Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 8)

(I don’t know what you’re talking about xD)

Ky had slipped the letters and the seal and wax in her pockets, and resolved to go off to find a real noble to teach her how to properly seal letters like a noble should. So she wandered around each floor, gradually making her way downward. She didn’t find anyone. And now she was half way down the stairs from the second floor to the first.

Emery swept the first floor, checking the writing room first but finding it empty. He was about to head upstairs when he bumped into Ky. "Oh, fancy that!" he chuckled. "I was coming to ask if you'd like to join us at lunch."

“Oh, hello!” Ky smiled, glancing over his shoulder and perplexed where Zander was. Had he been locked in his room in time out for some small transgression? She looked back at Emery. “Lunch time already?”

"Yep!" He gestured over his shoulder. "Hungry?"

“Always.” She smiled and stepped in the direction of the dining room.

Emery followed her. "Um...Ky, I meant to ask you. What happened with Gaius? Is he okay?"

Her gaze snapped towards him, guilt washing across her features for half a moment, before she quickly looked away and sped up. “He’s fine as far as I know.”

Thank god Ada wasn’t here.

"But he's not, is he? I heard the way Bay talked. Something happened." He marched her pace. "Ky, please. Is he okay? Is Sara with him?"

Ky glanced over at him. He seemed genuinely concerned, not gossipy. “…Sara is with him.”

He sighed. "How bad is it?"

“…I… am not sure I’m supposed to talk about it,” Ky said carefully. “He deserves privacy.”

Emery nodded. "Absolutely. Sorry. Sara will probably fill me in later, of course. But I need to know if he's...cognizant"

Ky took a deep breath, considering the question. Her voice was quiet when she answered. “… I’m not sure… he went to the prison… and then asked me for Sara… I don’t… know.”

"He went in there?" Emery's eyes widened. "Why would he....was he alone? He went with a guard at least, right?"

Ky cringed and shook her head.