Page 87 of I Ran Away to Evil 2
Brownie lifted the basket she’d been carrying. “Our Dark Lady’s homemade delights.”
“I’ll never say no toyourbaking, my queen.” Gerda smiled, her eyes alight. “I’ve got a new batch of nettle tisane leaves from an elven crop in Servalt waiting for us below.”
The troll walked Henrietta onto the bridge. Two giant golems with long spears stood on either side of it, creations of the Dark Lord’s own making. He had golems of all shapes and sizes guarding the Dark Enchanted Forest.
When they got to the other side, the troll led them down the sloped, packed earth of the moat to the underside of the drawbridge. Brownie couldn’t help but ask, “Did you just have to pay for Henrietta and I crossing the bridge?”
Gerda’s magic flared, and the door to her home appeared on the bridge. Henrietta let go of Gerda’s arm so the troll could open her magical door, the frame decorated with beautiful mushrooms and flowers and leaves; it was even more intricately carved than the last time Brownie had seen it.
“Yes,” answered the troll as she stood in the entry to her home, looking down on them sideways. Henrietta joined Gerda, and then it was Brownie’s turn. It was interesting to feel the spatial magic warp around Brownie as she reached a hand through the space directly overhead and stepped forward into Gerda’s home. It wasn’t abadfeeling, just anoddone.
“Wait,” Henrietta frowned up at Gerda. “What does she mean you have to pay?”
Gerda shrugged, closing the door. She waved at them to go get seated while she moved to a cauldron of water bubbling over the fire in her hearth.
As she spooned the water into a large teapot and dropped her sachet of the promised nettle tea inside, the troll explained to Henrietta that she had to pay to control the drawbridge without fulfilling her part of the troll magic.
Henrietta listened intently. When Gerda finished, the queen asked, “But …why?”
That was actually what Brownie wanted to ask. She leaned forward in her chair, putting the basket of treats down on the table.
“Why what?” Gerda tilted her head.
“You’re spending hundreds of experience points just to control the drawbridge, and risking angering a Dark Lord … Why?”
The troll brought the teapot over and placed it on the table. “I actually have another way to pay for it … I found a loophole.”
They both stared at the troll expectantly. She hesitated but finally admitted, “I can pay it in taxes.”
“But that must be a hundred gold, at least!” Brownie exclaimed, incredulous.
“Well, yes. It costs about two hundred gold a year to manage all of my bridges and take some days off,” Gerda admitted. “But it’s worth it.”
“I can’t imagine.” The bard shook her head. Henrietta didn’t seem as worried, but she was the queen and probably didn’t worry about that many gold coins.
Gerda grabbed everyone a cup and added, “Do you have any idea how many experience points I get for holdingevery single bridgein anentire kingdom?”
Henrietta and Brownie shared a look before shaking their heads.
“Let’s just say”—Gerda put her hands on her hips and looked like a self-satisfied grimalcat when she smiled—“that it far outpaces the loss. I could challenge Commander General Rufus himself for the highest-level minion of the Dark Horde. Not that I’d want his job. No. I’ll leave that to General Knolith when the time comes.”
“The lizardkin would have to win at the upcoming Winter Solstice Tourney, and I’m not too sure he will,” Brownie said. “Rufus won their last duel.”
Gerda turned away to grab the honey and cream and three teaspoons, saying over her shoulder, “I’m sure the Commander General title will go to whomever needs it most, when the time is right; no need to worry.”
“You’re probably right.” Brownie felt her own cheeks heat up thinking of the beastman. Shewasworried. It meant a lot to him to keep his rooms and his place in the Black Fortress.
In fact, she hoped he was enjoying the comforts of home right now.
CHAPTER 53
That One Time Her Eminence Feliwyn Sat on Me
Rufus
“Let me get this straight,” King Keith said with a wry smile. “You have successfully convinced the Servalt assassins to stop attacking our civilians, you’ve discovered who was behind the Spring Ball debacle … and you’ve learned that Gerda the Bridge Troll, bane of my life, has possibly hundreds of illegal portals into other kingdoms?”
“Yes.”
