"WHAT?" The man nearly choked on his own spit. His thick brows furrowed, and he jabbed a finger toward Lidia like she had just accused him of sleeping with a goat.
"You don't know anything about us," he spat, his voice thick with barely restrained rage. "It's sad that the children have been taken, but I'll not risk the lives of the villagers for a lost cause."
Lidia sucked in a slow, deep breath.
A lost cause.
Her fingers twitched with the need to deck this fool right in his stupid, sunburned face.
Before she could deliver a well-deserved verbal (or physical) assassination, a group of villagers came bolting toward them, their boots pounding against the dirt road.
"Sir Knight! We finished the map!" one of them huffed, out of breath.
The knight took the parchment from their trembling hands and unfolded it, scanning the lines and markings carefully.
Lidia rocked back on her heels, watching as his gloved fingers traced over a specific spot.
