" With a whisper, Ash asked Shadow, “But why do you live this way?  With him, in this kind of role?” In an Aaback fashion, the creature grinned.  Then Shadow peered over the edge of the canyon, speaking to no one in particular when he explained, “He needs me so much.  This is why.” “As a servant?” “And as a friend, and a confidant.”  With a very human shrug, he asked Ash, “How could anyone survive even a single day, if he didn’t feel as if he was, in some little great way, needed? "

― Robert Reed , The Greatship (Great Ship, #3)