Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 7)

Ky was glad he decided that so she didn’t have to.

“Um… that’s it, really.” Ky shrugged and buried her hands in her pockets. “I don’t want to bother anyone. And literally anyone could help me, I’m sure. I don’t want to pull anyone away from more important tasks.”

"I want you to have a good trainer," Gaius replied. "We'll visit Kazhra as well just in case, but I think Bay might be the best fit for you. If you like him."

“Sounds good.” Ky nodded, glad that they were thinking the same thing. It made her feel like she was making a good choice, to have Gaius sanctioning it.

"Do you suppose Rönn will meet us again tonight, if we ask?" Gaius asked.

“Perhaps.” Ky thought for a moment. “I’m not sure, though. It’s probably a lot to socialize three times in a week, if you haven’t talked to anyone in six hundred years. He may not want a fourth yet.”

"Maybe not." That would be disappointing. "I suppose you're right. Every other week is what he said; we should stick to it." He'd have to have patience, like he usually did. It was what he was known for; it shouldn't be too hard to fake himself into believing he was being patient.

She nodded. “Best not to push it.”

"Agreed." Gaius started down the stairs slowly. "I just want to get started on writing about him, I suppose. I'm getting overexcited."

“It’s understandable.” Ky nodded, smiling and being sure not to rush Gaius. “I’m also excited to get to know him better… probably the world’s coolest friend, honestly.”

Gaius snorted. "Also the world's most dangerous friend, but yes, he's absolutely fascinating. You're lucky to have befriended him."

Ky smirked a little at his reaction and dipped her head. “I’m definitely privileged, in many ways.”

"Indeed." He nodded. "I daresay you're a very lucky girl, in some ways. Rönn's proof of that."

Ky considered for a moment, then nodded in agreement. She’d been very, very unlucky the past three years. But, then, she supposed that in a way she still was. She hadn't ended up in Makata’s harem. Aleth… she had trouble thinking of a positive of Aleth. She supposed she’d been lucky to get such an excellent education. And she’d been lucky that he’d only raped her once instead of daily.

And she was definitely lucky now. Lucky for Tomhas hiring Aleth and then rescuing her and Tadaaki from him. Lucky for being adopted. Lucky that the assassins had failed. Lucky that Wick had caught her in time. And definitely lucky for the family and upbringing she’d had before all this, back when she was allowed to be carefree and a child. “Overall.”

"Overall," Gaius agreed. "And Tomhas and Rönn are lucky to have you as well. And Rickard as well. It was very generous of you to offer to teach him reading; I think Sera had planned on doing it herself but I believe it's good for him to interact with others once in a while."

Ky hesitated a long moment, wildly uncomfortable with every single thing he’d just said. She shrugged, not accepting that Tomhas was lucky in the least to have met her. She’d made his life objectively worse and more complicated. And the others would have been just fine without her… although she did suppose Rönn hadn’t found anyone else to be friends with before her, so she supposed in that respect, he was lucky that she was only kind of scared of him. “It’s nothing… much more difficult to teach me Nortung, for sure.”