"Then Penelope knows well enough to protect herself. Else, if she's wiser, she might hide herself," Vol replied.
"You hear him," Vale said to the girl, gently ushering her away from plain sight. "There's no sense in advertising the fact that you'll be by yourself, not when everyone else is away."
"But I ought to…" Penelope tried to reply.
"No need to push yourself, Princess," Vale said, overriding her. "He's right – you won't enjoy the sight. Today will be a particularly bad one."
Vol continued to watch the approach of the raiders out of the corner of his eye. They were still a good distance away. If not for the fog in the valley, one could see for miles. This group were likely around a mile away themselves. They'd probably spotted Vol's men up on the valley side, but they showed no indication of wariness. They simply marched on.
