Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 4)

Finally they reached the doors of the Keep, and Tomhas came to a stop here. He turned to face her, face very grave all of a sudden. "Ky," he said, "It's all you, now."

"What... what's all me?" Her expression sank along with her stomach. He was scaring her. She eyed the door, then looked back at him.

Gaius, huffing and puffing and very, very sore, came to a stop behind her. "What are you playing at, Tomhas?" he demanded. "You've frightened the girl, can't you see?" Tomhas blinked, blushing as he saw Ky's face.
"Oh, gods, I'm sorry!" He smiled awkwardly. "It's nothing to be afraid of, Ky, I promise. Just...just go on out and see." He stepped aside and gestured to the doors.

"O-Okay." Ky nodded and took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders and lifting her chin as she tried to mask her anxiety. She needed to be ready for whatever waited for her in the courtyard. She trusted him that it was nothing bad. Which meant she needed to be prepared to graciously accept whatever surprise they had waiting for her.

She took another deep breath, then pushed open the door to the Keep and stepped outside. To the right, she saw a stable boy leading a horse off. And then her eyes fixed on the lone man standing in the middle of the courtyard, a few steps away from the stairs.

"ZANDER!" Her body sprang into motion before her brain fully processed what was happening. Was it really Zander? Was he really here? She sprinted towards him faster than she'd ever run ever before.

Zander grinned broadly when he saw Ky -- and it only widened as she saw him. Complete bewilderment and joy washing across her. It was flattering to see how excited she got at his arrival. He was just as excited to see her. He was so glad to see that she was okay. It'd been a long, grueling three years of fretting over her and blaming himself for her disappearance. And here she was. Safe. Happy.

He didn't, however, move to greet her in the middle because it was clear she was going to plow them both over if he did. Instead, he widened his stance -- just as she got to the edge of the platform. She launched herself off it and onto him. He stumbled backward a step, absorbing the shock of impact, and laughed -- hugging her every bit as hard as she was hugging him.

"How are you here? I missed you. I love you. I missed you. I love you." She snuggled her face against his shoulder as he held her off the ground.

It struck her how long it'd been since she'd said those words. I love you.

"I love you, too, baby girl," Zander said.

It hit her even harder to realize how long it'd been since those words had been said to her. She clung to him even tighter. "Why are you here?"

"To see you."

"I love you."

"I love you too." He grinned and planted a kiss on the top of her head. "I love you so, so much."

(Aw damn I'm gonna cry)

Tomhas and Gaius both stepped out onto the stairs of the Keep.
"Who is that?" Gaius murmured to his brother, even as he spotted the telltale facial features and the way the pair were hugging one another. "You found--"
"He found us," Tomhas corrected, eyes welling up with tears as he saw Ky's absolute delight. "Not sure how he heard about Ky, but he just got here."
"I'll be damned." Gaius could still feel the letter in his pocket; it was useless now, just a waste of ink. But he was pleased that Zander had come here on his own. It obviously meant a lot to Ky.

(aww they're all so wholesome)

"I can't believe you're here." Her voice was muffled by the way her face was pressed against his chest. "I didn't think I was ever going to see you ever again. I love you."

"I'm so glad to see you, Ky," Zander murmured into her hair. "I love you so much."

"It's been so long," Ky said, still clinging to him. "So much has happened."

Zander loosened his grasp ever so slightly, setting her back on the ground. "Tell me."

"So much," Ky repeated, but also loosened her grasp so she could look up into his face.

"Tell me," he repeated. "Take it from the top."

Ky took a deep breath. How could she even summarize the past three years?

"The soldiers came and took me and I tried so hard not to let them but they did anyway and I tried to stop them but I couldn't and I stabbed one of them because Papa told me not to let them take me but then they took me anyway and let me tell you people don't like it when you stab them, that ended so badly for me."

Zander's brow furrowed, instantly angry. He'd go stab them himself.

