Lost Creek Hollow the holly bears the crown.

It wasn't quite the response that he expected, a point no doubt made by the tension that gripped him in her embrace. It explained much and in a way, did not entirely strike him as some sort of world-ending surprise. But it wasn't a total expectation either; it left him breathless for just a moment and reeling for longer to find words. Little doubt stood in the way that it explained more than that, as he felt certain she only shared that information because she knew for sure. There had been much bigger things at play when they had changed locales, a much longer game that had been resting at the back of his mind that had begun well before they had even left the confines of the plateau so many months ago.

"That's quite a condition," he said finally and surprisingly wry. The tension he felt ebbed away slow, but steady. But it too, plateaued out as he considered reality rushing in. It was sobering. "You're certain? A month?"