CHAPTER 80 One Night by Candlelight

CHAPTER 80

One Night by Candlelight

Brownie

Brownie met up with Rufus at noon after a long morning with her cousins. She hoped that Rufus had had an alright time of it without her.

For all she could see right through him, the beastman was a well-respected, confident commander general of the Dark Lord’s army—and from what she’d gathered, most of her family already liked him.

Her father had even given Rufus a set of family robes. He was practically married in already.

Not that they were getting married anytime soon, or even engaged. They hadn’t even admitted to love yet. She wondered if she should just tell him. It might not be the overwhelming storybook love of legends … but she adored the beastman and loved spending time with him, and wanted to live happily ever after with him.

Once he’d finished his task and all of their secrets were out of the way.

Brownie had always thought that she was full of secrets. A hidden family of assassins wasn’t something you just sprang on somebody on a one night by candlelight. Rufus, for all his stalwart golden retriever energy, had a boatload of secrets and a hidden agenda you could park a wagon in.

She sighed over a lunch of roasted spicy hummus and flatbread, with a side of stuffed olives and a bowl of salted nuts.

Rufus and her mother arrived late to lunch. And both of them seemed strangely tense.

“How was your morning?” Brownie wondered if her uncle hadn’t been polite. Any number of things could’ve gone wrong in the negotiation.

Rufus shared a look with her mother, and his left ear drooped a bit. But he hid his unhappiness pretty well behind a reassuring smile. “It was fine. ”

It was most certainly not fine. Brownie picked up her half-forgotten cold cup of tea and took a sip while she further inspected her beastman general as he settled in and helped himself to a plate.

“Did you at least sign a new treaty?” Brownie inquired. She wouldn’t be sad to stay another day while they hashed things out, but she liked leaving early when she had things to do.

If she didn’t leave extra, extra early … she usually ended up late.

“The guild master and I sorted everything easily.” Rufus ate an olive, and surprised pleasure shone on his face; they were very good. He ate another before adding, “He’s a very well-organized giant, even if he wouldn’t tell me how Servalt and Peldeep operatives keep getting past the border spells. They’re enchanted to let no foreigner in with ill intent to the kingdom or its people. The only other person to get through the enchantment was Henrietta … and I’m pretty sure there’s only one Henrietta.”

Brownie replayed the words of the enchantment over in her mind … and maybe it was all that time spent answering riddles over the years, but it seemed obvious to her. She even opened her mouth to say the answer, but closed it under her father’s scrutiny. It wasn’t good to reveal that kind of trade secret at lunch … Maybe when they were alone, she could give him some helpful hints .

Marigold was sitting across from her, Linden to the left, and Rufus to the right. Her mother reached out and placed a hand on her father’s arm, drawing his attention. Brownie ate her own olive, wondering what they were discussing. Her father had a perk that let him communicate through the system chat logs.

Chat logs were a party system unique to dungeon delving, where party members could chat or message each other through a pop-up in their notification log. Some perks afforded the same, and her father’s was called [Stealth Com] and required touch.

Rufus was also staring at her parents with fierce eyes … and a bit of disapproval. She didn’t know if she liked the idea of Rufus disapproving of her parents. Or that they might have done something to him worth disapproving.

All in all, disapproval was not a good look on him.

And so, she sought to distract him. “Does that mean we can leave this afternoon? Where are you staying?”

Rufus sighed. “Actually, I’m going to be staying in the Emerald Palace. I have other work for the Dark Enchanted Forest that I need to get done, and a meeting with the Continental Council, and then I’m hoping to slip out and watch, ah, one of your shows.”

Brownie’s shoulders slumped. She’d thought they would be spending more time at the festival. Together .

Rufus’ eyebrows pinched into a pained expression as he hurriedly added, “But I have some added time since my meeting with your uncle is done early. And we can visit every morning? Grab breakfast, go see the apple blossoms, and maybe catch one of the competitions? I’ll rent a room at your inn just in case.”

“There’s going to be a knife fight I was hoping to catch …” Brownie tried to cheer up. It wasn’t his fault they’d fallen for each other on his workcation. Well, it was, but he wasn’t responsible .

“Really?” Rufus reached out and placed his paw on my hand on the floor beside the low table.

It definitely helped.

“The knife fight is actually between my cousin Luke and the leader of the Adventurer’s Guild, Warren Jones.” Brownie stopped for a second to remind Rufus, “Luke is Uncle Derek’s son, and on the path to inherit. He was the fox our age at dinner. Now, the relationship between the Assassin Assembly and the Adventurer’s Guild took a turn after Guild Master Warren got trapped in a newly discovered dungeon—”

“The one that Madame Potts foretold?” Rufus cut in, amused.

“The very one!” Brownie had a gleam in her eye. “Assistant Guild Master Gemma all but begged my aunt Glindy to use her tracking skills to find Warren before his prophesied demise. She had nine days to save him, and she found the Thia Dungeon and the guild master in six .”

“So where’s the problem?” Rufus used his free hand to plop another olive into his mouth, closing his eyes with happiness. Brownie would have to remember to get the recipe from her mother before they left.

“Since Warren was happily battling his way through the dungeon without difficulty, he didn’t know why there was a rescue party trying to drag him back home. He’s not a bad person, but he was incredibly rude to my aunt and she … Well, her contract was to bring him home dead or alive.”

“Did she seriously?!”

“He was alive when he arrived back at the guild .” Brownie shook her head. “After that, Luke ran into him, and he still wasn’t very happy about the whole thing. One thing led to another, and Their Royal Highness Rowen found out. He’s ordered them to work it out like civilized folk.”

“With a knife fight. Goodness, they’d fit right into the Dark Horde.”

Brownie nodded. “Of course. The pair were last year’s finalists, and that puts them in the final rounds already—”

“Ahem.” Her father coughed, drawing their attention. Her parents were also holding hands, and they were a surprisingly adorable bunch, all holding hands around the table.

“Bronwynn,” her mother spoke, using her full name in a show of seriousness. Brownie sat straighter and dropped Rufus’s hand as her mother continued. “Your father and I have something to confess.”