"You don't?"
"I've met my mother," he argued. "I've met Lovi Piathos. The two couldn't be more different. But neither of which would 'favor' anyone— Well, except the Commander."
"Who is this Commander?"
Dorian tensed, Nadir's face and charms coming to mind. How he'd swept Nyssa off her feet. Bala's notion of what his 'type' was.
"Doesn't matter," Dorian said fast.
Reverie didn't push it, and instead, she continued dabbing his wound. "It is no fault of mine that Dreamers as a people have never met our mother," she said softly. "So perhaps I do buy into some of it because what else have I to hang on to when it comes to something greater than me?"
"You know why you don't see her, don't you?" he asked, wondering if she knew the truth. "You know why your mother secluded herself into her own tree and decided to stay away."
"It was her choice to let us grow without her," Reverie said, and Dorian knew she only knew the story from the Chronicles. He shook his head at her as he recalled Draven telling him the story of the Dreamer giver, Somniarb Crelib, when they'd visited the Village of Dreams together, and Draven had shown him her great tree. A large lavender and white willow as grand as his own mother's, at the edge of the creek that flowed through the town.
"That’s not why," Dorian said.
She paused and sighed heavily. "Don't tell me this another of your Venari King's stories," she said, and her tone made his jaw clench.
"Why do you think Somniarb, as free-spirited and happy as she is told to have been in the Chronicles, would have suddenly locked herself away without Haerland doing it to her?"
"I just told you—“
"Somniarb was scared," Dorian said as he sat up. "Somniarb threw herself into her tree because her sister terrified her to the point she thought her life was in danger. All because she actually enjoyed Duarb's company. Arbina wanted Somniarb to never speak to him again when they had their spat."
Reverie's lips pursed. "One day, I hope you can show me proof of such stories from your Venari," she uttered. "And are you telling me you also do not believe in the Architects?" she asked.
This one, Dorian thought about. "I won't pretend to know any of it. What I do know is that these are actual beings. Omnipotent or not, I do not know."
Reverie didn't respond and instead simply started wrapping the gash on his forearm. The conversation made him think of Aydra and how Aydra had always told him not to trust beings claiming to be of greater importance than himself to save him. That the only being he should ever pray to was himself.
"What's funny?" Reverie asked, and Dorian hadn't realized he was smiling.
"I was just thinking what my older sister would have said if she heard you talking about the Lesser Ones like this," he replied.
"You were close with her, weren't you?"
Dorian realized then that he'd not talked about his sister any more than just talking with Hagen about her death. He ran a hand through his hair, and it reminded him of her always giving it a shake.
"Yeah," he said softly.
"Why don't you tell me about her?"
Dorian stared, unsure of why Reverie was being so nice and offering to listen. "Why?"
"The only thing I ever knew about our Queen was that my friends at Magnice thought her gracious. They said they did not worry for their safety because she would protect them from anything."
"If they thought such, they shouldn't have stoned her in the streets for falling in love with another King," Dorian said out loud before he could stop himself. "They should have trusted her."
"The enemy King," she corrected. "How did you think our people would react at seeing such a display? Their Queen, seduced by the ancient enemy King."
"She wasn't seduced," Dorian said, getting tired of hearing it already. "If you think such things about her, why ask me to tell you?"
"Because you claim it all to be lies," she admitted.
"You know nothing about my family, and yet you simply follow the word of people sitting in their chairs and barking orders. Not people out here doing the work. My sister did the work. Draven did the work. Everyone I trust isdoing the work.Can you say the same thing about the people you follow? The ones that condemned them in that room or pushed you so hard you felt the need to go after the exiled Prince on your own?"
She watched him, and he could see the words settling in her mind. "No," she finally said. "So tell me about her."
