Of Crows and Songbirds

"Al." She studied him. "I think he's asleep. Probably for the best; that foot will be aching badly when he wakes."

Tadaaki looked at him uneasily. That meant that he would be aching badly when Aleth woke up — at least if Ms. Miller left them alone. He’d stay between Aleth and Ky, though, at the very least. He was fairly confident in his ability to protect her. At least from him. At least for now. This evened the playing field ever so slightly. Less power differential and less opportunity to act on his urges. Hopefully.

(Would love to see Aleth faceplant the second he tries to stand up)

(Do you want to skip?)

(Omg yesssss)
(and yeah let’s do it! Enter Gaius? Or something else?)

(Yeah enter Gaius!)

The next morning Gaius himself came down to the infirmary as Sera was checking over the trio's injuries and re-dressing their wounds. She looked up as knocked and one of the assistants opened the door to admit him. Gaius stepped inside, resting his hands on his cane as he surveyed the ragged group on the beds.

Aleth felt like death warmed over. It felt like the bitch had hacked his leg off below the knee. He had half a mind to take the shears on her in return. But he thankfully had regained enough cognizance to recognize that that wasn't in favor of his self-preservation. Still. He was laying flat on his back staring up at the ceiling, lost in self-pity.

Ky's head was clearer today than it had been last night and she had more control over herself now, but she was very, very weak and currently laid curled on her bed in the back corner, facing the door, but staring at the hand that she had in front of her face from the way she'd burrowed into her blankets.

Tadaaki still felt absolutely terrible and there was this headache that throbbed through his entire body, but he was doing the best of the lot. Which wasn't helpful, given he was the one least equipped to handle literally anything at all. He didn't even know why they were here. He was aware there was a war between Lord Tarr and Lord Ash. He was aware that they'd been at Lord Tarr's and that they were going to Lord Ash's Keep. He was aware of their cover story about the caravan and escape and all that -- they'd gone over that story many, many times to get every last detail right. Who got out of the cage first (him) - how many slavers had come after their cage after it tumbled off the short cliff (four) - how many other slaves they'd managed to cut down during the escape (seven). But they intentionally didn't tell him anything else. Not why they were here. Not when they were leaving. Not what he was supposed to do. He couldn't tell any secrets if he didn't know them in the first place. Which was nice, he supposed, but also he wasn't the smart one of their group. And they were all fucked if it was up to him to convince Lord Ash to let them to stay. But. One bridge at a time. With any luck, Ky would revive before anything happened.

Tadaaki was leaning against his headboard but actually upright, unlike the others, and he turned his head to look at the spindly man that lingered by the door. Who was that? He didn't have any idea. Best to be friendly, regardless. He forced a little smile and dipped his head.

Gaius dipped his head but didn't return the smile yet. He approached. "May I assume you are Tadaaki?" he asked him, glancing toward the other two. They both appeared to be awake but in a great deal of pain; they might not care to talk just yet. This one, though, was responsive.

"Yes sir." Tadaaki nodded and straightened. Should he stand up? Or would that seem threatening? He didn't want that. No matter who this was. He tried to figure it out, but he didn't have any idea. Obviously, a Lord wouldn't be bothering himself with the likes of near-dead slaves. So, who was this man? He exuded the energy of someone used to respect. Another military official like they'd met last night? That didn't make sense, given the cane, but maybe. Was this... Terran Bay? No. They looked different... right? He was almost certain. But. Then. Last night was mostly a blur and he didn't fully trust himself to get the details right.

Ky stirred slightly, turning her head as she heard the man's voice. She still didn't have the energy to sit up... unless she had to, she guessed. She'd get over herself if she was asked to. But. Well. For now, she studied him as he looked at Tadaaki. Her mind went through a similar thought process as Tadaaki's, though she dismissed the theory of an officer faster than he did. This wasn't her savior's voice. She had no memory of how the man looked, but she remembered how he sounded. So. Who was this? Another apothecary? Or...? She wished she remembered more about the prepping she'd gotten about what they'd encounter here. Remembered the key players, so that she'd have a leg up before she put faces to the names. But she couldn't remember much of anything just then.

His eyes flicked to the girl again; she was watching him now. He gave her a nod. "I understand you three arrived here last night in quite a state," he said. "From where, may I ask?" They still looked in a state, honestly. He wasn't sure they'd be up to questioning at this point. The older man certainly looked like a wreck. He'd have to question them individually to get a proper understanding of things, but that could wait until they were recovered enough to be moved. All of them looked like they'd been starving for quite some time--they were as thin as he was, perhaps thinner.

Ky returned the nod, then glanced over at Tadaaki, who looked like a deer in the headlights. She couldn't see Aleth past him. But she figured she'd been dragged into this since he'd caught her watching him, so she slowly pushed herself upright. It made her entire body tremble with the effort and she slumped against her headboard. Aleth hadn't moved.

Right.

So this was her job.

"From a--" Her voice broke and she took a moment to clear her throat. She forced her shoulders to straighten a little, though it was visibly taking a considerable amount of effort. "A caravan passing through the mountains, sir."

"From which side? East? West?" She certainly seemed timid. That was to be expected in a slave; he'd seen it a hundred times before. She must be in a terrible amount of pain, too. Her arm was bandaged, he could see. And they were all wrapped in blankets, meaning they had to have been hypothermic upon arrival. They were lucky to be alive.

Ky froze, suddenly forgetting all geographic terms. Which side? That was an easy question. Why couldn't she remember? "W...est?" She looked at Tadaaki uncertainly. He only had a vague concept of what those words meant at baseline -- he certainly wasn't equipped to help answer a question like this. She looked back at the man. "...I'm actually not sure, I apologize, sir."

He dipped his head. "Not a problem. Do you happen to recall which country or Realm you were coming out of?"

"Rhaebaki, I believe, sir," she answered quietly. This man was unsettling. She didn't like the feel of his eyes on her. She hoped he'd leave soon. Who was he? Some sort of valet for Lord Ash? Sent to question them?

That lined up. He turned the cane in his hands thoughtfully. "Who was the slaver heading your caravan, do you know?" That would give him a lead to track the fellow down and check their story, if need be. Sera had mentioned the older man behaved oddly for a slave--willfully. He supposed the fellow could be a recent captive, but he'd keep an eye on it.