Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 4)

(Aw poor baby! I'm down for that though.)

"Absolutely. And I hear Lady Anneke is pregnant, too! Isn't she due soon? Could be you're sworn in the same day the child is born!"

"Yes, sir!" Ky said, the smile a bit more genuine this time. Thinking about her new family helped put her at ease. They were so wonderful. "I think Anneliese plans to call us twins, if we're added to the family on the same day."

"Ha, really? Isn't that sweet? Are they hoping for a boy or a girl?"

"Mixed reviews," Ky said with a smile.

"Very interesting. Well, I'm looking forward to seeing the turnout, if I should be so lucky! Another Loquitur is always welcome in my Realm, as far as I'm concerned. They're a good bunch."

"That's very sweet," Ky said genuinely. "They really are so wonderful."

Harold nodded in agreement. "I don't like to play favorites, but they're good people. Lord Loquitur's raised a good brood, found him a good wife--if a bit unorthodox. I've got no complaints!"

"Seems he's a fan of building a family outside the norm," Ky mused. Marrying a farmer. Adopting a farmer. He really wasn't particularly good at this whole having a superiority complex like he was supposed to have as a lord.

Harold chuckled. "It would seem so. I suppose that makes sense, he isn't exactly a conventional fellow, or even a legitimate child. Nothing wrong with that except how he was conceived, but it makes for an interesting observation."

"Yes, sir." Ky nodded, finally starting to actually recover and remember how to breathe. This was okay. This was better. "I think he's got a unique perspective on life. It's nice."

"Certainly. I remember when he actually joined the council; it was like a breath of fresh air. Lord Ash had joined the council a couple years before that, so I was in need of a little light heartedness at meetings, you know?"

Ky smiled at that but was careful not to comment on it. It was amusing, though, that even the king noticed Ash's chilling personality. She dipped her head.

(I'm running out of things to say, wanna skip to when they get back to the Keep or have something else happen?)

(I am too haha let's skip)

The group arrived at the Keep about two hours later. A guard recognized Ky and Tadaaki and opened the gate for them. The courtyard was silent; nobody had expected the King and so no fanfare had been organized.
Harold dismounted and led his Iron-horse to the stable himself at a brisk walk. "It'll be good to set down this pack and get these traveling clothes off," he chuckled. "And to have a week to rest after my journey!"