Tandi shakes her head, remembering clearly the events of the past few days, still feeling that the whole incident was her fault. "This messenger was working for a man we did not trust. In fact the whole situation caused a major rift in our circle of friends. We were keeping a young lady safe that we had rescued from a dragon earlier that day. Turns out, she didn't need rescuing at all. The woman wanted to be with the dragon and not this Larue guy that we were supposed to bring her to, according to her father. A good dragon, as we found out." She shows them the silver scale she still has. "If there was a murder we commited, it was of the dragon. As we brought the girl back to her home for the night before taking her onward to Larue, we found that her father was not there. Sometime in the morning, Larue abducted the girl out from under our watch and was already on his way to his estate, leaving only the messenger you speak of to tell us about it." Tandi pauses, letting all of that sink in.
"In my frustration, I questioned the messenger of his intentions. In turn he insulted me, not only personally, but for womankind as well. In my shame, I lost my anger and went towards the man in a less than friendly fashion. Our dwarven friend put a stop to this, and the messenger's reply was more insults. Our Anton had had enough of the decpetions and as the man left, before any of us could stop him, two of Anton's arrows were embedded in the messenger's back. We checked the messenger and it was too late, he was already gone.
Another pause, a look of relief appears on her face as she gets some of these memories out. "In Anton's home, and my own, men are killed for insulting the honor of a lady. It just isn't done. While I wouldn't have wished the man dead, what's done is done, and I do not blame Anton for his actions."
Turning the questioning around, Tandi continues. "I find it odd that Larue would have sent you after us. When we returned to the estate to explain, he could have detained Anton then and there, instead he allowed Anton and the rest of us to leave. However, if anyone is to blame, it's not Anton, it's me. If it weren't for my instigation of the matter, the messenger would still be alive and none of this would have happened."
Tandi finally takes a breath and then watches the reactions of those around her.