Of Crows and Songbirds

“Yessir.” She dipped her head. “He sold me a day or two after he cut me. Sir.”

Gaius made a mental note of that. "May I ask why he cut you?"

“I embarrassed him, sir.” She flushed a bit, glancing away even though it was the truth. “He doesn’t like to be embarrassed.”

"How did you embarrass him?"

"I misunderstood a colloquialism when I was translating for him." She glanced back at Ash. "Upset his patron and lost him a rather large sale." She grimaced. "He didn't like that."

"Mm. What was his name?"

"Ryken, sir."

"Ryken what? And what does he look like? Where is he from?"

"Uh." She froze. That was a lot of questions to field all at once. "Ryken Neff." Hopefully giving him a last name wasn't a mistake. They'd all agreed on that one beforehand, it was in character, but that was before she'd expected him to check her story. "He's short. Maybe--" She gestured about chin level. "I think he was from Totallisa, but I'm honestly not sure, sir. He didn't talk much about himself."

"And he made you wear a binder, is that correct?"

"Yessir." Ky inclined her head. She'd expected that question, after seeing how poorly the apothecary had reacted to it; she wasn't surprised she'd told Ash. But. Well. She wasn't going to offer any information he didn't specifically solicit. Talking got you in trouble in situations like this. She was going to shut up as much as he'd let her.

"Why were you wearing it so long after parting from Neff?" he asked. "The slavers would have stripped you down when you were sold and discovered it."

"They stripped me down, but he asked them to put me back in it after they checked me. The cuts hurt far worse with a binder pressing against them -- he always made sure it was extra tight and wouldn't let me take it off for days on end anytime he'd discipline me that way. I... I don't know why they left me in it after we left him, though, sir. Maybe they thought they'd get extra money if they sold me with the addition? Or... maybe they just thought it was funny? I don't know." She flushed a bit, rubbing her fingers across her abdomen. "They all seemed to admire his handiwork, so I wouldn't be surprised if that was it -- just passively putting me in pain. They seemed to enjoy that sort of thing, sir... but I'm just speculating. I don't actually know why, sir. I just know they did."

"Why did you continue to wear it for weeks into your escape when you could just have easily disguised your chest in the baggy clothing you were wearing?" he asked next. "When it was clearly painful for you to do so--even harmful to your damaged ribs."

"I can't take it off by myself." She blushed more, dropping her gaze as she gestured behind her back. "There's a zipper than ran the length of my spine. I need help to get it off. And... well... I was already cold... and I didn't like the idea of having to strip down in front of Al and Tadaaki besides... and I thought it'd keep me warmer." She shrugged. "Hurt terribly, but that seemed less dangerous than the cold."