Brand glanced at his pocket watch, the edge of the watch reflecting a cold light.
"Why aren't you talking?" He turned his head and saw Frey riding on her horse, her head down, silent, and looking uneasy. He originally wanted to praise her a bit as the people Frey had found and the horses she had brought had been a great help. He hadn't expected to encounter so many refugees, and even more unexpectedly, so many people willing to follow him.
He looked back; the number of refugees had surged from a few dozen to two or three hundred. People have a herd mentality, the more people there are, the more they gather.
Frey was afraid her arbitrary decisions would displease Brand, yet she was too embarrassed to say anything. She originally wanted to surpass Brand, but now she wanted to perform better in front of him. This psychological shift was subtle.
