Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 5)

"I want Aleth's home," Tomhas clarified. "Everything you have on him, I need." He began to pace around the hall.

“Oh.” Ky nodded. “Of course. I can tell you all that.” She remembered the chest at Wolf Keep. “I meant to tell you— I made a mistake.” She cringed and took a long moment to work up the courage to admit what it was. “I—I don’t know what the king even asked me, but I thought I was supposed to be honest with him, but then he told me I shouldn’t have told him and I’m sorry. But… I told him about the chest at Wolf Keep. And, well… that’s probably a problem as well. It’s encoded but any translator worth half a copper could decode it — it’s just a simple…” she closed her eyes, trying to remember the name of the code. But she couldn’t. She looked up again. “A simple code in a few languages. And it’s— it’s not good.”

"And it's still at Wolf Keep?" That was very, very bad. Tomhas just hoped Tarr wouldn't go poking around in that room. "We have to get that box, Ky." But how? He couldn't send in anyone, not at such a delicate beginning to the war. He had to tread carefully.

Ky nodded miserably. “We left all of Aleth’s things there when you sent him off and then brought us here.” She didn’t add that he’d been insistent that he didn’t want to know Aleth’s secrets when she’d offered them up. They should have brought them with them. But they didn’t. “I-I don’t know how we can get the box at this point.”

"I'll see what I can do." Tomhas rubbed at his face. "I'll try to get to it. But anything else you can tell us...I need to know that stuff, now, to protect you. To protect all of us."

“I’ll tell you everything I know,” she promised, nodding shakily. She only hoped she’d remember everything. It’d been a while since she’d reviewed the information at this point. Still, she had a fairly decent memory. And she’d do what she could. “N-now?”

She had a feeling he should write it all down. It’d taken her a year of learning to know all of this. Not to mention she’d probably have to repeat it all in front of Gaius. And maybe the king, too. Gods, she actually was going to be in the hot seat this time. And it was all her fault.

"Whenever you'll feel you're ready. Maybe I'll get my brother and we'll hear it later. Was he...how was he when you left?"

“I don’t know,” she murmured. “He was… asleep? At least laying down. So I didn’t want to disturb him. I’d been in the office changing right before that.”

Tomhas nodded slightly. "Okay. I'll go check on him later, then." He clasped his hands behind him. "Uh...I'll go get the tea, now."

Ky nodded. She really didn’t want to. She didn’t want the tea in the first place and certainly didn’t want to go downstairs. But she wasn’t about to let Tomhas wait on her hand and foot. She took a step that direction. “Okay.”

"Okay." He headed back toward the kitchens, wringing his hands. He felt terrible. Everything was awful; this was meant to be a happy time for Ky, not a frightening one.

He was going too fast for her to keep up? Did he mean for her to come with him? She wasn’t sure. She tried to follow faster, but it just made her feel even more lightheaded, and she’d be damned if she passed out in front of him. She stopped and leaned against the wall heavily, taking a shaky breath.

Tomhas heard her footsteps and he stopped, turning. He saw her leaning against the wall and thought of a similar time, in Wolf Keep. She'd been starving herself because he ordered it and Aleth had taken her food, and he'd offered to raid the kitchens with her. She couldn't make it, so he left her there and came back with the goods. That was the same night he'd decided he wouldn't let Aleth hurt her, ever again. Fat lot of good he'd done.
"On second thought, why don't we just find somewhere warmer than the hallway and sit down?"

“Okay.” She nodded, but didn’t move. That was better. “That sounds nice.”

Tomhas returned to her. She looked awfully pale; could she walk? "Do you want some help?" he asked awkwardly, offering her his arm.