"Of course not. No fringes, even. But who else are you going to marry? If the whole universe was clear full of the finest men imaginable—pure dreamboats, no less—can you even conceive of you marrying any one of them except him?"
"I'm not going to marry anybody. Ever."
"No? You, with your Prime's mind and your Prime's body, not have any children? And you tell me not to be ridiculous?"
That stopped Belle cold, but she wouldn't admit it. Instead—"I don't get it. What did he do to you, anyway?"
Fao's block set itself so tight that it took her a full minute to soften it down enough for even the thinnest thought to get through. "That's something nobody will ever know. But anyway, unless ... unless you find another Prime as strong as Clee is—and I don't really think there are any, do you?"
"Of course there aren't. There's only one of his class, anywhere. He's it," Belle said, with profound conviction.
"That makes it tough for you. You'll have the toughest job imaginable. The very toughest. I know."
"Huh? What job?"
"Since Clee won't do it for you, and since nobody else can, you'll have to just simply knock hell out of yourself."
And in Garlock's room that night, getting ready for bed, Belle asked suddenly, "Clee, what in hell did you do to Fao Talaho?"