The fact that everything Severus had predicted had happened made him uneasy, but most of all it made him feel strangely cold. That was until Severus' letter came and spurred him to actually think.
When he did start to think he was more than a bit annoyed with himself for not thinking in the first place, and swore a few times as his mind kicked back into action.
What was wrong with him lately? Did he really have so many things on his mind that he started to forget things? He sighed, deciding that he could worry about that later, and that right now he needed to focus on this.
Likely still alive - well of course he was. Theo had sensed no change in his own wards. Wards that Rodolphus was keyed to by blood. He closed his eyes and examined the wards for confirmation, shaking his head at his hastily drawn conclusions when he confirmed that indeed, Rodolphus was still a keyed to them.
So that left the question - how ill was he? Picking up a parchment, his hand steady this time, he wrote a letter to Rabastan. It was not hard to add the tone of the worried godson and every word he wrote was true. What was going on? How was Rodolphus? Would he be all right? Was Rabastan there with him?
He knew he would not gain straight answers, but answers could always be interpreted.
His second task was to write back to Severus. Once more only a quick note.
Severus,
He is definitely still alive as he's still keyed to my own wards, but how ill he is I do not know. I've written Rabastan and while I don't expect a straight up answer I hope the answer I do get will provide some clue as to how bad this is.