Of Crows and Songbirds

Ky glanced back at him, flushing a bit as she shrugged. “I don’t know what may happen to me in the future. At this point, I’ve come to expect the worst.”

Such as the war ending and Aleth taking them away again and finally being able to punish her for all the blunders she was certain to make while they were here. It’d be one of the worst in her life, she expected. He wasn’t good at delayed gratification. It would be building for a long, long time until he got his release. So it was no doubt going to be particularly savage.

"You're not going to be hurt anymore," he promised her, stopping on the stairs. "I swear that, Ky. Lord Ash makes sure people who come here for help are helped, and if we leave he makes sure we do so with resources. Nobody is going to take you; there will be no more beatings."

Ky stopped, making eye contact for a moment before she flushed more and looked away again. She nodded. “I… definitely appreciate that. More than I could ever begin to express.”

Even if it wasn’t true. Aleth would take her away from here sooner or later, and he’d take whatever resources Ash gave her when he did. And that was best case scenario. Worst would be Ash figuring out what they were and her ending up on the chopping block… or worse. She hoped he’d give her the opportunity to spill her guts without having to be tortured and that he’d give her a swift execution afterward. She didn’t want it to be dragged out.

"And...if you're not feeling safe here, for whatever reason, you can talk to me or Sera for certain. We can fix it for you."

“No sir!” She shook her head quickly, looking at him in alarm. Great. Now he thought she was insulting him. Insulting Ash. “It’s- it’s not that at all! You’ve all been very, very kind. I apologize if I seemed to be implying otherwise — I don’t mean to be.”

"Oh, no!" He paused. "I was--you have nothing to be sorry for, Ky. This is just a huge place with a lot of people in it. We want to make sure you're safe and comfortable, that's all."

Ky took a deep breath and slowly let it out with a nod. “Oh… well, I appreciate that as well.”

Emery dipped his head, still watching her. "I'm not just here to follow you around, you know. I make sure everything is okay with you, too."

“… what does that mean?” she asked warily. From context, she assumed he meant just making sure she had everything she needed. But the way he phrased it and the look he was giving her made her nervous. Was he admitting to this being an initial vetting? She knew that anyway. But. Well. Why was he mentioning that now? Had she fucked up somehow? Was he accusing her of something?

"It means I make sure your accommodations are to your liking, nobody's giving you a hard time, stuff like that."

“Oh.” Good, so it was innocent. Unless he was just trying to get a rise out of her. But she’d played it cool so it didn’t matter either way. “… do you think it’s likely someone will give me a hard time?”

"I mean..." He thought for a moment. "No, not really. Unless you count Gaius--Lord Ash--but he'll ease up if he decides you're not a threat."

Ky nodded. “Any tips for when I’m talking with him? I know everyone’s got something that… is best not to do around them.”

Emery considered it again. "Mm, try not to be too...too reverent of him. He doesn't want to be worshipped. Treat him like a normal adult but with just a bit more respect? If that makes sense? And don't ask about his leg; he gets pissy about it no matter what. Same goes for the hand, the weight....yeah. Um, don't compliment him either."

“That’s good to know.” Ky nodded, squirreling away the information. Not complimenting him was going to be hard. It was a reflex at this point that Aleth had drilled into her. “Thank you.”