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Thornden sat with Eodwine and Garstan as Haleth stood behind the stammering and terrified peasant waiting until he finished speaking.
"I-I--I was a-feared, m'lords! I didna wish the lass harm, but I am a simple man, and my bit o'land lies far too close to m'lord Sorn's than is my liking. He's vicious, and my family's there, my wife and th'littles, and if Sorn knew I spoke to you, 'e'd kill th'littles quick, and m'wife...Aren't you, lords, aware of what manner o'man he is? I fear him greatly."
What was Thornden to think? The man had reason to fear, that was true, and who wouldn’t want to protect his family? But to actually know that some helpless girl was in the grasp of someone as Sorn (and the man knew very well, clearly, what sort of man Sorn actually was) and not do anything about it for days, was hardly short of cowardice.
‘We can’t all be heros, though,’ Thornden said to himself. He averted his gaze away from Torim’s face and looked at Eodwine. Surely there would not be any more sharp words towards the fellow for his silence. Yet should the lady have suffered much because of the three days’ delay. . .Thorndin didn’t feel so sure that any one of them sitting there would feel very kindly towards Torim.
He leaned slightly towards Eodwine, but said nothing as the pause grew longer and into one of those horrible silences. What would he say? And what could they do - now that they knew who had her and maybe where she was to be found?
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