Shady

“Isya is quieter. More grounded. Less cocky. But just as good.” She thought for a moment, squinting slightly. “He actually kind of looks like you. Just shorter and…” not half-starved. ...

“All sorts.” Ky shrugged. She hadn’t looked at them in a while. “A lot of animal ones.”

Well, that was an odd coincidence. “He’s not.” Ky shook her head. “Well… I mean… he’s loyal through the completion of an assignment. He’s not the type to sell out ...

Ky nodded. “… Anneliese got me puzzles, too. And Sera got me a tea set.”

“…no,” she said, though she pulled her hand out of her pocket and subconsciously rubbed the pendant from Papa. She’d scarcely taken it off since. Even in her pity parties.

Ky nodded. “Yessir.” She hesitated, furrowing her brow slightly. “… you know him, sir?”

Or go to sleep and marinate in existential dread. She nodded.

“Yes sir.” She thought for a moment. “Um… Pratik Chrenko and Isya Hren are his best mercenaries. Um… there’s also Wyl and Jae… er-uh-I mean Jaerek. They’re both good, too.”

“Um… you mean like… people who have hired him? Or, um, people who he contracts?”

Ky snorted again. “Oh, yes, that’s far more reassuring.”

Ky swallowed without chewing, a chill running down her spine. He’d switched from small talk to interrogation very, very quickly. She looked at him. “Yes sir?”

“They most certainly have shown up,” Ky scoffed, awkwardly raising her left arm through she left her hand in her pocket. “…but… yeah. Maybe. Now I just have to deal ...

Ky decided to finish up quickly, then. Not fast enough to be suspicious. But she needed to finish her plate so they didn’t think her rude. Especially given the fact ...

“Me too.” Ky nodded, burying her hands in her pockets. “Everyone’s — well… I guess Tadaaki and I have assassins coming after us now— but everyone else is a lot ...

“No ma’am.” Tadaaki shook his head. “I think that’s it.” Ky hesitated, thinking of admitting her hay fever, then deciding against it. At this rate, she was fairly sure that ...