"Oh, yes," Sonia says, a sudden vicious bitterness to her voice, "everyone always knows what's best for Sonia. Everyone except Sonia."

But he looks -- upset, really miserable, and somehow that's comforting. She doesn't take pleasure in his pain, but that she might not be alone in her misery -- God. There's so little to comfort her here. She thinks about that night in Riverfall, how safe she'd felt then. She'd give anything for that safety right now.

"What?" she says, the bitterness slipping away entirely. She just looks tired now, still crying but nearly worn out from it. "What else is there to talk about, Byerly?"