Page 131 of I Ran Away to Evil 2
“And what will you be reporting back to the council?” Derek asked. He retained a friendly businesslike demeanor, though his low voice couldn’t hide his suspicious curiosity.
I paused in the process of standing up. Honestly, I was going to wait until Slake came back and then speak with the guild master again. The original meeting was supposed to be tomorrow … But, as he’d brought it up himself: “That depends. Are you the one secretly delivering molten ash vane?”
The guild master didn’t reply right away. Instead, his eyes searched mine, and whatever he was thinking about was hidden behind a calm outward mask. I waited.
Finally, he asked, “Rufus, who does the Dark Enchanted Forest order its poisons from?”
“Anyone and everyone,” I replied. “Every market has a pop-up apothecary and any number of stalls with homemade antidote or poison bottles for sale. Or just locally harvested ingredients that have similar effects. Even if the castle was looking for something specific, we could have the army find it or ask the Pixie Prim to grow it. The Dark Enchanted Forest is, well,a Dark Enchanted Forest. Stumble around long enough, and the forest will figure it out.”
Guild Master Derek nodded.
“The rest of the continent isn’t like that. Instead, you have a few famous poisoners who will brew up batches of poisons and hire someone to distribute the goods to potential buyers.”
Back in Servalt, Guild Master Lina had said something similar.
“And you have three such poisoners?” I recalled Bronwynn mentioning it.
“Yes.” Derek waved his own hand—and four bottles of molten ash vane appeared on the table. The giant didn’t have any visible rings or jewelry, so either it was a skill or he was just very good at sleight of hand. Both were equally likely. “We have three poisoners, and recently, these have been popping up in the inventory lists.”
“And you are telling mebecause?”
“You’re one of the lead investigators, are you not?” Derek waved the molten ash vane back to where it came from.
“I am.”
“Then you would come back here with a signed writ from Their Royal Highness to audit my supplies sooner or later. I have the registry of each bottle, and the records show that each bottle we’ve received is untouched. The problem is that our poisoners are located across the continent, and I can’t be absolutely surewho’sbeen adding MAV to the batch.”
It was an amusing thought, that both Guild Master Lina and Guild Master Derek shared the same scheme. If it was a good plan, it was a good plan. “Could you figure out which one is the poisoner?”
“With enough time, yes. Though there’s someone here who might already know.” He trailed off, obviously hesitating.
“Who?” I prodded. There was no sense in stalling when he’d come so far and told me so much already.
“It is against the guild’s confidentiality contract to tell you her name, but you already know her,” He sighed, “since she isn’t a normal guild member and spends a lot more time traveling than most.”
I felt my heart sink as I offered a name and he didn’t say no.
“One last thing,” he said as we stood. He was towering over me, as giants were wont to do. “Linden and Marigold have approved of your match, and I’ll honor my brother’s choice. But I’m sure you know what would happen to you if youeverhurt my niece?”
“Of course.” I was a perfectly legal target, as per the treaties with the Peldeep Assassin Assembly. I offered my paw, and we shook hands before summoning Marigold to escort me.
But not back to Bronwynn. No.
I had a date with a horse.
CHAPTER 80
One Night by Candlelight
Brownie
Brownie met up with Rufus at noon after a long morning with her cousins. She hoped that Rufus had had an alright time of it without her.
For all she could see right through him, the beastman was a well-respected, confident commander general of the Dark Lord’s army—and from what she’d gathered, most of her family already liked him.
Her father had even given Rufus a set of family robes. He was practically married in already.
Not that they were getting married anytime soon, or even engaged. They hadn’t even admitted to love yet. She wondered if she should just tell him. It might not be the overwhelming storybook love of legends … but sheadoredthe beastman and loved spending time with him, and wanted to live happily ever after with him.
