Amid the sound of splashing water, a fair arm also extended from the right side of the beautiful head in the water.
The two hands together held up the little yellow flower, raising it level with the dock's planked surface. That beautiful, dripping-wet face looked up at Shade:
"Take tonight's story as your stage. Before dawn arrives, with you as the protagonist, show me a story of your desire."
Purple eyes gazed at Shade with feeling:
"Upon this turbulent land, use your desire—your blazing, forever unfulfilled desire—to perform the most magnificent scene for me."
"Desire? What sort of desire?"
"Any desire will do."
She stared at Shade as he gradually bent down toward her:
"I can see through your heart. I can see what you long for. This is not difficult for you, is it?"
"And if I can't do it?"
Shade asked. As he bent down and reached for the flower, his face was now quite close to Desire's—closer than it had ever been before.
At this distance, aside from getting a clearer look at that beautiful face, dusted with snowflakes and seemingly combining the finest features of every young lady he knew, he could even smell the fragrance on Desire's face beneath the briny scent of the Ailong River.
It was the scent of Witches' Taste.
"She really did imitate my favorite perfume."
Shade pinched the little flower held between those two hands and quickly pulled his hand back, avoiding any direct contact with Desire in any form.
She likewise withdrew her hands, and her two arms slipped back beneath the surface like water snakes:
"If you fail, then the next time you bathe, I will appear in the water and grant you a kiss."
She laughed softly, watching Shade as her head drifted backward through the snow