"Excellent, excellent. Yes, I think I know the general region. I'll write it all down and send it to Anneke, then." Tomhas rose. "Well, I have business to tend to with Lord Tarr. Congratulations to you both on your new freedom! Do with it what you will." He bowed, then looked to Lyra. "Not long now, dear," he promised, face softening. "Not long." Then he departed, cloak sweeping out behind him.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
It almost felt like a new birth -- congratulations on your freedom. New life.
Then, it occurred to her that she hadn't actually been properly acquainted with Lyra, in this life. She scooted to the foot of her cot so she could easily see both Tadaaki and Lyra.
"I... am sorry for being so distant the first few times we met. I was... afraid of Aleth when I met you before, " Ky said gently, looking at Lyra before she looked down, face flushing a bit. "I hear you are to thank for my freedom... which is far kinder than I deserved. But I am forever indebted to you and your father." She forced herself to look up at Lyra again, face still warm with embarrassment. "My name is Kylia, by the way... and now I don't have to pretend like it's not -- though I still like Ky.... ma'am."
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Lyra looked over at her. She definitely looked a lot more relaxed than she had when Aleth was still here. Even in the library she hadn't lost that tenseness. She wasn't wearing whatever had been making her chest flat, either. "You look softer," Lyra observed after a moment. "I'm glad. I don't know that I had much to do with helping...I simply asked Father to help and he said no. I guess he changed his mind." She fidgeted with the covers, looking down. "I was distant too. Not because of--well, partly because of Ithicus. But I've always been a bit...snooty. With servants, I mean. Father doesn't like that but I do it anyway. And Kylia's a pretty name," she added. "It sounds like something out of a storybook."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
"I'm glad you were," Ky said honestly. "Aleth wanted me to try to get information out of you... and I really, really didn't want to. But he--" Ky swallowed, wrapping both of her arms around her abdomen tightly, voice getting very quiet as she stared at the floor. "Was very good at making sure that disobeying was far, far worse than anything else."
"But he's gone now," Tadaaki pointed out, voice deep and smooth.
Ky nodded, taking a deep breath, trying to be braver, then looked back at Lyra. "But, thank you for asking him to help. I... no one's ever cared before. I don't think that's snooty, ma'am. I... Aleth once hit me hard enough it cracked my rib, in front of one of his clients, and then they both laughed about it. I just... kind of expect people to... be like that. But you and your father have lavished more kindness on me than..."
She flushed again, rubbing her face as she decided against whatever the heck it was that she was trying to say. "And thank you, Kylia was my grandmother's name. I never met her, but I quite like it."
(sorry for the sneak edit if you saw it, I changed my mind lol)
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Lyra dipped her head. "I can't wait to get home," she sighed. "Maybe Father will let me stay if I ask enough...I'll still be married to Ithicus, I'll just...not be around him." That wasn't such a bad thing, was it? He could have his whores and no children and she could relax until the end of the war. At that point she knew her father would try to get her out of the marriage.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“I hope you can,” Ky answered earnestly. She couldn’t imagine being married to the monster. Aleth had once assaulted her like that, but thankfully it’d only been once. And still was one of the most humiliating things he’d ever done to her. Lyra must be going through it nightly.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
(Also we 100% don’t have to do this but I think it could be cute if Ky proves her allegiance by giving them info, idk what would be realistic, but I was thinking maybe Aleth tried to sneak in a “trainee” to the Barraster barracks and maybe like a musician or something into Loquitur’s keep or something and then the info checks out, but of course they might have already turned the informants away, or if we let them in then that wouldn’t need to happen right away, just something we can keep in mind if you wanna)
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
(That would actually be great! I'm not sure how to continue the current conversation but that's an excellent idea!)
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
(Wanna timeskippy? I'm not sure when would be a smooth place to slide that in, maybe Constance/Loquitur end up hanging out with Ky and/or Tadaaki and/or Lyra over the next week and that makes it natural to bring up? Or...? Idk, I'd like to get to know Constance more if you feel like developing her but if not that's chill too, we could just go straight to them departing... although you do need that Loquitur/Tarr scene slipped in there too)
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
(We can talk to Constance if you like! I don't know her very well but I'm down to work on developing her. I'll try to slip in the Loquitur and Tarr scene as well, certainly.)
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
(Awesome! Do you think it would be realistic for her to offer to keep giving Ky sparring lessons? She'd be way too timid to actually ask but she'd be super down for it if Constance offered... I know you don't like action scenes but we could just skip to the end of a lesson where they have a chance to cool off and talk to each other?)
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
(Constance was made aware of Ky's situation and I think she'd reluctant to offer more lessons because of it simply because she knows Ky is recovering from all that physical trauma stuff. Ky might catch her sitting around at some point when she's not accompanied by her wife or son?)
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
(That works! Do you want me to start that or would you rather?)
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Ky had taken to spending most of her time either in the library or wandering around the keep. She felt like a dog that had finally been let off its leash. There were so many things she could do and see and not have to worry about if she was on the brink of disaster. She was making full use of every last bit of her freedom.
She was wandering now, a slight skip in her step. She'd just read the most delightful short story about a little boy that got cursed by a witch and turned into a frog, but then had wonderful little froggy adventures.
She turned a corner and suddenly saw Lady Constance sitting in one of the chairs on the little landing by the window.
"Oh! Hello!" Ky realized she made her voice too deep instinctively. That was going to be one of the harder habits to unlearn -- it'd certainly taken her plenty of time to learn how to do it so smoothly. She cleared her throat, continuing with her actual voice, as she bowed. "Your ladyship."
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
