Fortunately, the visitor quickly shared her name and title as though she was accustomed to making diplomatic visits to faraway lands, and perhaps she was. After all, she had pride enough to call herself a queen—a title that suggested nobility and often tyranny, though it remained to be seen exactly what kind of leader Mariel was. Perhaps she was about to find out.

She had also been correct in assuming Valve was the leader of the dunes, though she would not bestow any sort of title upon herself, nor did she require another to deem her one such thing or another. Her reputation obviously preceded her, and that was more than enough.

“You are not rude to assume when you assume correctly,” Valve confirmed, listening and studying Mariel’s demeanor while she continued. It seemed that her visit was not simply one of purely diplomatic means. At mention of Evaline and another son, Paradiso, Valve straightened her stance and fixated on Mariel, suddenly slightly more on guard. She had never heard Evaline speak of Paradiso at any length. Truth be told, Valve could barely remember if Evaline had ever mentioned another son besides Shamwari or Kasabian, but in either case, Valve certainly wanted to hear what Mariel had come all this way to say.

“Go on,” Valve ushered, always keen on learning more information.

VALVE
slenderman x black heart machine