If the shot had been intended for her, Lirael would have been too easy a target to miss. Jacques was busy watching to see if his intervention had paid off, so when he looked back in Lirael's direction, he was a little confused to see her take up what appeared to be an attack-ready position.

     ...was that a bell?

     Nothing happened, and although Jacques was on his guard, he regarded the young woman calmly as he got a better look at her. She obviously didn't seem to let the fact that she was without one hand deter her from fighting back, although from her expression, something must have been wrong. Bearing no magic abilities himself, Jacques didn't have that realization. He just found himself with a new bird-friend.

     Slowly, he eased out from his vantage point, not wanting to startle the other more than she already was. He'd shouldered his bow gun, just in case she might get it into her head that he meant to attack her with it.