Page 83 of I Ran Away to Evil 3
Their Royal Highness swept in, looking like a tall red-haired woman. A black mermaid dress with a slit to the knee hugged their frame, and a black crown rested on their hair.
Alice smiled up at the fox. “Afternoon, Rowen. Have you come to kill me so soon?”
Their Royal Highness smiled a vicious fox grin, showing too many sharp teeth. “Guild Mistress Alice. I thought I would fix your misguided thoughts before our Duke Julian started falling prey to your oh-so-incorrect words.” Their Royal Highness laid a hand on Julian’s shoulder and met his eyes. “Nothing is going to happen if I continue to live.”
“You don’t know that.” Alice angrily came to her feet, her chin set.
“Unlikeyourgoddess, who only speaks in rhymes and riddles,mypatron is happy to convene withhischosen—when Warren bothers to ask.” The last was said in an aggrieved aside.
The ruler lifted their hands, and a black orb appeared, hovering over their open palm. The voice that traveled through the magical artifact made Julian’s teeth hurt from the ambient power radiating through his quiet words.
“We have known the traveler and watched her ways.” The message crawled like molasses through Julian’s spine, building pressure on every part of his body and mind. Comfort wrapped around his spirit, even as a chill crept along his flesh. “The path ahead is another’s domain, but the weave is being woven as we walk, and I will not claim the realm to Shadow.”
The darkness in the orb stilled.
The fox stared down at the celestial. “So you have no more need to kill me or anyone else on that list.”
CHAPTER 47
The Duke Would Like Me to Escort You to the Dungeon
Gerda
It was an amazingly informative afternoon.
Gail and Tabitha were only too happy to share family stories, like the time Julian had gone missing when he was four, only to turn up eight hours later asleep in the kitchen pantry having eaten an entire basket of bimbleberries. And when he was seven and tried to use a shield that was too big for him, dropping it and breaking his toe.
Or the time he’d cut off the bottom of Grand Duchess Calisto’s brand-new ball gown to fit Julia for playing dress-up when he was nine.Orthe time that Tabitha’s mother had been poisoned at a ball when he was twelve, and Julian had tried “helping” by casting a shield around her … a shield thatpreventedanyone from approaching the poor woman with an antidote.
It was fine, Tabitha assured me; her mother had survived.
Gail and Tabitha were too young to remember much themselves, but they’d overheard enough from their older relatives to fill the afternoon. And so far, only six people had tried to interrupt us. Very rude, to think they were more important than listening to the cute childhood shenanigans of my favorite character.
The luncheon was wrapping up when someone approached me whom I feared would need more than a simple shooing away.
“Greetings,” the villainess, Lady Cassandra Cress, stood before our seated group just as Gail was regaling me with a fun story about the time Julia had accidentally split the dining room table in half, before their Aunt Calisto realized she needed to reinforce everything. The Paladin of Light wasn’t as strong as Henrietta—few were—but that didn’t mean she couldn’t crumple a wooden table in a temper tantrum.
Lady Cassandra Cress had red hair and high eyebrows that made her look perpetually annoyed. The woman kept her ears covered by her hairstyle and a wide pearl-set headband. She did so deliberately because her father was angry that she was born human instead of an elf … which was a simple way of saying she had a lifetime of household trauma.
Two friends stood nervously behind her.
“Lady Cassandra,” I said, succinctly. Some part of me had wanted to snub her for all of the struggles she’d put Henrietta through while I was trying to win over Duke Julian, but I held myself back. “Are you also here to tell me funny stories about the bride?”
Thiswasa post-wedding luncheon.
Lady Cassandra fanned herself imperiously. “I am here to find out who I will marry.”
I couldn’t resist a poke. “Is it one of us?”
Gail stared up at Lady Cassandra in polite terror, while Tabitha covered her mouth with her own fan to hide a laugh.
“Hm,” the woman humphed. “I have come toyou, Madame Potts, for a fortune. Tell me, who here is worthy of my hand?”
I almost said something unkind, but I caught the slight tremor in Lady Cassandra’s fan. The woman was an impressive menace to society, but she was also out here trying her best … or so I told myself. Besides, this was an opportunity to give another character I liked a chance at a happily ever after.
Evenifthat character had foolishly fallen for Lady Cassandra.
The woman was desperate to marry Duke Julian to appease her incredibly ornery father and was ignoring the one person who already loved her. As I was thinking, a silence fell between us. Gail and Tabitha shared a look, and Lady Cassandra held her breath. Answering her would set a terrible precedent, but maybe this was exactly what I needed to set an example.
