"What do you mean find Riona? Isn't she in Eira? You're the one who should be helping me find her!" Thorin snapped accusingly as if he'd been diligently searching for Riona all along. Which, of course, he hadn't.
He'd thought about it—once, maybe twice—but 'thinking' and 'doing' were entirely different beasts.
Lady Maris blinked several times, her expression caught between disbelief and annoyance. Scenarios spun through her mind, most of them starring Thorin as a master manipulator pretending to know nothing so he could wiggle out of responsibility.
But she concluded that his reaction was too raw to be a mere pretense. Even though they had not been closely acquainted, she had seen him in action for a while. And having as good judgment as she had, she could tell when he was lying and when he was being genuine.