She swam with all her energy now, but it would avail her nothing. No hope for her and very little for him.
"We'll try. I don't know how, but we'll try."
For an extended moment, he felt her absence from his mind. He became aware of how his skin stung, how her teeth dug into him. His aching muscles shrieked at him, and cold both numbed and burned him. Then she came back, bringing her warmth and pushing his misery aside.
Can save you, she announced.
Affection he could feel enfolded him. Why? he wondered. Why did she care about him?
Less lonely. You make sense of world. Talk to me. Her warmth wrapped him.
Sedric drew breath. All his life, he'd been aware that people loved him. His parents loved him. Hest had loved him, he thought. Alise did. He'd known of love and accepted that it existed for him. But never before had he actually felt love as a physical sensation that emanated from another creature and warmed and comforted him. It was incredible. A slow thought came to him.
Can you feel it when I care about you?
Sometimes. Her reply was guarded. I know it's not real, sometimes. But kind words, pretty words, feel good even if not real. Like remembering food when hungry.
Sudden shame flooded him. He took a slow breath and opened his gratitude to her. He let his thanks flow out of him, that she forgave him for taking her blood, that she had saved him, that she would continue to struggle on his behalf when he could not offer her definite hope of sanctuary.
As if he had poured oil on a fire, her warmth and regard for him grew. He actually felt his body physically warm, and suddenly her dogged one-two, one-two paddling grew stronger. Together they just might survive. Both of them.
For the first time in many years, he closed his eyes and breathed a heartfelt prayer to Sa.
Dragon Haven, by Robin Hobb (Rain Wild Chronicles #2)
