Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree

The soldier reappeared with a fairly accurate size of armor and offered it to Aleth. Tarr began to pace, giving his blade a few practice swings. He wasn't wearing a helmet, but he had a feeling he wouldn't need one.

Aleth sourly put the armor on. Just as he finished, Ky appeared with his sword. She was slightly out of breath, as if she'd sprinted most of the way, but she wasn't panting. He locked eyes with her for the briefest moment and she paled, ever so slightly.

If he hadn't been so angry, he might have been amused. But at the moment, he was too pissy to be amused by anything. He pulled the sword from the sheath, leaving it in Ky's hand, then leaned in and murmured so quitely no one else would be able to hear. "Lyra."

Then he turned and strode towards Tarr.



The instant Ky was out of sight from Tarr and Aleth, she broke into a run, rushing up the stairs to get to his chambers. This was bad. Why did people insist on provoking Aleth? She was always the one who suffered for it, not them. What did it gain them?

But, she couldn't control Tarr. All she could do was get the sword to Aleth as fast as humanly possible. She stopped running as she got to the barracks, forcing herself to straighten her shoulders and take a deep breath as she quickly strode to where Aleth and Tarr were standing.

Aleth turned around and locked eyes with her. A bit of the soul left her body. Her breath caught. She was dead. She hadn't even done anything to deserve his wrath, but she knew that look. She nodded almost imperceptibly as Aleth gave his order, then set the sheath down and took her leave, sending up a silent prayer that she'd be able to get something -- anything useful out of Lyra, so she'd have something to try to placate Aleth with when they inevitably ended up behind closed doors again.

Tarr hefted his sword.
"On my mark," the soldier said, stepping out of the ring. "Go!" Tarr kept his sword out and his stance wide as he began to circle, eyes hungry. This would be a quick fight, he could already tell.

Lyra had fled the dining room after they left and gone to sit in the library. It was a grand place, though not nearly as big as her uncle's, and the shelves were lined with dusty tomes that Lyra was sure were older than anything in the world. She had not been a reader before coming to Wolf Keep, though both her parents had encouraged it. She preferred to sit and play card games with her siblings or to go riding. Her husband looked upon such activities as poor for a woman, however, and so in an attempt to avoid the only other "acceptable" pastime--sewing--Lyra had found herself stealing away to the library for peace and quiet.
Tarr was almost never in here. As far as Lyra knew, only the gaunt-faced apothecary came in here aside from her, and he never bothered her. They would exchange a nod if they were in there at the same time and acknowledge each other no more, losing themselves in whatever books they chose.
Today Lyra had settled herself in the far corner, next to the fireplace. She'd chosen a book of poetry written by one of Tarr's ancestors, a Katerina Tarr. She wrote mostly of the South and the wonders she had beheld there, and Lyra found herself slipping into that mystical world she had only ever heard of.
What must it be like to live in a place where it was so hot your body would nearly cook itself? Why were the tribes still tribes and not like the Northerners, who had long ago turned to more permanent structures? What sort of plant or animal could ever live there?

Aleth was being a sore loser before he even lost. The prospects were enough to infuriate him. He just hoped he wouldn't utterly himself in the process. He lifted his sword, keeping Tarr in his sharp gaze, also circling but deciding he was going to play on the defense. Blocking blows always seemed so much less risky than meting them.



How was she supposed to get to Lyra? Ky scrubbed her face in frustration as she got back to the house. Was her house-arrest in the library already begun, or was that only when the others were to be here?

It was her best bet.

Ky decided to check there first, and come up with another plan if she found the library empty. She already knew the way from Aleth's snooping the past few days. Ky took a moment to compose herself, tucked her folder firmly under her arm, and then pushed the door open and strode into the library.

Tarr darted forward to slash at Aleth, testing his defenses.

Lyra raised her head as she heard the door open, expecting to see Dalia. She froze when Ky entered, and she scrambled off her chair. She wasn't supposed to talk to him. Tarr would be furious if he found out about this. Why wouldn't these people leave her be? Things were bad enough already.

Aleth threw his sword up, managing to catch that one at least, even though it made his entire arm throb. He threw Tarr's blade off his own then took a step to the side, re-balancing himself but still refusing to take the offense.



Ky's heart broke when she saw Lyra's response to her arrival. She knew how that felt. But... she also knew how Aleth's hand was going to feel later if she didn't.

"Oh, um, hi," Ky said gently, rounding her shoulders a bit and rubbing her arm, finally letting herself look as insecure as she felt instead of having to pretend to be coolly confident like Aleth demanded. "I-I don't know if we've actually properly met? I'm Ky."

Tarr took advantage of Aleth's unbalance and rammed into him, raising his gauntleted arm and swiping with his sword arm.

"You shouldn't be here." Lyra tried to keep the tremor out of her voice, but she could feel her throat constricting wildly. "You'll get us both in trouble. Please leave!"

Oh, I'm going to get in far, far more trouble if I do. Lyra's fear sank a dagger into Ky's gut. There was literally no good option here. Which seemed to be Aleth's talent: setting up a situation that ended badly for Ky 100% of the time, no matter what she tried to do.

