Young Writers Society

"The very warmest in all the realms," Tomhas said proudly. "Some of the rooms in my home have two fireplaces." It got almost unbearable sometimes; Tomhas usually preferred the cold.

Ky smiled. She couldn't really imagine that. Back home, they'd intentionally kept all fire outside, so it didn't get even more oppressively hot in the house. And, they tried to do most of their baking in the evenings, too, so that no one had to stand by the fire in the heat of the day. It was going to be a very different experience, learning how to be somewhere cold enough that required two fireplaces to heat a single room. "That sounds very impressive."

Tomhas shrugged. "A mere necessity. Nobody wants frostbite, Kylia." He glanced down the hall that led to Tarr's floor. Lyra was probably up in the library right now. He'd like to pay her a visit and tell her the good news about Ky and Tadaaki; he hadn't seen her since about two days ago.

(hahahaha idk why that line is hitting me so much "Nobody wants frostbite, Kylia" xDDD it's like a non-roast roast)

"Yes, sir." Ky smiled, amused by the way he'd put it. Then she remembered what he'd said about not liking how Aleth trained her to over-compliment nobles, and bit back another comment about how impressive she was sure his home was, and instead settled for, "Fair point."

(Roasting the whole climate XD)

Tomhas nodded absently. "Do you know the way to the infirmary from here?" he asked suddenly.

"Yes, sir," Ky answered quickly. She didn't add that that was because Aleth had been doing his best to collect a full floorplan of Tarr's keep and had been having her update it with new rooms as either she or he found them.

"Wonderful. I'm afraid I'll need to excuse myself, then...there's something I need to check in on." He turned and headed in the direction of Tarr's chambers.

Ky watched him go, then turned back to Tadaaki. "It's this way."

Tadaaki nodded and followed her up the steps. He knew very little about the keep at this point -- he'd mostly been kept to the stables, and then up in their room in the evening. He didn't really have much of a need to be wandering about in the keep, and so it spared him from having to gather information for Aleth, like he was sure Ky had no doubt had to do.

He was grateful for that. He'd always been grateful for it. He was strong, and Aleth certainly misused that to his own advantage. But Ky was constantly under Aleth's sharp gaze with very little room to breathe. He'd gladly take physical labor over becoming an extension of Aleth.

But, for now, he was glad that Ky at least knew the way so they wouldn't have to bother Loquitur for directions.

Loquitur hurried up the stairs. Two days...he hadn't seen his daughter in two days and he hadn't even noticed. What kind of a father was he? What had Tarr done to her?
He reached Tarr's room quickly and knocked rapidly on the door.
"Lyra?" Tomhas tried to keep his voice from shaking. "Lyra, dear, are you alright?"
"Please go away," came the timid reply. "I'm fine. Please..."
That wasn't fine. That wasn't fine at all.
"I'm coming in," he said, and pushed open the door.

It was dark in the bedroom; the embers of a fire glowed faintly in the corner, but already cold was permeating the room. Tomhas drew back slightly at the sharp scent of vomit, then took a step into the room, squinting in the dim light.
There was a small lump curled in the bed, covers drawn over it and wrapped under. The lump stirred as his footsteps sounded, and Lyra's bedraggled head peeked over the comforter.
"I told you to go away," she said tearfully, voice hoarse. Tomhas paused in the doorway, a clenching, heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"I'm not leaving you here," he said after a long silence, stepping further into the room. He couldn't look at his daughter yet. Doing that might make him flee, and he couldn't do that to her. Not now, not ever. Instead he strode to the fireplace and took a fire poker, stirring the embers until they brightened. Then he loaded a few logs from the basket onto the fire. They caught slowly, and lazy flames began to lick up the sides.
The room was now illuminated, and Tomhas could see a broken bottle of wine on the ground. Not far from that was a puddle of watery sick, and few drops of blood spattered the white catskin rug.
Lyra ducked back under the covers as Tomhas approached.
"Please don't look," she whispered. Tomhas took a deep breath and sat down beside her.
"I don't want to," he murmured to her. "But I will, because I can't make it stop hurting if I don't know what to do."

(omg im so angry rn >:[[[[[[[[[)

They got to the infirmary, and both of them were relieved that Alexander hadn't yet returned -- probably off to tend to Aleth, but who knew? Ky crawled back onto the cot she'd taken this morning, pressing her back against the headboard, pulling her knees up so she could rest her chin on her knees.

This all still felt so surreal.

Tadaaki returned to his bed, but he sat in the center, crisscrossing his legs and resting his elbows on them, then propping his chin up with his knuckles as he looked at her thoughtfully. He didn't like to push her. That didn't help anyone. So he waited until she was ready to talk, his mind flicking back to their morning. What had just happened? Was happening? He didn't understand, and from the expression on Ky's face, she didn't either.

