"Oh." She considered it a moment. "... I thought you were only supposed to bring clothes when you went on a trip."
"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]
"Nope. You can bring whatever you want! How do you think Regulus and the twins got all their toys here? And how boring would it be on a two week trip if you had no entertainment?" Tomhas's brow furrowed; really? How did she survive Aleth without books to enjoy?
"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
Ky grinned at the thought. Imagine, being allowed to have entertainment on a journey. She'd always found traveling hellish. She was usually trapped in a carriage with Aleth, which she hated at baseline, and she was either working on translations or reading up on the situation they were heading into or getting quizzed on things he thought she should know. It was even worse when they didn't have any work left and therefore had to sit in tense, awkward silence. And the very worst was when Aleth found entertainment in forcing her to tell him painful stories about her past. "Oh!"
"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]
Tomhas smiled tentatively. "Yeah, so you've got that to look forward to! The carriage'll be really bumpy and dark, I bet, but it's easier to read in there than on top of a horse."
"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
"No doubt!" Ky agreed with a little laugh. "I'm very bad at that. Not coordinated enough."
Zander looked at her skeptically. If she didn't know she was allowed to bring books, then what, exactly, had she been trying to read? Something for Aleth? Gods, what a complete bastard, forcing her to work even from the back of a horse. Good riddance.
"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]
"I have yet to meet anybody who is. Well--maybe Ka'Nor. Maybe. He's a wonder, really."
"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
"He really is," she agreed eagerly with a nod. Then hesitated, faltering, as it finally struck her that she wasn't going to have him around anymore. That she was giving up her swordsmanship lessons for however long she was at Serpent Keep. Was she going to lose the little conditioning she'd built up in the past few months? That was going to suck. But she tried to force the thought out of her mind. How dare she even think about something like that, when it'd be endangering her entire family to stay here. How selfish could you be? "A man of many talents, no doubt."
"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]
"Absolutely." Tomhas paused. "I just realized you're not gonna have Ka'Nor around...that kind of sucks."
"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
Maybe Tomhas could read minds, too. "I just realized that, too."
"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]
(Maybe his writer is really bad at remembering things and looks for convenient things to mention ;-;)
"Er...want me to see if Gaius will let you train with Captain Bay or someone? He's got some good swordspeople at Serpent Keep."
"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
"Oh, I don't want to be a bother!" Ky said quickly. She was starting to get used to being a pain in Tomhas's ass, since he'd assured her probably hundreds of times by now that she wasn't being unreasonable with her requests. But she'd rather die than ask Gaius for a favor.
"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]
"No, that wouldn't be a bother! I'm sure Gaius would be happy to let your training continue." Anneke suppressed a chuckle; both of them were so eager to please the other. She shouldn't laugh, really. She knew they were both nervous as hell about upsetting each other, but it was adorable.
"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
Ky hesitated, trying to see if he was serious, and it seemed like he was. "... I mean... I would like that. If you're sure."
"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]
"Sure! Gaius's my brother; he'll listen to me. He'd listen to you, too. You're his niece, after all. In fact, I think he'd be delighted to have you continue your training. He's all about safety; you know that."
"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 smiled at that, some of the tension releasing from her shoulders. She could have books. Continue her training. It really did seem too good to be true. She knew it was best for everyone if she would just die already, but she almost wanted to see how it all played out. That'd take her past the two-week agreement, but she supposed she could hold out for a little while past that. At least until she'd witnessed the legendary library for herself.
"That sounds great," she said, still smiling. "Tadaaki wants to watch, too, so it'd be good for us to both keep learning, I think."
The longer it'd been since the attack, and the more his brain attacked him, the shittier he felt for not being able to protect himself or his family. He needed to learn how to fight. And he couldn't think of a better way to do that than get second-hand benefit from watching Ky's lessons.
"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]
