Young Writers Society

Ky started after him as well. Tomhas seemed to handle the children far, far easier than she did — but there were still three of them, so she figured having three adults may be helpful. Ky watched Tomhas as she approached, then glanced at Oscar to see how he was faring with all this.

@GrandWild

(Still can't believe we knocked out 99 pages in 10 days!)

Oscar was sitting proudly up on the cat, stroking one of its icy ears.
"Ready to come down now?" Tomhas asked. "Since you all made it up at the same time I'll tell your mothers to hug all of you."
"I wanna stay up here!" Mattathias told him. "It's tall up here."

(Haha right?! We are unstoppable)

“What do you see from all the way up there?” Ky asked.

(I wonder how many more it will take to finish. We can go as long or as short as you want; I've got plot for decades but it seems unrealistic to go that far.)

"I see birds in a tree." Mattathias pointed. "And I see horses coming through the gate!"
"There's people on them," Marcella added.

(Aha I mean I’ll let you know if I start getting tired of it but for now I say full steam ahead)

Tadaaki! It must be. The Ashes were already here; and so was Anneke’s family. That only left Tadaaki and his family. She was also a tiny bit nervous to meet them — but more excited than anything when it came to them. Ky knew how to interact with other farmers — at least ones that weren’t related to nobility. And so she was primarily excited to meet the woman and little girl that Tadaaki spoke so fondly about.

Ky turned and started to sprint towards the gate; but stopped herself after three steps. It was rude to go sprinting off when you were in the middle of a group of people. She needed to be polite. She turned back to the group and looked at Tomhas. “Sorry… may I go check if it’s Tadaaki?”

(It is Tadaaki, right? Or is it the king?)

(Tis Tadaaki, I think. Definitely not the King.)

Tomhas made a shooing motion. "By all means! Wick and I have got this covered. Anneliese, too."

(Cool thought so but wanted to check)

“Thank you!” Ky grinned and whirled around, forcing herself to just stride quickly towards the courtyard rather than run. But she only made it a few dozen meters before her excitement overwhelmed her and she started sprinting again instead.

(Hope that's okay!)

Tomhas watched her go, chuckling. Anneliese came up to join them. "Who is it, do you think?"
"I'd guessed Tadaaki would be arriving tomorrow, but it seems he's here early," Tomhas replied. "Oh, she's going to be delighted!"

(For sure! I was legit about to do it in the next few posts, so same brain)

Ky was delighted. She got to the courtyard just as the horses were clomping in, their hooves loud against the cold stone beneath them. She forced herself into a quick walk as she neared so that she wouldn't spook them.

"Tadaaki!" she beamed up at him as she spotted him; stopping a few steps away from his horse. He looked well. So much more confident than before. His shoulders were pulled back and chin raised, finally having the freedom to face the world as a man having to be cowed as a slave.

Tadaaki looked down at her with an equally broad grin, swinging himself down off the horse. Ky looked well. She looked happy and he was so glad to see it. He'd never seen her happy before; the first time he ever laid eyes on her was when Aleth had forced him to help him abduct Ky. That certainly hadn't been a pleasant interaction.

She was still a clearly wound-up ball of anxiety -- but not nearly to the degree she'd always been before. It was clear that being here had been good for her. "Ky!"

Tomhas, Wick, and Anneliese got the children down from the cat and went to the courtyard as well, hanging back a bit to let Ky have her moment.

Someone rushed at Ky from the side. She stumbled back a few steps, looking at the transgressor with wide eyes; heart lurching and racing in an instant. It was a tall, slender woman with ebony skin and black hair pulled neatly back in an updo. She was wearing warm-looking furs that were clearly too big for her (borrowed perhaps?) and her expression fell as she looked at Ky; eyes going wide and mouth gaping.

"I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed. "I didn't mean to startle you! I'm so sorry!"

"Ky, this is Aashi," Tadaaki said, striding forward to put his arm around the woman's shoulders. "My wife. She's safe."

Ky nodded tensely, forcing herself to exhale her pent breath. Right. Safe. She'd overreacted. Again. She looked back at the woman. "Sorry."

"No, no, you have nothing to be sorry for -- it's all my fault, I apologize," the woman said quickly. "Tadaaki doesn't like it when I surprise-hug him either. I should have known better. I'm sorry, I just got excited. I'm so sorry for startling you. I should have asked first. May I give you a hug? You can say no!"

