The Starless Sea

Dorian and the woman who was once a bunny but whose name is not Eleanor sail on the rising sea with Zachary’s corpse bleeding on her maps. He hears a commotion on deck as the owls try to land on the sails to stay afloat. Dorian asks how high the sea will rise, but Eleanor assures him that there are many caverns and she knows how to navigate them all. Eleanor asks, and Dorian confirms that the body is his “person.” She recognizes the coat he wears and asks what he is reading. Dorian shows her Sweet Sorrows. She is surprised to learn of its travels and smiles to have it returned, though it was never truly hers.

Eleanor tells Dorian that there is a man sitting on a precipice reading. She plans to pick him up when the sea level reaches it. Though she does not realize it, her words show that the person is Simon, the one she had initially been searching for: “I don’t know how he’d get out otherwise, he only has one hand” (486).

Dorian hears Fate’s heart beating and asks himself what the difference is between Fate’s heart and a heart that belongs to Fate, kept in her care until required.