[she blinks a few times, her usual expression gone for a moment - before she snorts, almost a laugh]

You're looking at it way too seriously.

In the beginning, when humans learned that we may exist, they told stories. And those stories spread - and their belief in us is what gave us our power. But it's also what formed the first rules we had to follow, aside from what the gods put in place.

[she spreads her hands with a shrug] In other words, it's just an old way of referring to the rules.