Suddenly, Dahlia wished she’d eaten faster. Then, she felt guilty. Hovvi came to her often, sometimes as a terrifying jolt in the middle of the day, others as a protracted nightmare when she slept. Every time it was the same; she saw the lake roiling, the town burning, she heard thousands of voices screaming in fear. She saw Safie die. She saw her father…

What was she supposed to do? Lie? She couldn’t. Even if she wanted to, she could never bring herself to praise someone like that. But at the same time, what did spilling every detail of Hovvi’s destruction do for anyone? What did Quinn gain listening to Dahlia try to explain it all without breaking down? What did [i]she[/i] gain dragging herself through it again? 

But she couldn’t lie to Quinn. 

“[color=skyblue]I didn’t like him,[/color]” she said flatly. “[color=skyblue]He got on with everyone, and people liked to be around him. I thought he was a selfish jerk. But he helped Runa for a long time, before…Hovvi.[/color]”

Her appetite was gone. She set her fork down and dumped what was left on her plate into the trash, then took it to the kitchen. What would Quinn do in her place? How would she feel about someone like that? Would she be as merciful to Lucis as she was to Roaki? Probably—or at least, she’d handle it better than Dahlia was. 

“[color=skyblue]I’m…I’m sorry. Is it okay if we don’t…talk about this? I didn't...I’m still kinda working through it with Follen. I…I don’t really even know how I feel, yet.[/color]” She shrank a bit over the sink. "[color=skyblue]I'm sorry.[/color]"