Young Writers Society

“A pleasure, ma’am,” Ky murmured, bobbing her head respectfully as she shook Lady Loquitur’s hand. She felt a brief pang of guilt at being called friend but then it relaxed a bit. She was overreacting. She needed to just take a deep breath and go along with it.

Relief flooded through Tadaaki, drowning out the tension he felt. “Oh thank the gods. Thank you.” He made eye contact with her then looked up at Lord Loquitur. “And thank you.” He looked back at Lady Loquitur. “Thank you both... and it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, ma’am. You’re both... uh... I mean we appreciate... I mean—uh—“

Tadaaki flushed, horrified at his pitiful performance. He stumbled over his words at first but now he was flustered and he was making it even worse and was looking stupid and —

“We appreciate your kindness,” Ky cut in, suddenly more concerned with helping Tadaaki than she was her own insecurity. He got embarrassed so easily and it made her sad to see him like that. “You are both most generous and we are indebted to you for it. Thank you.”

"Debt," Tomhas scoffed as Anneke dipped her head politely. "Ky, debt is something nobody needs. You owe us nothing." They were still so servile...Tomhas would have to work with them on that. Perhaps if he encouraged Ky and Lyra to form a closer friendship, Ky would come around. He himself probably ought to speak with Tadaaki; they were close enough in age.
"Now, my darlings." Tomhas threw an arm around his wife's shoulder as the rest of the party dismounted. "Let's get inside. It's freezing cold and the poor Barrasters have a much longer journey ahead of them in two days' time."

Ky smiled a bit. He was so kind. Whatever had come over her at their arrival was slowly starting to dissipate as she remembered how they'd gotten in this position to begin with: because Loquitur, for whatever reason, seemed to care about her and Tadaaki. She was struggling to accept his undeserved kindness towards her, but she felt her shoulders relax a bit, grateful that he didn't seem to regret his decision of rescuing them. Yet.

She looked down at the kitten in her arm. A tangible reminder of Loquitur's kindness. Maybe she'd just need to keep the kitten in mind, to convince herself that this was really real.

Tadaaki planted a hand on her shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze as both of them stepped back to give the Barrasters room, respectfully waiting so they could follow the rest of the party inside. Ky reached up and patted his hand, still a bit uneasy at being allowed to show Tadaaki affection but grateful for it. Then she looked back at the kitten.

Anneke ushered everybody inside. Servants were already leaping into action, taking cloaks and offering warm cloths for faces and hands. Tomhas exchanged playful banter with several of them, moving briskly toward the dining room. His family followed after him while he carried the toddler up on his shoulders.
"Oh, I nearly forgot. Ky, Tadaaki, you haven't met my other children!" He turned and started walking backwards. The little boy on his shoulders giggled and tugged at his father's hair. "The little rascal up on top of me is Peter. He's just two. The strapping young lad of five is Oscar, and Lyra's wonderful younger sister is Anneliese." Oscar dipped into a deep bow in the middle of the hallway, flashing a childish grin. Anneliese offered a salute, hoisting up her skirts as she maneuvered around her little brother.
"Are you a mercenary?" Oscar asked Tadaaki after he came out of the bow, stumbling over the word a bit.

Ky smiled at them. Children were so endearing. Trying so hard to emulate the adults that they admired -- pretending that they were big people when they were still such little people. She hoped someday she might be able to have some of her own. Ky returned Oscar's bow, dipping a bit lower than she probably needed to for a child.

Tadaaki also bowed, but his eyes went wide when the lad asked if he was a mercenary. Him -- of all people. Sure, he'd been forced to do some truly terrible things for Aleth. But, that wasn't by his choice. And he didn't get anything out of it, aside from not getting beaten. He would never. He could never do that.

"Oh, uh, no, sir!" Tadaaki hesitated, not quite sure whether noble children were to be addressed like their parents or not. It felt a bit silly. But also was a force of habit at this point. "I'm not...sir?"

He looked at Ky inquisitively, silently asking if he was doing it right.

Ky was amused by how surprised Tadaaki seemed to be by the question. He was big and strong, but a complete teddy bear. She couldn't even imagine Tadaaki so much as considering becoming a mercenary.

She hesitated when Tadaaki looked at her. Ky also wasn't really certain how children were supposed to be addressed. All of the noblemen she'd been dragged before were prudent enough to keep his children well away from Aleth and her. She shrugged slightly, giving him an apologetic look as she realized that she had no idea what to tell him for this one. But it was probably good that he was erring on the side of caution since neither of them knew.

Oscar giggled. "Okay. You're funny." He bounced over to Anneliese and Lyra. "He called me sir!"
"We heard," Lyra said, smiling faintly. She'd missed Oscar. He was even noisier than when she'd left, but the snarls of Tarr and the silent halls of Wolf Keep made her appreciate the sound of her brother's laughter far more than she ever thought she would.
It was good to see Anneliese, too. She'd grown in the two months Lyra had been gone and her hair hung down in a ponytail rather than the two braids she usually preferred. It seemed that with Lyra out of the house she was finally becoming a little more mature. Of course, no Loquitur child was ever going to be a complete grown-up. It wasn't in their genes.

“Do you like kittens?” Ky asked gently, bending down a bit to show the children the kitten she was still carrying around.

There was a collective gasp, and all progress down the hall ceased as Oscar rushed forward.
"I love cats!" he breathed, eyes wide as he took in the sight of the little Iron-kitten.
"Cak!" Peter hollered from Tomhas's shoulders, beating his hands on his father's head now. Tomhas winced.

Ky smiled at him, progressively growing more and more charmed by the Loquitur children. "I do too." She slid the kitten into her palms and crouched down. "Would you like to pet him?"

"Can I?" Oscar reached out tentatively, petting the kitten a bit roughly but smoothing out after a second. "Wow," he breathed.

Ky smiled a bit more at how enraptured Oscar was by the kitten. She couldn't say much. She'd been almost as enchanted by Harold as Oscar now was with the kitten she'd picked out of the litter. "His name is Petrir."

"That's close to Peter," Oscar realized, pointing up at his little brother. "Do we have to replace Peter now? Can the kitten be our brother, Papa?"
"I'll have to ask Peter about that," Tomhas said gravely, craning his neck to look up at his son. "How do you feel about being replaced by a metal feline, little chap?" Peter babbled happily and stuck his finger into Tomhas's eye.

Ky laughed, smiling between them before he looked back at Oscar. She answered gently, "It was my Papa's name. I think he'd approve of his name being used for a little creature that brings all of us so much joy."

It seemed fitting, either way. The last time she'd been truly happy was when she was with Papa. And now she was going to be happy again, for the first time since then.

"What do you think?" she continued, unwilling to dwell on the was part of that statement. "You think he's gonna be worthy of his name?"

Oscar nodded immediately. "I bet he'll really like it." He continued petting the kitten, absorbed in the strangely smooth texture of its fur. "Hi, Petrir," he said softly.

"Oscar, let's get to lunch," Tomhas reminded him gently. "We can pet the kitten later."

Ky smiled again, standing up as she tucked the kitten into the crook of her arm again. She wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to do with the kitten over lunch but decided she'd just go with it unless she was told otherwise.

Now that food was mentioned, she realized she was really hungry. Her stomach rumbled a bit at the thought of a hot meal.