Chaz stared at Madame Zufraia, face radiating a deeper kind of hurt. He did not stand up. He couldn't. One leg was gashed to the bone, blood staining his trouser leg. He ignored it, for now. The pain of the injury was nothing compared to the pain of betrayal.
"How could ye?" He said, "how could ye betray her like that?"
The Secretary Bird shrugged. "It is for our own good, your own good, and the good of the world. Do not question my reasons. You are like a son, Chesterton, and I will protect you. She will bring you nothing but pain and torment."
"And ye didna care of what ye bring her?"
"I do not think it is your right to question. One day you will understand. Now let me examine that wound - it looks nasty."
"No," Chaz growled, jerking away from her and into a defensive crouch. The movement pained him greatly. He growled, flashing his teeth at his foster mother.
Madame Zufraia narrowed her eyes, "are you disobeying me, Chesterton?"
"I think, yes, yes I am." He replied, as his eyes lit on something halfway beneath the carriage.
It was Aeturnis's book - the one her mother had given her, the Memory Book she called it and she never, ever put it down.
And yet here it was, lying forlorn in the dirt. Ignoring the Avian, he scrambled over to it, picking it up and cradled it to his chest. Leg throbbing, he held it close and wept for his lost friend as blood pooled beneath him.