"Oh, I'm not, uh--" Ky swallowed hard, trying to take a breath past the block that settled in her chest. "I... I was sent away, too." She wandered a few steps further into the library, but towards the opposite wall, so she wouldn't crowd Lyra. "I don't think either of them really... cares about... either of us?"

That might not have been the best way to put it. She had no doubt that Lyra was likely painfully as much the center of Tarr's attention as she was Aleth's. But she wasn't sure how she was supposed to go about this.



Aleth planted his back foot at the last instant, managing to keep from toppling over, and threw his arm up in an attempt to block Tarr's attack. It was a clumsy ordeal. He blocked his arm... kind of... but Tarr's sword still came down and whacked Aleth's shoulder.

Aleth grunted and gave Tarr a shove, shuffling backward, out of reach, as he rolled his shoulder. Ouch.

"One hit, Lord Tarr," the soldier called.
"I forgot to mention three hits means you win," Tarr grunted, barely budging as he was pushed. He swung again in an arc strong enough to break bones.

Lyra felt a pang at that. She knew that; it was obvious enough. But this servant had no right to call her out.
"My husband loves me very much," she said stiffly, drawing herself up and trying to relax her shoulders. "How dare you suggest something like that, sir?"

"Would be nice to know," Aleth snapped, getting his sword in between them and grasping onto it with both hands. The blow sent a shock up both arms and seemed to rattle him to the spine. So, he'd have to actually make an attempt at an offense after all.

As Tarr pulled his blade away from Aleth's, Aleth twisted and made an attempt to strike Tarr across the ribs.



"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to overstep." Ky's eyes widened with genuine distress, then she turned them to the ground and gave a low bow. Fuck. She'd only been trying to establish the common ground, and it definitely wasn't the right approach. "I was out of my place. You have my sincerest apologies, your ladyship."

"Two hits to Lord Tarr," the soldier announced obnoxiously. Tarr parried quickly.
"At least try to make hard," he snorted.

"I should hope so." Lyra felt a bit more in control, now. She smoothed down her dress and closed her book, taking a deep breath. Then she took a moment to study this young man who seemed intent on speaking with her.
He was taller than her by a little bit, below average height for a man. That was the first thing she noticed. The second was that his voice was a bit high. Lyra had heard high-voiced men before--her uncle and Alexander Dalia both had upper-register voices--but this seemed unnaturally high for a man who appeared to be entering adulthood.
"What do you want?" she asked after a moment, deciding it was probably just an unfortunate abnormality.

"I'm not here," Aleth grunted, raising his arms to attempt an overhanded blow, mood ever pissier the more Tarr taunted and beat him. "To be your soldier."

He brought the blade down.



It was... something. That she was at least asking Ky a question now instead of demanding she left. Ky kept her gaze on the floor, deciding to be the meek little servant boy now that she'd already fucked up her first attempt at making friends with Lyra.

"Apologies ma'am," she repeated again, bobbing her head as she blinked at the floor rapidly. "I was... hoping for..." She wet her lips. This was such a bizarre phenomenon for Ky. Usually, she forced herself to be suave and smooth and a perfect showman. Now she was still trying to put on a show, but the show cut into how she really felt, and somehow felt much, much harder. Her voice was barely more than a whisper. "A brief respite."

"One hit to Master Klev," the soldier said. Tarr had tried to block but slipped on a patch of hardened snow. He fell hard but rolled quickly to his feet, growling. He came back at Aleth hard.

"Then have it elsewhere. The kitchens, perhaps." Her voice grew stronger with every word. "I prefer to be alone in here and not hounded by servant boys who've lost their masters."

To fucking hell with it. Aleth leapt forward too, deciding to see what would happen if neither of them too the defense, and swung his blade as hard as he could towards Tarr's abdomen.



Well, this hadn't gone at all how she'd expected. She thought maybe she could find some common ground with Lyra -- the kicked puppies, bonding while their cruel masters beat each other silly out in the snow. But, it was seeming that Lyra had some of the Tarr snootiness emanating from her, too.

"Yes, ma'am." She couldn't very well disobey a direct order from the lady of the keep.

She doubted Tarr cared a single ounce what Lyra had to say, but she was certain he'd beat her himself if he found out she was trying to talk to Lyra... And Aleth would let him... and then Aleth would finish the beating since she'd gotten literally nothing out of Lyra.

A stab of fear shot through Ky as she thought of Aleth, but it was too late to hide. She'd already been lifting her head to make eye contact with Lyra before the fear surged through her. She locked eyes with her for the briefest moment before jerking her gaze away, cheeks flushing slightly that she'd been stupid enough to show genuine fear in front of a client.

"I'm sorry to disturb you," Ky murmured.

Tarr blocked quickly and delivered a punch to Aleth's shoulder, attempting to throw him off balance again.

Lyra's brow furrowed as she watched Ky turn away. There was something off about him, but she couldn't quite place it. He wasn't like the other servants. They cowered around her husband--of course they did. But there was a fear in this boy that was almost tangible. Lyra hadn't thought she was that frightening. Unless...
"Wait."