Page 77 of I Ran Away to Evil 3
“It’s alright,” I told them. “I’m ready.”
As it was a casual affair, we were welcomed inside by a palace attendant without being announced. It didn’t matter; everyone near the door noticed us and started speaking quietly to each other.
My perception, of course, heard everything loud and clear.
“Is shereallyMadame Potts?”
“My uncle was caught in that capybara stampede. We all told him to listen to the Cast—”
“I’m not saying it’s completely unbelievable, but abridge troll?”
It was nice walking into the dining hall with the rulers of the Dark Enchanted Forest. People talked, but no one was brave enough to approach.No oneinterrupted the Dark Lord and Lady of Nilheim, especially when Her Viciousness was talking adamantly on very important matters.
“The black-and-white grain is wild rice from the Empire.” Henrietta positively vibrated with her excitement. “They mix it with river fish and form it into medallions that are then seared in aramu nut oil. The seasoning, Chloe told me, is a combination of crushed sami seeds, dill weed, and powdered purple lotus petals. And they have a nut curry simmered inthreetypes of dried fruits, and overnight roasted unigoat!”
King Keith followed his wife and listened intently to her detailed accounting of lunch. The Dark Lord was a known lover of food, and he looked as excited as Henrietta. Despite the scone earlier, I was surprisingly ravenous,and filled my plate from the buffet table running down the center of the room.
People were standing in groups nearby or seated at the tables on the far side. The patio doors were open, and the soft sounds of music and conversation could be heard drifting in from the garden.
“You’re finally here!” Minstrel Bronwynn greeted Henrietta with a wide grin, the half giantess clad in a silk red dress that draped over one shoulder and was cinched at the waist with a black velvet belt. She wore black slippers covered in tiny rubies that matched her earrings and necklace set.
Rufus was close behind her, sporting a long black tunic with ruby buttons, calf-length pants, and a red belt to match. In beastman form, he didn’t require shoes.
“We had a lot to discuss.” The Dark Lady shot me a teasing side-eye.
“It’s all everyone’s talking about,” Brownie told me. “Chloe is annoyed, but Julia is using the opportunity to downplay the battle at the sanctuary. Instead of people complaining about how short and anticlimactic the wedding battle was, they’re talking about the big reveal.” She leaned in conspiratorially and hid her words behind a hand. “And between you and the guild mistress, I’m not sure who’s the bigger reveal.”
“The Blackfog aren’t as well known,” King Keith mused. “Their leader being captured is interesting, butnot, I think, as interesting as finding out that Madame Potts is a common bridge troll.”
“Not so common!” Henrietta defended me. “She held off the Drendil army all by herself, and she rescuedyoufrom the Void mage.”
“The Void mage,” King Keith pointed out, “whom we just captured?”
“I’m surprised,” Rufus cut in, “athowlittle Void magic she hit us with.”
I coughed, remembering Chloe getting consumed by a Void trap. It wasn’t a fun way to go. Aloud, I said, “Alice isn’t able to use her abilities while in disguise; it would be different if we’d faced off against her as herrealself.”
Brownie frowned. “Why did that sound like foreshadowing?”
That made me laugh. “BecauseeverythingI say sounds like foreshadowing?I’m Madame Potts.”
As we were speaking, others in the hall were inconspicuously and not-so-inconspicuously listening in; on this side of the dining hall, at least, conversation had fallen to a dull whisper. One young lady from North Sumbria was actually tilting on an angle toward us and looked past the point she should have already keeled over.
Physics, of course, played little part when stat sheets were involved.
When I declared for everyone to hear that Iwas, in fact,theMadame Potts, it was like some tenuous barrier between us and the other guests broke.
“Minstrel Bronwynn! It’s so good to see you here. Won’t you introduce me to your companions?”
The first of a wave of interested guests descended …
And I was beset.
CHAPTER 44
Intimately Sure of Him and His Ways
Julian
