Page 124 of I Ran Away to Evil 2
The entry of her childhood home remained the same, opening into a mudroom used for taking off their shoes and donning indoor footwear. Rufus accepted a pair, sliding his wolf feet into ill-fitting slippers. In the common room, her mother was pouring hot water into a teapot to steep. She’d also placed out a few snacks: lotus blossom cakes, fried vegetable dumplings, mixed nuts, and a small platter of dried meats.
The sentiment warmed Brownie’s heart. Her mother was a vegetarian and never served meat unless they were hosting a purely carnivorous guest of honor.
Marigold didn’t know what Rufus could eat, so she’d added meat just for him.
Brownie resisted the sudden urge to cry; she loved her parents, which was why convincing them to accept Rufus was all the more important.
Her father sat down cross-legged on a pillow at the low table. At least, low by half-giant standards. While standing, it came up to Brownie’s shin and her mother’s knee.
“So, Rufus,” Linden Stannard said. “Tell us about yourself.”
CHAPTER 75
You’ve Been Stalking My Daughter?
Rufus
Somehow, I’d gone from admiring Minstrel Bronwynn from afar to sitting across from her parents the night after she’d pet me to sleep, trying to convince them I was a worthy husband for their daughter.
I still couldn’t quite wrap my head around it.
“My full title is Commander General Rufus Triever, leader of the King’s Dogs of the Black Fortress, and I’m also mediator to the Dark Horde. I live full-time in the Dark Enchanted Forest but enjoy a fair bit of travel—mostly to go see Bronwynn’s concerts.” I thought that telling that much of the truth wouldn’t hurt. Whatdidhurt was my tail, which I’d deliberately sat on to prevent difficulties.
My tail was not meant to be sat on.
“I’m also a sitting representative on the Continental Council,” I added, trying to impress.
Marigold Stannard nodded. Bronwynn had mentioned that she’d used her mother’s maiden name, Lyriel, in her bardic career. Something to separate her from her assassin family. “That’s nice, dear, but what my husband wants to hear isn’t your job but something aboutyou.”
As someone who’d lounged comfortably on the asking side of this style of interrogation most of my life, it was somehow nerve-racking to find myself sitting and being scrutinized on the answering side.
Of course, [Natural Poise] let me relax into my seat with an appearance of put-togetherness …
“I’m a simple beastman. Every morning, I enjoy breakfast and a swim to get me going. I like reading, and recently picked up all of Her Eminence Feliwyn’s romance novels, though I read educational books on the habits of people in equal measure. My favorite music is anything your daughter is singing. I have a sisterin Gren’s Keep I still keep in touch with. My favorite food is flying pork–breaded cutlets on rice. And I am a connoisseur of wine, but rarely overimbibe. I simply enjoy the taste.”
“And can you explain”—Linden slapped his knee—“why Oscar bit you?”
“The griffin probably sensed my own guilty conscience.”
Even under the intense eye of my potential future in-laws, I admired their honest straightforwardness. It was something I promoted in my own people. Why beat around the bush when you could ask direct questions? It helped that I had [Sense Lies] and [Detect Fake] and [Sense Threat], and could very easily ask all of the same questions and know for fair certain if the answers given were true. Between her parents, I wasn’t certain they didn’t have a similar skill.
“I hope you were planning to elaborate on that,” Marigold said sweetly, pouring each of us a cup of tea. It was then that my sense of self-preservation made me viscerally aware of the human woman. There was a matter-of-fact hint of murderous intent in her dark eyes. Something primal told me that while Linden Stannard would happily shank me in an alleyway if he saw fit to do so, Marigold would feed my body to her plants, where even the bones would be used for fertilizer.
The Black Fortress had a man-eating carnivorous castle garden planted by Her Eminence Feliwyn, and I’d had my fair share of walks among the corpse roses.
“I have a few kingdom quests that involve following Bronwynn around,” I stated, “which she has kindly—”
Linden cut me off. “You’respyingon my daughter?”
“Yes.” I nodded.
“How long have you been ‘following her around’?”
The question caught me off guard, and my eyes flicked to Bronwynn for the first time since we’d sat down side by side at the table. She was happily eating a mooncake, her cheeks full and her smile radiant. When our eyes met, her smile somehow grew bigger. I thanked all the gods that for this meeting, I’d sat on my tail.
I dragged my eyes back to her father and stated, “A year.”
“What?” Bronwynn choked on her mooncake. The word was a garble of pastry, but I could recognize it by the tone. I held back a wince. In for a copper, in for a gold coin, I supposed.Sigh.
