Poor Koppa and Melniar. The romantic element in Goldfire. He was Human and she was a Wose, nothing more incompatible there physically than between, say an Elf and a Man in Middle-earth, or a Human and a Vulcan. The big problem was that Koppa's magic would preserve him alive for hundreds of years, aging only slowly, until long after Melniar had grown old and passed away. In the end, I think, they decided to part and follow their own avocations to spare themselves inevitable heartbreak, though that decision was heartbreaking in itself. But it was chosen, rather than simply fated, and to that extent it was more bearable.
In fact we had a little imagined scenario where, in a modern-style hospital, an incredibly old man lies dying; he opens up his eyes to see the full moon outside his window. He murmurs, "Melniar. Oh, Melniar ..." and quietly dies. The moon was always Melniar's particular devotion.
