Chapter Two

An epigraph explains that dreamwalking hinges on shared magical sources, often possible for strong Mortem channelers. This frames the chapter’s tension around dreams and power.

That evening, Bastian repeatedly praises Lore for saving Jerault by channeling Mortem and Spiritum together. Lore, wary of gossiping servants and unwanted attention, deflects details and asks to change the subject. They agree to postpone laying the undead horse, Claude, to rest, joking about his use while acknowledging political pressures from citizen payments and the treasurers.

Bastian departs for late Church meetings, likely with Gabe. Lore feels the strain of their altered dynamics: Bastian’s new tenderness, her lingering thoughts of Gabe, and her discomfort with becoming a symbol. Seeking sleep without drink, she instead suffers a vivid dream of burning her mental forest, screams, and wakes unsettled yet relieved it lacks Anton’s manipulative pull.

Restless in the oppressive summer heat, Lore wanders Bastian’s apartments and the Citadel’s halls, avoiding people and memories. She recalls Bastian’s promise to protect her after the ritual and notes the irony of Apollius’s supposed will versus current reality. Drawn outside under a moonless sky, she drifts through the gardens into the Presque Mort’s stone garden, compelled toward the well.

There, in the fog, Lore encounters her mother, the Night Priestess, who greets her as “Daughter.” The meeting confirms Lore’s fears that personal and divine entanglements are far from over, linking her dreams, Mortem power, and family past to imminent conflict.