Page 46 of The Oracle's Journey

I grunted. The maids left and dragged the empty tub away. It left my tired brain with a puzzling set of questions. Where did they put the water? Out the window? I didn’t see a drain. Did they even have plumbing?

I knocked on the door and asked, “You okay, Emma?”

“Yes, thank you Lobikno,” she answered. “They’re going to bring food for us both soon.”

Oh, thank the goddess.

Me and my new friend stood watch in silence for a while longer. Eventually, I smelled food as it came down the hall. Roast pork. I started salivating. Expecting some twittering maid to deliver the food, I was surprised to see it was the duke approaching with a plate in each hand.

He nodded at his knight. “Guille.”

“Your Grace,” replied Guille.

Guille … what a stupid name. Gee-ya … it sounds like a kind of cheese. But I guess women like cheese, so maybe it wasn’t stupid.

The duke turned toward me, keeping a pleasant smile, but his eyes were calculating. He was a little short for a man, but carried himself with the ease and confidence of someone that knows he can handle himself. “Master elf, would you care for some food?” He offered me the plate.

“Er, yes, thank you,” I said, and Guille looked at me over the duke’s shoulder to mouth your Grace. “Thank you, your Grace,” I corrected. I took the plate and bowed my head a fraction. “Are you here to see ...” I almost called Emma by name, “the princess?”

“Yes,” the duke said, with a quirk of the mouth that reminded me of Lhoris’ expression while staring at Ozanna. I sighed. Naturally, I’m the only one here to keep this kid from doing something stupid.

I knocked on the door. “Emma.” Already slipping out of formality, I winced at my mistake. “Princess, the duke is here to see you.” I heard her squeak followed by a flurry of swishing fabric sounds.

“Thank you Lobikno,” she said. “You may admit him.”

I opened the door for the duke and followed him inside. Guille cleared his throat, like he was trying to get my attention, to stop me. I looked at him with narrow eyes.

“Her matron will box my ears if I leave her alone with him before the wedding,” I explained. “I don’t understand why, but she’d have my balls.” I went so far as to make a cupping gesture with my empty hand for emphasis. Guille backed off with a shake of his head.

Turning back into the room, I found the young couple staring at me. The duke seemed shocked, but Emma belly laughed.

“Judith was the only one to get a blade to your throat,” she said.

I felt a little grin sneak up on me. “She’s a scary bitch,” I drawled.

“I suspect there are many tales I have yet to hear,” the duke said before turning to Emma and saying, “Please don’t let my presence stop you from eating, Emmelina.” He went further into the sitting room and put her food on the circular table with four chairs around it. Although she sat down, I stood by the door, being as subtly intrusive as I could, eating some of the meat off my plate with my fingers.

“I hadn’t heard from you in so long that I sent a handful of my knights out to search for you along the roads into Alaire. I couldn’t even find anything by scrying,” the young duke said. “How did you manage to get past them?”

“Alaire?” Emma asked.

The duke looked confused. “The name of my province is Alaire.”

Emma blushed and shoved a fork full of pork into her mouth. She chewed her food and gestured for me to answer the original question.

“We hid when we detected anybody on the road,” I said around a mouthful of truly excellent pork. It practically melted in my mouth. “She’d been attacked more than once. With only the three of us to protect the lady, we chose caution.”

“Lobikno, please come sit with us. You may have insights I’ve forgotten,” Emma said.

I supposed Emma thought my manners would improve if I sat down to eat. I sat next to her, across from the duke. I could be much more intrusive there! Emma shot me a look, like she knew exactly what I was thinking. The duke looked unsure.

“Honestly, Nicolas,” she said, putting a tiny piece of potato on her fork, “Lobikno has been like a father to me during the journey. I’d be dead many times over if it weren’t for him.”

My throat tightened at that statement, and I almost choked on my food. I don’t know what my face looked like when she turned to look at me, but she smiled sadly and put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. Unsure what to say or do, I patted that delicate little hand as gently as I could and picked up the fork lying on my plate.

Still an excellent storyteller, Emmelina had greater understanding after her change and relied less on the physical side of storytelling now, though I missed her wyvern impression. I didn’t have much to add in terms of clarification, except for the incident with the kiss. The duke wanted to make sure I wasn’t a danger to the women that worked and lived around the chateau.

“I am a creep, but not that kind,” I admitted with a shrug.

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