Ebb

The words of her ancestor Murasaki Shikibu came to her and she said them.

"The troubled waters
Are frozen fast.
Under clear heaven
Moonlight and shadow
Ebb and flow."

Hannibal made Prince Genji's classic reply:

"The memories of long love
Gather like drifting snow.
Poignant as the mandarin ducks
Who float side by side in sleep."

"No," Lady Murasaki said. "No. Now there is only ice. It's gone. Is it not gone?"

~ Hannibal Rising, Thomas Harris