Sam could feel Dorothea and the dwarves gazing nervously and disapprovingly at her as she knelt there in front of him and listened. She was leaning as close as she dared, gazing intently at him as he spoke, never taking her eyes off of his. She looked into his eyes, searching for any indication of a trick or a lie, but saw only intense determination as he told her about his true motivations for serving the queen: to find her weakness and use it to destroy her. He told her that she couldn't tell Dorothea, that her attitude about him could never change. Sam's eyes narrowed a bit as she considered this, almost tempted to glance behind her to see the cat but refusing to break eye contact with August Derrick. She searched for any sign of a lie in his eyes and face, a tell or a nervous twitch. She found nothing. He appeared to be genuinely honest. Or he was a very good liar.

He gave her a grave smile when he pointed out that he couldn't stop her from telling Dorothea if that's what she wanted to do. Sam smirked in response. "No, not really," she agreed. Her tone was just as quiet as his, as she knew Dorothea must be straining her ears to listen to their conversation. Her eyes narrowed a bit more as she considered him one last time before speaking again. "But maybe I won't tell her. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet. You have to admit, August, that it's difficult for me to trust you after everything you did to me today. Even if you're telling the truth and everything you did was to keep up appearances with the queen. You still kidnapped me."

She was biting her lip in thought, going over every exchange they had shared in her head. He had in fact kidnapped her. And chased her through the woods. And held a knife up to her eye and threatened to pluck it out. Among other things. That hadn't seemed like a man who was secretly against his evil mistress. But August had told her that he had been forced to do terrible things to keep Narissa's trust. And then he had hid her from men who had seemed eager to impale her, and then from the queen herself. He had probably saved her life. Sam studied the enigma of a man before her again before speaking. "Alright. Let's pretend I believe you for a moment. You said I'm Dorothea's best asset. That my voice is the most powerful." Her brow furrowed, attempting to understand. "What did you mean? I'm not from this world, why would anyone listen to anything I have to say?"