Sindra raised her gaze slightly, to note the offered arm and bowed her head. She hesitated, remembering the sailor's hand, his destined drowning that sprang from her lips. Still, the habit of obedience overpowered that fragment of memory and she brushed her hand across his arm.
She suddenly straightened, the youth and vulnerability in her face vanishing beneath the shadow of something greater and ancient. "Those swift robbers sign the warrant of death on your sister's daughter; haggard with hunger insatiable, they linger still near her heart."
Sindra stumbled on the rocking boat, her hand on her mouth as if she had been struck there and dropped to her knees, pressing her forehead to the deck. "This one gives her apologies."