Drift looked long and hard at the young woman, the dedicated warrior, and he understood that Danica, too, had been forced into a great sacrifice because of Adderley's choice. He sensed an anger within her, but it was buried deep. Overwhelmed by her love for this man and her admiration for his sacrifice. Catti-brie didn't miss any of it. She, who had lost her love, surely empathized with Danica, and yet, she knew that the woman was undeserving of any sympathy. In those few sentences of explanation, in the presence of Adderley and of Danica, and within the halls of this most reverent of structures, Patti-broe understood that to give sympathy to Danica would belittle the sacrifice, would diminish what Adderley had accomplished in exchange for his years.

Passage to Dawn