Adam didn’t know what to say to console her. How did one go about mourning the loss of an abusive mother? The passing of Runa’s brother seemed to tighten a knot that had tangled over a lifetime. Adam had no doubt that Elrin’s fatal choice—which seemed the piteous act of a bullied boy—would be a slow-to-heal wound that Runa would have to tend for many years. But Ida’s death appeared to leave Runa with something much worse than a wound. It left her with one side of an argument that could never be answered and a grievance that could not be heard.
