CHAPTER 39 l Would’ve Noticed a Bunch of Elves Running Around

CHAPTER 39

l Would’ve Noticed a Bunch of Elves Running Around

Rufus

I knew that Jack had failed the interrogation the second the words had left his mouth.

Sure, Bronwynn … Brownie? He liked the name Bronwynn. It was beautiful, just like her. Maybe he could get away with just calling her Bronwynn. It irked him that she had told all of them to call her so casually. It would have been nice to have it naturally play out between the two of them.

Another reason to make this harder on Jack.

“They were all elves from Sumbria, and only one of them had an enchanted dagger with molten ash vane,” Brownie said. She was telling the truth. My Perception thirty would have caught on, especially since I knew her so well. “I tackled the leader from the stage and prevented him from succeeding in the attack.”

“You what ?!” My blood pressure rose so fast that I was worried I’d see red. I whipped my head around to stare at the half giantess across from me. “You tackled a man carrying molten ash vane?”

She shrugged like she hadn’t almost dissolved into nothingness, leaving me—leaving the world without her in it.

I had to calm down and retract my claws from the armchair. One was stuck, distracting me for a moment, since I didn’t want to absolutely shred the blasted upholstery freeing it.

“I’m fine,” Brownie replied. “Anyway, the four elves wearing purple fichu were carted away; purple accessories are the symbol of the rebellion forces that still live in Sumbria today, or so I learned. No one got hurt, and the royals were ungrateful and left without so much as a thank you. Can you believe it?” She tsked, obviously unimpressed. I was still trying to calm my fast-beating heart .

Jack nodded. “I see.”

“Anything else you wanna know?” The slight lilt in her voice made me painfully aware that she knew. I knew she knew, but Jack didn’t seem to catch on.

The man picked up a tart but didn’t eat it. He was fiddling with it in his hands. I wondered if he knew he was getting crumbs on his leather pants.

“Have you ever been in the same city as other molten ash vane attacks that you could tell us the gossip for?” Jack asked innocently. “You travel a lot.”

“Technically, I was visiting my cousins when Madame Potts foretold that Their Royal Highness was going to be assassinated. But I only found out the whole story when Rufus told me about it on the way here.” She shrugged. No lie detected; another truth.

Jack looked at me askance, and I nodded. He turned back to Bronwynn and took a sip of his tea. “And Duke Francis?”

“What about Duke Francis?” Bronwynn tilted her head, sending her curls tumbling over her shoulder. I loved her curls; they were playful and wild, but controlled in bouncing loose ringlets that came down to her collarbone. She sounded as confused as she looked.

Jack raised an eyebrow. “Did you see any Servalt or Sumbrian elves at Duke Francis’s birthday celebration? I heard you performed for the man before his attempted assassination.”

“Wait, what?” Bronwynn frowned and leaned forward in her chair. “Duke Francis was targeted?”

“Yes,” Jack said. “Unfortunately, the Drendil royalty kept the entire thing as secure as a dragon’s hoard. We’ve been unable to gain any details on the entire affair, not even if molten ash vane was used … But from the carpentry order, it seems like something burned a giant hole in the floorboards.”

Bronwynn leaned back in her chair, her hand raised to her chin, and the other supporting her elbow. She was deep in thought, and no one pushed further until she had a chance to think.

“Alright,” she started; I felt my stomach drop out from under me. She couldn’t be admitting—“I’ll recount the day as best I can.”

Ah. Well, I was an idiot.

The minstrel told everyone the tale, repeating everything she’d told me plus a few extra details for the investigation notes: Where the duke was sitting. Who he was sitting with. What time it was when she rode off into the sunset. Jack nodded politely along to the story, and Pjori took notes.

“And that’s all?” Jack pressed. I noted that he was gripping his cup very tight … It would be amazing if the vessel broke. I could only hope.

“That’s all.”

There was a newfound strained silence in the room. Jack downed the rest of his cup and placed it on the side table .

And then there was a knock on the door. The waitress came in and offered to refill our tea from the teapots. Everyone agreed, and the waitress left again.

Jack regained some of his earlier composure. He blew on his now third cup of tea. “So you have no idea if Sumbria or Servalt had anything to do with Duke Francis’s assassination attempt?”

She shrugged. “Drendil is almost entirely human. I would have noticed if a bunch of elves were running around. I think I might have even been the only nonhuman there.”

“I see.”

At that point, Pjori tapped his small booklet with his parchment pen. “Thank you, Minstrel Bronwynn; you’ve been an incredible help to our investigation.”

“You’re welcome.” She bobbed a nod over her own tea where she had her cup nestled in both hands in front of her. She turned to stare at me. “If that is all, should we finish and get going to the Assassin’s Guild?”

“Hold on,” I said. “What do you mean, we ?”