It was a foolish mistake.
She might as well have announced that she was hiding something.
Seeing Varkas's eyes narrow, Talia shoved both hands against his chest.
“Who cares? Move!”
She pushed with all her strength.
He did not budge.
Despite his lean build, he felt as immovable as forged steel.
Suppressing her fear, Talia lifted her chin defiantly.
“Didn't you hear me tell you to move?”
Varkas silently looked down at her.
Then he slowly stepped back.
Talia immediately seized the opportunity.
She squeezed through the narrow gap between him and the wagon and hurried to flee.
A powerful hand suddenly seized her arm and spun her around.
Before she could react, his hand slipped into her pocket.
The sharpened knife emerged in his grasp.
Talia's face went deathly pale.
Varkas examined the blade with elegant fingers.
Then he lowered his gaze to her.
His expression revealed nothing.
She could have lied.
She could have claimed it was merely for self-defense.
But confronted by those sharp eyes that seemed capable of dissecting every corner of her mind, her composure shattered.
Like a child whose only treasured toy had been stolen away, she lunged at him.
“Give it back!”
Varkas lifted the hand holding the knife higher.
Standing on tiptoe, Talia grabbed at his clothes and stretched desperately toward the blade.
“Give it back! Give it back to me!”
Varkas watched her struggle with a hard expression.
Then he abruptly threw the knife away.
Talia immediately bent down to retrieve it.
Before her fingers could close around the handle, however, a golden sabaton struck it away.
The knife skidded beneath a wagon.
Talia stared blankly after it.
Then she nearly threw herself onto the ground to crawl after it.
Before her body could touch the dirt, a strong arm wrapped around her waist and forcibly hauled her upright.
Talia twisted her face into a vicious glare.
She looked ready to kill him.
Yet Varkas looked no less irritated.
“I won't ask what you intended to do with that.”
He leaned close enough that his face nearly touched hers.
Each word fell from his lips like the edge of a drawn blade.
“From now on, there will always be someone watching you. Therefore, abandon every pointless and idiotic plan rattling around inside that tiny head of yours.”
Who are you to talk to me like that?
Who are you to take what's mine?
Who are you?
When you're going to become another woman's man.
When you're going to leave forever.
You make me want to kill her, and then you won't even let me do that.
The chaotic words clogged her throat.