Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree

"I wouldn't be." Tomhas tossed the bread up in the air and caught it, then did it again. "The journey's hell. The infirmary will be warm, though. Sera will treat you very well, even if Gaius is a bit aloof to start. She and Lady Sara are very good people." He sighed. "I wish they didn't have to suffer because of what Gaius and I feel."

Ky was glad to hear that, at least. Would she also share a bounty of food with her? That sounded nice. She realized she'd been taking too-large bites, when she suddenly found herself finished with her loaf before Loquitur had finished his. Greedy.

"I look forward to meeting them," Ky answered, voice small as she wasn't quite sure how to answer that without insulting him.

She also wished that people didn't have to suffer based on others' emotions. She always suffered from what Aleth felt. She absently slid her hand under her tunic, rubbing one of the raised scars left over from Aleth's abuse, remembering how badly it ended when she angered him.

Then she glanced down and realized she'd accidentally let the tunic ride up, exposing a bit of her abdomen. It was covered in gruesome scars in the shape of flowers, connected by a vine that Aleth had carved from her hips to her ribs. But, thankfully, they were all healed now. There hadn't been time for him to cut her any more, before they were to leave for the trip. She quickly yanked the tunic down, hoping he hadn't seen, but too scared to look up. She pulled her knees closer to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

Tomhas, unfortunately, had been looking at her when it happened. His eyes snapped to her stomach, and he jerked out a hand before he stopped himself and forced himself to turn his gaze to her face.

He was silent for a very, very long time, mind oddly still. His mind was never still.

"Should you wish it," he said at last, voice shaking slightly, "my brother will put an end to him in a heartbeat. I can do so as well, if you would prefer it. In a heartbeat." His fist clenched tightly, and he felt his fingernails dig into his palm. He would walk straight to that door if she asked and run him through with a dagger. Such a death was too quick for the likes of Aleth, but it would have to do.

Ky felt like she was going to suffocate from the too-long silence, but she was too scared to look over at Loquitur. She felt his eyes on him and stared straight at her knees, afraid for what would come next.

She finally looked at him when he spoke, her shoulders still rounded with fear. She couldn't tell if he seemed angry or sad or just... upset? She didn't know. But she was alarmed when he continued. Kill Aleth? That was... she hadn't really considered the possibility before. No one killed Aleth.

"Oh, he didn't do--" she started quickly, panicked, but it felt like Loquitur's eyes stared a hole straight through her, cutting through the lie. She turned her gaze back to her knees, chest tight. How stupid she had been to let him see that. No one had ever seen it.

"It's not so bad. I just... it's been a while, and I, I deserved it. I used to be very..." She swallowed hard, trying to figure out how to explain it all away. "Strong-willed. Disrespectful. It was my own fault. I-I just had to learn..." She was breathing too heavy to figure out how to save it. "I used to fight... and I still talk too much. I shouldn't-- it was my fault."

"You're a child," Tomhas growled. "A child. He's a grown fucking man." He paused, collecting himself. He shouldn't scare her. That wasn't right; she would think he was mad at her. "I don't care if you punched him in the face, nothing you do could possibly warrant something like that." Tomhas unclenched his hands and dug them into his cloak, then ran them through his hair. "Listen to me," he said after another pause. "Listen. If you're afraid of him, if you're unhappy, if you wish you could go home, just say the word. I'll end his life like that." He snapped his fingers. "The blink of an eye or, if you prefer, slow. I can do slow. Gaius does it better but I can do it. You don't have to worry about money or care; Anneke and I can take you in or we'll find you someplace safe. We can send you home if you like." His eyes searched hers desperately. "You don't have to live like this. Having your meals stolen from you, forced to pretend you're a boy, hiding your scars. I know what it's like to hide scars. It's..." He closed his eyes. "Just say the word and it'll all be over. You and Tadaaki will be safe."

(I gotta sleep but holy cow my emotions right now)

(Hahaha right? I'm actually not quite sure what to do xD I feel like Ky would be scared to say that's what she wanted, but if she keeps rambling, it seems like Loquitur is ready to go yank Aleth out of bed right then xD I wonder if we could salvage the plot if we killed Aleth off 🤔 He def deserves it and it'd be super satisfying lol)

Ky flinched when he started but forced herself to look at him. She was so perplexed. Bewildered. Could he really--? Would he really...? She swallowed hard. This was what she'd longed for. What she'd been hoping for ever since Loquitur appeared. Well, maybe not Aleth's death. That seemed a bit extreme, no matter how much she hated him.

