A/N: See the end for notes.
Disclaimer: Again, parts of the dialogue are taken straight from A Crown of Swords, ch. 2; it should be obvious which parts.
The breaking of the camp had began as soon as the sun breached the horizon. Asmodean had managed to mostly stay out of people's way, and his status as the Lord Dragon's bard had made anyone think twice before attempting to send him on an errand even if some did seem to think he looked all too idle wandering in the midst of the bustle. Some others, mostly Aes Sedai, seemed to think they could pester him for information — namely, what the Lord Dragon was up to.
Truth be told — not that he would have told anyone — Asmodean didn't really know, himself. He just knew that al'Thor had gone back to the battlefield — the butcher's yard that Dumai's Wells had become — early in the morning and had yet to return. Asmodean had not gone with him. He did not want to go any nearer to the carnage than he had to, even if staying in the camp meant potentially running into Osan'gar again. Whoever the man was, surely he wouldn't do anything in broad daylight and with so many witnesses… Or so Asmodean hoped.
It was nearing midday when he finally saw the procession coming up the hill back to the camp. No sooner had al'Thor — Min Farshaw clinging to his arm — entered the ring of wagons than he was surrounded by Aes Sedai, Wise Ones, and Aybara in addition to his escort; everyone seemed to think they knew the best way to deal with the captive Aes Sedai. Asmodean hung back, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire by accidentally drawing attention to himself.
"Enough!" al'Thor finally shouted after listening to Amys, Sorilea, Kiruna Nachiman and Taim all talking practically on top of each other for a while. He glared at everybody around him as they fell silent; Asmodean was distinctly glad he wasn't in the receiving end of that look. "The Wise Ones will take charge of the prisoners," he said. When Taim looked as though he might try arguing once more, al'Thor rounded on him. "The Asha'man are supposed to train and recruit, not stand guard. Especially on Aes Sedai."
Taim didn't flinch, but anger and indignation flashed in the black eyes. Asmodean nearly winced; Taim could be reasonable enough, most of the time, but he did not appreciate being told off in front of others like that. He didn't argue, however, but just nodded curtly. "As you command, my Lord Dragon."
Asmodean only half listened as Kiruna Nachiman and Bera Harkin, relieved that the Aes Sedai were not going to be handed over to the Asha'man, tried to argue their way out of the Wise Ones' supervision. Taim looked at him over the Aes Sedai's heads and that peculiar almost-smile twitched the corners of his mouth as their eyes met. Asmodean looked back with a carefully blank expression, which seemed to just amuse Taim more. At least that meant he wasn't glaring murder at al'Thor anymore. That had to be an improvement.
Once the Aes Sedai left with the Wise Ones — after more or less bullying al'Thor into accepting Healing, not that this was a bad thing — al'Thor turned to Taim again. "Taim, you take the Asha'man back to the Black Tower as soon as the Wise Ones have charge of the prisoners. As soon as. Remember to keep an eye out for anyone who learns too fast. And remember what I said about recruiting."
"I could hardly forget," Taim replied wryly. "I will handle that trip personally. But if I may bring it up again…" An edge of exasperation crept into his voice. "You need a proper honour guard. This would—" He cut off abruptly, but Asmodean knew what he had been about to say as clearly as if he had finished the sentence; this would never have happened if al'Thor had had Asha'man with him when the Tower delegation came to take him.
Al'Thor undoubtedly knew that as well, but he wasn't swayed. "We have been over that. I have better uses for the Asha'man. If I need an honour guard, those I am keeping will do."
"My Lord Dragon—"
"That's enough, Taim," al'Thor said curtly. Then he sighed and went on in a low voice, "I know what you're trying to do, Taim, and I appreciate it, but you have to trust me. I'm keeping eight men with me and that will have to be enough."
"Only two of them are Asha'man," Taim said quietly. But he wasn't arguing any more, merely expressing frustration. "You have four Dedicated and two soldiers and half of them are younger than you are!"
"They're men I've met before," al'Thor replied. "I can trust them. As far as I can trust anyone."
Taim frowned. "It's not enough that I trust them?" he asked. He sounded tired, all of a sudden.
Al'Thor shook his head. "Right now, no, it's not," he said. "I'm not questioning your judgement, Taim," he added in a softer voice, the effort of it clearly visible. "But my patience is running short and I suggest you don't try it further. Just do as you're told for once in your life, man!"
Taim inhaled sharply; everything about him screamed that he wanted to argue… but he didn't. Instead, he bowed stiffly. "As my Lord Dragon commands," he said. Then he was stalking away, shouting for Gedwyn, Rochaid, Torval and Kisman.
Asmodean watched him go, only half listening to al'Thor giving Aybara the orders to get everyone ready to move. He didn't notice al'Thor coming up beside him until the man spoke. "Go after him if you want. You don't have to stay glued to my side."
Asmodean nearly jumped at the sound. He glanced at al'Thor, trying not to appear overly worried. "Why would I want to…" He trailed off, somewhat shocked to realise that he did in fact want to talk to Taim. Maybe he could… what? He was no mediator! His idea of diplomacy was to try and not anger those more powerful than him — which currently included most everyone — or if there was already anger, then to try and direct it away from himself.
