Page 93 of I Ran Away to Evil 3
Julian blinked rapidly, but it did nothing to stop the sunspots. He was sweating and exhausted from the small exchange, and he wasn’t even the one facing the goddess directly. His sister grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet.
“I hope you got your answer,” Julia told him. “Also, your eyes should clear in ten minutes or so.”
“That’s good to know.” Julian didnothave an answer, but they’d tried, and that was what mattered. He wiped his forehead and pulled at the damp tunic clinging to his chest. “Gods, I need a shower.”
“As your kind and loving sister, I’ll guide you back to your rooms.” She pulled his arm, and he readily followed.
When Julian arrived at the western garden, he was already running a bit late.
In a rush, he’d simply activated [Light Foot] to jump off his balcony, but there was no Gerda waiting for him in the garden below. Was he later than he thought? There should still be time before the official start.
“Gerda?” he called out hesitantly. No one answered. He waited five minutes more then decided he would swing by the palace entry. If she wasn’t there, he’d send out a search party.
It was a short distance to the gathering point, but his heart was beating faster and faster as he went. After Julia’s kidnapping, he was already fearing the worst.
All of it built up until he saw her standing there.
She was speaking with a group of younger debutants, none of whom he readily recognized. Relief washed over him, and then embarrassment, and then frustration. He’d been late, of course, but she could have waited for him … Julian wasn’t used to letting his emotions get away from him, and he fought back against his own thoughts, trying to find his feet.
That’s when she spotted him.
Unexpectedly, a bright smile pulled at her lips, and he was free from the storm of frustration that plagued him. She politely excused herself and walked his way, her eyes playful and expectant.
“You made it just in time,” she greeted, taking a spot beside him.
“Did I?” Julian replied, trying to read her expression. She wasn’t angry at him for being late to their agreed-upon time, just genuinely glad to see him.
Gerda glanced over her shoulder back at the group she’d just come from, explaining. “Lord Erik kept asking me who I was going with, and I didn’t know how to tell him that it was you without boasting.”
There was a giant staring at them with a disappointed look on his face. Another member of the group slapped Lord Erik on the back in sympathy, and Julian quickly reached out to offer Gerda his arm. “Then it’s good I wasn’t any later …”
She readily took it.
He wanted to ask if she’d forgotten they were supposed to meet in the garden. Had it slipped her mind? Or had he simply recalled incorrectly?
She squeezed his arm and leaned in a little closer. She smelled like the pine forests in the North after a fresh rain, crisp and refreshing and of the earth. “I know I’m nottechnicallya part of the investigation team … but do you know of any assassins who escaped yesterday?”
That brought him up short. “No? Why? Did you see something?”
“Heard something, actually.” Gerda sighed and dropped her hand. “But they might just be an Assassin class and not actually a problem. I’ll let you know if it proves to be the latter.”
“Stop me if this is rude,” Julian broached, still worrying, “but is there anythingelseI should know about today?”
“No … Well, maybe one thing.” She searched the room, found what she was looking for, and gestured with a slight head nod toward a human woman without a partner. She had chestnut brown skin and long black hair, bright pink eyes, and she wore a very exciting shade of pink that hurt to look upon. “The girl in the unfortunate pink. She’s going to light her date on fire at the ball tonight. Which isn’t so much the problem as what comes next …”
“What comes next?” he asked, dragging his eyes away.
“He ruins the toast.” The troll shook her head sadly. “Knocks into a waiter while he’s trying to put out the flames and shatters glasses everywhere. I was going to do something about it, but it would probably be easier if you just let the staff know ahead of time?”
“Alright,” he agreed. Having a date who knew the future had its perks, the least of which was knowing the future, honestly. Gerda herself was already keeping him on his toes. A small part of him relaxed for the first time in what felt like days.
“I’m not saying that’s theonlything that will happen,” she said, immediately shattering his calm. “But that is the only thing I’m going to tell you.”
She raised an eyebrow at him in challenge. Julian took a deep breath and managed an, “As is your right.”
“You’re right it is.” She nodded, and he was taken aback by the hard edge in her voice. She softened it by slipping back into a smile. “But you can relax. Honestly, nothing else is going to affect you much, and if it does, that’s only because you’re escorting me. Sorry.”
Julian didn’t think he was going to relax again anytime soon. Maybe when he was not-so-safely back in the North, fighting off another monster surge and getting some of this nervous energy out on the battlefield.
