Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 8)

"I'm well." Sara hovered by the door. "You're not feeling up for lunch, I take it?"

“I’m sorry,” Ky murmured, not actually answering the question. Of course she wasn’t. Which clearly worried Sara. And she was sorry to be inconveniencing her to come deal with Ky’s nonsense.

"Can I sit?" She gestured to the armchair near the bed.

“Please.” Ky gestured towards it as well. Why was she asking? This was her house. And therefore her room. Her chair.

She was vaguely aware that she looked juvenile with her knees pulled to her chest and blanket wrapped around her. But she couldn’t be bothered to actually care.

Sara settled into the chair, folding her hands in her lap. "Do you want any food or tea?"

Ky considered her for a moment. “If you’d like.”

"If you'd like," Sara corrected. "It's your decision. It would probably be healthier if you ate, but I understand why you might not want to."

Well, that was surprising.

Ky shrugged. “I’m not hungry… but I know that will worry you, so I’ll eat whatever you’d like. I don’t mind.”

Just another trick her mechanical brain could manage. Anything but smiling. She could do anything else.

"You can wait until dinner or get a snack if you need to," Sara assured her. She glanced around the room, sighing. "This is a big room, isn't it? Sort of empty."

Ky glanced around, too. She’d gotten comfortable enough to breathe in here now. But she was still terrified of the room, and was always very very careful of where she stepped and what she touched. “…it’s very generous.”

"Mine is a lot smaller," she mused. "Gaius and I don't need a lot of room. But I remember when I first came here....my siblings and I used to share a bed, all three of us, and Mother and Father would sleep in the next room. That was all we had for a long time, when I was little. We had a bigger house when I was older but it was still tiny." She smiled slightly. "I spent the first night here just...terrified by the vastness of the bed. I felt so alone."

Ky flushed, looking at her in horror. She had a bigger room than Sara and Gaius?! But why? That made this room even more overwhelming.

And yet. It was nice that Sara felt the same way. Overwhelmed when she first got here. That she understood. She glanced around the room again and nodded. “I was very small so I’m not sure I remember accurately… but I’m fairly certain my entire house was smaller than this room… it was all one room together. With a little loft and cot for me.”

"Lots of houses are that way," Sara said with a nod. "It conserves space, and heat, if you're in the North. And it's cheaper to have a small house. But the Lords love their giant forts." She chuckled. "Never thought I'd ever see the inside of one. Little homes have always been special to me. Little places. I think Gaius saw that. He offered to move us both to a smaller room but I told him I'd get used to it. And I did."

Ky nodded. She didn’t think she was ever going to get used to this room. But she couldn’t say that without sounding ungrateful. “I’m glad.”

Sara nodded. "I think the hardest part was moving away from everyone. My family. Mother and Father were both gone by then but my sister and brother were still around. I shared the farm with them."