Page 64 of I Ran Away to Evil 2
Rufus hesitated, his brows furrowed in thought. “I mean, I shouldn’t say this …”
“What?”
She was immediately very interested in what Rufus Trievershouldn’tsay about Madame Potts. Brownie even leaned toward him with enthusiasm. “Tell me!”
“The Black Fortress … Well, the castle staff have a bet going on in the break room. It’s been up for a few years now,” Rufus explained, reaching up and massaging his neck awkwardly. “And the leading guess was tied with … you.”
“Really?!” Brownie burst into laughter at that absurd thought. “Me? As Madame Potts?”
“Of course,I’venever thought that.” Rufus slapped his hand against his chest.
“Oh?” She appreciated the sentiment, and at the same time, basked in the idea that people out there thought that Minstrel Bronwynn Lyriel wastheMadame Potts. Madame Potts was alegend.
“I always assumed it must be Duchess Calisto.” Rufus shrugged. “But I’m told that’s not the case.”
“I always thought it was Their Royal Highness,” Brownie confessed.
That got a chuckle out of her travel partner. “The ruler of Peldeep? Rowenisdramatic enough for it, I suppose.”
“And from what I’ve heard, they’ve never questioned Madame Potts’s predictions!” Brownie waved her hands dramatically. “Not from the very beginning!”
“Good thing too. Do you remember the first serious prophecy involving Peldeep?” Rufus asked, sounding amused.
Brownie, in fact, did not remember. She shook her head.
“That Their Royal Highness would get assassinated in their bathtub,” Rufus stated dryly. “Apparently, some alchemist assassin got molten ash vane into the bathwater.”
Brownie whistled softly, wrapping her arms around herself at the thought. It was not a pleasant way to die. “I see.”
Rufus added, “I don’t think Their Royal Highness sounds like the woman, though.”
“Who says that Madame Potts is a woman?” Brownie countered. “She could be anyone with a voice-changing amulet.”
Rufus hailed the city guard as they approached. “Excuse me, but where can we find the Wistful Cup?”
“Two streets up and turn left. You can’t miss it!” the guard replied, pointing them in the right direction. Rufus nodded a thank you while Donna followed the new directions on her own. Having a smart horse was wonderful … most of the time.
“Honestly, it’s lucky Their Royal Highness heard the Cast and trusted it.” Brownie continued the conversation as they moseyed up the street.
“Technically, Knight Commander Bastian heard it and burst in on the ruler before they’d set foot in the royal tub.” Rufus shivered. “Bastian was elevated to his current position because he risked his life to do so.”
“Then wouldn’t itnotbe Their Royal Highness?” Brownie frowned, her mind racing. “Who Crystal Casts a premonition about their own demise while preparing to get into a tub of permadeath?”
“To see who was willing to stop you?” Rufus reasoned. “And Their Royal Highness is exceptional about their privacy, so no one knows much about them in their private life.”
“So they might or mightnotbe Madame Potts.” Brownie nodded. This conversation didn’t disprove her original theory, but it did give her more to think about. “Whoever she is, she was at the Dark Lord and Heroine’s wedding. We were standing in a field withtheMadame Potts.”
Rufus chuckled. “Apparently, Chloe [Resurrected] the madame once.”
“What?!”
“Yes, Madame Potts sent Chloe a letter as thanks.”
“No! That’s amazing!” Brownie dropped the pretense of driving the carriage entirely as she let go of the reins to clap with excitement. “Does she remember the people she’d saved right before that ?”
Rufus shook his head sadly. “There’d been a bunch of natural disasters and floods that month; it could’ve been one out of a hundred.”
“Then does that mean that Madame Potts lives in the Dark Enchanted Forest? Wait, hold that thought.” Brownie loved discussing the enigmatic, reclusive woman, but Donna had come to a stop in front of the Wistful Cup. It was time to dismount and get to sorting out stabling.
