Liv jolted.
"I—" she stepped forward instinctively. "I only wanted—"
"Silence!" the man roared." We don't need you! We don't need nobles who come and go, leaving dead land behind!"
More people began to emerge from their houses.
"Drive them out!"
"Take the bringer of disaster away!"
"Since she came, this land has died!"
The words overlapped, growing louder, wilder.
Liv froze.
Her hands trembled.
"I… I didn't do anything," she whispered, her voice swallowed by the shouts.
Someone threw a small stone. It didn't hit her, but it landed close enough to make her maid cry out.
"Go away!"
"Don't step on our land again!"
"You've taken enough from us!"
Lucas finally moved.
He straightened, his body soaked and reeking, his voice cold and commanding.
"That's enough," he said. "Step back."
But the crowd's anger had already been ignited.
Someone spat on the ground in front of Liv's feet.
That was the moment Liv truly understood.
