Iktome Plains You asked me how long

Rosalyn's suggestion that he talk to Njord about it was easier said than done. For one thing, Sobo was avoiding Njord. He felt down enough that having to be anywhere near the man while he beamed ear to ear would be too much for Sobo to handle. For another, he was not in any place mentally to be lectured about how wrong he was by anyone, least of all his father, which he felt was certain to happen. He couldn't stomach any of it and doubted very much that Njord would just lie down and take it.

His first instinct was to ask why Rosalyn would trust him more, but he didn't. T'anks, mamá, is what he said instead, silently tamping down his uncertainty. Rosalyn would not lie to his face. If she said she would trust him more with something than Njord, she meant it. Besides, it felt good to just accept it at face value. It wasn't often he felt seen for his own merits — a lot of the time, he felt his only worth was in being Rosalyn and Erzulie's son, or Njord's son, in Meerkat's case — and while this barely counted, it was something.

Dere be a place down de coast a ways dat has cliffs like dis on de sides, but not so big as ours. A large bay wit' lots of grass an' a big forest, he said, changing the subject to his recent travels. Have you been dere?