[h1]Dirt Road[/h1]

[hr]

With Sheila's assistance, keeping Linie from moving too much while she was being tended to wasn't particularly difficult. Thankfully, the Duke's Daughter and her entourage weren't entirely unprepared, and some alcohol and clean water as well as some loose fabric was able to be located for the purposes of tending to the wound.

It seemed as if Linie was finally listening to her orders, at least, given she appeared to be resting still, though she did flinch slightly as the gash in her side was tended to. As long as they could put a stop to the bleeding, it was likely the future was relatively bright for the injured girl.

While it didn't show on her face, the Duke's daughter seemed to grow a little less tense at the medical attention to her maid, though the third maid that remained by her side was less ready to relax.

This was made abundantly clear when she snatched the paper from Duncan's hand.

"Don't address Lady Darnell so lightly," she asserted, her voice firm as she gave a sharp glare to the armored man, "Regardless of how you may have assisted, you-"

"Morwenna, do you take me for some kind of fool?"

The maid went rigid at that.

"Of... o-of course not, Lady Darnell," she said, bowing her head.

"Hmph," the blonde girl huffed as she folded her arms, "Then don't treat me like one. I [i]want[/i] to see what he found, even if he is a commoner."

"I... I apologize," the maid responded, bowing her head swiftly. When she addressed Duncan once more, she didn't look him in the eye.

"I'm sorry," she said, quietly, before silently handing holding the paper up to her mistress.

The girl's glare intensified.

"Someone dared to hand these pieces of trash information on my route back to the capital?" she snapped, snatching the paper from her maid's hand, "The audacity to aid mere [i]bandits[/i] in attempting to assault nobility---!"

"I'm not sure if they are mere bandits, Lady Darnell," one of the armored men approached, kneeling and bowing his head as he did. He was in his forties, perhaps, with a rather thick moustache, "Their equipment is higher quality then the average highwayman, no matter how they tried to make it look."

The girl's grip on the paper tightened as her eyes narrowed.

".. I [i]see[/i]," she replied, her voice dripping with venom, "So [i]that's[/i] how it is."

[@PKMNB0Y][@Raineh Daze][@Sir Lurksalot]