Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 6)

"Ky's biological uncle," Gaius replied. "Probably trustworthy, but I didn't want to take the chance. You seem to know him; does he speak Akarataran?"

"Yeah," Pratik said. "He speaks about as many as I do, maybe a few more."

He didn't believe whatsoever that it was as harmless as it seemed. Pratik would be a fool to believe that Gaius hadn't done his research on Zander before bringing him here. And Zander didn't seem surprised to see him at all, which meant Gaius had told him Pratik would be here, which meant that Gaius knew damn well that he and Zander knew each other. So either Zander was lying, or Gaius was baiting, or a mixture of both. But he wasn't stupid.

"Then we can't speak in detail here." Gaius glanced over his shoulder. "He's loyal to his niece; that should mean he's loyal to those who protect her. But I don't take chances."

"Understandable," Pratik agreed, dipping his head, also glancing back over his shoulder, trying to make things make sense in his brain. And yet he couldn't. He knew about Derik, and his son, Rek. But otherwise, he didn't know Zander had a family outside of them.

He couldn't even begin to imagine what those family dynamics had to be. Zander and Derik were both exceedingly kind, but ruthless when the case called for it. Even Rek was a fearsome warrior in his own right. He assumed that meant they just had a generally broken, harsh family. Which Ky didn't fit in whatsoever. Did Zander have another sibling? And if so, who were they? And why didn't he know about them?

They headed down the stairs. Gaius glanced at Ada. "How are you faring, these two weeks?"
"It's a lot to get used to," she replied, looking up as he addressed her. "I was glad to see familiar faces when I arrived; I'm grateful you saved those people." Gaius dipped his head to her.

(You know, after typing that out, I had the horrifying realization that Zander and Derik have a big brother named Mikkel who was Crown Prince/is now king in cannon, and that name is scarily similar to Other Big Brother Who Shall Not Be Named lol [although that is literally where the similarity ends haha Mikkel is pissed at Zander for whisking his daughters away but is, in general, a lover boy enamored with his wife and kids lol])

Ky waited until the voices faded, then waited as much longer as she could tolerate, then poked her head into the hall. Seeing it empty, she, silently, stepped into it. She hesitated to lock her door behind her in case, god forbid, something were to happen to something in the room when she wasn't there. And then she silently walked down the hall and knocked on Zander's door.

He looked up, surprised. It certainly hadn't been twenty minutes yet -- this Emery fellow sure must be prompt. Well, that was nice, he supposed. That meant he could go find Ky--

He blinked at her as he opened the door and found her standing there rather than a stranger. He glanced over her shoulder to see if anyone was in her wake, but there wasn't. "What's wrong?"

"Why doesn't he trust you?" Ky demanded.

"He doesn't know me," Zander said evenly. "I--"

"I know you," Ky said.

"But he doesn't," Zander said. "I don't fault him for it. It's smart to have me watched."

"It's mean," she insisted.

"Yes, well, sometimes smart and mean are one and the same," he said dryly. "But it's not mean. Come on. Get in, and stop making a fuss out in the hall."

(Oh snap that is kinda scary. I'm glad this Mikkel is nice though! And very understandable to be pissed.)

They reached the office in little enough time. Emery was already waiting, and he grinned as Gaius entered.
"Welcome back!" he said, coming to shake Gaius's hand. "What can I do for you, Gaius? I hear you've got some guests--and a new niece! Ky, right? The girl from the meeting?"
"That's right," Gaius said patiently. "And she's brought her biological uncle with her. What I need you to do right now is go up to the western fifth floor to Felicity's room and let him know you're his tail. You're not to leave his side except at night. Watch him, but not too closely. I'm wary of him but not afraid of him. Got all that?"
"Clear as day." Emery saluted. "How's Tomhas?"
"Very happy to have two new daughters," Gaius responded. "With his wife." Emery nodded in understanding and smiled sheepishly.
"I'm very happy for him," he assured him. "Raina is the baby's name?"
"Correct."

(haha yeah! I don't actually know much about him tbh he is entirely undeveloped just the naive "i have bebes c: " and then they get threatened and Zander yoinks the girls out of the situation to save them and Mikkel is like "my bebes >:c" haha)

"Well this is ridiculous," Ky said, striding in as Zander closed the door behind her. This room was as luxurious as she had, very slowly, gotten almost comfortable with back at Caracal Keep. Her own room here was simply excessive.

