Page 130 of I Ran Away to Evil 2
Brownie didn’t know why … but that feeling of unease slowly settled in her gut again. The same one she’d had before she learned that Rufus was following her around on orders.
No one else seemed to catch it, but she knew. She knew, and all night, she wondered.
CHAPTER 79
The Dark Enchanted Forest is a Dark Enchanted Forest
Rufus
“As per the records from the Assembly relocation project, the operatives responsible for torching Kith Bog were hired mercenaries from Drendil, and not our responsibility,” Guild Master Derek explained while I read over a tidy report logging the statements of each Rogue class we’d shipped off to the Assembly after the mass attack during the day of the Bridge Battle. “You will find the contracts individually signed by our guild members that specifyroyal targets only. As such, there was no breach of treaties, and we will not be offering reparations.”
“Thank you, this will be enough to reassure my king.” I carefully reviewed each page in a stack placed before me, my reading glasses perched on my nose. Everything was meticulously organized. “I shouldn’t be long.”
Very unfortunate.
I’d been hoping to leverage the Peldeep assassin’s breach of treaty for information on how the giant had even gotten assassins across the border, but it didn’t look like that was going to be the case.
And … now I was courting Bronwynn. It would’ve been so much easier to threaten to bring down the entire weight of the Dark Enchanted Forest when I didn’t need to calculate how that would affect future family dinner parties.
Guild Master Derek’s office had a giant desk in the corner appropriately sized for the storm giant, but I was currently sitting on a comfortable-size couch across from him with papers stacked on a short table between us. There was tea and snacks, and two copies of each report so that I could bring back a set for our records.
Dealing with the long-standing Peldeep guild was night and day to meeting with Servalt. While Guild Master Lina’s entire business was cloaked in shadows, secretive, and bordered on the illicit, Peldeep was an established guild with centuries of history and reputation.
“Any chance,” I broached, knowing it was a lost cause; still, it weighed heavy on Keith’s mind—and by that, I meant it was driving my king up the wall with irritation, “you would reveal how you suddenly bypassed my kingdom’s defenses?”
“Trade secret, I’m afraid,” the guild master refused with a smile. He was missing one of his teeth; his lower left canine. I hadn’t gotten a good look at the giant last evening, but from across a table, he was a very confident older man with salt-and-pepper hair, sideburns, and stormy gray eyes.
As for size, I came up to just below his elbow.
“Just thought I’d ask.”
“I’m sure the Dark Lord will figure out the loophole any day now.” Derek chuckled. “And I’ll have a new magical defense to puzzle through. It’s been a pleasure working against his border guard all these years.”
“I’ll let him know you said so.” I nodded, tapping the files. There were only ten or so left. “As long as Peldeep continues to respect the safety and security of Nilheim citizens during contracts, then we may lay this to rest.”
The guild master nodded. “Of course … and we appreciate that you’ve diligently adhered to the same restrictions.”
We didn’t send many assassins to other kingdoms, anyway. There were only six who had registered their Assassin class in the forest, and they enjoyed using their skills for other occupations, like maid or nanny. Keith’s old wet nurse, retired now and living her best life in Gren’s Keep, had been an Assassin class. There were a few other rogue classes, but they were highly prized and guaranteed a well-paying job with a pension in the Dark Horde. Since the Dark Enchanted Forest offered high-paying jobs with salaried four-day workweeks at four-hour shifts, not many thought about leaving.
I checked the clock and saw we were making good time for what was an arduous task.
After I’d survived the dinner with Bronwynn’s giant relatives the previous evening, I’d been shown to a room one building over in Guardian Ulric and Tracker Glindy’s home. As their titles suggested, they were very skilled at protecting visitors … and protecting the familyfromvisitors.
I hadn’t minded.
The black with gold trim outfit I’d prepared for meeting Guild Master Derek wasn’t asimpressiveas the clothing gifted to me by Linden, but it was still perfect for this meeting. Comfortable but fashionable. Marigold had been waiting for me at breakfast with Ulric and Glindy. The priestess would act as my official escort while conducting business with the guild master, and after we’d finished a meal of fruit and flying pork bacon with small hotcakes had showed me to Derek’s office. When asked, she’d let me know that Bronwynn would be busy with the children all morning.
She’d stepped out for our main discussion, but was waiting on hand outside.
Now that I was finishing up my meeting with Guild Master Derek, who was proving very helpful even without the grimalcat, there was another worry distracting me.
How was I going to meet up with the rest of the fan clubwithoutchanging into my folk form? No one had ever seen me in beast or beastfolk form, as I’d managed to keep my work and my hobby completely separate thanks to the introduction of my hidden identity, Fergus.
There was a need to appear as myself in the royal court while visiting Their Royal Highness and when I was representing Nilheim on the Continental Council, but otherwise, I spent my days in Peldeep in a furless form, using the anonymity to relax.
Now I was courting the very woman I longed to hear, and I was expected to meet up with Frida and Ross as soon as they contacted me to let me know they were in the city. The rest of the group would be there too, though I knew few personally outside of the Crystal Cast correspondence … My opportunity to mingle at the yearly fan event had been stopped short when the entire place burned down. Maybe I should host another fan event this year. A fall affair, or a winter solstice concert … By that point, I should have revealed all to Bronwynn.
“Alright, that’s the last one.” I waved a hand over my copy of the documents, and the pile disappeared into my storage ring. “I’ll report these back to the Dark Lord.”
