Barrow Fields sky underground

It seemed that he had succeeded in conveying to her that he meant no harm. He allowed his own forward progress to halt, waiting now for her to decide how close she wanted to come. Any nearness, however, was welcomed by him. He laid sphinxlike at first, watching her attentively, but soon shifted to lie on a hip. He yawned at her, showing off pink gums and healthy teeth, a grizzling whine broadcasting his want to have her nearer.

It was hard not to be impatient after all this time. Nearly two years, he thought, since his shadow girl had gone away. What had become of her? He still wondered often, more than for anyone else. It hurt too much to think of his seal hunter, most assuredly dead. It hurt to think of his wife, gone from him forever. But her —

Sometimes he liked to think that she was out there with her family. That it had been a good home for her after all, to have followed Cen. Sometimes he worried that she was unhappy or mistreated with him.

On his worst days, he imagined that she was alone. That she'd come looking for him and hadn't found him.

He remembered telling her that lost loved ones could be found in the Deepwood on the equinoxes. He hadn't been there for either of them. Perhaps she hadn't, either — but he wondered. He never stopped wondering.

"What is your name?" he asked the girl, no longer expecting an answer.