Page 81 of I Ran Away to Evil 2
“Nothing a health potion can’t fix.” That explained the slight headache. My impressive Constitution was the only thing that’d allowed me to remain conscious as long as I had after breathing in the wolfsbane. Still, I wasn’t healing near fast enough, so I pulled out a medium health potion and downed it.
Brownie’s shoulders relaxed, and she gave me a relieved smile. “Thank goodness. I was worried, since I blew it right next to your ear.”
I flinched and thanked the gods I’d been knocked out. “I can’t complain if it saved us. Speaking of, I owe you an antidote potion.”
“I wouldn’t say no to a replacement,” Bronwynn said. “I only had the one.”
I didn’t have a high-grade potion on hand to compensate her, so I just nodded. I wasn’t going to offer her anything less than what she’d given me.
“Since it looks like they were after me, I’ll also replace the oats.” Donna’s ears flicked at that, and I hoped that the mare wouldn’t hold the attack against me. “And I’ll have the wagon repaired. Do you know when we’re going to reach the next town?”
“We passed it already,” she said. “I didn’t want to stop and give them the opportunity to catch up.”
“At this speed?” The wagon was blowing past other travelers on the road at breakneck speeds.
“Donna is a Windrunner,” Bronwynn explained. Donna neighed loudly, starting to slow down. “She’s very fast; she just doesn’t like to run very much.”
“I see.” Nothing much surprised me about that horse at this point.
When Donna had gone back to a reasonable trot, Bronwynn leaned back into the seat and retrieved Danielle from her storage ring. She caught me staring and gave me a casual shrug. “If Donna thinks we are far in the clear, then we’re fine. She’s really good about that kind of thing.”
“Donna,” I addressed the mare. “Thank you for saving us. You are an absolutely wonderful horse, and we are lucky to have you. I promise to buy you the nicest oats money can buy when we stop for the night.”
The horse continued on, but she stood straighter, and her tail flicked with pleasure at the compliment.
Bronwynn was staring at me.
“What?”
“You are really good at that,” she told me.
“At what?” I repeated.
“Compliments.” There was something in the way she said it that made me think she wanted me to lavishherwith compliments as well. But she was Minstrel Bronwynn, a confident and self-assured famous musician that played for kings and made the common man weep at her song.
Still, just in case I’d heard correctly, I said, “You are very astute, Minstrel Bronwynn. I enjoy showing people my thanks for their hard work, and I find it best to do so with honest praise. I’ve spent my life trying to build up people’s self-worth and let them know they are seen and appreciated … It’s almost a habit at this point.”
Bronwynn stared at me for a long moment, and I wondered if I’d said something to offend her. She was frowning.
Then she said, “Does anyone letyouknow that you’re seen and appreciated?”
CHAPTER 48
A Thing for the Beastman
Brownie
“I—” Rufus coughed lightly. “My position is usually the one giving counsel … so it’s not expected. No.”
Of course, Brownie hadn’t meant to bring up the conversation from their first dinner date, but it seemed like such perfect timing to do so. She still remembered the way he’d seemed so lost when he’d talked about his place in the world. That his friends and family, his entirelife, was predicated on his job title … a title that he could lose any time someone beat him at the winter solstice.
A title that General Knolith and a myriad of others weredesperate for.
Brownie wondered what the previous commander general of the Dark Lord’s army had done in his day-to-day life. She waspretty sureit didn’t involve coaching the entire Dark Enchanted Forest through their marital struggles …
“Well,Ithink you’re incredible,” Brownie said. She noted with pleasure his tail was wagging even as he turned to look at her with his usual calm facade. Her fingers itched to pet him again, but she resisted. “You’re great at your job, you’re honest and kind and friendly, and always trying to make the world a better place everywhere you go … and I admire you.”
She didn’t mean the last to sound like a confession, and she blushed as she realized it could be interpreted that way. Before he could reply, she continued. “Anyways, that’s why I think you should give yourself more credit.”
