"Gad Tales : A Chance Meeting" - January 14, 2016

Aiheem leaned curiously against the side of the tamarisk, looking on in the night air as the warring party brought home their prisoners. It was supposed to be a night of feasting, before their adversaries were sniffed out. But now the festivities would be cut short.

None were more outraged than Tiquin, the tribe vassal. He stamped around in belligerence, his face showing most ruddy by camplight. Already he was full of Numnuk, their drink of choice for the evening. He wasn't at all prepared to adhere to his duties. The remainder of his Durisk shell was cast into the fire, causing it to flare brilliantly for a moment. Into it's light he gazed, or stewed to be more exact, regarding the flame in agitated sorrow. But only for a moment. Soon he squared his shoulders and spun on the approaching men. Each one was blindfolded and gagged so as not to arouse trouble. Tiquin advanced, his machact unsheathed in fury.

"Give me the eyes of one and the mouth of another", he bellowed, stirring up dust in the moonlight. A short man was pushed forward, his blindfold removed to reveal a skittish set of eyes and a labored countenance. Above his right eye was the sign of the Luceran scout , seared from the tip of the brow around to the height of his cheek. Immediately his mouth began to produce noises. A bad move in the eyes of Tiquin.

He was quickly struck with the broad end of the machact, his throat seized in the meaty hands of the vassal. "You eyes only! I did not ask for your mouth!! Only one, never the two! One betrays the other." But Tiquin needs to see your fear - to know that you are beaten. You don't deserve to speak." He spits on the man causing him to cower.

"Where is his mouth!? Bring him here!"

Aiheem never did like Tiquin. He was too intense - completely insensitive. So many of the tribesmen were like that. She didn't get them in the slightest. Already she could see her handmaidens and companions tensing up. The youngest girl, a maid named Sebu, she comforted quietly, resting her hand gently on the girl's abdomen. This was a sign of supplication between women, as if to quiet an uneasy stomach. Aiheem rose to a more comfortable position against the tree & with her, Naumi her close friend stood as well, looking furtively between the two parties. "Heem, please don't do anything rash. They're ellishemph (drunken and enraged)-"

"It's ok. They'll hold to my voice. Sit back down," Aiheem reassures. First she would see what the ungagged one had to say.

He was dragged forward by the locks of his hair, long and unshorn, a sight uncommon among military types, as it could be a weakness in combat. He gave no sign that the yanking ailed him. He stood up straight before Tiquin, straight & tall in the glance of the flickering light, his larynx distending, now retracting, readying himself for whatever came, what he knew not.

Tiquin smiled devilishly, laying Machact iron against the youth's throat. His voice lower than before, he began a serious interrogation. " Tell me, mouth. What were you Luceran filth rooting about for in the hinterlands? You wouldn't be smart enough to find our location on your own. Someone obviously betrayed our position. Likely a traitor from one of the other tribes. Tell us, while my blade sits at the front of your throat & pierces not to the back!"

The voice that came from the blindfolded one carried even more cadence than Tiquin's. It rang clearly and resolute, regardless of the iron laid to the nape. "We're in truth, on a reconnaissance mission, kind sir. We happened upon you by chance & by chance we would be perfectly satisfied to carry on forgetting we saw you. We have no desire to rout anyone tonight, despite the advantage it would present for the Lucerans. In that you have my word."

"Carry on?!!" Tiquin raved, pressing the iron closer to flesh. "Why not spill your blood right here and now?

"There would be losses on both sides," The blind one said smartly. "You don't have our full number in custody yet".

"Come again?!!" Tiquin blared.

"A separate battalion is likely closing in on our position right now. There will be losses on both sides. As captain of this battalion, I'd prefer to prevent that."

"Cocky SNOT," Tiquin reamed. Think you're tough tisht, huppa? Benevolent and gracious under fire? We'll see how kind you are after we-"

"That's ENOUGH, Tiquin!" Aiheem cut in, just a few feet from the party. Her bangles sounded with each sharp movement in her advance. "You've done enough. I'm overriding your command. DON'T LAY A FINGER ON THEM!"

The command struck like a gust of wind on wild flame. Tiquin reeled at the level of insistence in the challenge. It was uncharacteristic of Aiheem. Each of the Youths in camp could perceive it. And Tiquin, being smart enough to back down, did so, but his eyes glowered in a bitter douse of defiance. The slightest of smirks played across his face in unspoken derision. Aiheem didn't like that face. She held her ground in silence trying her best to keep her body from shaking. Tiquin quickly resheathed his weapon & sauntered away without a word. He sat in furtive thought before the fire, lolling his head back and forth in reverie of intoxication.

Aiheem breathed a slow sigh of relief, motioning for the men to be ungagged. The blindfolds & bounds, she chose to keep on them, as insurance against retaliation. Camp was quickly broken, as both the raiding party and the royal caravan started off in opposite directions. It was about a 30 minute hike back to the Nirvatim outpost. Arriving around the time promised, Aiheem retired to her quarters, to consider the man who spoke ungagged. She knew from his voice whom he was & was sickened by the thought of not seeing him again. He was the one who got away, one very dear to her. That fact proven twice now. A Reubhani native, removed to the Luceran infantry at the point of their betrothal, so long ago. She knew everything about him & now he was once again slipping through her fingers, released into the night. Aiheem fell upon on one of her many couches and pondered the matter quietly, peering up eventually through the laces of her tent, towards the moon.