"Just one in a string of Glue Boys and Glue Girls, I'm afraid." He smiled crookedly, and added wryly, "Doesn't do to let them forget where they're headed." Then, a little more seriously, "I've never not known them. Ro' and I were raised in the same cradle half the time, and we've been close with Alain since we could toddle. We were all but born an-tet. We played together, we studied together, we've fought together so many times it's like..."

He pulled a face, aware that he might be coming across as a little smug, and took another draught of wine. "Do you know what 'ka-tet' means? One from many. I don't know how much I believe in ka and destiny and all that crap, that's Roland's department. But we're one, all right. That's why I couldn't help hating Susan a little. She took a big part of him. Of us." He looked down at his wine, suddenly morose. "And now Nariko gets the rest."