Shady

Yeah, you do that. Bastard. "He was a traveling merchant, as I understood it, sir," Aleth said. "Worked a lot in the South and East."

(haha don't tell Ky that it'll just make her try harder) Ky was still sour about that revelation. Perhaps she'd go ask Lyra for some tips, to see how being ...

Fuuuuck. Aleth could handle this, of course. But was Ash planning to lie to Ky like this? Tadaaki? Ky could probably bounce back from it; Tadaaki wouldn't be able to. ...

"Vosroy?" Sneaky bastard. "...I think they said Neff, sir. But I may be mistaken on that."

What the fuck? He'd tattled on Ky but respected Lyra's privacy? That was some bullshit if she'd ever heard it.

"I didn't have a master, sir," Aleth answered. "I got sold a few weeks before and spent the entire time in the cage until we got free."

Ky cringed. Ouch. A big ol' 'fuck you' to their parents, huh? She wondered what she'd said to Anneliese.

"Yessir." Aleth inclined his head. He didn't want it, of course. But. Well. Now that he thought of it, perhaps he was the first one getting interviewed. Maybe he could ...

Perhaps she should have read this letter first. Oscar was okay. Good. Anneke wouldn't minimize that if he wasn't. And, well, that sounded like him -- finding a positive in ...

"Well. And you, sir?" Aleth straightened a bit in the bed. He'd been thinking about his strategy more. He needed to humble himself. Fit in better with his little idiots, ...

Anneke was so much more of a calming presence than Tomhas. Not in a bad way, of course. Tomhas's energy was reassuring in its own right and she loved it ...

(rip Tadaaki) (but at least it's not Ky this time amirite) The lock sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard, scraping down the length of his spine. Gods, god, gods, gods, ...

Ky smiled a little at that. Perhaps she should ham that up a bit. Become the expert storyteller. She kept reading.

"...Yes, sir," he said weakly, glancing around. He was very, very trapped. And there wasn't a goddamn thing he could do about it. (Gaius: *comes back with Bay* Tadaaki: *shits ...

Ky made it to her room quickly and slipped her shoes off. She glanced at the bear rug, feeling an impulse to sit on it next to the fire, before ...