‘Are you ready?’ Amara asked him. ‘Mmm. Got him loaded up easy enough. You sure about this?’ ‘No,’ she said. ‘But then, what is sure in this life?’ Doroga smiled, his teeth a sudden white gleam. ‘Death,’ he said. ‘That’s encouraging,’ she said, her voice dry. ‘Thank you.’ ‘Welcome,’ he said. ‘You afraid to die?’ ‘Aren’t you?’ she asked. The Marat headman’s head tilted thoughtfully. ‘Once I would have been. Now . . . I am not sure. What comes after, no one knows. But we believe that it is not the end. And wherever that path leads, there are those who went before me. They will keep me company.’