"No, no, it's okay!" Ky said quickly, seeing his face. She waved her hand to dismiss it. "We're past that now, it's fine. I don't stab people anymore so it's okay, I learned my lesson there. And then I learned so many lessons -- people don't like it when I talk as much as I used to talk so I learned to shut up but then Aleth -- oh my gods, you would have hated Aleth. I hated him. And I know Papa said not to hate people but I hated him so much and you would have too. He was, was, the literal exact opposite of you and Papa. Every good thing that you are, he was bad, and ten times worse. He was so, so terrible and did so many horrible things."

She said it all in a single breath and gasped, trying to get her breath back.

Tomhas and Gaius looked on, both shocked by this sudden change in her demeanor. She talked so much!
"Oh, she'll fit right in with your family," Gaius said softly, smiling a little. Tomhas wiped at his eyes and glanced at him, chuckling.
"Somehow I knew," he murmured. "Gods, I'm just glad she still has him." Gaius nodded in agreement and leaned his back against the wall of the Keep to take weight off of his leg. He wasn't sure he could make it down those stairs or up any others.

"Aleth who?" Zander asked. He was trying not to have too harsh of a demeanor -- he had to be gentle with Ky. Always gentle. But he was making a fucking list and he would be crossing all of these motherfuckers off it.

"Uh, Klev," Ky answered.

"What did that fucker want with you?"

Ky recoiled, looking at him in surprise. "You cuss?"

Zander looked at her for a moment, then sighed. No, he supposed he didn't. Not around her. "What did Aleth want with you?"

"Heh, so, that--" Ky said, very easily baited back into her rambling. "So, the soldiers took me because a guy wanted me, for, uh, well, uh, y'know?"

She gestured vaguely.

He furrowed his brow. "For?"

"Well, the whole, y'know." She flushed. "He was gross."

Zander hesitated, then rage stabbed through him. It was even worse than he imagined. "You were twelve!"

"I know, it was bad, but he didn't, because I cut off all my hair." She ruffled her hair to demonstrate. "And then I pretended to be a stable boy and he didn't care about stable boys so it was okay and everyone ignored me until Aleth."

"And we're back to -- what did he want with you."

"Well, he, uh, um, was gross, but, um, in the other way?" She was still gesturing vaguely. "And, well, I mean, I was fourteen by then, but, um, well..."

"He didn't..." The bottom fell out of Zander's stomach as he looked at her.

"I mean, only, like, once." She flushed, embarrassed to admit to the rape. "But, like, after that it wasn't like that, he just, um, well, he was terrible in other ways."

"That doesn't make it better," Zander snapped.

"I know, um, but, um..." Ky waved her hand. "That doesn't matter anymore."

"It very much does too," Zander said. "Where is he now?"

"Dead, actually," she said, glad they were moving past that discomfort. "So since he figured out that I'm not, um, well -- yeah, so then he tricked me into admitting that I can read, and he needed an assistant, and since I already could speak a few dialects he wanted me so then he took me and I travelled all over with him and we went to the East and then up here to the North and then Tomhas was going to send us to spy on Lord Ash but then he saw how horrible Aleth was and was like 'nope' and then took me away from him and so then he couldn't get to me anymore."

Zander watched helplessly, but nodded, listening to her rattle everything off.

"But then their sister showed up and so then they had to have a meeting and then Lord Ash brought Aleth and I cracked because I just couldn't and then I went outside and I know I shouldn't have but I did and then Aleth followed me out and he tried to kill me but Tomhas stopped him and then it was all just very bloody and very stressful but then the war ended so now they're not fighting anymore so that part's good at least."

Zander glanced over Ky's shoulders at the men leaning up against the Keep. He probably should stop her before she said anything she maybe shouldn't. But he didn't want to risk her putting a filter on all this. He needed pure, un-censored Ky. It's how he got information.

