The Sovereign Record dispatch arrived with the morning birds.
Due caught it before it hit the table, the thin paper already dissolving at the edges the way Record dispatches always did, printed to be read once and remembered rather than stored.
He scanned it quickly and then stopped. He read it again, slowly.
"Alistair," said Due.
Something in his voice made Alistair set down the tea he was holding and cross the room.
Due held the dispatch flat so both of them could read at once. The familiar formatting, regional sections first, continental coverage after. Alistair's eyes moved to the Oasis of Grain section automatically, expecting to find Sun Harvest mentioned where it always was, tucked between settlement trade data and seasonal crop reports.
Sun Harvest wasn't in the regional coverage.
Alistair's eyes widened, and he looked up at Due without a word.
"Keep reading," said Due.
