He stroked her hair softly, saying nothing, then gently lifted her chin. “And I, you.” He continued stroking her hair with his thumb. “Alas, what lies ahead ... it will be no easy road.”
She shook her head slowly. “The road will be what the road will be.” She lifted herself slightly and lay her head upon his chest. “Let us speak no more of it. Just hold me. And let tomorrow fall where it may.”
Such was their disposition until her eyelids began to droop and her consciousness began to fade, and she fell asleep in his arms, which along with his shoulders were one of the few aspects of his physique possessed of much mass, and this only from so many years rowing.
He laid awake for some time, gazing at the stalactites on the ceiling and listening to Shekalane’s breath against his chest. Ratio
