[That she leaves his questions unanswered begins to wear through his patience, the fabric of which is so thin. Like sand in which is left the marks of ships' prows, his brow furrows in bemusement, and like rocks that jut from the shore, his words are sharp upon his lips.]

For what do you ask such senseless questions? Does kin not hold the same meaning for me as it would any man? Has ever the word been uttered for any other than those in whom a man's loyalty lies above all else?

[His voice strains to soften, and his hand rises to her cheek to cradle it as he has so many times before, with the intent both to comfort her and to hold her gaze steady upon him. His thumb brushes across the warm trail of her tears to interrupt their steady trickle.]

Come now - how am I to know what stirs you to such distress if you will not name it? It is glad tidings that our love has received blessing from one whose opinion I so esteem, yet you act as a child who runs for her mother's skirts while she cries. Have I not said before that whatever cares weigh upon your heart you may share with me, that the burden might be halved?

[When she feels far from him as she does now, always has he drawn her back with with his words and his touch, which are as the gentle breeze beneath with bob the crowns of ash trees - and thus he waits for her to sway into him.]