It is - and so sudden and immediately, Gilia misses her brother. Nikolai would hold her hand and give her courage in facing their joint task. He would show her how to progress forward, even when they were so far away from everything.

Whether he meant to be quite this comforting, it's probably highly debatable. Because she steps forward and in the shame that it is for a woman of her position to cry in front of another, she must hide it, and so she does: into his shoulder with a wracking sob that is very quiet, almost unnoticeable for how her shoulders shake.

"I miss my brothers and sisters."