Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 4)

(Gaius. Gaius gets the snowball)

Tomhas led them upstairs to the library. "We've got a fair collection," he told them, walking backwards so he could face them as he spoke. "Not nearly as expansive as my brother's but still good! I'm restocking since my father didn't care very much for reading."

(Haha yes he will earn himself a permanent ban from Serpent Keep xD)

“He couldn’t read either?” Tasia asked, patting Tadaaki. “See? You can be a good papa and not know how to read.”

Tadaaki grimaced. It seemed both of his girls had a propensity for poking old wounds. “Sorry,” he mouthed to Tomhas.


“Okay, but, like, what if everyone thinks I’m dumb?”

“Then they're dumb. You’ve been smart as a tack straight from the womb.”

Ky snorted and rolled her eyes.

“I’m telling the truth, you know. 12-year-old Ky was naive and innocent, but smarter than most adults that I knew. There is nothing you can do to convince me that 15-year-old Ky hasn’t scaled that up even further.”

“Unless I look like an idiot during the ceremony.”

“Again. Snowball,” Zander said with a playful smirk. “Or maybe I’ll just pick Tasia up and toss her into a snow bank. I’m sure she’d be a noisy distraction if I did that.”

Ky laughed again.

“Look — all’s I’m saying is we could get Tomhas and the Skald in on this too. Tell them that if a fight breaks out that means to go faster while everyone’s distracted. It could be a thing.”

"Well, he could read." Tomhas wrinkled his nose. "He just didn't care to, which I don't understand to this day. He cared more about skulking."

“Skulking…” Tasia repeated, having no idea whatsoever what that word meant. “Is that like stalking? That’s when people follow you around even though you said to them stop.”


Ky sobered a moment later, letting out a sigh. There were so many complicated emotions surrounding this adoption in general — and who knew Zander showing up would make it exponentially more complicated, not just an additive effect.

“Tell me,” Zander said gently. Her body language was revealed how utterly conflicted she was. Like she wasn’t sure whether to be confused or happy or scared or all at once.

She felt guilty. She finally put her finger on the emotion. Her voice was quiet. “Am I betraying Papa? Betraying you?”

“No. Gosh, honey…” The question broke his heart. “You’re not betraying anyone at all. Your papa would be so glad to know you’ve got such a wonderful family watching over you, since he can’t do it himself. I’m sure he’s looking down on us all right this very instant, bursting with pride that you’ve found yourself such a lovely bonus family.”

"Sort of, except not following. Just wandering and being creepy." Tomhas opened the doors of the library. "That's all."

“I could be a good skulker.” Tasia wiggled her fingers ominously. “OooOOOOoooo.”



“Are you sure?” Ky asked miserable.

“I’m super, super sure,” Zander assured her. “Your papa and I didn’t have a ton in common — but the one thing we both shared was a visceral need to keep you safe and happy. I failed at that—“

Ky shook her head. It wasn’t his fault. He hadn’t even been there.

“But the universe has given me a second chance at it,” Zander continued, ignoring her disagreement. “Tomhas has given me a second chance at it. And I want nothing more than to see you grow up to be the smart, funny, beautiful woman you are.”

Ky scoffed at that. Now she really knew he was making stuff up. There was nothing beautiful about her. She passed pretty well as a boy. Beautiful woman indeed. That was ridiculous.

“And it’s clear that Tomhas adores you,” Zander said. “And it seems like you feel the same about him, judging from how you left to how you came back in.”

Ky was silent for a long moment. “Yeah…”

“I give this my full blessing, Ky. And your papa would too. We both want what’s best for you and it’s clear that living here is just that. You’re not giving us up by adding a new family any more than you’d be betraying us by getting married and being accepted into your in laws’ family.”

That was an interesting way to put it. Huh.

"I'm sure." He gave a forced smile. "Now, look at these books!" He waved a hand toward the bookshelves.

Tasia went skipping inside happily, eyes wide. “Whoa!”

“Sorry,” Tadaaki whispered again as he stepped past Tomhas.


“… I didn’t think about it that way,” Ky admitted.

“Does that make it easier to accept?”

“Yeah… yeah it really does,” Ky said, relaxing a bit. “And you’re really sure that you’re really okay with this?”

“I’m really, really sure, Ky,” Zander reassured her. “If I didn’t think this was what was best for you, I wouldn’t let it happen. You know that. I’d look Harold dead in the eye and tell him no if I didn’t want this to happen.”

