"I just want to make this clear, are you the witch?" Eldric went straight to the point, no reason to prolong this anymore.
Lia decided to come clean, "Just because we make medicine don't mean we are witches. You can check the house for witchcraft. And as far as I know, my hair is naturally black."
"You might have changed it. Besides, our reports said there are two women living in the forest," Tim said.
Lia's eyes shot to Eldric's direction, whose face remained blank. She sneered in her heart, of course, he had them investigated. When was it, before they met in the market? Or after? Did he fake it all along? Was he amused, not for the haggling, but for Lia making such a stupid move?
Slowly, she spoke, not taking her eyes off the protagonist, "That," she flicked her gaze towards Tim before returning to the guy in front of her, "would be my mother."
"And where is she?" Tim prodded.
He looked like a decent person, but at the moment, Lia had a burning hatred for him.
She sighed and gave her a long, hard look. "Look, whatever I'm going to say to you will sound like an excuse. More reason for you to throw me at those people. And I don't care." Lia prayed she would not show any visible signs of distress or they would know that she was bluffing. She fixed her eyes to Eldric. "But if you do that, then you're not going to have the cure you've been wanting to have."
Eldric's brow quirked up. "And you have it? What makes you think that we still haven't found it?"
"The people are still uneasy. That's why they captured me. They thought that if they have the witch, they'll have the cure too. And if you have the cure, I can't imagine why you haven't given them to those in need." Lia shrugged. "Unless you're just really horrible people who don't care about others."
Who cared about being rude. Lia looked at them with what she hoped to be a disinterested face. She was tired of all this, all these running and hiding away, of people blaming them for doing something they did not even do, or being used as a pawn. Damn it all.
Eldric tried to hide his smirk as though he was thoroughly amused by what Lia had said. Damn him.
"One thing," Tim held his index finger, "does your mother have platinum blond hair? Not because of the witch."
If not because of that, then what was -- was what Lia wanted to ask. But she let her gaze slide back to Eldric who gave her the slightest shake of his head. She narrowed her gaze and pretended to be scrutinizing Tim when what she wanted to understand was what Eldric meant. Did he know? And if he did, why does he want to keep it hidden?
"No," Lia said, her eyes not leaving Eldric.
"I think that should be enough witch talk, for now, Tim," Eldric skillfully eased the tension and changed the topic. Was this also part of the protagonist's halo? "More importantly, you were talking about having the antidote?"
That was Lia's cue.