The doors to his balcony were open, white curtains flowing slowly with the breeze, the dark blue sea the only view for miles and miles. Henry shivered a little when he finally managed to open the collar of his shirt, throat exposed to the cold air. Some days, he thought he would have enjoyed a room with a view of the Capital, of the buoyancy of the city they’d left so long ago, but truth be told, Henry loved the sea. He loved the illusion of nothing existing beyond that salty water, loved sitting on the balcony and losing himself in the feeling of the entire world around him disappearing, leaving him only with the saline smell in the air and the sounds of waves against the rocks below him, like ghosts whispering. If Henry closed his eyes, he could feel the departed’s presence in the water. All the people who had left them and whose ashes were washed away from the shore as their custom required. If he focused long enough, eyes closed and mind open, the waves crashing below sounded like his mother’s singing.