Swiftcurrent Creek I love you will still sound the same

She watched him, half expecting him to turn and leave her then and there. Half a dozen possible answers tumbled through her head, all of them negative. What reason did the shaman have to go with her? What reason to cherish her the way he had before? The loa had successfully blinded her, if only temporarily, and proved for all to see her will had weakened. Her resolve was stronger now, but Jinx doubted that it was enough to sway him. Fear clutched her heart in icy talons as she waited for him to part from her, forever.

But he moved forward, and fear melted with a nearly audible hiss of relief. Her whole body slumped as though a rigid weight had been removed, and she was reaching for him. She felt his body against hers, and sought the crook of his neck with her face, glad for his acceptance. It might not have been forgiveness, for only he knew that, but it was more than she had dared hope for.

"It will be nice," she murmured, thinking of the distance they would put between themselves and the wicked devils of the Vale. "I wanted to uphold Lethe's vision for this place, to show I value my father's friends, but... I couldn't do it. It is not what she wanted." Wherever they went was not likely to be what Lethe wanted either, but Jinx was already determined to hold a proper ritual there in Lethe's honour, for devoting her soul to the Gods. If only she had known Lethe had been buried rather than sent off on the river's currents, her motivation to leave would have been stronger sooner.

"How... Do you feel about mountains?" she wondered, knowing that Lecter's word would determine where she would go. She had plans already, but they could easily be changed here and now. "There is a lone mountain in the west. Tuwawi told me the forest at its base has been abandoned, and it is very close to the sea." They would have prime hunting grounds, access to the hot springs, seclusion, and of course, the ocean at their backside... It was all Jinx could hope for, but now more than ever, she needed her lover's approval before acting.