Page 69 of I Ran Away to Evil
The dwarfess took a deep breath and resettled herself. I finally took my first bite of the stew, and all else faded away. The broth was thick and rich. The herbs earthy. The unigoat fell apart in my mouth. The vegetables were soft but still held substance. It probably had too much salt, but after my travels, it was exactly what I needed.
I appreciated the taste so much that a delicate sound of pleasure escaped me. Corporal Nova looked on in disgust but ordered her own bowl.
“You know, it’s hard to be irate with someone who likes my husband’s cooking that much,” she told me.
“Is Polman your husband?” I asked around a mouthful.
“No, that was his grandpappy,” she replied. “Marvin runs it now, but he kept the name.”
“Listen,” The stew did wonders for my mood and as I regained myself I tried to employ the etiquette skills my mother had beaten into me. “Corporal Nova, I apologize for any injury my part in returning the eggs has caused to the dwarven outpost. I would like you to know that I acted in good faith and would like to keep good faith with the dwarves going forward.”
Corporal Nova eyed me for a long second and then sighed again. “Alright Princess. I’ll accept your apology on behalf of Frolin, but I don’t appreciate how cavalier you are with us and I expect you to show respect and dignity to my countrymen in future.”
“That Icanpromise.” I emptied the bowl and waved the server for a second serving.
I spent the rest of dinner chatting with the prickly corporal and meeting Marvin and some of the other crew. At one point, Chancellor Grimly came in to greet me and let us know most of the damage had been repaired and everyone could go on with their lives.
Which meant I could go shopping around the outpost before bed!
I just needed to follow my very important must-follow rule: don’t buy more sharp, shiny, pointy things. I could do this.
CHAPTER 44
His Never-Ending List of Kingly Duties
Keith
The morning sunrise was a terrible thing that Keith never had to experience because he’d purposefully chosen rooms facing the western sky.
That morning, however, he wasn’t snug under a plush comforter enjoying a peaceful sleep. No. Instead, he was glaring against the light in Henrietta’s room.
In front of him knelt a trussed up and slightly battered spy whom his lizardkin maids had found hiding in Ria’s closet.
He couldn’t be certain if the woman was an assassin or simply there to gather information. Either way, this was the closest any such outsider had come to the castle since … Well, since Henrietta herself.
“Why is this happening?!” He pinched the bridge of his nose, slightly lifting up his glasses to do so. “And why at thisungodslyhour of the morning?”
“Perhapsss it’s because we sssent out all of the automaton guardsss?” Lilith suggested. She gripped the rope of the tied-up individual in one hand and held a knife to their throat in the other. The spy glared up at the Dark Lord, but her mouth was gagged. “She must have ssslipped through our defensesss.”
“I kept some behind!” Keith argued.
He’d learned his lesson, and a midsize snake golem now lived in the rafters of his workroom. And there were still the gate-golems for anyone foolish enough to walk in through the front draw-bridge. “Still, again? I thought I covered every base with the princess’s extra tests!”
“Shall we move this one to your inner sssanctum, my liege?” Lilith asked.
“Yes, yes.” Keith waved a hand flippantly. “I’ll be by after breakfast. You may throw her in the pit.”
“Right away, Your Viciousnesss.”
It’d been so long since he’d used the pit under his workroom, he didn’t know how clean it was, and he didn’t really care.
He considered the merits of going back to sleep.
“Your Viciousnesss?” Chikli poked his head into entry to the Nightshade Rooms. “Were you going to make time to interrogate the egg-napping mercenariesss today? Or should I leave them with Rufusss for one more sssession?”
Keith let out an exasperated sigh and stalked toward his never-ending list of kingly duties.
“I won’t say. Ya can’t make me!Ya can’t make me.”