Ky looked at her for a long moment, then glanced at Tadaaki. The woman seemed so warm and sincere, but Ky's heart was still racing from the initial shock.

Tadaaki nodded to her encouragingly. "She's safe... but you can say no. There will be no hurt feelings."

"Okay." She turned her gaze back to the woman, taking a step nearer to her and opening her arms for a hug. "Sure."

"Are you sure?" the woman asked. "You don't have to."

"It's okay," Ky said, nodding. "I'm trying to get used to hugs again."

That was something she was going to reclaim from Aleth. Her comfort with both giving and receiving physical affection from others. She used to be so touchy-feely and she knew she was probably never going to be like that again, but she'd be damned if she stayed terrified of human contact.

Aashi stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Ky, giving her a warm embrace. "It's so nice to finally meet you, Ky! Tadaaki has said how very much you helped him while you were together under that brute."

Ky nodded awkwardly as Aashi stepped away. "I mean, I didn't do much."

"You did so much, Tadaaki argued. He opened his arms, but let her approach him. They were both so skittish still about people getting near to them, and he was going to let her take it at her own pace. "Bring it in."

Ky grinned and stepped into his arms, giving him a tight hug. He returned the embrace just as tightly. "It's so good to see you."

(God I'm so glad they're happy!)

Tomhas grinned, leaning against the gate of the ice garden.
"Who is he, Uncle Tomhas?" Marcella asked, tugging his cloak.
"An old friend of Ky's," he replied. He was absolutely delighted that Ky was so happy. She and Tadaaki were doing so much better than they were before. In his opinion the healing process would be quick. It wouldn't be perfect, but it would be quick.

( :') )

They held the embrace for a long moment, then pulled away. There was a flicker of motion off to Ky's right, and she looked down to see a little girl tangled up in Aashi's cloak.

"Come here, Tasia," Tadaaki said, crouching down and waving the little girl over. She glared at Ky suspiciously, making a wide arc around her to stay out of arm's reach, but obeyed. Tadaaki wrapped his arm around her. "This is Ky, Papa's very best friend."

Ky was startled by that. But, then, she supposed Tadaaki was her best friend. It just looked so different than what it'd meant to have a best friend from her childhood. Ky crouched down to be on their level again and smiled at the little girl. She was short and stout and had clear blue eyes. "Why is your hair so short?"

"Why not?" Ky asked with a smile, ruffling her own hair. She still hadn't decided whether she was going to keep it short or let it grow out -- but she hadn't trimmed it since she'd come here anyway, so it was starting to grow out and was maybe an inch long all around at this point. Just long enough to be utterly infuriating as she tried to keep it under control. "It's so nice to meet you. I know your papa is so proud of you."

Tasia had her hand grasping the furs draped over Tadaaki's knees, and now had her weight on one leg, twisting back and forth slightly like little kids tended to do when they were thinking about something. "How do you know Papa?"

"We used to work together," Ky answered. Tasia certainly didn't need to know the actual truth.

Tasia nodded, satisfied with the answer. "You live here?"

"I do," Ky said with a grin. That was enough to remind her that she was, in fact, in the Loquiturs' Keep. She wondered if the others had followed her, and stood up to look around for them.

Tomhas gave a little wave but didn't intrude. He was going to be up in everybody's business anyway; why not let Ky and Tadaaki's family have some time to themselves?

"That's..." Ky hesitated, realizing she had no idea how to introduce Tomhas to a child this size. Lord Loquitur? That seemed obnoxious. Tomhas? That seemed disrespectful. She certainly wasn't allowed to call adults by their first name when she was this little. And most people in her township didn't have a surname, so it was Ms/Mr and then their first name. Mr. Myrond; Mr. Drakan; Mr. Lian... Mr. Tomhas? Lord Tomhas? This was all so confusing.

She looked up at Tadaaki. He looked at her helplessly, shrugging. He certainly didn't know propriety, if Ky didn't. That was her job. He just tended the horses.

"... Lord Tomhas," Ky said after an awkwardly long pause, looking at Tasia. "And his son, and niece, and nephew. I bet you'll be friends with them so fast."