Robert thought about. Ten miles was enough to take solders almost a day of walking. Not such a big difference to someone who can fly, he guessed. An equipped unit of soldiers would take longer. 
He frowned for a moment then asked, “Why would you carry a map like that?” It was a dumb question to ask, because it did not matter.

There was more to her story than that. From what he knew, she was probably one of three things: a noble, messenger, scout, or merchant. She clearly wasn’t a merchant, if she would she would be more upset about her things. A scout seemed unlikely as she would have tried to escape or used something as a weapon. A noble would mean there would be soldiers coming to look for her. That would probably mean bloodshed and then war. A messenger was most likely. 

He said, “It is times like thins that I wish I had wings. It is probably only an hour or two to fly to town, but a day by horse.” She sighed and continued, “They would probably try to sell the map in town town to old Finn. Bandits tend not to as ambitious as to go to the guard or mayor.”

Finn was the closest thing to a thieves guild master and fence in the area. If there was smuggling, thievery, or other criminal activity odds are Finn had his hands in it. Finn had been the one to teach him to pick locks and jimmy doors and windows when he ran away from home one summer as a child. He acted and still tries to act like a father to Robert. Their relationship was strained when bandits raided the family’s mining operation because someone said they had struck gold. It was a lie. The raiders hurt people.

Robert started working on two plans in his mind. The first was to offer to take the map and go investigate and bring something back that Finn could sell in the capital city. The second had to do forgery. As a child thief, he was sent to steal a copy of the mayor’s signet. It wasn’t hard, as the son of a prosperous land holder, he was allowed to attend the fall Galia. When the evening winded down, he helped the mayor up to his room and pressed a copy of the ring into clay. He also stole a letter from his lord with the wax seal intact and his signature. This he hid from Finn. Treason, was farther than he wanted to go. It had taken Robert years to figure out how to lift the imprint. Going from a flour cast up to harder and harder materials till he could make a silver press with the seals. Now he had a small collection of seals and signatures of nobles and officials. School had helped him as he corresponded with other nobles and officials about iron ore and lumber. He could trade those to Finn for the map and some equipment. The trick with forgery is the paper and inks. Robert had spent purses of gold coins buying paper and ink from different parts of the kingdom and trade partners. He would not hand that over to Finn. Let the man do his own work. But he didn’t want her to think he was a thief, this had all become an academic study for him. This is also why his family’s signet had different chart coils and edges. It was harder to copy.

He turned his attention to the core question that really did matter, “How long do we have to recover it and get you to where you should be?” 
He then asked her, “What weapon do you fight with, Wren?”

[@AmberTheAlbedo]