It was her thief. And while she was less than pleased to find that he'd been stealing, she understood why a person could be driven to it. She had been that hungry more than once while her husband was playing at being a beggar. The fact that he was here, though, that did please her. Because it meant that he'd listened to her, that he was interested in learning, even if he hadn't fully committed to it yet. This was very promising.
"All you need is to have a dry place to sleep and food to eat," she mused quietly, remembering their conversation, "which you said that you get when you can. Is this how you go about getting it, then?"
The queen stepped closer, knowing that the young man was absolutely no threat to her at all. Holding out the book, she commented softly, for his ears only, "Have you been carrying this around since we met? Don't you think, perhaps, it's time to put it to some use and learn to read it?"
Raising her voice so the sheriff's man could hear her, Ananya said very clearly, "You have made a mistake, sir. This man is a personal friend, and I'm sure this is simply a misunderstanding. He will be leaving with me."
Then she braced herself for the chorus of extremely polite denials. But in the end, she would get her way. There simply wasn't another option in Ana's mind. The young man had come to her for help, so she would give him the aid he sought.