Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 7)

Gaius looked down at her, sighing. He trusted most of the people in this Keep on some level. They wouldn't dare hurt her; she was a Lord's niece. But he couldn't help but feel a small level of anxiety as he left her there.

Ky looked up at Gaius as he sighed, realizing she was messing everything up. She squared her shoulders and lifted her chin, forcing her body language to be far more confident than she was feeling. She’d been scolded for her insecurity. She needed to do better about hiding it. This was fine. She’d make it be fine.

He gave her a small nod and headed back in the direction he'd come from.

Ky returned the nod and watched him go, then awkwardly sat down at one of the small tables.

Gaius passed the guards at the prison door and headed down the stairs into the torchlit dungeon. The smell of blood, excrement, and mildew hit him hard enough that he paused at the bottom of the stairs, eye watering. It had been a long time since he had been down here, and it was just as bad as he remembered.
It was a bit of a walk before he passed any prisoners. The first was the cannibal, Igor Lothbrok. Gaius's father had imprisoned him thirty years ago, and the narrow-faced man had wasted away to practically nothing. His tangled hair had gone white long ago but held bits of filth in it so it looked yellow. His teeth, which he had filed to a point so proudly, were rotten and cracked, but he bared them at Gaius anyway. Gaius glanced at him, unimpressed. Lothbrok couldn't rise from his corner, he knew--his muscles were too atrophied for such a drastic movement.

The instant Gaius left, she dropped her act and folded in on herself, shoulders rounding and arms wrapping tightly around herself. Why had she agreed to this? Why hadn’t she been smart and claimed to get distracted by going to go find Zander and that be the reason why she hadn’t come begging for introductions. She didn’t want them anymore. She didn’t want someone as ruthless as Kazrha. Didn’t want someone who tortured people. And didn’t want to bother Xander. And yet if she didn’t pick one of them, Gaius would think her ungrateful and would keep bringing more and more options. When in reality she just wanted to wait for Ka’Nor again. Wanted to go home.

The next prisoner was the Unrepentant, who lay curled and collared in the corner of his cell. His eyeless face turned toward Gaius as he heard his footsteps.
"Lord Ash?" he rasped, resting an emaciated hand on the wall. "Have you come to confess to me?"
Gaius ignored him, sparing him only the briefest of glances. He had nothing to say to the likes of the Unrepentant.
The Unrepentant dragged himself haphazardly forward, grasping the bars of his cell and pressing his gaunt features into the cold metal.
"You have much to be sorry for," he muttered. "Much to be sorry for. You took my parish and my pride, my lord. I've been unjustly imprisoned. You cast my children to the hounds and thieves!"
Gaius moved past him in silence as the wretch pawed at the dried blood between his trouser legs and continued his admonishments. He really ought to have that one executed.

*

The soldiers in the dining room returned to their conversations after Gaius had left, ignoring Ky aside from the odd side glance. They seemed curious but unwilling to risk angering Gaius by saying the wrong thing to his niece.

Ky glanced at the soldiers. Were they going to rat her cowardice out? Probably. She should probably try to make conversation with them. Especially since she was apparently going to have to figure out how to get sparring partners between her lessons. It’d be easier to interact with a smaller number at a time like there was now. She just had to find the courage to bother them.

General Nox was the next prisoner. Gaius moved past him as quickly as he could, and the old general didn't raise his head, preferring instead to watch Gaius out of the corner of his eye. Gaius was nearing the interrogation room now; he just had to make it past Loren Carthe.

Should she channel Kyber?

Now seemed like a good moment for him to resurface. There was no universe in which he’d have been allowed to sulk in the corner. He would have to be bold and endearing and chit chatting trying to learn anything and everything he could, while Aleth had the superiors engaged elsewhere.

She didn’t even need to gather information this time.

She just needed to…

She didn’t actually need to do anything whatsoever. Gaius wouldn’t beat her when he came back and discovered she hadn’t tried to milk the soldiers for information in his absence. She’d get in trouble, probably, for being this pathetic. But she still pulled her feet up in front of her on the seat and hugged her knees close to her chest. Perhaps if she was small enough they’d forget she was there at all.

"Boy." Gaius forced himself to keep walking. "Heyyyy boy. Gaiusssss!" He took a deep breath and kept his eyes averted as he came towards Carthe's cell. "GAIUS!" Gaius flinched, gripping his cane tightly as Carthe rattled his chains. Despite himself, he caught sight of the older man out of the corner of his eye. He usually didn't venture this deep into the dungeon without a guard or at all, and in hindsight he would have liked to send someone down in his stead, but he felt the need to go down himself this time.
Carthe spat at him as he passed, landing a shot on the wall near Gaius's face. Gaius hurried by, shivering as he rounded the corner to the interrogation room. He should have had that one executed as well--slowly.

She rested her forehead against her knees and squeezed her eyes shut tightly, silently sighing.

She was embarrassing Tomhas. And Gaius. But Tomhas was the one who had taken responsibility for her, and your mistakes reflected more poorly on your father than on your uncle. And she cared more about embarrassing Tomhas, as rude as that probably was to think, when Gaius had made her his problem for the next several months.

She had to so better than this. She had to.

And she wasn’t in danger. The soldiers had shown absolutely no hostility whatsoever. And they wouldn’t hurt their employer's family member. And even if they would, it certainly wouldn’t be when they knew damn well Gaius would personally be coming back in a few minutes.

She didn’t need to get the reputation around the barracks of being worthless from the very start. People would still have to interact with her either way, but she didn’t want them being forced to speak and spar with her out of obligation. She needed to stand on her own.

She took a deep breath and raised her head. She couldn’t quite find the will to put her feet back on the floor, yet, and kept her arms wrapped around her knees tightly. But she lifted her chin and squared her shoulders and all in all forced more pride into her demeanor. Still, she flushed as she looked around at them, before managing a hesitant, “…hi.”

The soldiers looked up all at once, confused and wary. A young man in his twenties was the first to speak. "Um, hello. How are you today, miss?"

Gaius threw open the door of the interrogation room. He could feel his mind overloading, the fear seeping out despite his best efforts to keep it in. "Terran."
"Sir." Captain Bay turned from where he stood over a bruised and bleeding man.
"A word upstairs. Now." Without questioning it, Bay hauled the other man up by the neck and dragged him out the door to one of the cells. Gaius stayed where he was, breathing shallowly and closing his eyes tightly.

Ky tensed slightly at the response. She was bothering them. Gods, she was bothering them. She should have just stayed quiet but no. She was, as usual, wasting their time. And they had to tolerate her because of who she was.

“I’m well,” she said timidly. “And you?”

"Well enough." He smiled nervously. "Uh, so what are you doing down here?"

Bay returned shortly and took Gaius's arm. "What are you doing here without a guard, sir?" he asked, guiding him toward the exit.
"Thought I could be quick," Gaius murmured. "Ky's upstairs."
"You want me to talk to her now?" Bay glanced down at his hands. "I've just been beating a man to a pulp, sir."
"Wash your hands, then," he snapped. Bay simply nodded.