He did not at first seem to hear her.
'I was never so scared in my life,' she said. No reply.
'Kalus?'
He turned to her, not seeming to know who she was, then answered with
half his attention, perhaps a bit coldly. 'Not even before the giant
spider?'
.. 'No. Not really. Then I didn't believe what was
happening..... Are you all right?' At last his eyes and mind
focused, and he too felt the need.
'I have been better. How many shocks am I supposed to be able to
face in one day? I feel I've lived a year in just these few
hours.' He released a sigh, almost a groan, laying aside for a time
his resolve to keep an emotional distance from her. . .until she
decided. 'I'm sorry for what I said about the spider. It was
thoughtless.'
'It's all right. You're allowed to be human, you know.'
>From the tone more than her words, Kalus knew that he had stung her,
and that she did not quite forgive him. Again he felt that she was
holding him responsible for the harshness of his world, as if it were
somehow his fault. Again the chasm opened between them, and now he was
too tired to fight it. Imperceptibly he shook his head, breathed out,
and returned his attention to the shoreline.
*
They were now less than a mile out, and the half-forgotten, ruinous
landscape once more absorbed them.
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