She chuckled. “Nor I. Or even those I think I know, as sometimes people I thought I knew well have demonstrated a meanness or callousness that I hadn’t realized they were capable of.” She looked down at the scroll spread before her. “I value your views even if I don’t agree with them, Danjin. I am finding myself alone in my perspective on this matter. I am no Dreamweaver. My understanding of them is proving to be limited. Neither am I a typical Circlian, who distrusts Dreamweavers at best and actively persecutes them at worst. I need to understand all perspectives if I am to suggest ways for Mairae to persuade the Somreyans into forming an alliance with us.”

Danjin noted the crease that had formed between her brows as she spoke. When he had been offered this position, Dyara had assured him that Auraya would not be given any difficult tasks during her first few years as a White. It seemed this task had found her.

Her knowledge of Dreamweavers made her the best White for it, however. Maybe this was why the White were allowing it to become common knowledge that the newest White was tolerant of, if not supportive of, heathens. What effect would that have in the long term? While the law dictated that seeking a Dreamweaver’s services was a crime, so many people ignored it that few were ever punished. Would Auraya’s tolerance of Dreamweavers encourage more people to defy the law?

Auraya said nothing. Her attention had returned to the alliance.

“Which terms did the Somreyans initially protest against?”

Danjin had anticipated this question. Bringing a wax tablet closer, he recited a long list of changes to the terms of the alliance. The last third were entirely to do with Dreamweaver matters.

“These aren’t new terms, are they? They’ve always been in the alliance.”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t the Somreyans protest about them in the beginning?”

Danjin shrugged. “As larger matters are settled, smaller ones become more noticeable. Or so they say.”

“And they have been noticing them one at a time?” Her voice was heavy with skepticism.

He chuckled. “Every time one matter is resolved, they protest against another.”

“Are they delaying, then? Is there any reason you can see for the Council of Elders to put off signing? Or is it only the Dreamweavers who want to delay or stop the alliance?”

“I don’t know. Mairae feels certain that most of the council want the alliance.”

Auraya drummed her fingers on the table. “So either they are unhappy with the small matters and are presenting them one by one in order to avoid any being tackled with less seriousness in the shadow of others, or they are simply messing us about. Patience will overcome the first possibility. To overcome the other…”

“Nothing will overcome the other. Nothing but direct interference in Somreyan politics.”