Finally, she turned her head towards him slightly, and their gazes met. She was silent for a moment longer and then, "What the fuck?"

"Do you promise you won't tell Mother?"
The question caught Tomhas off guard. Of course he was going to tell Anneke; she deserved to know what her daughter was going through. He would have to talk to her about reassessing the cost of the war versus the price Lyra was paying by being married to Tarr.
"I...I can't promise that," Tomhas said slowly. "She won't be angry, Lyra. I'm not angry, either. I just...I need to see so I can fix it." Lyra shifted under the covers, whimpering in pain. Then, reluctantly, she sat up and let the covers fall.

She wasn't wearing a nightdress, and it was obvious why. Her entire back was a mess of bruises and lacerations--a belt buckle, from what Tomhas could tell. He'd seen those marks on all of his siblings. The cuts were oozing slowly; it was obvious they were infected.
Tomhas stared at his daughter's back in stunned silence. Then he rose and rested a hand on the top of her head.
"I'll fix this," he said faintly, then drifted off to the bathroom to get some water for boiling. He'd need a warm, clean rag and some disinfectant...then bandages. But it was obvious nobody was supposed to know about this. That could make things worse.
Tomhas found himself retreating into that shell as he filled a kettle with water from the pump and brought it to hang over the fire. He didn't want to get involved, but here he was again, helping.
"I need to leave to get Alexander," he said as he turned back to face her. He kept his eyes on the floor as bile rose in his throat. "If you can, lock the door. I won't be long."

"Oh, good, thought it was just me," Tadaaki answered, not quite sure if he was relieved or unsettled at the fact that Ky was also bewildered by the situation.

"What just--?" Ky rubbed her face. It felt like she'd had too many emotions to have any left to have. She just felt so fatigued. "He almost killed him."

Tadaaki nodded. "Aleth wouldn't have let--"

Ky shook her head, agreeing. "No, it would have stopped well before that if he hadn't hit Tarr... you'd think he'd know how fighting back goes."

Tadaaki smirked mirthlessly. "You'd think."

Ky wrapped her arms around her legs and then pressed her forehead against her legs. "I don't know what comes now, Aaki."

Tomhas burst into the infirmary a few minutes later.
"Sorry," he panted. "Sorry. Is Alex here? Where's Alex?"

"I don't know, either," Tadaaki answered. He shook his head. "I still don't know how we got here."

"It was...heh. I guess it's good we got a thrashing last night." Ky finally raised her head to look at him again. "I was feeling faint, so I went for some water, and... well, a lot happened. But I guess I was a sorry enough state that Loquitur got concerned. He offered to kill Aleth, right then."

Tadaaki's eyebrows shot up. "Did he try--?"

"No." Ky shook her head. "He asked me if I wanted him to and... I... I couldn't... Maybe I should have?"

Tadaaki looked at her for a moment, understanding. As much hell as Aleth put them both through, there was still something that seemed so wrong about getting out from under his thumb at the expense of Aleth himself. Even though he'd hurt them both so much. Much, much more than was necessary. Flogging Ky for telling a simple lie. Breaking Tadaaki's jaw once when he got confused about how to address a noblewoman. "It's hard."

"Yeah..." Ky shook her head. "We owe him."

Tadaaki nodded in agreement. "I still don't understand how he managed to get us away from Aleth, but he's got my loyalty for life."

"Mine, too. I only wish there were something we could do."

"I do, too," Tadaaki agreed. There was a brief silence. "Are you going to tell him everything?"

Ky nodded. "Why shouldn't I? If it'll help him, then fuck Aleth."

They were both tense for a moment, waiting to see what would happen. But the room was as peaceful and calm as before. The curse of Aleth no longer hanging over their heads... well, not quite, anyway.

Tadaaki couldn't quite work up that kind of courage, yet. Ky had always been braver than he was. He'd been cowed after the first beating Aleth gave him. Ky had fought for weeks -- which were all but years when you worked for Aleth. It'd upset him how much Ky was getting hurt for her refusal to submit to Aleth.

The door flew open. They both tensed, but didn't have the same reaction as they had this morning. Instead, they snapped towards the door, then were shocked to see it was a flustered Loquitur there instead.

"No sir," Ky answered quickly, standing up. "I don't know. We'll help you look. Where should we send him if we find him first?"

"Lord Tarr's room, immediately." Loquitur dashed off. Gods, he needed to get her out of here. But the war...he couldn't lose the war or everyone would suffer for it--not just Lyra. He needed her to stay with Tarr, but Tarr was a monster.