"Yes, Maggie," she says, a little sarcastic, without thinking. It's because Rani doesn't really have a last name that she knows--or, at least, not one she can rattle off--and it's the kind of bossing-around older sisters excel at. But after she hears it, her stomach turns cold, and the only thing she can think to do is keep walking in silence.

There's no reason to be upset, she tells herself, but even though she knows it's true, it still happens. Thinking of Maggie--and of how, unless she shows up on Barrayar, they'll never see each other again--opens up what feels like a bottomless pit of loneliness. And it's almost too much, after the man who died today. Almost, because nothing can actually be too much, or she'll fall apart.