I know it's months later, but I have a possible answer to this:
[Elspeth] seems to care too much, on the order of a mate-bond.
Jacob is the only person Elspeth had around during her imprisonment in the Village (she is Number 6) who she could care about without it feeling false as far as her magic was concerned. It's pretty logical that that feeling would have seriously magnified importance.
I know it's months later, but I have a possible answer to this: [Elspeth] seems to care too much, on the order of a mate-bond.
Jacob is the only person Elspeth had around during her imprisonment in the Village (she is Number 6) who she could care about without it feeling false as far as her magic was concerned. It's pretty logical that that feeling would have seriously magnified importance.