Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree

Aleth hit her in the center of the back, making her stumble forward. She whirled around as soon as sir caught her balance, only to find Aleth’s chest a mere inch from her own.

“What did you get me?”

“She wants to go to the South.” Ky said hastily. That was all she had.

“How the FUCK is that supposed to help me?” He slammed both of his palms into her chest.

She stumbled backward. The edge of his chest dug into the back of her knees and the momentum carried her onto her back. She skinned her shoulder and fell off the other side, knocking some bags off with a loud clatter.

“Get up!”

She sprang to her feet. “I think I’m gaining her trust.”

“You sure as fuck better be.” He punched her in the gut.

Tomhas looked up at the first yell, then glanced at Lyra.
"We should continue this conversation elsewhere," he said quietly. "The library, perhaps."
"Can't we help him--her--Ky?" Lyra protested. She'd thought her father of all people would understand and want to stop this. But Tomhas only shook his head and drew her toward the door.
"There's nothing we can do that won't make things worse," he sighed. "I've tried helping before and it's just borrowing trouble."
"You're the Lord now. This isn't like before!" Lyra shook herself away from him. "If you can get me away from Tarr then you can get Ky away from Aleth!"
Tomhas jerked the door open, face tight. "No, I can't. Not yet. Maybe not ever. Come on, now. We have much more to discuss and this isn't the place to do it."

Aleth had always heard rage described as hot, but his felt as frigid as the snow that he had fallen into outside. Calculated. Intentional. Metered. He had to deal with bastard after bastard after bastard in this line of work, and had to smile and chuckle and pretend like he didn’t want to slit all of their throats.

His mind flicked back to Tarr’s smug smirk and taunting as he stood over him. The sheer humiliation. How he wanted to reach up and slap the smile off his face. But he couldn’t do that. So he did it to Ky instead, even though she wasn’t smiling.

She took the blows silently, standing up each time he knocked her over and readying herself for another. Finally, it took her longer that an instant to stand up, even though she immediately tried to. Her legs trembled slightly before she turned around to face him.

He took a deep breath and then sighed. It’d taken the edge off. And she’d clearly had enough. “Get your things.”

Lyra was ushered downstairs to the library, where her father sank down into an armchair and rested his head in his hands.
"If I lose this war, we lose our security," he said heavily. "I go back to being an Ash bastard with no way to provide for you and your siblings."
"Uncle Gaius wouldn't do that to you," Lyra protested. "Not after all you've been through." Tomhas massaged his brow.
"You don't know him as well as you think, dear. And you don't know everything about our disagreement. It was a brutal one. I expect he'd sooner see me dead than forgive me."

Ky found that it was easier to disconnect her mind and her body. She knew better than to scream when he hit her -- that embarrassed him, and Aleth hit harder when he was embarrassed. So, she relaxed her body as much as possible and resigned herself to her fate.

The instant he knocked her down, she'd throw herself to her feet again. It made him angry when he had to wait for her to get back up. Her brain was empty. It felt like everything that was her left after he started beating. She didn't think, didn't feel -- afraid or angry or anything else. Just pain.

She was exhausted. It felt like his fists knocked a bit more of life out of her each time they struck her. She landed on her left shoulder badly -- it hurt to move it now. Her whole body hurt.

Ky landed on the ground heavily after a particularly brutal blow. She pushed herself to her feet, but it was harder. She trembled as she turned around. Aleth gestured at the desk with a barked order.

She hurried over to the desk and pulled her things out, then turned towards him. He walked towards her and took a deep breath, smoothing his hair down, then, "Begin a new parchment for Loquitur."

Lyra relented at that; she was sure that was true. She knew better than to question her father when it came to Gaius Ash.
"I'd like you to keep an eye on Aleth and his servants while they're here, if it's safe to do so," Tomhas said after a long moment. "I don't trust him not to give everything away to Gaius if he thinks he'll be paid more." Lyra nodded slightly; she would do her best to find herself in the library when Ky was there.

(I honestly have no direction for this lol do you wanna keep them separate for a while or bring them back? I am fascinated by Loquitur now lol)

Aleth took to his habit of pacing back and forth in front of the table as he rambled, sometimes clear and concise, other times expecting Ky to organize his thoughts for him. She wrote in her pretend-Orchian language she'd developed phonetically as best she could.

She shared her observations about Loquitur and the Barrasters when he asked, and, eventually, was able to provide a more complete narrative of what had happened with Lyra, once Aleth actually calmed down.

(He's a fun character! I wouldn't mind getting Tomhas alone with Ky or Aleth at some point before the formal strategizing.)

Tomhas talked a bit more with Lyra about strategy, and then they discussed what was going on at home--how her siblings were, how her mother was faring, what the cats had gotten up to. Finally Tomhas took his leave.
"I know this isn't great advice," Tomhas said as he embraced her one more time, "but be strong, Lyra. I know you are and I know you can be. It's only until the end of the war, and then I'll get you out of here. I swear it."
Lyra nodded, soothed slightly. At least she knew this would eventually end. She could bear it now.
"I'll make you proud," she promised. Tomhas dipped his head and opened the door of the library.

