As Dorothea described her mother and father Sam felt herself smile. It was nice. Talking and getting to know one another. It was a lovely way to distract herself from all of the danger they were in and she felt a little at peace. The smile slipped a little when Dorothea told her how young her had been when her mother ad died and Sam looked over to her. "I'm so sorry," she told her softly. When she learned that Narissa's sister was the queen of Verinia Sam's face contorted in confusion. "So wait, Narissa's trying to start a war with her sister?" She let out a low whistle. "Must be a hell of a story behind that."

When they reached the road and Dorothea pointed out the way to Vernia she turned her head to look. It would probably take them ages to get there on foot. Sam had been looking forward to riding a horse the rest of the way, even though she didn't really know how to ride a horse. But August, sounding more like the Marshal at the moment, insisted that they just walk as he did not know the way to the farm. He started walking away, in the direction of the capitol, and Sam pursed her lips. 

She didn't like this, how the plan had changed. She missed the dwarves. Despite of the trust she had extended to the Marshal she still felt wary of being alone with him. But she knew they didn't have a choice except to follow him. So she started walking and carried on the conversation she had been sharing with Dorothea. If for no other reason then to help keep the other girl's morale up. But Sam had also been genuinely enjoying the conversation, as well. 

"Your mother sounded lovely," she told her in earnest. "And your dad sounds nice. I hope I get to meet him sometime. I think our fathers would get along." Sam smiled. "My dad has a bit of a sweet tooth, too. But my mom is a nurse so she's a bit obsessed with health. They used fight about it sometimes." Her tone had gotten a little sad. They had fought about it a lot. Back when every little stupid thing one of them would do would set the other off. "And when I lived with my mom I'd eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, but when I lived with my dad he'd give me sweets." She looked over at Dorothea, suddenly feeling like she had to explain. "My parents are divorced. It happened when I was eight. And I have stepparents, too. But they aren't evil, of course." She laughed a bit, feeling a little awkward and decided to change the subject to something lighter.

"So...tell me about this Liam guy." She smiled. Sam had never been into this kind of talk before but this time she felt genuinely interested. Plus she was looking for anything to help pass the time. "I've been hearing his name for the past two days, but I don't know anything about him. Are you two, like..." Sam hesitated a little, like she couldn't believe a cynical girl like her was going to say the next two words. "In love?"