Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 6)

(depends on who you ask, Ada xD hahaha)

"Of course," Pratik murmured in Akarataran, dipping his head. He had a lot of questions about Ky's situation, and even more now that he knew she was related to Zander. Why the hell had Zander let Ky be a slave in the first place, much less to someone as terrible as Aleth?

Zander reassured Ky that Pratik was, in fact, a man of his word and that if he said he wasn't going to hurt her then he wasn't. And then promised further that if Pratik did try, then he'd stop him. Pointed out that he'd already stopped Jaerek and Nyler and he'd stop Pratik, too. He clearly didn't know how much better Pratik was than the two of them combined.

But, still. She had to believe him. Believe both of them. That Pratik wouldn't attack; and that Zander would, hopefully, be able to stop him if he did. So she strode towards the group, half a step behind Zander as she forced him to stay between her and Pratik. He didn't mind. And he also didn't blame her. Pratik didn't blame her, either.

"Pratik!" Zander said brightly as they nearest, offering a hand.

"Zander." Pratik shook his hand heartily and dipped his head. "Good to see you, old chap. Didn't expect..." His gaze flicked towards Ky again.

Zander raised his eyebrows.

"Didn't put two and two together," Pratik finished, looking back at Zander.

"Good," Zander said, giving him a hard look. "The pieces don't need to be put together, now do they?"

It wasn't quite a threat, but Pratik heard it for what it was, regardless. "Of course not. I like both of you, I won't toss either of you to the wolves."

Ky eyed him suspiciously. He'd always said that. That he liked her. But she still didn't understand how you could kill someone for money and yet be as kind as he seemed? The pieces weren't adding up.

"It's good to see you again, Ky," Pratik said, turning a far, far gentler gaze on her and very, very slowly offering her his hand. He always shook her hand when he'd thought she was a man; he certainly wasn't going to treat her with less respect now that he knew the truth. But he wanted to be sure he didn't scare her. "I'm glad to see you with Zander rather than Aleth. Moving up in the world, no doubt."

Ky very slowly and timidly reached out and shook Pratik's hand, still eyeing him suspiciously, half-expecting him to yank her close to himself and stab a dagger through her throat. But he didn't. Instead, he offered a gentle grin.

She slowly risked a smile as well.

Ada hung back, watching the body language of Pratik with the man, then the girl. He seemed comfortable enough with the man, but there was an awkwardness between him and the girl. The girl seemed afraid of him--should Ada be, too? But then she smiled in response to Pratik's grin and things seemed better. What a complicated relationship this seemed to be. What a complicated man Pratik was. But could she trust him?
Her mother's voice said no, absolutely not. Mada and Nia said so, too. All of her aunts and sisters and grandmothers said no, never trust a man. He'll do you harm before he does you any good.
That didn't seem to be true of Rickard at least--he was too gentle and afraid. Ada wasn't worried about him. Pratik confused her, though. He was rough around the edges but kind as well, dangerous and caring. Like her mother. She was still making her mind up about him, and now she had these other men to watch as well.

Gaius stood off to the side, waiting for greetings to pass so he could show Ky, Zander, and Tadaaki's family inside and then get down to business.

Ky glanced up and noticed Ada watching them. She'd been too distraught to fully be paying attention to their conversation, but she'd heard Pratik speaking in Akarataran as they walked up, and she knew that wasn't the language Pratik or Gaius spoke at baseline, so it must be for the woman. So she decided that'd be her best option as she offered the woman a tiny smile. "I'm Ky... you are?"

"Ada," she replied, nodding to her but not returning the smile. "Are you a friend of Pratik's?" Somehow she didn't think so; there was too much discomfort between the two of them. Not in an ex-boyfriend-girlfriend sort of way, nor in a falling-out sort of way. Something else, something strange. Sort of the way Rickard looked at guards, like they were going to strike him if he spoke up. A deep wariness, distrust.

(you know, I was going to say "oh gosh" at the thought of Pratik/Ky being a thing, but in cannon he marries her sister, so ig it's not out of the question xD)

Ky was ready to say it was nice to meet her, but then Ada tacked on a question before she could, and she didn't know how to answer it. She couldn't very well say no without sounding stuck up and potentially offending Pratik. But they also weren't friends. But also they weren't not friends. They were just...

