"Tell your friend about your mothers' milk, Quin," Feng said from somewhere in the background. Her voice was giddy.
"I wouldn't know anything about that," Quinlan replied smoothly.
"Suuure..."
"I wouldn't."
"You literally drank-"
"Moving on."
Alexios's hand had migrated from the armrest to his forehead. He pressed his fingers into his temples and breathed through his nose.
"Luminara and Mearie," the king said. His voice trembled, and it had nothing to do with the vulgarity of the conversation. It was the tremor of a man whose understanding of reality was being restructured against his will. "The First Elf and the Shield Maiden?"
The artifact went quiet for a beat.
Luminara. The First Elf. Her name was recorded extensively in elven historical archives and treated as near-divine, or outright divine, by much of the elven population. Shrines stood in her honor across Elvardian lands. Prayers were offered in her name.