"But then Tomhas is really wonderful and so is Anneke -- that's his wife -- and now they both want to adopt me and make me a Loquitur but I get to stay Ruiarc because they're very kind and are letting me keep that part of things but now the ceremony is today and everyone is here--"

"Who is everyone?"

"Tomhas and Anneke and their kids -- Lyra and Anneliese and Oscar and Peter and Raina -- she was just born yesterday and she is so cute oh my gosh you're going to love her -- and Anneke's brother Wick and aunt Ms. Ana. And Tomhas's brother Lord Ash and his wife Lady Sara and their kids Marcella and Mattathias and Regulus and--" She put her finger up. "You have to be careful with Lord Ash because he can hear your thoughts."

Zander snorted.

"He can," she insisted. "All you have to do is think about something and then he answers you as if you said it out loud even though you know you didn't."

"Maybe he just watches closely."

"No. I watch closely; he reads minds. You'll see." Ky nodded firmly. "He's gonna read your mind then you'll know I'm right."

There was a pause as Gaius took this in. She thought he could read minds? Then, quietly at first with growing volume, he began to laugh. It was a stilted, barking laugh as if he wasn't used to this sort of sound coming out of him, but it was enough that he had to steady himself against the Keep. Tomhas, still absolutely horrified at Ky's admission that Aleth had--had raped her, turned and stared at his elder brother, completely scandalized.
"Is that what you think of me?" Gaius chuckled heartily, eyes twinkling with amusement. "I'm a Seer, am I? Good gods, child, I wish!"

Ky whirled around, eyes wide and face flushing in humiliation. She was horrified. God gods what had she just done? She knew they'd followed her out, but then she'd forgotten as soon as she saw Zander, and, gods, she'd just made herself look idiotic.

She squeaked.

Zander laughed, wrapping his arm around Ky and dragging her up the stairs with him. May as well bring it all together, since it was clear Ky had just remembered they weren't alone. "Lord Ash, I presume?"

Gaius offered him his left hand to shake, still trying to get his laughter under control. Had he ever laughed that hard before? He didn't think so. "You presume correctly, sir. You must be the Zander that I've heard about. Perfect timing, actually; I was just about to send off a letter ordering a search for you."

Zander smoothly shook his hand with his left. He nodded to Ash. "You probably wouldn't have found me, but I appreciate it all the same. Gods, I'd have given anything for this reunion."

Ky was still broken. She'd -- gods. At least he was laughing. That was good. And, apparently, it was a denial that he could read minds. Maybe he was just better at watching than she was. He did have more practice after all. She still couldn't believe she'd just done that. All of her years of practicing on how to be careful of what she said -- and now she was back to rambling like the idiot little kid she used to be.

"And Lord Loquitur." Zander nodded to him, shifting Ky to his other arm so he could reach out his right to shake Tomhas's. "It seems you've earned more thanks than I could give in this lifetime and the next combined."

Tomhas shook Zander's hand, still a bit shellshocked but quickly shaking himself out of it. He was so, so glad he'd killed that bastard. "No thanks needed," he said with a flustered smile. "Please, Tomhas will do just fine. I'm so glad you found us! It makes this day doubly special for Ky, I'm sure. She speaks very highly of you! How did you hear what happened?"
Gaius had silenced himself and now stood against the wall again, hands clasped over his cane as he tried to restore his air of cool, calculating composure.

(hahaha @ Gaius tryna be the cool kid of the lunch table)

"Ah, you know, I've got a lot of ears pressed to a lot of walls." Zander grinned at him. "Heard the whispers of a 'Kylia Ruiarc' and had to come see if it was the best one that's ever lived." He pulled her in for a tight side-hug, keeping his gaze on Tomhas. "Gods know I've been searching for her for three years now and kept coming up short."

(So cool except when he giggles and sounds like a seal choking on a fish)

Tomhas grinned, though a part of him worried that Zander might try to take her away from them, and that Ky would want to go with him. "Well, I'm delighted you found her, as I said. You're welcome to stay as long as you like!"