CHAPTER 65 I Want to Be Honest with You

CHAPTER 65

I Want to Be Honest with You

Rufus

In a moment of weakness, I’d thrown my entire plan out the window. And less gracefully than Bronwynn herself could defenestrate, I imagined. My original plan had been simple.

Step one, investigate Bronwynn.

Step two, find her innocent.

Step three, confess.

Specifically, confess that I was investigating her. Then, depending on how things progressed …

Step four, confess.

But what had I done? Betrayed her trust even as she held my hand and dragged me off to go eat dinner together. Bronwynn was grinning from ear to ear, a bounce in her step, as she led me to a shop that smelled divine . Actually Divine. I only caught the sense because I spent so much time with King Keith’s Demi, quarter-demon self.

“Here we are.” Bronwynn held open the door to a bright blue shop. The spices hit me; mostly garam masala, with hints of cardamom and cumin and cinnamon.

I thanked her and went inside. The restaurant was busy, with three bushy-tailed foxkin waiters that were servicing the front of the house. An elderly foxkin sat at the front and greeted us.

“A table for two, please,” Bronwynn requested, and I noted for the first time that Slake hadn’t followed us. I didn’t remember seeing him leave the wagon.

We were alone, for once.

What was it Queen Henrietta had told me during one of her sessions? No sense in having perks if you don’t use them? Or, in my case, what was the point of having high Perception when I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t pay attention.

“Right this way.”

I ignored my internal screaming as I smiled and pulled the chair out for my bard before taking a seat across from her. She immediately started regaling me with the menu and the flavors of her favorite dishes. Usually, at this point, I’d be taking mental notes to share with the group via Cast Crystal later … but not today.

If I was going to ask Minstrel Bronwynn to a ball, I didn’t want to invite Minstrel Bronwynn to a ball. I wanted to invite just Bronwynn. The person. The woman I’d gotten to know over our trip, not the idol of my dreams.

She hadn’t said yes , per se, but she’d implied it … Maybe I should ask again?

I took her advice and ordered the simmering floofpoof bird medium-spice mixed fruit and nut curry with dried cherries and flat bread. She ordered a cheese paneer curry with rice.

After our orders were taken, I spoke. “Bronwynn, thank you for accepting my request to take you to the Summer Masquerade.” In all things, I could fall back on common courtesy. I would need something to fall back on while having dinner with the bard of my dreams as we discussed the prospects of … well … whatever she wanted.

“You’re welcome,” she answered. Then she waited.

In the beastman culture, there was a very straightforward style of courting: you didn’t. When you knew, you knew, and you were honest about it. You spent time in someone’s company, and if feelings developed, you just told them. Usually this was ruled by desire, but comfort and security were also a type of relationship.

The General of the West was in a lifelong relationship with his wife. But the wolverine beastwoman who owned Logan’s Noodle House had three husbands and an open relationship with any one other person at any given time. I would know, for she had propositioned me in front of her husbands enough times.

I remembered that time I’d told Keith that he should just go ask Henrietta to marry him, and felt my own advice come back to bite me.

“Bronwynn,” I started. “I want to be honest with you.”

The bard flashed a frown at my words so fast I almost missed it before it softened into a receptive nod of her head. “Go on.”

“You’ve shared your secret with me, and so I want to share one of mine as well …” I paused, wondering exactly what I could say? That I was hiding my identity as the leader of her fan group? That I was spying on her? That I thought she was an amazing woman who deserved to be treated with respect, and I was failing on all accounts already?

The beginning. I would start at the beginning. “I have liked you from the moment I first heard you sing. I love your music, and I enjoy your company, and this entire trip has been one of the most wonderful times in my life. ”

“Really?” Her amazed smile lit up her face, and my stomach twisted in a knot.

“But … you should know that I only joined you on this trip as an order from Henrietta.”

“What?!” Her amazed smile fell to a frown, but I continued.

“She was worried … and asked me to keep an eye on you since we were practically going in the same direction anyway. There’s more, but I can’t speak of it until the end of my quest,” I explained. It wasn’t a perfect truth, but it was a start.

Bronwynn frowned. “I can’t believe she … Alright, I can believe Henrietta would do that. And she made you join me this whole time?”

“I did not ,” I stressed, sensing the misconceptions already forming in her mind, “ have to join you. I could have checked in on you or followed you without your notice. I chose to venture with you because I enjoy your company.”

That must have alleviated some of her worries, because she started laughing, the sound full of her usual good humor. “So instead of stalking me in the bushes, you hitched a ride and rode comfortably?”

“Yes. Do you forgive me?” I asked.

She paused a second, and it was the longest moment of my life. Finally, slowly, she said, “Alright. I forgive you. Honestly, it’s been wonderful having you along, and you’re wonderful and—WAIT!”

I was about to pick up my glass of water when her sudden outburst startled me into fumbling. My high-level Dexterity was the only thing that saved our table from an awkward spill. “What?”

The minstrel pointed her finger at me from across the table and yelled, “IT WAS YOU!”