Page 59 of I Ran Away to Evil 2
“But you don’t mind that they were searching your room when they found it?” Brownie asked before she could help herself. Rufus was tapping his chin in thought.
“Of course,” Lady Tate stated, waving her hand elegantly in the air as if to brush away Brownie’s concerns. “They told me they were going to search myroom, and it is a perfectly proper thing to do in this case.That,” she sniffed, “is not mine, and is false evidence planted against the bard. I would expect better of the duke.”
“Sir Norman.” Rufus turned on the knight so quickly that the human took a step back, startled.
“Yes?”
“Do you know a castle attendant named Claire?”
Sir Norman frowned. “Why? She’s got nothing to do with you.”
“We’ll see about that.” Rufus suddenly smiled. He turned to Lady Tate. “You are certain that you’ve never seen this bag before?”
“Of course not.” Lady Tate crossed her arms and somehow managed to look down her nose from her sitting position. “I haveclass.”
The idea that Lady Tate didn’t like Brownie’s style only reassured Brownie of her own taste; she would’ve been worried otherwise. Also, it went to show that Lady Tate wasn’t as fashionable as she seemed—herringbone weave was all the rage in North Sumbria, and it was spreading like wildfire amongst the other kingdoms even as they spoke.
“How did you get thepoisonfor today’s assassination?” Rufus inquired.
Lady Tate shrugged. “A guild member met me at a carriage stop outside Heatherfeld and gave me the bottle.”
“Thank you for answering my questions, Lady Tate; it’s been a pleasure.” Rufus bowed and offered her his hand.
“This was the nicest interrogation I’ve ever had, Commander General.” Lady Tate allowed Rufus to help her to her feet.
Brownie was confused by the hint of dark emotion that gripped her when the elf placed a hand on those soft beanies and stood beside the beastman. They momentarily looked like a picture out of a fairytale. A tall golden beast prince and the pink ruffle dress lady.
Then the commander general let go and swept his arm toward the door. “A knight will accompany you to your room, and you can take a nice rest until the duke returns tomorrow. I’ll let him know abouteverythingyou’ve had to suffer.”
“Thank you. It really was awful.” Lady Tate shuddered. Brownie scoffed; the elf still had both her ears, so it couldn’t have been that bad. She spotted the kelpie in the corner rolling his eyes. It looked like he was thinking the same thing.
Rufus ordered, “Now, everyone out while we interrogate Minstrel Bronwynn.”
CHAPTER 33
I Had a Problem
Rufus
I was not the beastman for this job. And the longer I spent with Minstrel Bronwynn, the more I realized that I was aterriblechoice for discovering if the woman was actually an illegal international spy and assassin bent on unleashing permadeath on her unsuspecting victims.
Just look at her! She was sitting in the chair across from me with a relaxed smile on her face. The second the guards had left us, she’d even pulled a bag of cookies from the storage ring I’d gifted her all that time ago and put them out with the tea. She looked like she wasexcitedto get interrogated; like it was a game because obviously itwasn’ther, and she was just here for the ride.
I resisted a sigh.
“So, you think this ‘Claire’ set me up?” Bronwynn asked as I poured her a cup of tea. Pjori, for his part, had moved to a new spot against the wall where the minstrel could actually see him. She even smiled and nodded at him when he did so.
I ignored all of the spiraling emotions in my chest, opened my notification tab, and dropped into my activity logs. So far, I’d not been the recipient of any failed skill or perk, and my [Inspire Honesty] was on cooldown. Not that I needed it. [Inspire Honesty] didn’t make the target tell me the truth; it made them realize the truth and be honest withthemselves. They had every freedom to not share their thoughts and retain agency.
“I’m also intrigued,” Pjori cut in. I contemplated getting him his own chair, but he seemed perfectly content.
“She was the attendant who treated you so poorly yesterday.”
“But why would she go so far?” Brownie tilted her head, confused. “She doesn’t even know me?”
“That’s the problem. Shedoesn’tknow you. Instead, she judged you based on nothing except your profession.” I clenched my hand until I felt my nails starting to dig in.
Pjori shrugged. “Her prejudice is not grounds for interrogation, only the deliberate misguidance and alteration to evidence in an investigation is.Ifshe did it.”
