Palamedes' throat tightens. The trouble with dying, even under the best of circumstances, is that it means leaving people behind. No matter how long this strange, quiet eternity lasts, he will never see Nona again, or discover what happened to her. He’s sure of that, somehow, as sure of it as Nona was that she was dying.

“I had a friend who liked nothing more than to swim in the sea,” he says with a sad smile. “Is that something you like to do?”