Page 75 of I Ran Away to Evil 3
Rowen’s lips tightened into a line, and Julian wondered if she wasn’t telling the whole truth. The fox didn’t interrupt her, though, simply grabbing a scone for themselves.
Gerda was already moving on to the next part of her story. “Anyway, anything I discover that might be helpful I try to work into my podcast—Madame Potts Cast, I mean. The problem is that today, there was no way I could’ve fixed everything with a simple Cast.” She stopped talking, and her silence spoke for itself.
Gerda had only been caught because she’d chosen to save them.
Julian broke the quiet. “Miss Gerda. You said you found the traps because you saw them go off?”
“Yes?”
“Then did you also see the traitor who put them there?” He tried to keep the anger from his voice.
“I did not.”
His mother spoke then. “Julian, I’m sure Miss Gerda would have told us already if she knew who it was …”
The bridge troll visibly flinched. “Your Grace,” Gerda said to his mother, “the reason I haven’t brought up my suspicions is because they are just that: suspicions.”
Calisto nodded. “You mean Master Thomas?”
“You knew?” Gerda looked shocked and then contrite. “Of course you knew.”
“The boy is an all-powerful mage who was the last to enter the sanctuary before you.” Calisto sipped her tea, finishing off the last of it and placing it down firmly. “He might be strong … but he’s terrible at overestimating his own brilliance.”
Their Royal Highness started leaking pressure back over the room. “Thomasis a Blackfog spy?”
“No,” Gerda said firmly enough to draw everyone’s attention back to the troll. “He’s not a spy.”
“Is that Madame Potts speaking?” Rowen demanded, “Or another suspicion?”
“As Madame Potts,” she stressed, “I can promise you that Master Thomas isnota Blackfog spy … and—”
“And?”
The troll fought with herself, like she wanted to say something but couldn’t, then let out an aggravated sigh.
“There are grounds enough to arrest him,” Julian offered. “I can do it now—”
“Wait!” The troll finally gave in. “I’m trying to find the words to convince you to leave Thomas alone because his futuremuststay the same!”
Julian couldn’t agree. “If he hurt my family, then I don’t care what his futureshouldbe. He will answer for his pastnow.”
Gerda stood up from her seat, looking over every single person in the room. When she spoke, she pitched her voicejustenough that it sounded like he was listening to a real Madame Potts’s Cast.
“If anything happens to Master Thomas during the Masquerade, then North Sumbria will fall to chaos.” Gerda turned to Julian.“Andyouwill die.”
Their Royal Highness frowned. “She speaks the truth.”
“I do.”
His mother lifted a hand to Julian, who instinctively took it. She braced to stand, and he realized just how exhausted she really was. He stood with her to act as a crutch.
“I cannot promise the future, Miss Gerda,” Grand Duchess Calisto told the troll, “but for now, North Sumbria will listen to your advice.”
Julian knew what that meant—the master mage was free to walk around as if nothing had happened. It didn’t sit right with him, but there wasn’t anything he could do once his mother had made her will known.
“Thank you, Your Grace.” The troll bowed her head, her braid slipping delicately over her shoulder. It hung to her thighs, so she wrapped both hands around it to keep it close.
“And Miss Gerda?”
