Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 9)

"I stay in my own room," he replied. "The one I chose for myself rather than the one passed down from Lord to Lord."

"Oh." That meant it was Michael's bedroom. Septimus's. No wonder he didn't want to stay there. "That makes sense... Sara probably wouldn't like it, anyway. She said she was as anxious as--" me. "That she was anxious when she first got here, before she was used to it."

"She told me." He nodded. "She's used to small spaces, different settings. My room is smaller than the master bedroom but she was still upset the first night and many nights after that."

Ky nodded in agreement. That's just as Sara had said. And she didn't feel as if she was betraying her in telling Gaius that, since Sara had mentioned that Gaius offered to move them to a smaller room -- she figured he already knew.

"You feel the same?" he asked after a pause. "It can be arranged for you to have a smaller room."

"I wasn't complaining," she answered. She wasn't actually sure whether she wanted a smaller one or not at this point. It felt terribly ungrateful to ask for a different room, regardless of which one she was assigned. And it was kind of nice to have a room that large, since she didn't plan on leaving it much. Besides, she was slowly getting used to it. It'd helped to have Gaius's reassurance that she wasn't going to break it. "...and I sort of like being that close to Tadaaki. Not that it matters. I-- I mean, anywhere is great. It just. It doesn't really matter. I'm happy anywhere."

"This floor has countless rooms of various sizes," he pointed out. He glanced in the direction of his own room, which was down another hallway close to the nursery. Sara would be asleep by now, probably with one or more of the children nestled beside her. He preferred it that way; he wasn't going to burden them with this new knowledge just yet.

"True enough." Ky glanced ahead, trying to determine much further they had to go. And also trying to think of a way to change the topic.

Gaius could see the door up ahead now, and he pointed to it. "Just there." He produced a set of keys from his jacket pocket and sorted through them expertly with one hand until he came up with a heavy brass one.

Ky walked until they got to the door, carefully positioning them so that the lock would be easy to reach.

Gaius inserted the key, staring down at the doorknob for a moment. He hadn't set foot in here in years, even when Pratik had been in here. His hand tightened around the key, and he turned it at last. The door opened.
It was simple, mostly unadorned except for fur blankets on the bed and a tapestry on one of the walls. The stand where Michael's sword used to sit was just below that.
At the end of the room beside the massive bed was the window, which was quite big and had thick curtains covering it. Gaius stayed where he was.

(I am HUMILIATED omg I cannot I was on a video call with my brand new doctor rn like an intake and I hit hang up and instantly deflate from my 'I'm meeting a new person' persona and sigh and kinda mutter 'that was easy' under my breath and THEN REALIZE my computer decided not to actually disconnect me and I had to confirm three times before it let me out of the room so he SAW it omgggg I can never show my face again I need a new doctor I cannot)

Ky looked in on the room, memorizing all the details. Then glanced at Gaius when she noticed he wasn't coming along. Was this triggering for him to be here? Surely there had to be another good window to look at. Why did he keep hurting himself for her? She looked back into the room, deciding to give him a moment until he either came along or pushed her away.

(OH MY GOD NOOOOO)
(That is every Zoom nightmare oh my goddddd)

He stood up a bit straighter, taking a deep breath as he set himself fully back on his feet and rested his weight on his cane. It looked almost exactly as he remembered it. Cleaner and emptier, but still the ssame. Michael's body had lain here for a few days after he was brought home, and Septimus died in bed coughing up his lungs. Gaius's mother had died here too, and many other Lords and Ladies.
Gaius looked away from the bed, face twitching slightly before he regained composure. "Go on," he said to Ky. "Open up the window." He did need to sit. But where? Certainly not on the bed or chair. Maybe he would just leave and let her look alone. But it had been his idea to look at the troll. He should stay. But gods, this room....it was alive, breathing as he looked at it. He could feel his father and brother's hate oozing from every stone.

(right?! Thankfully this is only the second time it's happened to me haha I'm usually so paranoid but this was a different platform than I've ever used and I was too dumb to confirm that it actually let me out)(first time was peak pandemic where I was taking a virtual class with my roommate so we were both sitting on the couch together and it was bioinformatics so I had to ask a question about my code and it was super fucking obvious and so I sheepishly thank my prof for the help and then THOUGHT I muted myself as another kid asked a question and went 'well that was fucking stupid' to myself. I have no idea if they heard but I'm really hoping if they did that it was obvious I was talking about myself not him haha)

Ky obediently stepped forward and went to open up the curtains carefully, assessing the room as she walked in hopes of coming up with an idea. It was clear this was hard for him to be here. And she couldn't blame him. She'd never seen Aleth's bedroom, but she'd probably have a complete meltdown if she had to go into it at this point. And she would definitely not be okay if she had to go into the Room of Consequences, as Aleth called his torture chamber. There were too many memories; too much blood.

How could she help?

She needed to make it look different, somehow. Gaius didn't seem the type to change it -- at least not like this. He'd either gut it or avoid it, not just rearrange things. At least, that was her assumption. So this must be his father's bed, his father's chair. He wouldn't want to touch those. And yet he needed to sit down. Well. She supposed she could continue holding him. But that would make both of them wildly unhappy. Plus she would get too tired to support his weight, eventually.

There wasn't much she could do.

And yet she had to try.

She pulled one of the furs off the bed and draped it over the chair so that it covered the back, upside-down so that the tanned hide was facing up rather than the fur. Then she grabbed another and draped it side to side to cover the arms, also tanned-side-up.

It wasn't much. But at least it looked a little different.

(Now I'm never using video call again, that's terrifying)

Gaius watched her, brow furrowed. What was she doing? Was that supposed to help somehow? He remained still, resisting the urge to lean against the doorframe. He would go in when he was ready.
His stomach was starting to churn; he remembered coming in here as a little boy, usually when he was in trouble. His father's belts used to hang over the chair Ky was covering, and one of the corners used to house a tiny bench built just for whichever child had disobeyed him or misbehaved. They'd sit there for hours, backs perfectly straight, facing the wall in complete silence after the beating was done. There were six benches in all, placed all around the Keep. Gaius had burned each one and watched the fire until it was nothing but cinders.
He swallowed, keeping his eyes averted, moving always from the covered window to the bathroom door to the tapestry.