Assistant to the Villain, #3
Accomplice to the Villain
by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Contents
Chapter 17
Overview
Evie checks on a shaken Edwin while Tatianna heals him, and the group realizes the attacker may be an insider aiding Lyssa’s manipulation. Suspicion shifts from Edwin to something in the kitchen as the likely target. Trystan postpones the investigation until morning and pointedly orders Evie to attempt torture that night.
Summary
Evie rushes to Edwin’s oversized quarters and finds the ogre chef bruised and shaken, with rope marks on his wrists and a bump on his head. Tatianna arrives with Clare and Kingsley, immediately healing Edwin as Clare summons Trystan. Edwin recalls cleaning up a broken kitchen chair before everything went dark.
Clare wonders if the captured assailant from earlier was responsible, but Evie clarifies he was already locked up. Tatianna questions the motive for attacking Edwin, prompting Evie to suggest the intended target might have been something in the kitchen rather than Edwin himself. Trystan arrives, agrees there may be an insider among the staff, and links the attack to the notes that manipulated Lyssa to try freeing Evie’s father.
The group resolves to investigate the kitchen in the morning, with Trystan showing rare approval of Evie’s reasoning, easing the tension. As they leave, Trystan turns serious, noting the workday’s end and the need for more aggressive tactics at night.
Trystan then tells Evie it is time for her to try her hand at torture, signaling a shift toward harsher methods to uncover the traitor and the intruder’s aims.
Who Appears
- EvieComforts Edwin, deduces the kitchen may be the target, and is ordered by Trystan to attempt torture.
- TrystanConcludes the attacker may be an insider linked to Lyssa’s notes; delays inquiry; pushes Evie toward torture.
- EdwinOgre chef found bound and concussed; healed by Tatianna; recalls blacking out while cleaning the kitchen.
- TatiannaHeals Edwin’s injuries and questions the attacker’s motive, prompting focus on the kitchen.
- ClareRaises the possibility of the earlier prisoner; helps steady the room’s mood as Trystan arrives.
- KingsleySilent companion who reacts wryly, present as the group assesses the attack on Edwin.