"So what?" Zander said with a small smirk. "It's not like I'm planning to do anything I wouldn't want witnesses to see. Let this Emery fellow follow me around. I don't mind."

"He's going to lock you in your room," Ky said, emphasizing it like it should be clear that that was ridiculous.

"And?" Zander said, gesturing at one of the giant overstuffed chairs in the room, silently suggesting she have a seat. "It's not like I've got anywhere I'd rather be than my bed."

"He doesn't trust you," she insisted, offended on his behalf.

Zander cut himself off just before saying that he didn't trust Gaius, either. But then thought that might drive a peg between Ky and Gaius that he didn't want to plant. "Then I'll just be on my best behavior and prove I'm a good boy."

Ky snorted. Zander smirked.

(How do you think Ky would get along with him?)

"Well, give them my best wishes in your letter back to them." Emery gave a short bow to Pratik and Ada. "I'll keep an eye on this gent for you, then. What's his name?"
"Zander," Gaius replied. Emery nodded and strode off. Gaius watched him go, then seated himself at the desk. "Right, then. First things first--what do you have to report on Tarr, Pratik? The last report was missed because of the extraction. How did things turn out with Utrid, if at all?"

(not sure yet, tbh! The sisters get reunited with their parents when they're 20-ish and I'm still figuring out how that's going to go. I think Ky is going to feel utterly betrayed at being lied to about Petrir being her father, then that's going to make her extremely angry at her biological parents -- at least for a bit -- and decide that Petrir was her real father since he was actually there for and at least tried to keep her with him when they just sent her off... it's not fair whatsoever haha but I think she's going to push them away at first and then probably slowly come around haha)
(also spoiler lol but Zander thinks it's stupid for an heir to be by age when you've got multiples, and Mikkel doesn't know which baby is which because Zander changed their names, so Zander won't tell anyone who is oldest and instead the girls decide amongst themselves who the heir will be, and Ky gets voted as heir against her will haha so lil bebe queene with an inferiority complex coming up haha)

"Utrid realizes Tarr is a sinking ship," Pratik said, sinking down in one of the chairs opposite the desk. "Right now he's trying to bail out the extra water -- I don't know if he's going to jump ship or if he's going to do something out of desperation. He knows what an idiot Tarr is and said he's not willing to let another idiot drive a house into the ground."

(Damn I love your lore!)

"Do you think he'll try anything drastic? Assassination, joining our side, deserting?" Gaius leaned forward.
Ada sat down in the other chair, listening in silence. She wondered what exactly Gaius wanted with her.

(aww, thanks! I like yours, too! <3)

"He may," Pratik said. "Not sure, but he went into a frenzy when he discovered the letter to the assassin the idiot sent up this way. Figured that'd make you and Tomhas team up and come at him -- so, kind of accurate, in a round-about-way, I guess." Pratik thought for a moment. "But his current plan is to--" He glanced at Ada, unwilling to repeat the crass was Utrid had spoken about her, and looked back at Gaius. "He's planning to hurt whoever he has to to keep Tarr distracted, so he doesn't wage a full on war."

(Thank you!!)

"Whores," Ada supplied curtly. "He's rotating slave girls out." Gaius raised his eyebrows; Tarr had moved on fast from Lyra, then.
"Is it working?" he asked, directing the question at both of them. "Is it slowing war efforts?"

Pratik cringed. "I don't know if it is in the long-term, but he's more subdued after... his behavior improves for the night, anyway."

Pratik felt like he needed to go take a bath. He wished he would have killed Tarr on his way out. Wished that he would have killed him before that. Wished he would have killed him the very moment he had even a whiff of what Tarr did to his slaves. He was worse than a dog.

Gaius nodded slightly and turned his eyes to Ada. "Have you had any dreams as of late that might be of import to me?" he asked. It sounded rather self-centered, but one never knew what a Seer might see.
Ada considered it. She'd had very few dreams these past few weeks, except for one restless night six days ago where she'd awoken in a cold sweat. That had nothing to do with Ash or Tarr, though. She was still trying to make sense of it, but it certainly wasn't about them.
"No," she said at last. "Not yet."