From Night On: Magdalene

Chapters 11-12

Chapter 11:

Deep Wounds

The idea of two weeks on the Euphrates seemed like years to everyone present. It only took a few hours before Meira's command fell into question and the smugglers began to break rank. Without knowing what orders to give or when to give them, Meira awkwardly asked too many questions, was too soft with the hardened men, and allowed them too much freedom in making the calls for what to do next. It all came crashing down by the next day, after she allowed them to bank at the river's edge for the night.

Trying to join the groups to gain some form of familiarity with those she was put in charge of, she only found that they would go silent in her presence. It was an uneasy feeling to be treated as such an outsider that she wondered if it would have been the same way if she had remained simply a passenger. Some of it came into the light when she overheard a couple men whispering to each other as she quietly approached without their knowledge.

"How could he pass on the command to her?" one asked. "Why not his first mate?"

"She had better not be getting our pay for this," the other man replied.

There it was: the hard feelings that she was sensing were driven by feelings of jealousy and a fear of being shorted their earnings. Meira felt a bit relieved by this. It was something she believed could be easily explained away, but, when she attempted to approach them to discuss the matter, Quaden, like a ghost, appeared from the shadows and stopped her.

"And what were you planning on doing?" he asked.

She looked back toward the two men, who had then noticed her and hushed their lips, and then looked back to Quaden. "If they understand that I'm not here to take anything from them, maybe they will not detest me so much," she confessed.

"Right you are, there, lass," Quaden replied with his mischievous grin, "but you're thinking about it all wrong. You wanted my help, right?" he asked and she nodded. "Then you need to teach them that you won't take ANYTHING from them. You want to be stronger? You need to command not just their actions, but their respect. Right now, they don't believe that you deserve it. You need to show it to them."

Mateus had been listening in to their conversation and decided to offer his help, teaching Meira his methods for commanding a group, but Quaden wouldn't allow that, either. "You want to teach her YOUR way of doing it," he argued, "but, while she may be able to pick up your sword, she cannot pick up your strength. Do you understand?"

Mateus nodded in appreciation of the wisdom, but then retorted philosophically. "She will still need to pick up a sword in order to obtain the strength to wield it, don't you agree?"

"But if she learns to wield the sword," Quaden continued with the metaphor, "as you wield the sword, it will be to wield it as your body wields it, instead of learning how her body moves with it." For a change of character, Quaden approached Mateus with a level of camaraderie, replacing his more stern approach. "If any of these men decide to raise a hand to her, I won't stop you from giving them a good thrashing, but I've already seen that she is more than capable of defending herself. Maybe she's not feeling like she can handle this because you're not treating her like she can."

"I appreciate how you two are talking about me like I'm not here," Meira chimed in with sarcasm.

A sly glance was shared between the centurion and the dwarf as they continued their discussion, ignoring her presence. "But if she fights them," Mateus argued, "wouldn't that beg them to mutiny? She can handle herself, but they could simply ignore her and do as they like."