Page 86 of I Ran Away to Evil 3
Suddenly, the pressure in the room amplified. Rowen released their full aura, and it suppressed Julian so forcefully that he had to fight to breathe. “Have fun,” Julian barely managed to say before nodding to Visha and exiting the room. His general appeared unphased, though Julian felt bad about leaving her to guard inside while Rowen was showing off their strength.
The pressure lifted off Julian’s shoulders when he closed the door behind him, but his heartbeat still pounded against his chest.
The viewing area from the other side of the magical wall was teeming with conversation, more so than he’d anticipated. Usually, interrogations were a close study, as it wouldn’t do to miss anything.
Not so today.
“I’ve already sent someone for Gerda,” Witch Agatha said. She pointed at Master Thomas, who looked ready to light someone on fire. “Now, tellthatone to calm down.”
Julian already had reservations about Master Thomas joining the viewing room due to his potential personal connection with the celestial, but he’d invited all council members and couldn’t turn one away. Julian just made sure that others were there with Master Thomas; as powerful as the young man was, he was no match for Agatha or Lorthar, let alone both.
“Is no one else worried about what that celestial just said?” Master Thomas fumed, obviously continuing a conversation that Julian had walked in on. “I’m not saying we should knife Rowen in the back, but look at Peldeep law. We could urge Rowen to step down and act as if they’re dead. Or abdicate—”
“Or what?” Wizard Lorthar waved away the young mage’s concerns. “You want us to go after everyone on the Blackfog list and continue where they left off?”
“If the Continental Council ordered everyone on that list to stand down until fall, we could potentially prevent whatever disaster the Keeper of Fate is foretelling,” Master Thomas urged, “withouther foolish desire for bloodshed.”
“You would follow the direction of a chosen who lost their way? One so utterly untrustworthy and murderous?” Witch Agatha tsked. “Mages, bah, always overthinking things.”
Wizard Lorthar chided, “Agatha, that was uncalled for. You know Thomas is speaking from a place of concern.”
“He can speak at the council,” she retorted. The meeting was in two days, the afternoon after the Masquerade, and perfectly timed to add her sentence to the agenda.
“I can speak whenever I please. And Iwillbring this to the council meeting,” Master Thomas huffed, clearly insulted and struggling to remain respectful to the older magic users.
Julian turned back to the interrogation hall to see Rowen in the middle of their questioning. The fox slammed a fist on the table, looming over the calm, collected Alice. Their voice was a cutting whisper.
“I have let your people live in my realm, and for this? You have forsaken them.”
“They are the hands and feet of Fate, andyouknow thatIknow you’ve hired Blackfog services in the past.” The celestial turned, her eyes sweeping over everyone in the viewing room. Julian could’ve almost sworn she’d caught his eyes. “Youallhave.”
Witch Agatha tensed while Wizard Lorthar sighed, impressed. “She’s really very good at that.”
There was a soft knock at the door.
CHAPTER 49
Who Do You Think I Am?
Gerda
“You summoned me?” I politely greeted everyone with a short curtsy.
Julian stood in front of three seated council members.
Wizard Lorthar wore black wizard robes open to reveal a cardigan knit sweater over black leather pants. His striking eyebrows were impressive, and he had swept-back, pointy, shoulder-length, salt-and-pepper hair revealing one ear covered in piercings with three dangling earrings.
The infamous Witch Agatha of Winter’s End was relaxing in her chair and fiddling with a crystal pendant around her neck. The woman wore a blue dress with embroidery around the corset front and around the skirt hem. It was stamped with softer blue ice diamond patterns that shimmered when she moved. Her hair was piled into a tight bun on the top of her head, and she had added three small silver gemstones under each eye.
Master Thomas of Servalt was upset, the young mage frowning up at my duke. His light brown hair was long, and his green eyes were bright as the bottom of an alder’s leaf in spring. I knew from experience that he usually wore reading glasses but took them off for important meetings like today. Tucked under his tunic was a magical amulet of antiscrying, and the ring on his right pinkie was a storage ring.
“Thank you for coming, Miss Gerda.” Duke Julian waved at the last seat. “Would you join us?”
I wanted to make some quip reply … but we weren’t alone. This wasn’t going to be as fun as my usual back-and-forth with the duke. “Okay, but I do have some matters to attend to after this. Will you be keeping me long?”
“You may leave at any time,” Duke Julian assured me.
“I’ve heard you say that a few times in place of an affirmative,” Witch Agatha stated. “Okay… What does it actually mean?”
