Mathea remembers when Eidys first told her about her lover from Skalvar. "You're not going to leave, are you?" she'd asked, but Eidys had just smiled and said he would come and live with them. And Mathea had liked Arvid. She had been his staunch defender against the gossip of the neighbours, standing up for her sister and brother by law. Even when Eidys was so afraid, so close to giving birth, when Arvid was weeks overdue, Mathea had comforted her with Arvid's promise to be back. He hadn't come back. Knowing why, now, doesn't take away the memory of pain, nor the still-resonant ache of grief. Once Ylva is safely asleep, Mathea hunches in the moonlight and allows herself to weep for her sister once again.