"Go on," Min Farshaw said gently, but there was an intensity to her brown eyes that made Asmodean wonder.
With a final glance at al'Thor, he nodded. "If you say so, my Lord Dragon." Then he dashed after Taim.
Taim merely glanced at him as he caught up with him where the Aes Sedai prisoners were being transferred over to the Aiei Wise Ones. Asmodean said nothing, just stood beside Taim and watched the proceedings. After the Wise Ones departed with the prisoners, Taim turned to Gedwyn and Rochaid again. "Gather everyone and see them back to the Black Tower." He glanced at Asmodean again, but kept talking to Gedwyn. "I'll be along shortly. I want to see a list of the casualties on my desk by the time I return." Only after the two Asha'man were gone did Taim address Asmodean. "Does he not trust me to follow his orders without supervision, now?" he asked.
"He didn't send me," Asmodean replied cautiously.
"Really?" Disbelief and resentment rang clear in his voice. "I suppose he also didn't tell you to say that."
"In fact he told me I don't have to 'stay glued to his side' as he put it," Asmodean said. "The Farshaw girl might make trouble if I tried, for that matter…" he added half under his breath, yet certain that Taim heard.
If Taim was amused, he showed no sign. "Why are you here?" he asked curtly.
Instead of answering — because he had no answer — Asmodean said, "He meant it when he said he doesn't doubt your judgement." He saw that Taim was about to argue and raised a hand to silence him. "Listen, Taim. He was taken by people who were supposedly trying to gain his trust. They were Aes Sedai and he probably shouldn't have trusted them even as much as he did, that is true. But you can't fault him for not wanting any more strangers constantly around him than strictly necessary. You can see that, don't you?"
Taim stared at him for a long time in silence, a hard look in his black eyes. Asmodean waited patiently. Finally Taim looked away. "I can see that," he said, not sounding happy about having to admit it. Then he looked back at Asmodean and a brief almost-smile touched his lips. "He asks me — no, he tells me to trust him. I wish he would trust me."
"I said he—" Asmodean began, but Taim interrupted him.
"Not questioning my judgement is not the same as trusting me," Taim said. For a second he looked every bit as tired as he must be, not having slept a wink since the battle. But only for a second; then the facade of implacable strength was back without a dent or a crack. "Nevertheless, I will do my job with or without his trust. Even though it will be more challenging without." A wry note entered his voice. "You can tell him that if you like."
"Perhaps I shall," Asmodean replied in an equally wry tone.
"You'd best run along back to him," Taim said; a clear dismissal if Asmodean ever heard one.
"Very well, master Taim," he replied. But as he turned to go, Taim called after him.
"Natael."
Asmodean froze, then turned back to face Taim. "Yes?"
The black, tilted eyes regarded him steadily. "Thank you."
Asmodean blinked. "…What for?"
"For treating me like a human being." The almost-smile flashed across his lips again as he seized saidin and opened a gateway. "Give my regards to the Lord Dragon."
Asmodean stared after him for a while after the gateway winked shut, frowning at nothing. When he finally started back towards where he'd last seen al'Thor, it was with no particular hurry. Taim's words struck uncomfortably close to home. To be treated like a human being… That shouldn't be something you had to thank someone for; it should be a basic human right. But male channellers had been shunned and worse for three thousand years, and not entirely without reason. As for Asmodean himself… He nearly laughed. Did one of the Forsaken deserve to be treated like a human being? He suspected that was not a line of thought he wanted to be following.
He found al'Thor sitting on a wooden crate, surrounded by two of the Maidens of the Spear and Aybara, and with Min Farshaw sitting on the ground at his feet, leaning on his knee. The Asha'man — and Dedicated and soldiers — who had stayed were standing a short distance away, close enough to hear if they were called but too far to listen in on a conversation. Al'Thor looked up as Asmodean approached the group. He said nothing but the look in the blue-grey eyes demanded information. Asmodean shrugged; he wasn't going to talk about Taim with half the world listening. Al'Thor looked none too pleased, but the expression passed quickly and he stood up and called to one of the Asha'man.
"Flinn!"
An old man with barely a fringe of white hair came jogging — with a noticeable limp; an old injury, Asmodean seemed to recall — and saluted. "My Lord Dragon?" Flinn was one of the two among the lot who wore the Dragon pin on their collar and had been the very first of the students to be tested for the ability.
"I trust Taim has taught you how to make a gateway," al'Thor said, not really a question.
"Of course, my Lord Dragon," Flinn replied.
"Make me a gateway to near Cairhien, Flinn." Al'Thor smiled ruefully, and the light in his eyes chilled Asmodean to the bone. "It's time to see what the world has been up to while I was away, and what I have to do about it."
A/N: This was really short and mainly exists just to establish that in this 'verse, Dashiva doesn't get attached to Rand's retinue because of reasons, and that Flinn & Grady are full-ranked Asha'man. If anyone is bothered by this/interested in my reasoning for this, I'll be more than happy to explain in more depth but I don't want to write a novel in Author's Notes.