(ooh! I like that idea!)

"Stand up."

Ky instantly obeyed.

"Come here."

She stepped forward until she was just in front of him and looked up to meet his gaze. It was actually calm now. Collected. His eyes flicked over her face, then he reached forward and straightened her hair.

"You're favoring your shoulder."

Am I? Ky realized she was tensing it, and forced her muscles to relax. "Sorry."

"Mm..." He gently turned her head to either side, inspecting her carefully for bruises, but there were none. He was careful to keep his abuse to areas that were easily covered by clothes. Couldn't have people thinking he mistreated his servants, could he? "Can you move it?"

She tried to lift her arm, but it caught mid-way, and her cheek twitched before she could stop it.

"Mm." Aleth was silent for a moment. "It's not like you need your left arm to take notes."

"No, sir," she agreed. Thankfully, she was right-handed. And, thankfully, she'd fallen on her left shoulder instead. She didn't want to try to have to move it. She could just rest her arm in her lap and no one would be the wiser.

"Let's see if we can get some ice for it before the meeting."

"Yes sir."

Ky followed Aleth to the door and then out into the hall, walking towards the stairs.

Lyra had retreated to her bedchambers. Tomhas found himself wandering up and down the halls of the keep restlessly. He'd been disturbed by what he had heard in the room next to his; it stirred up memories he preferred to keep buried. His brother would have done something about it if Lyra had asked. Gaius would have killed Aleth on the spot, no questions asked. But Tomhas recognized the necessity of the man. He was useful, intelligent. He could deal with him after the war was won, and no sooner. Unless he proved to be more of a problem.
Tomhas rounded a corner, finding himself facing the door to what he guessed was a balcony.

(I definitely misread Ky or Aleth as Ky AND Aleth, but I kinda dig the idea of a Loquitur/Ky scene so I'mma change my mind here xD)

Aleth hesitated, looking down at her. "Actually, this probably won't look good. Just go get the ice yourself."

"Yes, sir."

"Don't--" He stuck a finger in her face threateningly, voice low. "Just tell them you're fetching it for me, and bring it up to the room."

"Yes, sir."

Aleth turned and started back down the hall towards his room. Some of the tension released from Ky's chest and she took a deep breath, then turned the corner and started down the stairs.

(Awesome!)

Tomhas paused. He didn't particularly want to go out on a balcony; he was freezing cold from riding for hours. He turned away and headed back towards his room. With luck he would have a warm bath before any meetings took place. It was freezing out there; poor Ewan had nearly gotten frostbite on a couple of his fingers. The boy had promise, though. He was quick as a whip, same as his mothers, and quite good with a blade. That young man would go far, especially with two such excellent mentors as Connie and Arianna.

Ky froze as she spotted Lord Loquitur coming into the stairwell just in front of her. Her gaze snapped back the way she'd come, brain considering for a split second whether she could run without him noticing. But, of course, it was far too late for that. He'd simply see her running away from him and that would never do.

She turned her gaze back towards Loquitur, entire demeanor changing in an instant. She'd let her guard down with Lyra, because she wanted to have some common ground with her and see if that would make her open up. She had no such need with Loquitur. In fact, there was literally nothing she wanted less than for him to figure anything at all out about her.

He was already dangerously close to figuring out her gender facade. His gaze was as knowing as Aleth's. He seemed friendlier, but, who knew? Aleth could also be disarmingly pleasant when it suited him. And, Aleth certainly wasn't friendly.

He expected her to be on better than best behavior around noblemen. And she doubted he wanted her around Loquitur alone anytime. But it was fine. It wasn't like a Lord would want anything to do with a servant... even if he had been startling earlier with his attention.

"Your lordship!" she said brightly, offering a cheery smile as she bowed to him.

Tomhas blinked; he hadn't noticed Ky coming. "Ah, hello again!" He, too, plastered on a bright grin. "Fancy seeing you again after fifteen minutes. What a small world we live in." He stepped to the side in case she wanted to pass him. "Ky, was it? An intriguing name by all counts; I've never heard anything like it. Very unique in the North!" Gaius used to say he had the attention span of a gnat, and that was true to a certain extent, but Tomhas never forgot what he saw. And Tomhas saw and heard everything.

Ky had a clear shot. She could slip past him and be done with it... but it was disrespectful to walk off from your betters without being dismissed. And it didn't sound like she was being dismissed.

"Yes, sir!" she answered, smile never wavering. She wasn't sure what else to say. Aleth always told her not to offer information unless specifically asked. So, she settled on the lie that she knew was safe. "It's short for Kyber, sir."

Kylia was dead. She found solace in being allowed to keep the nickname from childhood -- Ky -- but she'd resigned herself to the fact that she'd never again get to answer to Kylia.