Page 62 of I Ran Away to Evil 3
“Good idea,” my queen approved, nodding her head happily. “If you need anything, just shout. This whole place is under guard, and Chloe made enough Revive potions to bring back the entire hall if need be.”
“Impressive.” I wasn’t a potion maker, but she must have burned through a lot of time, money, and mana to whip out two hundred Revives. I couldn’t imagine where she’d found the time—possibly a reserve stash.
“Right?” Henrietta got a bit of whipped cream on her hand and quickly licked it clean. She never changed.
“That won’t help anyone from a kingdom who disinherits on death,” I pointed out. “But I guess if they chanced coming to this particular wedding even after Madame Potts’s warning, that’s their problem.”
After we finished breakfast, Henrietta left to go change and get ready with Keith.
My own dress was a more elaborate bright-purple version of my usual style, with white flowers over the bust. The overdress cinched at the underbust line, opening at the front to reveal a soft white underdress. It fell in waves, with more flowers embroidered at the edges.
The only thing I wasn’t happy with was my hair. My braids were pulled back into a half updo, with one each left down to frame my face as makeshift bangs. Unfortunately, Ihadn’tgotten the time to properly wash and redo my braids, so they were seriously fraying. To hide the chaos, I’d stuck small white and purple phoebe flowers here and there.
I also wore my silver Ancient Gamblers Amulet, which was unassumingly plain but matched the white highlights in my outfit.
A fabulous fairy-tale look, if I did say so myself.
There were guardseverywhere, and I joined a lineup of guests who’d arrived early to go over the sanctuary and try for the grand prize.
A few members of the Continental Council were there as well, including an unamused Witch Agatha arguing with Master Thomas. Behind them, the Grand Pontiff of Sumbria stood alone, looking high and mighty. His nose was in the air, and his long ears twitched in annoyance whenever Witch Agatha said something particularly curt.
This year was the first in two decades that Grand Duchess Calisto had allowed the noble elite from Sumbria to attend her events. Prior to this, she’d only grantedspecifically vetted ambassadorsaccess to cross the border, and only for the Continental Council meeting the dayafterany ball or feast.
She was making an attempt at peace.
It was especially telling that she’d welcomed the Grand Pontiff to the wedding … as it was his predecessor who had killed Grand Duke Lysander in the civil war.
In anticipation of the crush, the Grey Hawk Knights were out in force, checking invitations and securing the area. I resisted the urge to face-palm as I joined the end of the line. This just gave any ne’er-do-well the perfect opportunity to set traps under the guise ofsearchingfor them.
It was rare, thankfully, but sometimes, a prediction telling everyone tostopa thing actually helped that thing happen. A great case in point was Sumbria—they outright ignored any and all warnings I gave them, which meant that evil could thrive when I reported it.
For example, tell everyone to send guards to an unlucky coastal town about to get hit by one pirate ship? An entirefleet of pirateswill show up because they’ll know the elven elders willdeliberatelyturn a blind eye becauseImade the announcement. It was infuriating, and I was still stumped on what to do about it.
A few minutes later, a scribe arrived with a tablet for guests to join a waitlist. I put myself down in the last available time slot, just behind Duchess Calisto herself, because I was a genius.
Now, I had two hours to myself. Plenty of time to get other important things settled.
CHAPTER 34
How Much You Are Willing to Pay
Julian
“So let me get this straight.” Julian slipped on his vest and slowly did up each button. “You have been working with the Blackfog spies for over thirty years?”
“Yes.” Greyson sat on a chair, hands in his lap and eyes unwavering.
John was standing to the side, holding Julian’s outfit for the wedding. He’d sent the rogue to fetch it as soon as it was obvious that Julian would be running late. This was the final interview he had to do after an entire morning of gaining very little information from the regular caravan hires.
He’d saved the best for last.
The three of them were in a room in the dungeons. It was an hour before the ceremony, and he was supposed to be checking in at Julia’s dressing room any second now. After last night, any fears his sister had of going through with the wedding were gone. She’d had a good conversation with Chloe, and Julian had pretended not to notice his sister returning to her rooms only an hour before sunrise.
He finished doing up his buttons before confronting his prisoner. “And your loyalty made you break the law?”
“No,” Greyson replied.
“No?” Julian was at least expecting an excuse. He raised a hand, and John helped him slip into the dark-purple coat. It hung down to his thigh and was embroidered with decorative diamonds around the hem and cuffs and neckline. He was wearing a white undertunic and white pants with silver and purple embroidery that matched the coat.
