Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (cont'd)

Aleth kept flipping through the book, but nothing was standing out to him. He hummed as he glanced around the room. He wanted to keep digging. But he also wasn’t a fool, and recognized he was living on borrowed time.

So he replaced the book exactly as he’d found it then pulled open the door of the room and sent a quick glance down the hallway. Then he stepped into it and shut the door behind him, confidently striding away as if nothing had happened at all.

Emery wandered the halls, tossing a ball of fine silver chain from hand to hand as he walked. He figured he'd start on the ground floor and work his way up; the fellow was bound to be somewhere nearby.

Aleth coolly walked down the hall, glancing around as he reached the corner. Did he have time to snoop more before the tail got here? Or was he just being paranoid about this whole matter? He bit his lip and kept walking.

Emery turned a corner and nearly bumped into Aleth. He blinked, smiling quickly. "Oh! Do excuse me, sorry about that. Clumsy." He stepped back. "Al, right?"

Ah, so the tail had beat him to this hallway.

“Yes, sir.” Aleth bobbed his head respectfully. “How do you do?”

"Very well!" Emery offered him his hand. "I'm Emery Rand." He grinned. "I won't beat around the bush; Lord Ash has gotten a bit antsy what with his sister disappearing and all, so I'm here to be your escort for a time. Is that agreeable?"

“Pleased to meet you,” Aleth said with a smile, taking his hand. He wasn’t pleased at all that his tail had stuck so quickly, but he could appreciate that Emery was being upfront with him. “I welcome the company. How are you today?”

"Well, it's cold as a slaver's heart and twice as dark woth all the clouds in the sky, so it's a typical day in the North and I'm delighted by the snow!" Emery shook his hand firmly, grasping it with his left as well.

Aleth smirked. If he had to have a tail, he supposed he was fortunate to get an entertaining one. “Quite so.”

"And you? How are you faring? I was told you were getting to know young Master Adrian."

Aleth was startled by the forwardness of this man. He assumed that anyone put close to him would be cold and guarded, but Emery seemed generally pleasant and off the cuff.

“Yes, I was! Seems like a delightful child,” Aleth answered brightly, mirroring the young man’s energy. “Brightened my afternoon, no doubt. So I’m having a lovely day.”

"Good to hear, good to hear." Emery filed that away. "And you're finding the Keep pleasant, recovering from your injuries well?"

“Yes, sir!” Aleth answered, keeping with the upbeat persona, even though it was starting to tax his energy reserves. “I’ve been getting first-class care. Lord and Lady Ash are most charitable. I count it great fortune to have made it here.”

"They're quite kind," Emery agreed. "You know, I was a slave all my life til I came here. I've been in their debt ever since. They're generous, brilliant people."

“Is that so?” Aleth maintained the smile, but was slowly scaling back the intensity of his pleasantries. An annoying reminder that he wasn’t back to his old self. Yet. “Have you been with them long?”