Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 4)

"Why do you ask? Worried he might ask for you?"

"Oh, gods, no!" Ky said quickly. That was a thought that hadn't even crossed her mind. It was almost as horrifying: thinking about working for that brute. She flushed as she realized she was being disrespectful. "I mean, no, sir. I'm fairly confident he's forgotten I exist at this point, sir."

She hesitated, embarrassed at the revelation she needed to make. Hopefully he recognized it wasn't her fault.

"But Aleth was very thorough and we collected quite a bit of information on everyone up here that we could before we came." She flushed, wishing she could say 'he' rather than 'we' but she'd been personally responsible for organizing all the information. "He'd sent a few plants up ahead of us to collect information and also give the identities of people who could be bribed. And I already told the Ladies Barraster and Lord Loquitur who they all were and so that's been handled. But, well, we learned a lot about the supply and demand of resources and personnel up here... and compiled a list of useful contacts that could be summoned quickly. Mercenaries and such."

"I don't remember the details, but it was all in a chest that got left at Wolf Keep." She cringed. "But I only encrypted it with a simple vigenere square and alternated with two languages. It wouldn't be terribly difficult to decode if he has anyone remotely competent."

"Hmm." Harold's brow furrowed. "Perhaps you shouldn't be telling me this, my dear. I'm supposed to be impartial in wars of Lords unless it poses a direct threat to the throne and to the Realm."

"Oh." She blushed quite possibly redder than she's ever had before in her life. She wanted to cry. How stupid could she be? Of course that made sense. She'd just assumed he was on Loquitur's side because he was quite clearly in the right here; and the king was here right now; and he'd said he wouldn't allow Tarr to go to war and... she wasn't really breathing now. She stared straight at the horn of the saddle in front of her, shrinking to be as small as she was when she'd offended Aleth.

Tadaaki watched it happen, but carefully kept his gaze dropped as well, not reacting to her shame. There was no way for him to make this better. And, maybe it was selfish of him, but he wasn't going to get himself in the center of this if it didn't seem likely he'd be able to pull her out of it.

"For what it's worth, this may very well be an issue for the throne, eventually. But I pray it doesn't come to that. I've got enough on my plate as it is with the Grand Reputations and Orator pushing at me from the East and the Taral complaining of the slave trade ravaging his people in the South. World leaders are a pushy bunch."

Ky nodded, but still didn't look up. Or breathe. So stupid.

"Are you well-traveled?" he asked after a moment. "I imagine you both would be, if Aleth is all that people say he is--was."

"Yes, sir," Ky croaked, forcing herself to function again. She didn't have the leisure of shutting down. Kyber couldn't embarrass Aleth; Kylia needed to stop embarrassing Tomhas. Her throat still felt so tight.

"We've been all around," Tadaaki cut in. He didn't know what he was doing or if he'd manage to say all this right. But Ky clearly needed a moment to recover. He felt so bad for her; her embarrassment was radiating off her and rubbing onto him. "To, uh, different, uh, places, sir."

"East and South both? To what regions?" His eyes lit up. "And have you ever gone to the Far North? I can't imagine you would have..."

"No, sir," Tadaaki agreed. "Not that far. But all across the South and the East. We spent a lot of time in the East. War is good for mercenaries."

"I would imagine so, especially when there's no clear end in sight." Harold tutted. "Not very good for me or my headaches, but what can you do? The Grand Reputations are adamant of their claim, and the Orator is adamant of hers. Not much to be done."

"Yes, sir." Tadaaki nodded. "I've really nothing to do with it, but it all seems so complicated."

She needed to tell Tomhas she'd fucked up. She'd fucked up. Bad. Not only did Tarr have such dangerous information; but now the king did too. She focused on her breathing, deciding she wasn't going to cry in front of the king. And she definitely would, if she kept focusing on what she'd just did and what it might mean for Loquitur. Would she ever stop ruining Tomhas's edge of advantage? Probably not.

"Very, very complicated," Harold agreed. "This war has been going on since before the twelve tribes united. It's been around since before our families ever dreamed of becoming families, I'd wager. It's an old war of old blood and titles, that much is quite certain."

"I don't envy you, sir," Tadaaki murmured.

Could Ky just gallop ahead? Maybe she could find a hole to climb into to die in.

"I don't envy the people dying because of it," Harold replied with a sigh. "How many families have been wiped out because of two warring groups? How many more?" He shook his head. "But I can't interfere. It's not my land, and it's not my business. The Grand Reputations and the Orator look only for supplies and trade, and it's my duty to negotiate with them both."