Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 6)

(It would be a nightmare even for an able-bodied person but our Gaius had got the added fun of having a leg that probably should have been amputated)

"Emery will be your watcher," Gaius replied. "A friendly man, excellent conversation partner. Lots of energy. Sera is my apothecary and my confidante; she'll be explaining to me exactly who Pratik brought back with him."

(rip)

"They're really nice," Ky agreed encouragingly, nodding.

Zander smiled down at her. "Then I look forward to meeting them, if they've got the Ky-mark-of-approval."

She blushed a little, but smiled, glad that Zander seemed happy to be here. It made it easier, having him here. She was glad he'd come. It'd be nice to have him around as she was getting settled in -- she bet they'd find so many good books in the library together. Did he remember the books he'd gotten her when she was a kid? Perhaps they could look for them together. That'd be a nice scavenger hunt of sorts.

They reached the second floor, and Gaius started up the next flight of stairs, huffing.

"So where do you figure in to all this?" Ada asked Aashi, hoping she spoke Akarataran.

(Is Pratik coming with them? Where's he at?)

(honestly wasn't sure, but if Ada came along then Pratik would, too haha)
(I know I keep asking this, but it's not sticking in my brain for some reason -- what language would they be likely to speak? I can't imagine Aashi knowing a ton of languages since this is basically the only time in her life she's left her township, but she'd need to know enough to have gotten by so far, so... I'll leave it to you whether she would understand or not lol)

"Pardon?" Aashi asked politely, turning towards Ada as she addressed her, not quite catching what she'd said.

(I've forgotten where Tadaaki and Aashi live, honestly, but probably not Akarataran. As I recall they live somewhere in the far South--Totallisa maybe-- and Akaratara is in the northeastern part of the Southern Realm.)

"She asked where you figure in to all this," Gaius translated. Ada sighed; she'd at least hoped, but at least there were more people here that spoke her language than she'd expected.

(okay cool that's what I was thinking but wasn't sure)

"Oh." She looked at Gaius, then back at Ada, giving her an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I, uh, I--" She didn't know where she was supposed to be looking -- at Gaius, since he was translating, or Ada, since she's who she was actually talking to. "I'm Aashi... Tadaaki's wife." She patted his arm awkwardly.

"Mamaaaaaa!" Tasia tried to launch herself out of Tadaaki's arms and into Aashi's. Tadaaki caught her, barely, but not before she wrapped her arms around Aashi's neck and held it awkwardly tightly.

"Be nice," Aashi chided, disentangling herself from her daughter's grasp, then looked back at Ada. "And, yes, Tasia's mama... and you?"

Gaius translated this. "Tadaaki is Ky's friend," he informed Ada, who nodded.
"Why are they here?" she asked.
"The same reason Ky is here," he replied. "They're not safe." Ada considered this, then nodded again.
"Tell her I'm Ada," she said in response to Aashi's question. "From the Isi." Gaius relayed this to Aashi.

“Ada,” Aashi repeated with a nod, offering another smile. “It’s nice to meet you.” She looked at Gaius. “How do you say that? ‘It’s nice to meet you’? In… in…” she realized she didn’t actually have the first idea what language Ada was speaking. But her question stood.

"Akarataran." Gaius repeated the phrase in the language a couple times.

Aashi clumsily repeated it after him, pronunciation abhorrent, but hopefully Ada would know what she meant since Gaius had said it correctly.

She looked back at Ada and awkwardly murmured, “it’s nice to meet you, Ada.”

Ada gave a nod of acknowledgement. She seemed an alright sort; maybe they could figure out a way to communicate without inconveniencing Lord Ash. "Your daughter is cute," she said. "How old is she?" Again Gaius relayed this as they reached the third floor and started up to the fourth.

"Thank you!" Aashi grinned, pleased with the compliment, and decided it'd be less awkward to just keep looking at Ada than it was to stare at the side of Gaius's head. "She's four."

"Very young," Ada mused, looking down at Tasia. "She seems really smart. You must be proud."

"I'M SUPER SMART!" Tasia announced before Aashi had a chance to respond. "I'M GONNA READ!" She looked at Gaius. "Tell her I'm gonna read, Mr. Gaius. Please!"

"She's going to read," Gaius relayed to Ada. "She's quite excited, as I'm sure you can see."
"What are you going to read?" Ada asked Tasia, rubbing one ear. The kid was shrill; she could probably scare a flock of birds from a mile away with that voice.