Ecclesiastes 1:11 - There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.

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To be honest (and Book knows that, in the words of the True Shepherd, of whom he is but a humble servant, the truth will set him free), he did not recognize her at first. The faux pas and bewilderment, then embarrassment, he showed at being introduced were not feigned.

Perhaps she had changed, subtly but enough to hinder recognition, realization, memory? Or perhaps – and this, he knows, is far closer to the heart of the matter – he had changed. And nothing subtle about it.

Still. He had been aboard ship nearly a week before it came to him. While he was sitting on the narrow bunk of the almost-as-narrow passenger cabin and contemplating just what he had gotten himself into, and felt the Companion’s face tugging at his subconscious again. Not the first time. No. He had gone... to her shuttle, after Whitefall, seeking... something. And he thought he had found it, in the unlooked-for sympathy and peace he had found in a moment of benediction. But... if that was all it was... then why was her face back? Again?

The convent had taught him the importance – even the necessity – of following the urgings of the soul, and so Book had crossed his legs and steadied his breathing and meditated. Let his mind go where it would.

Into the past.

Into the areas where the God-fearing and kind and moral man he is now hates and fears to go...

Book found her, at last, eight years back. Certain social obligations—no, he corrected the memory, certain career obligations—had arisen. It had been advisable that he have an escort on his arm for the functions he would be attending. If nothing else, it prevented the unattached women in the government sphere from singling him out and making his evenings that much more difficult. A nuisance to be sure, to arrange female companionship for the round of parties, bal