Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree

"I'll increase your pay by ten thousand," Tomhas decided. "You can find a story for why you're not as damaged as the other two. Now, then. Transportation. You'll need horses, but I advise you abandon them about a day before you arrive. Otherwise, ride them hard and make sure they look half starved. You'll have to lose weight, too--all of you."
"You can use clothes from my slaves as a disguise," Tarr added enthusiastically. Tomhas glanced at him; the young man seemed quite a bit happier now that they were discussing something that was likely humiliating for Aleth.

Aleth glanced at Tarr irritably, wishing he had the skill to be able to make the boy pay during the sparring earlier. He doubted there'd be any point to giving him a sword next time, unless Tarr wanted to make the humiliation complete -- beating him to a pulp when he should have been able to defend himself. Which meant that was probably exactly what was going to happen.

The three of them were fit, so hopefully, it wouldn't take too awfully long to become emaciated. Aleth couldn't believe he was actually considering this. He never should have left the East. At least, there, all he had to deal with was constant death threats. And he was finding he preferred the prospects of death to this level of humiliation.

"I suppose we will," Aleth said to Loquitur, choosing to ignore Tarr's comment. "How long of a trip is to Ash? I imagine we'll need time on the diet until we look starved."

Ky glanced at Aleth uneasily. He was no doubt trying to gauge how much time he had and if she'd be able to heal from another "training session" before they got to Ash's. She didn't know what to hope for. If Aleth couldn't cut her, he'd just make the beatings severe and frequent. The cutting was hellish during and for a week or two after, but then it was just mild soreness. She preferred that to fresh beatings every day... maybe.

This was shaping up to end very, very badly for her.

"It takes a week on a good horse," Constance replied. "If you're starving yours it'll be closer to two, plus the extended time walking."
"We'll give you weapons as well." Tomhas leaned back slightly, stretching. "Nothing fancy, just a couple short swords or something. When you get there, be very careful. Gaius watches new arrivals like a hawk. He'll likely have people follow you for the first few weeks."

Aleth rubbed his face. He was going to be thoroughly beaten if they expected the marks to last two weeks. At least this would give him an excuse to actually give Ky a proper beating if she was supposed to be bruised and battered when they arrived. "Alright."

Ky swallowed hard, staring at the table in front of her. Two weeks. She doubted she'd eat for that entire time. She was already the thinnest of the three -- she had far less muscle than Tadaaki, and Aleth -- while not fat -- was the clear master and enjoyed more sweet things than she did. But that wasn't enough time for the wounds to heal, which meant beatings.

"And where shall we say we're from?" he asked after a moment, resisting the urge to rub his face again.

Tomhas looked to Tarr. Tarr raised an eyebrow and paced around the table, looking Aleth up and down.
"You have the face of a Northerner. Keep your accent Northern. The boy has a Southern accent, but he looks Northern, too. Your big man definitely looks Southern, so you'll say you're from the East and that you were being transported across the mountains when you escaped. You'd heard Lord Ash was sympathetic towards slaves, so you came to him for an escort to where you need to go."

Ky looked at Tarr. Was her accent really that noticeable? She guessed she didn't really think much about what she sounded like, except for trying to make her voice deeper and gruffer. They traveled around so much that differing accents didn't really give her much pause.

She glanced back at Loquitur. At this point, she was becoming sorrowful that she couldn't just be his servant, if she was going to be passed around from noble to noble. Tarr and Aleth deserved each other -- and she deserved neither of them.

Aleth considered for a moment. The story would be hard to sell, but feasible. Especially if they showed up with few supplies. Finally, he sighed. "Alright... I don't suppose we'll need the swords, though. Tadaaki's the only one who can actually use one. May as well pretend we ran instead of fought our way free, if we're committing to this whole story."

"Fair enough." Tomhas pointed to the map. "I don't know if you're familiar with the Northern Realm's geography, but this right here is the Barren Plains. You're going to want to skirt around this. It's basically a death sentence."
"And you will need swords, no matter how poor you are at using them, " Tarr said pointedly. "There are all manner of monsters in the woods. You saw the stuffed wolves and bears around the Keep. There are those and much worse out in the forest."
"Spiders," Arianna said grimly.

Ky stared at the map with wide eyes. Spiders? She didn't even want to know what kind of spider warranted that kind of tone. Couldn't Tarr just stab her and get it over with?

But she made sure to commit the map to memory so that she'd be able to help navigate. So that they would stay far, far away from the plains... if they even made it that far.

