    I am
dragonfire.
    She could not become a
dragon with her collar, but Meliora roared with her rage.
    "You murdered
thousands!" she screamed, lashing her spear again.
    He snorted and parried.
"Millions."
    "You are a monster!"
She leaped forward, trying to spear him, but he parried again.
    He yawned. "All the
best kings are, my dear."
    "You—"
    He drove his lance
forward, and this time he cut her right arm, spraying more blood. She had
barely registered the blow when he swung his lance again, hitting the side of
her knee with the flat of the blade.
    Meliora yowled and fell
to her knees before him.
    "Good." He nodded. "That
is how I like you. Kneeling before me."
    With another thrust of
his lance, he cut her fingers. She cried out, losing her grip on her spear. It
clattered to the ground, and he kicked it aside.
    Meliora began to leap
up. Ishtafel swung his shield, knocking the rim against her face.
    Pain.
    Light.
    Searing fire.
    Meliora fell to the
ground, slamming her cheek against the cobblestones, blinded with agony.
Blinking feebly, she thought she saw Tash run forth, grab the fallen spear,
thought she saw the shield fly again, knocking Tash down. All was white,
blinding pain . . . and beyond it a red light, crackling, hot. The light of
dragonfire.
    Ishtafel knelt above
her, reached down, and stroked her stubbly head.
    "So frail," he whispered.
"Still such a weak, innocent thing, a trampled baby bird, her wings clipped. I
will nurse you back to health, my sweetest sister. You will be mine. You will
watch your sons become great kings—kings to crush Requiem as I have crushed
her."
    Her eyes burned. Blood
dripped down her face, pattering against