I saw Lorian then, as I had never seen him. Saw him, perhaps, with the eyes the Absolute had given me. He was always in my shadow—had been my shadow—nearly all his life. He had lost all that I had lost at Akterumu. Lost 2Maeve as I had lost Valka. As I had not been there for Valka at the end, so he, too, had not been there for his lady. Of all the men in creation, he and I were most alike. He was my shadow. My echo . . . My heir. He was one the god himself had held in reserve—I saw it plain. He had been positioned to take my place if I should fail.
