Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 11)

Ky hesitated, all the more conflicted. If it’d been Tadaaki or Sara or Sera or Aashi or Tomhas or any of the other people trying to force her to talk about how she felt, she would have ignored him. She thought about doing so anyway. But he hadn’t been being overbearing. It wasn’t fair to punish him just because everyone else was. “… it’s open.”

With any luck, her voice was too quiet for him to hear.

He had been listening hard, and he opened the door hesitantly. "Hey. How are things?"

She hadn’t sat up, so now she peered at him from beneath the heap of pillows and blankets she’d snaked herself around. She couldn’t be bothered to find the energy for a smile. “…fine.”

"Things don't look fine. Aren't you glad Tomhas is here?"

No.

I didn’t want him to come.

I don’t want him here.

“…he got attacked by trolls. Plural.”

Emery stared at her for a moment, not quite believing what he was hearing. "...Plural? Trolls??"

Ky nodded bitterly, withdrawing further into her blankets. “He lost half his guard and almost died.”

He looked down, sobered by that. "...Oh. That's...that's bad. Very bad. Is...is he okay?"

“He hurt his arm but wouldn’t go see Sera… he’s standing anyhow.”

"Okay..." He nodded slowly. "He looked alright then? How was he feeling?"

“He looked like hell, got mad at me, then promptly got into a fight with Gaius,” she huffed. “Gaius told me to fuck off. So here I am. Fucking off. I don’t know anything else.”

"He actually said fuck off?" Emery's eyes were wide.

“…no,” she admitted. “But it’s what he meant.”

"How do you know? What were they fighting about?"

“…me and Lyra.”