Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 14)

“Bad way,” Derik said with a shake of his head. “She’s a good kid. But as hotheaded as all get out. And… well… I guess I can’t blame her for getting angry about this. It was necessary. But… no one wants to see a child separated from their loving parents. And she had to grow up thinking she was an orphan. An uncle can only make up for so much.”

"That's certainly true. Is their biological father a good man, at least?"

“He’s wonderful,” Derik confirmed. “As is their mother. A good woman, that is. They’re both excellent parents from what I hear… they…” he shook his head. No point in getting into all that. “I don’t regret my actions. I’d make the same choice again in a heartbeat if I had it to do over; Jer’s safety was most important to me. But god I miss her parents.”

"Is there hope of them reuniting?" Gaius asked. "What was this prophecy?"

Derik rolled his eyes, though it was clearly directed at the mention of the prophecy not Gaius himself. “‘Quandaries come in counts of four; rid the evil lest it be a plague fore’er more’. Literally says nothing about them. But the blockheads won’t listen.”

"Mm." Gaius nodded. "Interesting; have there been attempts at reason?"

“We didn’t jump to creating false identities that we’ve maintained for fifteen years for the fun of it,” Derik said dryly. “Zander’s got a permanent target on his forehead now because of his role in protecting the girls. He can’t stay one place too long or the Council would catch up within a matter of weeks… not that he was ever particularly good at staying put. But he used to be at home at least as much as he was traveling; but he’s not been back home since the girls were born. We tried asking nicely and reasoning with them first. And they met us with magic and attempts on our lives. They’re not reasonable people.”

(Brooooo a lady who sort of acted as my “campus mom” when I was in undergrad randomly reached out to me for the first time in years last week and we’ve been chatting lately and tonight she randomly used the word ‘quandary’ like right after I replied to this and hecc that was a weird coincidence I feel like it’s not a common word to use)

(That's really weird
But it is a really good word!)

"All this for a few children." Gaius shook his head. "I'll keep this in mind. But that makes his presence here doubly dangerous. He'll have to leave almost as soon as he came."

(I agree! It took me ages to come up with that prophecy and it’s still kind of clunky but I enjoy including that word in it haha)

Derik shot him a glare. “They’re not ‘a few children’ their our nieces. You’re telling me you wouldn’t do the same for your children?”

(I thought it was a good prophecy!)

"That wasn't what I meant." He gave him a cold look. "That was directed at the Council. I've already gone to drastic lengths to protect my family--look at where I've found myself: at war."

(Thanks!)

“… My apologies, I misunderstood,” Derik allowed, inclining his head. It was a rude thing for him to say, now that he had context. No point getting into a pissing contest.

A letter materialized and threw into Derik’s chest suddenly. He furrowed his brow, barely catching it in time. Usually they appeared nicely like the first had. Zander must have sent this one in a panic for it to be so aggressive. Derik handed it over to Ash without reading it.

The letter that came back was half-wet, like Zander had dropped it in the snow. The words were also sloppy and clearly hastily written.

Oh good gods don’t do anything until I get back. Please. I know that you get off on the threat of danger if it’s got a mystery attached to catch your interest, but my brother is absolutely right about this. The Council is like a ferret in a hen house. They’ll catch scent of her in an instant and slaughter everything in their path to get to her. Might go ahead and do it after the fact, if they get to her first, if they felt like you were aiding and abetting or trying to toy with them. For the love of all things good in this life, please don’t poke this sleeping bear. Nothing good will come of it. Nothing.

Gaius read this letter quietly, frowning to himself for a moment before folding it and stowing it away in his pocket. "I am still of the opinion that you should leave as soon as possible," he said. "Ky isn't in a position where more change will do her good. This and the danger she's in might lead her to extremes, and that's the last thing I want."

Derik nodded slowly. “I’ll talk to Zander about it and see what he thinks. He may want me here to talk through logistics of moving forward. Do you have an abandoned wing somewhere that my family and I can lay low until he gets here?”

Gaius thought for a moment. "We don't have an abandoned wing, but beyond the Grove there's the an old smithing forge. We gave a new one closer to the front but I suspect we could accommodate you in there. Better yet, we could put you up in the village."

Derik nodded. “That would be fine, as long as it’s warm and safe. Kieran about froze to death on the way up here. The boy needs a reprieve. We all do… honestly that may be even better anyhow. Give us some time to decompress a bit.”