Page 125 of I Ran Away to Evil
“See you at supper.”
They went their separate ways, and Keith hurried to his office. He needed the distraction. That conversation had gone further than he’d thought … and better than he’d hoped.
He was settled in, going over ground reports and merchant complaints, when Chloe burst into his office. Everyone kept working, though his castle administrator team nodded politely at the necromancer.
“You’re back!” she accused, hands on her hips.
“So it would seem.” Keith just looked at her for a second before going back to signing documents.
“Don’t you wanna know what happened?!” She leaned forward, golden hair sweeping over the edge of his desk.
Thankfully, it was a large enough desk that she didn’t disturb any papers; not as impressive as his worktable in the inner sanctum, but solid and wide.
“You saidyes, right?” He casually finished scanning the page he was working on—another report from the Drendil border saying all was quiet, though new supplies had arrived for the troops—and stamped it with his royal seal before moving to the next report.
“You’re insufferable,” Chloe stated, then she gave him a self-satisfied grin. “And I’ll have you know thatshesaid yes.”
Keith kept down a small smile that played across his lips at the reminder of his own princess. When he was composed, he glanced up at Chloe. “Congratulations. When is the big day?”
“That’s why I’m here!” Chloe waved a hand over his paperwork. “When is your stupid war going to be over and done with? I want to start planning our weddingnow.”
“You know as well as I that the Drendil army is set to arrive in a week.” Keith pushed up his glasses and eyed his frustrated friend. She was a general in the Dark Army and important to the resurrection of his minions, though she probably wished she could just elope. Her and Julia had been a long time coming. Then he had a nervous thought. “Whereareyou having the wedding?”
Please don’t say—
“Here, of course!” Chloe’s eyes glazed over as she thought of her future wedding. “We’ll hand out invites at the Spring Ball! I expect the entire Continental Council to come! There is that field beside Her Eminence Feliwyn that hasn’t moved much the last decade. It’ll be perfect to host the three hundred guests—”
“Three hundred?” Keith choked. He was about to wage a bloody war beside that field. The cleaning alone was going to be a nightmare, not to mention having to get it ready for a royal wedding.
“Of course. Whose wedding do you think this is?” Chloe smiled smugly.
Hecertainly wouldn’t have chosen it for a venue. Honestly, he bet Ria would prefer a destination wedding somewhere exotic. With a dungeon. And interesting new food. Or perhaps he would hold it at the Hollow. The elves weren’t holding true to the treaty as it was, and despite his frustration with the clingy duke’s daughter, Henrietta would enjoy the company. He would need to plan accordingly to have his own quality time with his very popular wife … as much as the thought of locking her up for a week, alone in a tower somewhere, had tempted him.
Jealousy was praised by dragons, and Keith had been raised by one of the best … Still, he’d figure it out.
CHAPTER 75
The Dark Enchanted Forest Had Sturdy Porcelain
Henrietta
Bronwynn was still regaling Sithli with her adventurous trip to the Sunshine Coast in Sumbria—the southern tip of the continent, not the northern independent duchy.
During the revolution twenty years ago, Grand Duke Lysander, the level ninety-one Arcane Sorcerer, had fought against General Mathis, the level seventy-two Sage of Aegis, and cut a canyon through the center of the kingdom. The country had literally been split open north to south by magic. Now, North Sumbria was ruled by Duchess Calisto at the northwestern point, the middle became Servalt under their new king and queen, and the south remained Sumbria.
I came in as Brownie explained the importance of a lady’s fichu in Sumbria, and how she had uncovered a noble assassin during her royal performance.
“I’m back,” I said simply in a moment Brownie stopped for breath.
She tossed me a big smile. “Let me just finish this. You see, the assassin had seats next to the royal box, and as I was performing ‘The Traveler’s Anthem,’ I saw this man switch to apurplefichu scarf!”
“Ssstop, he didn’t?!” Sithli was on the edge of his seat, gripping his teacup. I feared for the fine porcelain.
“He did!” Brownie laughed. “Sumptuary laws be damned. Not that I blame him—the royal oppression was what started the wars. I noticed three others in the crowd turn theirs to a purple side and had to leap off the stage while in the middle of the second to last verse. It took everything I had to hit those high notes before tackling the assassin and retrieving his poisoned dagger.”
The lizardman shook his head. “Who bothersss with poison nowadaysss? It’s nothing a potion can’t fix.”
“The blade was coated in molten ash vane.” Brownie shuddered. “So I’m happy they didn’t hit anyone.”
