Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 3)

“Well you can’t just stay defeated,” Ky said with a playful grin. She certainly would be trying again. “One of us has to beat him, eventually.”

"Maybe when he's old and gray we'll all gang up on him and win at last," she suggested.

Ky laughed and nodded her head. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

They walked a few more feet down the hall. “We’re meeting in here. I wonder if they’ve collected the others, yet.”

"Let's find out." Anneke pushed open the door. Tomhas was seated in the floor with the wheat cakes still wrapped up. Peter and Oscar were sitting in his lap; Peter was trying to pull his father's hair and was standing on his brother to do so. Anneke and Lyra were also there, sitting side by side to the left of Tomhas.

Ky grinned and started toward them, then hesitated just before she sat down. Could pregnant women sit on the floor? She didn’t know. She turned back to Lady Anneke. “Do you want a chair? I can pull one over.”

"That's very kind of you." Anneke nodded. "Getting up isn't as easy as it used to be--nor is sitting down."
"Thanks to Littlefoot in there," Tomhas chuckled, and unwrapped the bundle. "How are you, my love?"
"Fantastic. I was working on my writing when Ky came to get me."

Ky plopped the jar of honey down directly in front of Tomhas and then went for a chair. She pulled it up on his other side, opposite the girls. Then she sat down across from him, completing the circle.

Anneke settled into the chair. Tomhas opened the jar of honey and slid a knife into one of the cakes, cutting it open to spread the honey on.
"Take one, pass it down," he said, finishing the spread and passing it to Lyra, who in turn passed it to Anneliese until it had reached Anneke. He continued this until everyone, including the two little boys in his lap, had been served.

Ky held on to hers until everyone had one. It was nearly cooled now, but there was still a hint of warmth to it. This was, in fact, an excellent conquest.

Tomhas held his up close to his chest, savoring the firm heat against his fingers. "On the count of three, we bite," he said with a smile. "One...two...three!" He sank his teeth into the wheat cake, closing his eyes in ecstasy.

Ky grinned and bit at the same time, savoring the sweetness of the honey and warmth of the cake. Now it made sense why Sebastian was so grouchy about them taking the cakes -- if she'd just made something this delectable then she'd also want to keep it under lock and key.

"Story!" Peter demanded, tugging on his father. Tomhas chuckled.
"Peter suggests a story circle," he announced. "Does anyone else want a story circle?"
"Me! Me!" Oscar cried, face smeared with honey and crumbs.
"Only if someone else starts," Anneliese said with a grin.

Ky grinned and nodded, then hesitated at Anneliese's words. What did she mean, if someone else started? Did Loquitur storytime pass between people? That'd be interesting to watch. "I'd like to hear someone tell a story."

"May I begin?" Lyra asked tentatively, and Tomhas and Anneke looked at her in surprise. Tomhas was pleased; she usually went last.
"Of course!" He leaned forward and bit into his wheat cake. "Ky, story circle is a sort of back and forth sharing. Someone tells a story--true or false--and then we move to the next volunteer. It can be a long story or a short story, about anything at all. Funny, sad, romantic, anything."

"Oh." Ky nodded, a little intimidated at the thought of participating herself, but she was willing to give it a shot. It was, in fact, something a Loquitur daughter participated in. "Okay!"

She needed to think of what story she'd tell. Did she want to tell a real-life story? That one would need to be from her childhood, if so. She obviously couldn't tell a story from the past few years -- those were all dark. Or, she could come up with a story on the fly. She used to do that, when she was little. Make up stories and pretend she was reading them, before she actually knew how to read.