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

"Exactly." Emery looked up as the door of the library opened and a tall, heavyset man with a shaved head and red-rimmed eyes stalked in. His beard was a flaming orange, the same as Adrian's hair. He carried a bottle of mead in one hand and gave both of them a glare before disappearing into the maze of bookshelves.
"Arcus Kensey," Emery murmured to Aleth. "Miss Cecily's husband."

“Ah.” Aleth watched after him for a long moment after he disappeared. So this was the asshole Adrian had to deal with. It stirred something up deep within him that he couldn’t quite name. It wasn’t as though he gave a shit about anyone— and certainly not some dumb kid — but there was something about abusive fathers that grated against his nerves. “I’m sure he’s been taking this situation hardest off all.”

"Suppose so." Emery's pleasant face dropped into something graver, and his brow furrowed. "I've known men like him. They worry about themselves more than anyone else, in my experience." He looked back at the book, rubbing at the chain ball quietly.

Aleth felt like he was on the cusp of some tea being spilled, but he couldn’t quite figure out how to phrase a question without it sounding bad. He instead looked at the chain in Emery’s hand. “What’s that?”

"Mm?" He looked up. "Oh, this? Just a little souvenir from when I was a boy." He held it out. "Used to be a collar. I had it made into something more fun."

(I can’t remember… did we have Aleth in a collar when he showed up?)

“Oh.” Aleth looked at it, absently touching his own neck. “Seems like it would be both a painful reminder of what was as well as celebration of what is.”

(Nope)

"It is." Emery gazed at it and tossed it up, then caught it. "I meant it to be, so I don't get too comfortable anywhere."

“Makes sense.” Aleth glanced back to where Arcus had disappeared. “It’s probably better to be like that, than to be too-comfortable everywhere.”

"That's what I believe." Emery tapped the book. "Want to keep reading or should I take over?"

“You can.” Aleth held the book out to him.

Emery settled the book on his lap. "Day 9," he read. "Captqin J'Nor took supper in my chambers tonight. We talked of much, including family and the voyage ahead. He himself has no family, save a young daughter on the southern peninsula. And he has never been to the other continents, though he knows of one or two captains who have braved the journey. He weaves tales of clans who skin their dead to make books, and lizards as big as houses with great long teeth and wings for gliding. I hope we are lucky enough to see one; I have seen drawings of such beasts in the library but never imagined I would get to meet it. What else does this world that we of Jordheim have been unaware of?"

Aleth perked up a bit, listening closely. It was a bunch of old wives tales. But it’d be interesting if the old Lord stuck with his fantastical delusions.

"The captain also showed me a fascinating game called Mancala, which he beat me at an amount of times I cannot bring myself to write down. Needless to say, he put me to shame. I will be practicing this game in my spare time; hopefully he will be impressed.
I daresay I saw the ghost of a smile on his face after my fifth loss. Perhaps I am getting to him?"

Aleth smirked a bit. It seemed Perseus had more of Loquitur’s energy than Ash’s.

"In other news, my son finally seems to have gotten his sea legs. I saw him playing with the cabin boy the other day, quite happily. Christine will be pleased; she was so worried that a boy of his age would find nothing interesting to do."