Sabine threw Do'rhajul a quick look when he stood up but she let him go. She took a few seconds to finish her mouthful and lower her food to her lap.

"I thought...maybe, if we find the axe, it would prove that I am not being..." The word took a moment longer than she thought to find. "Coerced." It was not the whole truth. "You and Rhajul will be held under strong suspicion at best. The axe should reduce that." She rubbed an itch behind her ear. "That is all."

It was not all. Sabine's visible discomfort admitted a more personal layer that she had not shared.