The name Aten is not familiar to her, but the momentary confusion does not register on her face. There was a time where that would not have surprised her – for a stranger to know her name, or to know the things that have happened. It was a rarity now, though, when so many alive did not even remember the kingdoms of old, much less those that had ruled them.
But knowing Magnus’ name was less surprising, since he had never been good at laying low; it hadn’t come as a shock to her at all to see that Magnus had already made a name for himself even amongst this new generation when she had returned. Considering his lineage it made sense that he had found a land – even a new, strange one – to be fiercely loyal to. “Magnus was ruling Tephra when I decided to come back, not long before the plague struck. He was in the Gates, too, a long time ago.”
The old kingdom’s names were like sparks on her tongue, like a name that she has been looking for a reason to say. She can see the excitement in the other girl’s eyes, and it was all too easy to get caught up in this nostalgia. “Solomon and Coca-Cola were a little bit before I ever came to Beqanna,” she says with a shake of her head. “And the Dale was actually not my real home. The Valley is where I lived the longest, and the place I miss the most.” She can feel the knot beginning to form in her chest – a twisting and tangled feeling of homesickness, a longing for something that is gone forever and existed only in her memory and in illusions crafted by a dark god.
“I ended up in the Dale because Carnage took it from Moselle and placed me there.” Her tone is carefully measured, cautious to not lend a hint at how she cannot say Carnage’s name without feeling her pulse quicken, without feeling like the brand on her hip was suddenly just as hot as when he had marked her with it. “My knowledge of it is really just a little bit of Moselle’s reign, and then my own.” She doesn’t offer details – not yet. Her time in the Dale was not exactly peaceful, and neither was her descension. She supposes if Lilli wants to know specifics that she will ask. And she will find out rather quickly that the unassuming white mare had led a life far more interesting than most could imagine.
