CHAPTER 75 You’ve Been Stalking My Daughter?

CHAPTER 75

You’ve Been Stalking My Daughter?

Rufus

Somehow, I’d gone from admiring Minstrel Bronwynn from afar to sitting across from her parents the night after she’d pet me to sleep, trying to convince them I was a worthy husband for their daughter.

I still couldn’t quite wrap my head around it.

“My full title is Commander General Rufus Triever, leader of the King’s Dogs of the Black Fortress, and I’m also mediator to the Dark Horde. I live full-time in the Dark Enchanted Forest but enjoy a fair bit of travel—mostly to go see Bronwynn’s concerts.” I thought that telling that much of the truth wouldn’t hurt. What did hurt was my tail, which I’d deliberately sat on to prevent difficulties.

My tail was not meant to be sat on.

“I’m also a sitting representative on the Continental Council,” I added, trying to impress.

Marigold Stannard nodded. Bronwynn had mentioned that she’d used her mother’s maiden name, Lyriel, in her bardic career. Something to separate her from her assassin family. “That’s nice, dear, but what my husband wants to hear isn’t your job but something about you .”

As someone who’d lounged comfortably on the asking side of this style of interrogation most of my life, it was somehow nerve-racking to find myself sitting and being scrutinized on the answering side.

Of course, [Natural Poise] let me relax into my seat with an appearance of put-togetherness …

“I’m a simple beastman. Every morning, I enjoy breakfast and a swim to get me going. I like reading, and recently picked up all of Her Eminence Feliwyn’s romance novels, though I read educational books on the habits of people in equal measure. My favorite music is anything your daughter is singing. I have a sister in Gren’s Keep I still keep in touch with. My favorite food is flying pork–breaded cutlets on rice. And I am a connoisseur of wine, but rarely overimbibe. I simply enjoy the taste.”

“And can you explain”—Linden slapped his knee—“why Oscar bit you?”

“The griffin probably sensed my own guilty conscience.”

Even under the intense eye of my potential future in-laws, I admired their honest straightforwardness. It was something I promoted in my own people. Why beat around the bush when you could ask direct questions? It helped that I had [Sense Lies] and [Detect Fake] and [Sense Threat], and could very easily ask all of the same questions and know for fair certain if the answers given were true. Between her parents, I wasn’t certain they didn’t have a similar skill.

“I hope you were planning to elaborate on that,” Marigold said sweetly, pouring each of us a cup of tea. It was then that my sense of self-preservation made me viscerally aware of the human woman. There was a matter-of-fact hint of murderous intent in her dark eyes. Something primal told me that while Linden Stannard would happily shank me in an alleyway if he saw fit to do so, Marigold would feed my body to her plants, where even the bones would be used for fertilizer.

The Black Fortress had a man-eating carnivorous castle garden planted by Her Eminence Feliwyn, and I’d had my fair share of walks among the corpse roses.

“I have a few kingdom quests that involve following Bronwynn around,” I stated, “which she has kindly—”

Linden cut me off. “You’re spying on my daughter?”

“Yes.” I nodded.

“How long have you been ‘following her around’?”

The question caught me off guard, and my eyes flicked to Bronwynn for the first time since we’d sat down side by side at the table. She was happily eating a mooncake, her cheeks full and her smile radiant. When our eyes met, her smile somehow grew bigger. I thanked all the gods that for this meeting, I’d sat on my tail.

I dragged my eyes back to her father and stated, “A year.”

“ What? ” Bronwynn choked on her mooncake. The word was a garble of pastry, but I could recognize it by the tone. I held back a wince. In for a copper, in for a gold coin, I supposed. Sigh .

“Ever since I heard her play last year,” I explained. “I’ve joined her fan club, traveled to her concerts, and attended her shows … I’ve been following her far longer than my orders …”

“So you’ve been stalking my daughter.” Linden’s voice grew a shade darker.

“Well, that’s fine,” Bronwynn shrugged. “A lot of people have told me they’re my fans. I even have a fan club with events! I don’t think that warrants being called a stalker , dad. ”

She had no idea, though I did try to respect her privacy as much as possible. All of the information I collected and coveted was public knowledge. In all this time, I’d remained true to that limitation … despite the temptation to abuse my power and authority otherwise.

I was still holding on.

Bronwynn followed up with, “I thought you were going to tell them that everyone thinks I’m the molten ash vane assassin.”

“What?!” Both of her parents asked at the same time. Her mother coughed and turned an intense stare on me, following up with, “Does that mean?”

“It means I am guarding Minstrel Bronwynn as instructed by my Dark King and Queen … and she’s already found out I was investigating her at the same time. We aren’t the only ones who’ve noticed that Bronwynn has been spotted at every molten ash vane assassination attempt in the country.”

Bronwynn’s parents shared a look. It wasn’t a “Who has our daughter brought home this time?” expression. Instead, it was very much an “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” type of look.

“Could it be?” Linden asked his wife, proving my point.

Marigold shook her head. “Derek wouldn’t ship molten ash vane. Do we even have a poisoner that can make it?”

Bronwynn spoke up then. “We have three poisoners contracted; surely one of them could make it if they had the ingredients? But that still doesn’t mean anything––I’m not in the family business, remember?”

There was a pause, and my [Sense Lies] immediately activated when Marigold nodded and faked a smile. “Of course, dear.”

The pit dropped out of my stomach. Linden and Marigold were hiding something from my bard.

Something important.

“Let’s get back to the matter at hand.” Linden turned his stormy gray eyes my way. “You’ve not given us a very good first impression, Rufus.”

I took a sip of my tea. It wasn’t poisoned, which was nice, and it actually tasted very smooth. “I’d rather tell you everything I can up front. I could try winning you over before you find out the truth, but that’s never been my preference. Statistically speaking, one in four beastfolk from the Dark Enchanted Forest find that our open approach to relationships and family structure causes problems when finding mates elsewhere, but the recommendation remains to be honest. It’s a cultural difference that has been extensively studied by my peers.”

Linden’s lips twitched. “Go on.”

If the opportunity arose to discuss principal theory on interpersonal relations between cultures, nobody needed to ask me twice. “The basic family structure in Gren’s Keep, for instance, is built on a community approach. There are spaces and places for people who are interested in such things to frequent, a big one being tourney days, where prospective lovers challenge each other. It used to be a free-for-all bloodbath, but the introduction of duels in recent years has really mellowed things out.”

Marigold laughed quietly but covered it behind her hand.

“Love is love, and beastfolk are not prudish by any means. We are just honest,” I explained. “Some people marry many; others are seasonal mates … I’ve always taken longer to develop feelings, but I do want to fall in love, marry, have children, and grow old with the person of my choosing.”

There was a quiet pause for a few seconds until Linden broke the silence.

“And do you love my daughter?”