"It's complicated," she murmured, hesitating. "'Friend' might be a bit of a strong word." She glanced at Pratik hesitantly, but he inclined his head, not offended whatsoever. Ky was entirely too pure to keep a friend like him. He'd consider Zander the closest thing he had to a friend, but friends were a liability and he didn't like to think of anyone in those terms. Ky looked back at Ada. "But friendly."

(Oh snap)

"You trust him?" Her dark eyes searched Ky's face. She wasn't lying, at least. The girl was clear as day.

Ky had a pang of anxiety shoot through her at the question. Surely Ada couldn't have expected her to insult an assassin to his face, even if she wanted to. Still, she wasn't sure she wanted to. It was... complicated.

"I don't trust anyone," she said after a moment, which made Zander cringe slightly. He'd let that happen, too. Let her get so fucked over by the world that his precious, authentic Ky now didn't trust anyone or anything. Now expected bad things to happen to her. "But he keeps his word if that's what you mean."

She forced herself to remember that, too. Pratik would look Aleth dead in the face and tell him off if he felt like it. He wasn't scared of anyone or anything. Had no reason to lie. He could have denied knowing why she was scared -- tried to act like she was ridiculous or overreacting. But he didn't. He admitted Aleth tried to hire him. Why would he lie about not taking it?

Truth. Ada relaxed slightly. "You speak excellent Akarataran," she told her. "Where do you come from?"

(not me, continuing to forget what I say and making it up every time xD)

"Thank you." Ky smiled, glad that they'd moved off the topic of Pratik. "I'm from Austraka... and you?"

"Akaratara," she replied. "I'm a nomad of the Isi."

(The Isi are an all-female tribe of nomadic warriors, all battered women or the children of battered women. Maybe like two or three men in there who were raised in the tribe but that's it. It's a bit like the Umoja Uaso village in Kenya. Ky and Pratik may or may not have heard of it; they try to keep a low profile)

(ooh thanks! I feel like Ky would probably have learned about them in her forced study of cultures lol but Pratik probably wouldn't have had any reason to notice something like that... can't decide if Zander would have or not, so I'm just not gonna give his reaction xD)

Ky looked at her curiously, not sure how to respond. Part of her wanted to say it was cool, but then she remembered the situation that all the women had escaped from, and that wasn't even remotely cool in the least. Still. She'd spent much time this past year fantasizing about a world in which Aleth and all the men he interacted with -- forced her to interact with -- didn't exist. Tadaaki and Tomhas and Zander could stay. And, she supposed, Gaius could, too. She could do without the rest of the men she'd met so far.

Well, she was torn on how she felt about Pratik, too. And she supposed Wick and Ka'Nor -- oh, very well. There were men she cared for. But that didn't erase how incredibly badly she'd been treated at the hands of men.

"I envy you," she said at last. "Well..." she glanced around. If Ada was here, it meant something terrible had happened to her, as well. "Envy the thought of belonging to such a tribe. I do hope you'll be able to return soon... if you want to."

"I miss my mother," Ada said with a nod. "I'm hoping once Lord Ash has finished with whatever prophesying he wants me to do I'll be able to get safe passage back south. If not, well, I'll make my own way. I'm going home, that much is certain." Ky had the energy of some of her friends, now that she thought about it. Tentative, a bit nervous. She wondered what her story was, and why she was traveling with Lord Ash.

"Oh, you're--?" Ky blinked at her, suddenly remembering Gaius saying that he had a Seer he was meeting with. She looked at Ada with wide eyes. So you can hear me? Ky thought extra hard, watching Ada to see if she reacted.

(Ky, brain == very smol xD)

(Hey any idea why yws emails might not be sent to my registered email? I got logged out of the computer yws)

"What, a Seer? He mentioned me?" Wonderful. "Yes. The dreaming kind as well as the kind who knows who's lying. So save yourself the energy if you think you'll be able to trick me or anything." She gave a small smile, if only to show she was half joking.

(Yeah, there's an issue with the YWS email/registration system right now. We're trying to get connected with Nate on getting it figured out but there's some I can help with manually in the meantime. What's wrong?)

Ky nodded, trying to not think about all her skepticism if Ada was reading her thoughts. "So you can hear my thoughts?"

That was such an unsettling possibility.