Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 4)

Gaius gave a small nod, opening his mouth to reply, but Harold spoke before he could.
"I found the booksellers to be fascinating," he cut in. "And I bought a few trinkets for the children at the tinker's."
Gaius shut his mouth, damaged hand clenching irritably around the knob of his cane. "The booksellers," he mused. The booksellers who sold forged and overpriced imitations of priceless works, most of which could be found in his library. "Very interesting people indeed."

(Aha, now you've given me a new word!)

(ayyy proud! xD)
(also Toxic by Britney Spears just came on and it feels applicable xD You're dangerous)

The tension in the room was so thick it could be cut with a knife. Ky wondered if everyone else could feel it too. And if there was anything she could do about it.

Between Ash and the king was a place she sure as hell wasn't going to be -- and if it came to that then they'd be on their own. They were big boys that could figure it out for themselves. But if she could deflect somehow...

"I don't think we ventured far enough to see them," Ky said, hoping they weren't heading for disaster with this conversation. She looked at Ash. "Do you frequent bookseller booths back home?"

(Ay that's a great song and applicable to a great many of my characters)

"I do not." Gaius let his words ring with just how much he didn't partake in that particular activity. The hallway had gone silent outside except for the whispering of the servants.

Ky nodded stiffly. She didn't know why he had so much disdain for them, but it was clear he did which made that an unsafe topic as well. "What is your favorite sort of vendor to visit?"

This all felt so asinine. But what was she even supposed to do?

Gaius was caught off guard by the question, and he gave her a puzzled look. "The last time I stepped foot in a marketplace myself, voluntarily," he said with deliberate clarity, "was five years ago."
"He doesn't get out much," Harold said with a wry smile, and Gaius's hand twitched again.
"No," he agreed icily. "No, I don't."

Ky looked between them with wide eyes. Apparently that wasn't a safe topic, either. "Ah... do you, uh... ever have... vendors some to you?"

She felt like she was making it painfully apparent how little she fit in with nobility. She didn't have the first idea how he went about getting what he needed if he didn't go to the market.

Sara glanced at Gaius again and he caught her gaze. He was trying. Couldn't she see that? It wasn't his fault she was asking silly questions.
"On the rarest of occasions," he said after a moment. "It's more common for me to send a servant or one of my relations to the village nearby, should the mood strike me. I'm not inclined toward material goods unless they're books or gifts for others." He did sound like a bit of a stick in the mud, didn't he? Perhaps more interesting topics should have been introduced, then.

Ky nodded, noticing the nonverbals between Sara and Gaius. Right. So she was sounding stupid right now. Got it.

She didn't know how to change the subject, though. Her gut reaction was to strike up a conversation with the king since that was less awkward; but that seemed to be agitating Ash, and she certainly didn't want to get on his shit list... even higher on his shit list, anyway.

"Right, well..." Ky kept nodding, trying to think of something to say to change the subject but coming up short. "... that makes sense."

"Does it." That was an amusing statement. Another scream from down the hall sent his brother rocking into him, and Gaius gave him a small pat before continuing. "And I presume you met the King on the road?"

"Yes, sir." It seemed like the more nervous she got, the less she remembered to stop with the honorifics. "Well, in the stables, I suppose, is when we first met... but conversation became rather unavoidable on the road and that's when we discovered, ah, well, yeah."

"Fascinating." His eyes shifted again to Harold. "Forgive me, my liege, but traveling alone does not seem wise."
"I was prioritizing stealth," Harold replied, seeming to sweep over the irony in Gaius's voice when he said "my liege." "And it was quicker to travel alone as well." Gaius gave a passive nod.

My liege? Is that how Ky was supposed to be addressing him? This was all so very confusing.

"And you do a good job of it, too... my liege?" Ky said uncertainly. "I was quite surprised to learn it was you, sir."

"Why, thank you." Harold smiled at her, relieved by her friendliness. Gaius leaned back on the sofa and cast his eyes skyward, giving Tomhas another pat. The cries from Anneke were more frequent now; this would be a quick birth.

Ky returned the smile. Okay, good. Yes. That was how to address him. She could do that.

Her gaze traveled towards Tomhas. She wished there was something she could do to relieve his anxiety, but she knew the only thing that would do that was for this birth to be over. It seemed odd he was in here rather than with his wife, though. She would have thought they'd be together for something like this.

(Tomhas has serious problems with blood, or he would absolutely be in there.)

Gaius glanced back at his brother, pity stabbing through him. He remembered feeling like this when Mattathias and Marcella was born, and with good reason. Sara had delicate health at the best of times, and delivering premature twins was no easy feat. Anneke was experiencing an easy labor compared to that mess. And Gaius had been in the room for that, too. Even so, he understood Tomhas's distress.
There was a drawn out, strained groan at last, and then silence. A long, long silence. Gaius held his breath, gently prying Tomhas's hands away from his ears so he could listen. Tomhas raised his head, still panting with worry. Harold closed his eyes and clasped his hands together.
Still it was quiet, and then the mewling cry of an infant cut through the air.