Dorothea responded with a touch of her paw against Liam's cheek. Of course she could trust him to realize she was here -- all she'd had to do was allow him the chance. She didn't try to speak, knowing that if he heard a cat's meow his certainty might waver, but instead sat silently at his arm, pressed tightly against him.

When the Marshal appeared, however, she grew rigid. A low growl roiled deep in her throat and she hissed in his direction, her fur standing on end. None of this would be happening if it hadn't been for him and his lies. He had Sam wrapped around his finger, Dorothea was sure of it.

The Marshal was cool as stone. He watched Will for a few moments, calculating, before he replied. "You both are owed an explanation, and I will tell you what I know. Prince Liam's blindness is due only to Raquelle's sick-minded ideals. She worked alone for her own gain. The dwarves set the camp on fire because they believed the troop to be associated with the Witch of the Woods. This was logical only in that I was among your company. They know me as a servant of the Witch, so therefore our soldiers must be the Witch's men." He paused a moment to let this fact sink in before he continued.

"I've been working as an agent under the Witch, to spy on her --"

"There are only so many lies I can take, Marshal!" Dorothea spat articulately, her head raised high and her eyes sharp as daggers.

The Marshal watched her solemnly. "For the good of the kingdom I kept close to her and read her actions and motives. She plans to overthrow Tommen and take Eldonia for her own -- as well as Itelia and Verinia, through the instigation of war. She has done this by staging a kidnapping, framing the soldiers of Verinia for the deed, and hiding the princess in plain sight."

"[i]You[/i] kidnapped me!" Dorothea said in a low, dangerous voice. "You killed your own men. You dragged me off my horse with your own hand, you tied my wrists, you threw me down at the Queen's feet and you [i]watched[/i]."

The Marshal was only quiet, shielded in his mind against the oncoming storm. "The Witch you already know as Queen Narissa of Eldonia."

---

Raquelle was rummaging through the ruins of her belongings, dumping chests and sifting through clothes while her servants cowered behind the horses. She must have something here that would help her in this situation -- a memory potion, or a love tonic, or a charm that would get her through those doors without anyone noticing her presence. She was examining a disfigured rabbit's foot when her mother's voice called out from beneath a pile of charred cloth.

"Mother." Raquelle dusted the ash off the mirror and looked serious and bright-eyed into her mother's face. "Everyone has taken refuge inside a poor farmer's house. Shall I burn it down, Mother?"