Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 5)

Right, to Serpent Keep it was, then. That's the impression she'd been getting. And yet she had so much anxiety about the thought of perhaps being the only one of Tomhas's family going with Gaius. Did Gaius even have anyone at his Keep her age? Or was she going to have to go back to being the only teenager amongst a bunch of adults who may or may not like her?

She supposed Emery seemed really nice. She could probably make a friend in him fairly easily. And she liked Sera, even though she'd already seen Ky at her absolute worst so she probably had no respect left for her whatsoever.

"That makes sense," Ky said with a nod. "And I do appreciate that."

He nodded to her. "If you do decide to come to Serpent Keep, we'll see to it you're under guard and protected thoroughly, I can guarantee you that. I have no shortage of guards and soldiers."

"I appreciate that," Ky said with a nod. Even though that made it worse, not better. She'd felt like a prisoner last night with guards posted outside her door -- and she was allowed to leave at any point whatsoever. She was the one who had locked her door, nothing else was keeping her there. But it felt smothering. Even though she knew it was necessary.

Spending the next few months being followed around by soldiers seemed hellish. But, then, Tomhas would probably insist on that, too. So she supposed it was the same difference either way.

"Is there--?" She blushed. She probably was going to sound so childish with this question. But she'd already started it, and she didn't want to have the awkward silence of his eyes boring into her forcing her to finish. "I mean, it doesn't actually matter either way. Nevermind." She could only be silent for a moment before her anxiety couldn't handle it anymore. "I just... are there others my age there, too? ... it's been kind of nice having my sisters..."

It'd been a long, long time since she'd had friends before them. At least friends her own age.

He nodded in understanding. Of course she'd like someone her age to relate to. "A few servants, but not many. I don't often hire children. Some of the servants have their kids with them as well. I'd guess there are perhaps three between the ages of thirteen and eighteen. The rest are very small, perhaps four of them."

Ky smiled at that and nodded. She'd have been satisfied with just one person her own age -- three all but guaranteed she'd get along with at least one of them. "That's good to hear."

And then his words echoed in her ears. I don't often hire children. She wasn't a child, of course. She was much closer to adulthood than she was childhood. And yet it struck her in that moment how messed up Aleth had been wanting her to work for him. She supposed it wasn't normal to demand a fourteen-year-old to carry the weight of your business on her shoulders. She hadn't really thought of it in terms of age before.

Like, she definitely thought she was too young when she got snatched and she often said 'only twelve' when talking or thinking about it. That had been too young to place demands on her. But now she didn't think of herself as a child. Even though she supposed she was too young to be employable by most decent humans.

"I'll make a point of introducing you to them at some point, whether you come to stay or not. And my nephew Tristan's eighteen, but perhaps you could relate to him as well."

"Thank you," she said, dipping her head. Then hesitated. Cecily didn't have a child that old... did she? She didn't think she'd heard the name Tristan before. And no one mentioned Wick having kids -- surely if he did, he'd have brought them with him. But if it wasn't her sibling, it had to be her cousin, and she didn't recognize the name. "... your nephew?"

Gaius smiled curtly. "Michael's son. He visits from time to time."

Ky blinked, brain visibly buffering. Michael had a son? And he -- but he -- and... she forced her expression to go back to neutral. "Oh."

"Tristan's not at all like Michael so far," Gaius assured her. "A perfect gentleman, sensitive of soul and kind of heart as far as I can tell. Believe me, I made sure of it."

"Of course!" Ky nodded, afraid she'd accidentally insulted his nephew... her cousin? Although it seemed ominous that he 'made sure of it' -- what would have happened to the poor kid if he hadn't passed Gaius's test? "I'm sure Tristan is lovely. I just hadn't realized..." Why did 'Michael' feel like profanity? "... he had a wife or kids."

"He didn't have a wife." Gaius's voice grew tight, and he paused, inhaling slowly through his nose. "I wouldn't have been made Lord if Tristan was a legitimate child."

"I'm sorry," Ky murmured quickly. It was only a matter of time before she fucked this up. Like she fucked everything up. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"You haven't." Gaius forced himself to flash another quick smile but said nothing more. She hadn't upset him. She didn't know any better, not really. Once couldn't skirt around the issue of Michael; conversations seemed predestined to end on it. Like some terrible whirlpool of trauma and hate, and everything slowly circling it, orbit narrowing with every revolution. Ky couldn't help it, and neither could he.

She had. And they both knew it. At the very least, she'd dredged up old, upsetting memories. That much was obvious. She briefly contemplated asking about Tristan's personality, but that seemed too close to danger. She needed to change the topic entirely. And quickly, before it had time to fester. "Who are the other teens?"