Young Writers Society

Ky nodded solemnly. This whole day had really gone to shit, hadn’t it. She should have known better than to let herself feel so much joy earlier. The universe always over-corrected when she got full of herself. Like she actually deserved nice things. A nice family. It was the surest way to bring bad luck; and look what had happened.

"At least the contract is signed," Gaius mused. "That's something, I suppose. If those three had survived they'd have been charged with attempted murder of a noble. Not an easy punishment for that, as I recall."

Somehow, that made her feel even worse. It was too late now. Tomhas and Anneke were legally responsible for her — so they couldn’t just turn her out, now could they? God, this should have happened before that stupid contract. They should have been able to witness for themselves how much more trouble she was than she was worth.

Laura returned with milk of the poppy and handed a cup to Gaius, which he drank immediately. "Thank you," he muttered, and closed his eyes.

Ky couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy that he got meds and she didn’t. But, she supposed that was what it meant to sleep in the bed she’d made. She was insisting that it didn’t hurt. That it wasn’t a big deal. And lies had consequences. She finished off her cup of tea silently. Fluids. Fluids were good. And the warmth felt nice, too.

She looked down at herself. The blood did not feel nice, though. The blood on her sleeve was cold now and plastered to her arm. She’d bled all over her shirt and her pants too. But her necklace— gods, she’d forgotten about the necklaces. She reached down to feel for them and — by some miracle — neither had been damaged or bloodied. That was good. She might have had a complete breakdown if something had happened to either of them.

"Ky, do you want me to bring you a change of clothes?" Anneke asked. "Your outfit is looking a bit worse for wear, there." That was putting it mildly.

Ky looked at herself for another long moment. It was obscene that she was even considering having Anneke to go run errands for her. But she felt so very badly and she wasn’t sure she could make it to her room and back in one piece. Not to mention she’d probably bleed all over her other clothes if she tried. She looked back up. “If you don’t mind.”

"Certainly not." Anneke rose. "I'll get your warm night clothes. Be right back."
"You can use my office to change," Laura told Ky, then looked over at Gaius. "You as well." Gaius gave a small nod; he'd have someone ask a servant to bring him something.

“Thank you,” Ky murmured. Now to work up the energy to actually be able to manage a change once she had the new clothes. That in itself was going to be laborious.

“You should drink more,” Tadaaki said, taking her cup and standing up.

As he stepped around her, she realized that she’d gotten his chest bloody as well from where he carried her. Glancing back she saw Zander was bloody, too. “Gods, we all need to change.”

"Maybe so," Gaius agreed. "Fending off assassins is a dirty business." Tomhas seemed to be the only one without blood on him, though he was soaking wet from lying in the snow. That being said, he looked twice as miserable as Zander and himself.

He kept bringing it up. And it kept making her feel worse. She felt like she should thank him — but she knew he wasn’t digging for a compliment. And she didn’t quite have the energy to try to be likable right now.

Tadaaki brought her back more tea and she sipped on it as well.

She supposed the assassins had succeeded on implanting themselves on her memory, regardless. The very first day Aleth had taken her, she tried to fight him. She’d landed a solid blow. But then he’d thrashed her within an inch of her life and started his garden on her abdomen. And from then on, every single morning, he’d come in and hit her again, saying that he was going to keep hurting her until he forgot about her trying to hurt him. And that he wouldn’t forget until after his black eye healed.

She supposed this was the same. She wasn’t going to forget about the assassins as long as her arm hurt this badly. Not to mention her face was swelling from Nyler’s final blow to her in return for her ruining his pass at Tomhas.

She wanted to go to bed. No, she wanted to cry. No, she… she almost wanted Nyler to come back and finish the job. She didn’t want to have to survive the rest of this night. The rest of her life.

After a few minutes, Tomhas got up. "I have to go talk to Harold," he said quietly. "And Gaius, when you have a minute. Ky." He looked over at his daughter for the first time since the fight. "I'm so sorry this happened. I'll see you tomorrow; hopefully things will be better in the morning." That was wishful thinking.

Ky nodded. She didn’t have the energy to reassure him that it wasn’t his fault. She didn’t have the energy for anything. “See you.”

Tomhas departed quickly, leaving Gaius, Zander, Tadaaki, Ky, and Laura there. Gaius shifted on the bed, taking his cane from where it lay and setting it across his lap. He could tell that Tomhas had been badly shaken by what had happened, and that it wouldn't just go away the next morning. Not this time. He'd have to go talk to him soon, make sure his brother was still thinking straight.

The one character trait that Ky retained through this whole spectacle: was that she still couldn’t handle silence. It felt like a heavy blanket pressed over her face smothering her. And then thanks was all that came to mind. She hoped he wouldn’t make her come to regret it.

“Thank you,” she murmured towards Gaius before dropping her gaze.

Tadaaki realized he hadn’t said it either, and also ducked his head. “Yes, thank you. Both.”

Zander looked at them for a long moment, then inclined his head. Thanks were about the last thing on his mind just then. He realized as he was addressed now that he’d let himself stew in his anger and his grief and his guilt for too long. The only thing on his mind was how much he regretted not being able to get to Nyler before he got to Ky.