"I... did punch him in the face," she answered, finding that comment easier to answer. "And then I tried to stab him. When I was twelve." She grimaced. That's where most of the scars had come from. "I didn't actually do it, though. And I'm much better now." She continued quickly, still feeling panicked. "I don't hurt people anymore. I promise. I'm... better."

Even she didn't believe that. She wasn't better. She missed the Ky that could laugh and talk freely and not live her life looking over her shoulder in fear that he was there.

She didn't know how to answer the rest of what he offered. Did he... really... mean it? He really was too kind to her. But could she live with that on her conscience? But... then he offered to make Tadaaki be safe, and she cared about him far more than she did herself.

"He doesn't hurt me when I'm good." She hugged her knees even closer to her chest, arms clenched around them for dear life, as if that would bring her comfort as she stared at the floor and made herself as small as possible, voice trembling a bit. "And I'm almost good now."

(I think it would be counterproductive to your goal from when we started this rp--developing an antagonist--but if you would like Aleth killed off I can easily have that arranged. Tomhas is gonna let it go for now if Ky directly asks him not to kill Aleth but if she says yes then he very well might drag Aleth out of bed)

Tomhas sighed and shifted himself to face her fully.
"People like that don't ever stop hurting others," he said quietly. "They always find reasons to keep tormenting people. My brother was very good when he was small." He glanced down at his hands. "He had to be. But our brother Michael didn't give a damn. He'd corner Gaius for no reason and beat him senseless, then do it all over again the next day. When they got older he would lie to their father and say Gaius had done something wrong--which he hadn't--and Gaius would be whipped. As teenagers Michael would make him spar. I'm sure you can guess how that ended." He took a deep breath. "He completely demolished Gaius's leg when Gaius was about seventeen. Crushed it under a rock and called it an accident when Lord Septimus asked what had happened." Tomhas looked back at her. "They never stop, Ky. Never."

(u rite... I just feel like Ky wouldn't try to protect Aleth here xD Let's just see where it goes)

Ky rested her chin on her knees as Loquitur turned to face her. She hadn't agreed with him when he called her a child a few minutes ago, but now she certainly felt like one. Sitting next to Papa. Listening to him chiding her and telling her to stand up to her bully. That it's never okay to hurt someone just to hurt them, but defending yourself is okay.

They never stop.

Tears sprang to her eyes and started down her face before she could stop them. She gasped and scrubbed at them roughly, but she couldn't seem to make them stop. "I'm sorry!"

She looked back down the hall, panicked, but Aleth still wasn't there. "I'm sorry, I know I'm not supposed to--" She furiously scrubbed at the tears, trying as hard as she could to make them stop. This was humiliating. Blubbering in front of a noble. "I'm trying. I'm sorry."

She covered her face with her hands, forcing herself to take deep breaths, trying to pretend that she wasn't boxed in by Aleth on one side and Loquitur on the other. This almost felt like a test. Like Aleth had hired Loquitur to see what Ky would do, given the opportunity. But, then, neither of them had known she was going to be in the hall. And Loquitur seems far too nice for that kind of a nasty plan. He hadn't ratted her out for lying to Aleth... at least, yet.

The silence felt too long, but at long last, she managed to wipe the tears away, and take a shaky breath.

"I can't ask you to kill him." She wasn't even sure that he could hear her, for how soft her voice was. "I can't. If I do that, then I'm just as bad as he is. I can't hurt people just because they upset me."

Her mind kept mulling over what he'd said -- what he'd offered. Safety for her? For Tadaaki? It was so tempting. She longed to take him up on it. But she couldn't live with Aleth's death on her conscience, no matter how much he deserved it.

"Do you think you could get us away from him without--" She looked back at Loquitur timidly, but cut herself off with a shake of her head. That wouldn't work. "He won't let you take me. I know too much. But Tadaaki? Tadaaki doesn't deserve this. And he doesn't know the secrets I know, so if you insist, he might let Tadaaki go. He'd be very angry--" She closed her eyes, swallowing hard as she imagined what was going to happen to her if they followed through with this plan. "Very angry. But it's worth it. For Tadaaki to be safe. He deserves to be safe."

Tomhas felt a lump in his throat as she broke down, and he rested his chin on his hands wearily. What she was proposing was incredibly selfless. He had expected she might just refuse him outright out of fear, but this was bold indeed. And she had a point--killing people because they upset you was something Gaius would do. Tomhas felt he had it in him to beat Aleth to a pulp and leave him to die, but he couldn't do that. He'd denied that part of him for so long.

"There are other ways," he said carefully. "Faked deaths, for example." That was difficult to arrange in some cases, but Tomhas guessed he could pull it off himself. All he had to do was stage a fall or an illness and they would get away from there. Had he and Gaius still been on good terms he could have written to him and asked that he pretend to execute Tadaaki and Ky, but that wouldn't work in this situation.

