Page 35 of I Ran Away to Evil 3
The second Julian had approached her, Gerda’s cheeks had flushed, highlighting the white freckles on the bridge of her nose.
He liked her freckles.
“Let’s start”—Julian waved the offending papers—“with your assassination orders. Who do you think could be targeting you?”
The troll sighed, a surprisingly long-suffering sigh. “Anyone who’s ever crossed one of my bridges?”
He raised an eyebrow. “How many bridges do you control?”
“Lady’s secret.” She smiled, showing off her long lower canines.
While he was curious to learn more about the troll, now wasn’t the time. “And your statement about the first assassination attempt? For the record.”
Gerda crossed her arms. “I arrived, found my seat, and someone shot at me. The end.”
Julian had to stop himself from outright snorting, stifling a laugh with the back of his hand. How was she this amusing? Even John, who gave concise reports without any superfluous detail, wasn’tthatsuccinct.
Gerda’s gaze fell to his lips, and her eyes went wide. Seeing as he’d surprised her somehow—and for that reason alone—he let himself give in to idle curiosity and smiled directly at her.
She looked away and covered her face.
Interesting.
“Do you know aboutthe list?”
She regained some composure and answered, “I do.”
Julian then surmised, “Which is how you were prepared for the arrow—”
“No,” Gerda interrupted, shaking her head. One long dark-green braid slid over her exposed shoulder and pooled in her lap. It was a momentary distraction.
“No?”
“I found out about the listafterI was shot at,” she corrected him. “I caught the arrow because it was an easy catch.”
“An easypoisonedcatch,” he reminded her.
“One you yourself have touched,” she countered.
His smile got bigger. “True.”
Gerda frowned. “I’ve given my statement, so if there’s nothing else?”
He didn’twanther to leave yet. His instincts were telling him that he needed her for something. They were missing a piece of the puzzle, and if he just pushed …
“The Blackfog spies are in my duchy,” he said, choosing the direct approach. “They are targeting you and others. Do you know anything?”
Gerda opened her mouth, probably to say no, but closed it again. She gave him a thoughtful look. When she finally did speak, it wasn’t what he’d expected. “The Spring Ball.”
“What about the Spring Ball?” Julian asked.
“Do I know anything about the Blackfog spies?” she repeated, listing things off on her fingers. “Who are they? An intelligence agency that operates around the entire continent. What are they? An information broker up until recently. When did things change? After the Spring Ball, when they were suddenly hands-on, hiring mercenaries, and trying to hurt people.Wheredoesn’t help us because they are targeting people everywhere except the Empire of Sands. But we’re not even going to consider the empire as an enemy because … ?”
“The queen,” Julian answered immediately. It was well known how the empire was experiencing one of its most prosperous reigns in history and had done so by disbanding half of the army back into the working class so they could keep up with supply and demand for their trade.
“And what happened at the Spring Ball that is tied to the Blackfog spies?” Gerda answered her own question. “Marquess Chadwick kidnapped a Blackfog spy—”
Julian frowned. “Marquess Chadwick was directly under Duke Lector, who was working with the Blackfog spies.”
