"Are you alright?" He followed after her. "Ky, it's really cold out here. Do you want a cloak?" She was so pale, too; she looked deeply ill.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“I’m fine,” she murmured. Well, this was getting more complicated. She couldn’t very well kill herself in front of an audience. It’d be hard for him to watch, nevermind the fact he’d try to stop her. She didn’t want to only half-die again like last time. “I won’t be out for long, thank you.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"You shouldn't be out at all," Wick persisted. "Look at the state of you!" He caught up to her easily and draped his own cloak over her shoulders, pinning it with his brooch. "Come on; I'll see you inside. Why aren't you in the infirmary?"
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
The cloak brought instant warmth; and yet somehow felt like a lead blanket of guilt settling over her shoulders. As well as dread. This was all going to shit. She’d come so far and was messing this up too.
“I’m okay,” she murmured, wishing she’d have the strength to run away from Wick. But she didn’t. So she just needed to talk her way out of it instead. “I just need to do something real quick. It won’t take long.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Gods, he was so decent. It made her throat constrict.
But she was endangering him, too.
What if there was another assassin hanging around in the bushes? What if they just Wick trying to get to her? It seemed plausible after what happened last night.
“It’s something I need to do by myself,” she murmured, but looked at him. He deserved at least a goodbye. “But you’re very kind. I’m glad I got to meet you.”
She turned and further down the path, silently cursing her own body for tottering along rather than being determined and swift.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
Wick stared after her, that last sentence ringing alarm bells in his head immediately. He followed with determination, reaching out. "Ky. Ky, stop. Look at me. What are you doing?"
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
She tensed as his hand brushed against her, rounding her shoulders and looking down rather than at him. What was she supposed to say to that? She couldn’t very well tell the truth about her intentions. She’d already worried him, it seemed. “Nothing. It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"It's obviously not fine. I'd be surprised if it was." He circled to face her, trying to catch her eye. "Let's go inside and get warm at least, and we can talk through this. Does your father know you're out here?"
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
That was enough to make her throat clench and chest go tight. ‘Your father’ — gods, what was she doing to him? Her real papa had killed himself because he thought something had happened to her; and now she was making something actually happen to herself. Would it hurt Tomhas’s feelings just as much?
She hoped not. She’d only been with them a few months. Surely they hadn’t gotten that attached yet. Sure, they’d be sad when someone found her. But surely they had to see that she did what was best for everyone.
“I need to—“ how was she supposed to respond to that? Telling him that she was actively trying to defy what Tomhas wanted wasn’t very well going to give her Wick’s blessing to go on, now would it? “This doesn’t concern him. It’s something I need to do on my own. He’ll find out after I’m done. It’s fine.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Ky." Wick shook his head. "I've seen people go down that road before, and it's not worth it. What do you think you're solving?" He hoped he was wrong, that he was just being presumptuous. But he felt like he was right.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
So even he saw what she needed to do. Fine. All she had to do was make him realize that she was in the right here. To soothe any guilt he might otherwise have about not stopping her. “I’m protecting my family. And I’m not sorry.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"You're not protecting anyone if you're dead," he said firmly. "Let's discuss this inside; you're not wearing any gloves and it's freezing out here."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
She looked up at him stubbornly, but her trembling was getting violent at this point and she looked more like a petulant toddler than the stoic adult she was trying to be. “That is the only way any of you will ever be safe ever again. And it’s okay. I don’t mind. It’s my gift to you all this time. It’s fine.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"That's not a gift any of us want to receive." Wick gently steered her toward the Keep. "Tomhas and Gaius will take care of things. They always do. Gaius probably has just as many connections as Aleth. Maybe more."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
