Page 141 of I Ran Away to Evil 3
“I want breakfast,” she declared. “A real one.”
“Alright.”
“I want fresh bimbleberry breakfast cakes from Pompolin’s Café.”
Julian froze. “I don’t—”
“Please?” she said, her voice also shaking. It was a request, made in a moment of vulnerability. “Come with me?”
Movement caught his eye. Visha waved at him to leave even as she continued filing. Jeffry looked less than pleased but nodded. Julian would have to bring them both something for the trouble.
“Alright.”
Gerda stood, and suddenly, they were portaling to the capital of Peldeep. They appeared on a bridge in an empty park near the merchant’s district. He’d honestly thought they’d portal to one of the major bridges crossing the river, but then realized the problem with doing so.
He didn’t want to appear inside another living creature. That would be a disaster.
They didn’t head off right away. Instead, Gerda threw her arms around him, and Julian held her until her tremors settled.
“Thank you.” When Gerda pulled back, she looked a little bit more like her usual self: calm, confident, and hiding something. Her hand found his, and she forced a pleasant, “I’m better now. And I’ll have you back in the North in an hour, promise.”
“Alright,” he said again, adding a light tease, “By that point, I’m sure Jeffry will have the appropriate forms you need to sign to register a proper troll bridge in North Sumbria.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Gerda groaned. “I pay enough taxes.”
Julian quipped, “You can afford it.”
“True.”
Pompolin’s Café served homemade pompolins, a figure-eight-shaped cake pocket stuffed with fruit and whipped cream. The usual varieties were too sweet for Julian’s palate, so he picked out one with nut and seed butter, while Gerda ordered a triple berry with cream. Julian waited until they had ordered and were settled before broaching his thoughts.
“This might be a bad time to ask, but what do you think about traveling into the Ice Fields right away?”
It was something to distract her. And it worked.
“I’m fine with that … Actually, that would be even better.” She took a bite of her pompolin and left a bit of cream on her lip. Julian was distracted watching her tongue lick it clean and almost missed her next sentence. “It’ll cost more mana, but if I make bridges in the North and move my door there, I can keep ahead of our Blackfog mistress.”
“What happens if your bridge is destroyed while the door is attached?” he asked, dragging his attention back to his own breakfast.
“Nothing good.” She sighed. “Without the anchor, the pocket dimension drifts in the Void and takes damage. If I don’t fix it quickly, it’ll start to destabilize and could even collapse.”
“So we’ll have to be careful where we put them.”
“And I’ll need to make a second traveling bridge,” she reasoned, “so I can leave one with the door while creating a new one at our next rest stop. Or just move the door back to the Northern Fortress every time?”
“That’s a lot of extra mana and time. We can build you a second bridge if you have the space to carry it. If not, I’ll send a request to my mother to make a storage ring for that size. It’ll take a week, but—”
“I have the storage.” She waved away his concern.
Julian eyed her ring, which already professed to contain two hundred scrolls, a Master Crystal, and had originally housed his Legendary-class armor set. “Gerda, my dearest …” She paused midbite of berries and cream, eyes going wide at his term of endearment. He enjoyed watching her blush. “… Should I ask after your equipped items and travel supplies? Or is it better not to know?”
Gerda swallowed her bite of pompolin as she eyed him, sizing him up to determine if he was trustworthy or not. He was glad to see that he passed. “I guess I could show you my inventory. Hells, I haven’t planned what to do with it after, so let me know if you want anything—”
“After what?” Julian interrupted, a sense of unease gripping his gut.
“After the, well, after I’m done in the North. That’ll be my last big quest, and then we’ll see what Fate decides. Either way, I probably won’t need all of this.” She held up her hand, showing off the ring. “As much as I like the idea of pretending to be a dragon hoarding treasure … there are people who could actually use this stuff. I figured I’d just, I don’t know, do like the Lady of the Lake and hand out rare magic swords to would-be heroes.” Her voice caught, and she pretended to smile.
“You can auction treasures you aren’t using and use that to recover the fines you just paid. Or just keep them for when you need them,” he countered, frustrated that she kept giving so much away for free. From the life-saving Crystal Casts to the Valarian Royal Set … but he didn’t want her to see his anger, so he shot her a smile and asked, “How many rare magical swords do you have to give away?”