“How so you know him?” Ky demanded, distracted.

“Eh, when you get around as much as I do, you learn stuff that can be useful.” Zander shrugged, not really answering the question. “I’ve been helpful to him a time or two. I think we’ve got a pretty mutual respect for each other.”

Kind of. Zander respected him as a man — he was kind and patient and pleasant. But he was a terrible king that he didn’t respect whatsoever. You don’t just let your nobles run amuck and let slave trading and every other nasty thing happen in their territory just because you lacked the balls to put your foot down and fix the problems in your own kingdom.

"It's alright," Tomhas replied quietly, giving him a nod before raising his voice. "Impressive, right? And one day you'll be able to read all of it."

“Where’s the frog stories?” Tasia asked eagerly.


“… how long are you going to stay here?” Ky asked, deciding she cared more about that than whatever cryptic reason Zander was trying to keep from her. She could argue that point later. “I don’t want you to leave.”

“I don’t want me to leave, either,” Zander agreed earnestly. “I’ll stay a few weeks or until I feel like I’m overstaying my welcome. Whichever comes first.”

“Tomhas and Anneke won’t care.”

“Oh, I meant you,” Zander said playfully. “There are only so many games I can beat you at before you get fed up with me.”

She grinned at that.

"Hmmm." Tomhas wandered toward one of the shelves, scanning the books. "There should be a picture of a bear on the front."

“Bear! They go—“ Tasia got up on her tip toes and raised her hands over her head like claws and roared.


“I’m so glad you’re here,” Ky said.

“I am too,” Zander agreed. He hesitated. He had to ask. They both knew he had to ask. “… what happened to you?”

“Oh, uh…” Ky shrugged. She’d realized on her walk back in here that she needed to stop spilling her guts about Aleth. Zander would only get upset by it and blame himself. And it’s not like either of them could change anything. “Aleth was a dick. And he took me as an assistant. And continued to be a dick.”

"Yes, raaar!" He bared his teeth at her. "Wanna help me look?" Tomhas pulled a book off the shelf.

“Yeah!” Tasia eagerly ripped one off the shelf.

“Tasia,” Tadaaki chided gently. “Remember to be gentle with breakable things. Books are easy to rip.”

“Oh.” Tasia instantly took a gentler stance.


“Mhm…” Zander said, raising an eyebrow. He resolved to be calm. Gentle. No matter what came out of Ky’s mouth, he was going to support her. “What did he do?”

“He, ah, well… well I told you about the whole, uh…”

This was going to be harder than he thought. He forced himself to be calm and not have an edge to his voice when he supplied, “Rape.”

“Yeah… it, uh, wasn’t… well… it wasn’t great.” Ky was anxiously fiddling with the hem of her shirt, staring at Zander for any hint of anger. He gave her none. Even though that had been the understatement of the century. “He had a lot of translational work and stuff for me to do. It was pretty intense. He usually had me working like 14 hour days… which, I mean, I got used to eventually. But I was pretty tired all the time.”

Zander looked at her expectantly. Right. The whole ‘I’m just tired’ excuse. That was a new one he hadn’t heard before.

“He was pretty nasty if I didn’t behave,” she admitted sheepishly.

“What did he do to you?”

Her chest felt tight. She couldn’t tell Zander. She couldn’t. It would hurt him too much. This was a burden she needed to carry herself. “He kind of hit me a lot at first.”

“Stop lying to me,” Zander said. Her face screamed the truth, even if her mouth wouldn’t speak it.

“I’m not lying.”

“Then stop giving the truth spectrum.”

“Hah!” That was enough to draw a small smile out of her. She’d forgotten about that phrase from childhood. Omitting key details wasn’t a lie. But truth was a spectrum and how truthful you could be depended on the situation.

He raised an eyebrow. He wasn’t joking.

“Okay, he hit me a lot all the time,” Ky admitted, sobering.

“Myrond said he had you masquerading as a boy. And that he’d whipped you.”

“You’ve talked to Myrond?” she asked in surprise.

“Of course I have,” Zander snorted. “I go back there as often as I can in case anyone at all has heard from you.”

She smiled slightly. That was sweet.

Tomhas put his book back and moved further down the shelves. "Hmmm, I can't see any titles that look familiar...maybe over there?" He pointed to where he knew the book would be.