"Whatever happens, I'll free Tadaaki," he promised. "And I'll figure out a way to get you away, too. You have my word as Lord of House Loquitur." He could feel his face flushing with anger at the prospect of letting Aleth go on living to harm others, but he shook himself slightly. Perhaps Tarr would let him get in a few solid punches. "I'll see to it that he pays for what he did eventually. I swear that, too." He took off his House ring and held it up. "On the restored honor of this House. If you change your mind about killing him, though, just breathe a word to Gaius. You could pretend to be a deserter, no longer loyal to me now that Aleth died. The plan could still work like that and the bastard would be out of the way."

"Thank you," she breathed, her entire body trembling with fear. But she felt a bit of the tension release from her shoulders at the thought of getting Tadaaki. She glanced back down the hall again to ensure they were still alone, then looked back at Loquitur, actually meeting his gaze this time. "Thank you."

She looked away again, fingers clawing into the extra fabric of her trousers. She'd take whatever beating she needed to take to get Tadaaki to safety. "Tadaaki deserves so much better." At this point, she didn't even know what she deserved. "He's so kind. And you are too. You're both so kind."

"I try to be," Tomhas said sheepishly. Then his eyes lit up. Perhaps...
"Okay, here's an idea. I'd like some insurance that Aleth isn't going to rat me out anyway, so perhaps this could work. I could make it clear that I'm going to keep you two here with me as an incentive for him to keep his mouth shut. That could work better anyway because he'd then know that you two would have more opportunity to gather information about me and my allies." Yes, yes, this could work! Tomhas bounced up onto his knees. "And I'd just send you whereever you wanted to go and when Aleth gets back I can simply break it to him that he's a terrible human and he's worn out his usefulness. He could stand trial fairly and be sentenced to death that way, or simply imprisoned." He grinned, pleased with himself.

(lol this plan is actually what literally just occurred to me, too SAME BRAIN)

Ky looked at him, feeling overwhelmed, but also relieved. Could it actually work? She'd never wanted so much ever in her entire life. She smiled at him timidly, endeared by his enthusiasm. Then she sobered a bit. "He'd be very angry."

She swallowed hard.

"I could... maybe... be useful to you?" Ky ventured. "I know all of our codes, so I could interpret messages he gets to you. And Tadaaki is very strong. We..." She glanced back down the hall, still afraid. "He'll..."

She took a deep breath.

"The only way it would work is if you didn't mind taking us on as servants," she said quietly. "We can't go home. Ever. He had Tadaaki's parents killed when he tried to escape, and my Papa is...he just got so sad when Aleth took me that he... we can't go back. People will get hurt."

And then a horrifying thought struck her, and her gaze snapped up to Loquitur's face. "What if he hurts you? You can't -- he's very -- I can't... you're too nice to get hurt. He'll be very angry. I don't want you to get hurt."

(Omg really I was so worried it would sound dumb but it was my best plan)

"I've got skin of steel," Tomhas chuckled. "Please. Growing up as a bastard in Serpent Keep I couldn't have anything but." He sobered. "There's no need for you to be servants. I would certainly appreciate help deciphering codes, but you would be guests in our household, nothing less. You'd want for nothing." Tomhas leaned back, resting on his heels and reaching for one of the breadrolls before remembering he'd promised everything to Ky and Tadaaki. "Is your father alive?" he asked hesitantly. "If so I can arrange to have him brought here to safety. If you don't know then we can find out. I've got sources down South."

(haha not dumb at all! I'm half tempted to have Aleth randomly walk into the hall soon, but idk if that'd be too much needless drama xD)

Not even servants? He really was too kind. This was so overwhelming.

"No," she answered softly, wishing with everything within her that he was. "My Mama died when I was born, so Papa and I only had each other... and then when I got taken, Aleth told me that if I tried to escape he'd have Papa killed, so I didn't... but then... I guess Papa was too sad that he didn't have me or Mama around anymore and..." She took a deep breath, trying to think of how to explain it without actually saying the word. "I guess he saved Aleth the trouble."

She hugged her knees tighter to her chest, noticing Loquitur seemed to want more food, but too timid to reach for more herself or to ask him to keep eating. If, if this plan worked, then she and Tadaaki would be able to eat again anyway. She shrugged. "I should have tried harder to get away." She stared at the floor over her knees. "I was just afraid that if I did, then Papa... but I guess since I didn't he still..." She felt tears prick at her eyes again, but thankfully they didn't make it to her face this time. Her voice cracked. "I miss him."