Aleth looked at the map hopelessly. His only hope was Tadaaki, and he had no idea how he'd do when it came to beasts. Was 60,000 really worth his life? Aleth glanced around. Maybe the money wasn't worth it, but his reputation was. If it got out that he was a coward then his entire career would be shot.

"Very well," he answered tersely. "I suppose we could also use some tips on the best places to strike to kill them, then."

If his ego wasn't so big -- and if Tarr didn't infuriate him so much -- he might ask for lessons. But not in this lifetime.

(so I had this idea, 1000% no pressure, but it could be kinda cute if Loquitur uses female pronouns for Ky at some point -- doesn't have to be now if it doesn't fit -- just an aside at some point where he's like "and Ky can have this, if she would like that" or something idk and her perk up, excited she got called she/her and then instantly melt when Aleth looked at her... if that's not in character for him no worries! Like I said, def don't have to, just thought that could be confirmation if Loquitur was curious if she was a girl because that's probably the only way she'd give it away for sure lol)

"You're dead if they're Iron," Constance said. "Run as fast as you can away and pray to the gods they lose interest. With Flesh, though, the spiders can be killed fairly easily if you strike at the joints, especially where abdomen meets horax. The head in general is a good spot to strike."
"Go for the eyes with wolves and bears," Tarr added. "If there's not a good shot there then try to get the throat or the chest. You shouldn't have to worry about the cats; they mostly stay in the mountains."
"I can give you some pointers on swordsmanship at some point." Constance patted her blade, which wa belted around her waist. "I'm a bit more patient than Lord Tarr, I expect."

(Tomhas isn't sure if she's trans or hiding her gender, so he's playing it safe with they/them or simply referring to her by name. He probably wouldn't ask directly again since she seemed uncomfortable with the question. But that would be adorable! Perhaps when he catches her alone he'll pull out the ol "sir or miss")

Aleth got progressively tenser the longer they talked about the beasts, but was relieved when Constance offered lessons. "That would be absolutely lovely, thank you."

Ky glanced at Constance and smiled a bit. She was mostly around men, at this point in her life. It was refreshing to be around a woman who could defend herself. She admired the courage it took. Ky had tried to fight Aleth when he had first taken her, and it had ended badly. At this point, she'd accepted the fact that she was at the mercy of any man in the general vicinity. She hoped she'd be allowed to watch the lesson. It was too much to hope for that she'd be allowed to practice, too. But maybe she could pick up enough just from watching.

"Anything else I should know?" Aleth asked.

(ooh that makes sense! Sounds good!)

"The apothecary, Sera," Tomhas said reluctantly. "You'll need to gain her trust. Sara's an excellent physician, and I wouldn't be surprised if she found some sort of medical inconsistency with your story. If things get sour, don't harm her. Don't harm anyone but Gaius if anyone needs to be harmed. There's no need for bystanders to lose their lives over something like this, got it? Your whole job is over if you break that rule, not to mention your life by Gaius's hand or mine."

"There's no need for threats," Aleth answered sourly. "I hire mercenaries when I need someone dead, and you're not paying me enough to afford one of those. Although I do have some names if that becomes something you require in the future."

"I'm hoping the war will be over within the year," Tomhas replied. "No need for mercenaries." He hoped. They were barely six months into the war and Gaius was proving to be deadly efficient. This needed to be over fast.
"Is there anything you'll need from us, aside from fighting lessons and a solid beating?" Arianna asked.

Ky smirked at Arianna's quip. Then she glanced at Aleth and sobered at the sideward look he gave her. She looked back at her paper, pretending that she needed to write something else down. She knew that Aleth's beating was going to end badly for her because he'd be so enraged by it. But it still seemed almost satisfying to imagine him with as many bruises as her.

"Rations, of course," Aleth answered. "And the other things we've already mentioned -- clothes, weapons, et. cetera."

He hesitated a moment, then looked back at Loquitur. "I suppose it's too much to hope that you have names of anyone there I might be able to pay off to slip messages out?"

Tomhas shook his head. "Not in the Keep. There's a Reeve in the territory loyal to me; if you can, relay your messages to him. His name is Malcolm Derry."
"We'll give you a weekend's worth of rations," Constance decided. "That should be enough for starving slaves."
"What do we do about frostbite?" Arianna asked.
"They'll be provided with warm clothes and a tent that they can dispose of later," Tomhas replied. "Can't have them dying on us before they get to Serpent Keep." He wouldn't mind losing Aleth, but he had pity for Ky and Tadaaki. They didn't deserve to suffer any more than they already were.