Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 6)

Ky forced herself to take another deep breath then nodded.

"Excellent." Gaius gestured down the hall. "The family graveyard is on the west side of the Keep, but I'm not dragging you back into the snow to look at my dead relatives. We'll start in the dining room, if you'll follow me."

Ky dipped her head, stepping forward to walk with him.

Pratik and Zander followed behind, exchanging a glance. Pratik thought it was incredibly funny that Zander was getting insulted and berated by a half-grown girl and was taking it. But he did feel bad about how distraught she was about it all. It seemed to him that Zander should be honest with her. At least a little bit. It was clear he’d led her to believe he was harmless, rather than one of the best rangers on the continent. Which meant she was going to fret every moment they were apart. She had no way of knowing that if anyone got killed, Zander was going to be doing the killing.

"The first Ashes lived in the dining room," Gaius said as he walked. "While the Keep was being built, it was a longhouse that could contain ten families. After construction its size was reduced to conserve heat, but you can see some of the original stones on the three outer-facing walls."

Ky’s eyebrows shot up, impressed. “That’s cool.”

"It is," Gaius agreed, and they entered the dining room through an elegant set of double doors. A long table big enough to seat twenty on each side sat in the middle with six massive hearths lining the two longer walls. Chandeliers hung above, unlit for now. Frescoes of feasting scenes and myths were painted above with characters in profile.

“This is smaller?” Ky said incredulously, successfully distracted.

"Each family would have needed a loft," Gaius replied, pointing upward to where the ceiling arced into a point. "And there would have had to be a kitchen area. This would have been a common area, and then if we widened it we would have spots for looms, artisan work, and sleeping lofts above us."

Spoiler

This is what it would have looked like before being shrunken, and it would be made out of stone rather than wood

(Ooh neat! Thanks, that helps ^^)

Ky followed his hand, looking up at the ceiling. “So they had their own village, but made out of Ashes.”

"There were a few other Houses staying here," Gaius corrected. "Venr Ash brought his tribe here, and the Barrasters, the Tarrs, and the Pyrishes brought theirs. Altogether that made about ten families within the tribes, I believe. Venr's family would have had a loft close to the middle of the room."

“Because it’s warmest?”

"Precisely." Gaius nodded, pleased. "The middle is always warmest--that's an important thing to know in the North." He gestured to the frescoes. "These were done after the castle was built, using a rather advanced painting technique. There are historical tribal ancestors featured here as well as more contemporary individuals. Venr Ash is there." He pointed out a gangly figure at the head of a painted table, proportions stretched so he appeared spindly but maintained a noble air. His hair was so blonde it was almost white, and he carried the characteristic Ash gauntness.

Ky nodded, taking it all in and filing all this information away. Zander and Pratik were, too.

Gaius glanced around; that was pretty much all this room had to offer other than his personal memories, very few of which were appropriate to share.
"Shall we move on?" he asked. "The first floor also has the kitchen, but I expect we shouldn't bother them while they're cooking. The rest of it is parlors, storage, the archive room, and the entrance to the dungeons and the barracks."

“They’re connected to the main Keep?” Ky asked, forcing herself not to shiver. “The barracks and dungeons?”

Neither of those places were safe. She’d only been to each once, and both times had ended poorly for her. She wasn’t a slave now, so she expected it’d go better this time. But she couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy at there being dungeons so nearby.