Pieces of Eight

Chapter 11

Jaime hated dearly when Andor yelled.

The hulking man was currently bellowing at three soldiers who had come back, looking like whipped dogs as they approached the general, before they'd even delivered their report. At first, Jaime had had to strain to listen to the words they were speaking over the general commotion of the army milling about on all sides, but now, everyone in a half-mile radius had turned to stare at Andor in wonder. Birds took flight from the trees, animals scurried deeper into hiding, the people closest to the Eagle turned and flinched away and avoided eye contact. Andor was downright furious.

"And what am I supposed to tell my commanding officer, then, swine?!" he roared, seeming to swell in his ire. The veins in his neck and temples were bulging, and a fine shade of puce was creeping up his chest as he grew more heated. "I oughtta have you drawn and quartered! Filth! Maggots! Disgraces!!"

"But, sir, please-" one man lamely attempted, to little avail.

"Stars take me, moon avail me, heavens receive me, I will wear your hides!"

"Sir, please!" the second man insisted urgently. Andor didn't even pause for breath.

"The scum of the continent, the scourge of the earth, your mothers won't even receive your ashes!"

"But-"

"Dishonor! Dishonor on you, dishonor on you, dishonor on you, dishonor on all your fathers, dishonor on your sons, dishonor on your horses-"

"Sir-"

"Dishonor on your mother, dishonor on her mother, dishonor on-"

"Sir!!"

The first man defiantly thrust his fist in the air, and Andor fell eerily silent in a heartbeat. His face, formerly screwed up in fury and beet red, now drained of color alarmingly quickly and changed expressions just as fast. Now, he only looked astonished and uncomprehending. Jaime stood on tiptoe for a moment to try to see what it was that the first man held in his hand. It appeared golden somehow, oblong in shape, but it was quite difficult to make out from here. To avoid drawing attention to herself, she settled back down on her heels and crouched down to adjust one of her greaves. Unfortunately, this meant that she missed anything that happened next other than what she could see through the knees of the person standing in front of her. All she heard was, "Come with me," and the trudge of men following a tall, laden horse.

All three of her comrades who had stood in front of Andor that afternoon received extra rations and flagons of wine that evening. All three refused to tell her what had happened.

***

They ought to have been able to relax once they had put several miles and the Bearing Ford between themselves and Asfic Higj, Mimi internally griped. No foot soldier would travel that far unless they'd caught their scent, and if they had, they would certainly quicken their pace to overtake them. Given that no one had yet, Mimi would hazard to guess that either no one else had picked up their trail, or their three friends had made it back to camp and successfully used Areli's feathers to convince their commander to back off for the time being. The events of the past hour or so still swirled like miasma in Mimi's mind, refusing to let her calm down. She could still see, and moreover, hear, Areli's dramatic transformation every time she closed her eyes or the silence pressed in on them again.

And the silence did reign at this point. Their four guards were even more alert than previously, and while they had deigned to sheath their swords after a short time, Mimi frequently caught them with their hands straying back towards their belts. She and Phoebe were reduced to frantically whipping their gazes around at the tiniest noise, hoping and praying that it was just a bird. So far, it had been every time. Areli, in stark contrast, was down for the count. His eyes were closed more often than they were open, and he leaned heavily on the saddle and sometimes his horse's withers in order to remain upright and balanced. When addressed, he was responsive, but sluggish. For the most part, as long as he was still breathing and upright, Mimi let him be.