Matching the half-troll glare for glare, she replied, "You abducted a young elven woman from a strange ship and brought her here against her will, chained and gagged. Is it any wonder that she contrived to escape, using her wiles in the process? I would have done the same in her stead, as would any other of my people."
"She came from the Island of Dragons," said Gart the Dwarf.
"She spoke of Demons," said Akaru.
"If speaking of Demons was a crime," Dorain retorted with asperity, "we'd all burn! Listen to yourselves! I hear not the words of reasonable people but of Vale!"
"Why were you at the Island of Dragons?" Julina asked the young woman quietly, wishing to distance the conversation from Vale's corrupting machinations.
The young witch spoke without raising her head. "We leave them offerings of food, lest they burn our villages, and indiscriminately kill our cattle. In this we have no choice."
Julina sighed, and sought out the Steward. "I have heard enough, Baldric. I demand the girl's release. I hear no falsehood in her words. Clearly, Vale has deceived you."
Belloc said to the girl, "Why do you fear the sylph, Lily."
Appearing very frightened, the young woman said, "If old legends be true, then all is lost. They predict that when the water-creature bearing the Sorcerers Stone walks free among us, our doom will be nigh."