Kimba’s eyes were blinded by the shining metals used for both decoration and combat. The scribe went unnoticed, and she approached with silent footsteps, one foot in front of another, more out of habit than to purposefully make herself harder to detect. No part of her thought she could sneak up on a man that watched her walk in with the steward. She gave only one glance to the scribe, and the threads between them burst with vibrancy for just that moment. But, she looked away, to the plate metal ahead.

She cleared her throat. “With a welcome like that, you may have just wasted ten gold,” she said loudly.

The suit of armor remained without a helmet, at least, and smiled at her words. He was a hard man with wrinkles and many marks on the metal he wore. A seasoned man that earned his status.

“Welcome,” he said. Though he ignored her words outwardly, the twinkle in his eye showed he found her comment at least a little amusing. “I am Captain Ignatus of Castle Cudwi. I serve Royal Family with immense honor.” The way he lay his gloved hand over his chest showed a respectable amount of honesty.

“Kimba. I serve….” She paused. “Well, I was granted official mercenary status over in the Kingdom of Fosath, unless you guys are at war. In that case, I serve no one.” Captain Ignatus laughed short bursts, each outburst cut to try and shorten his display.

“Right, I heard you were quite a jester,” he said.

Kimba frowned. “Hope not.”

“I meant that respectfully—”

“Of course, I haven’t said yes to your offer yet.” Maybe she would have smiled like he did if she had her weapons on her. But now, it was easy to see as she pat her sides that she couldn’t help but notice he had a longsword, and she had nothing. She even left her traveling cloak, with her hidden dagger, with the horses.

Captain Ignatus clearly wasn’t thinking about weapons—at least not the metal kind. He took a step forward, gesturing openly with his arms. “Now, can you blame the rumors of your reputation?”

Kimba returned his laughter and smiles with her hands on her hips. “Hadn’t heard them. Not many people survive meeting me.” Now that she said this, the captain seemed to catch on how she felt. While the steward took a step back, he stepped closer.

The scribe in the background adjusted himself uncomfortably, knuckles blanching against his journal. He remained still otherwise, but that tiny movement caught Kimba’s attention. She glanced at him again, then returned her gaze on her current worries. The way the threads between them tightened like a feeling of anticipation in one’s chest gave me a burst of excitement. Would they know, when they met? Would they know their destinies were entwined?

The captain tried again. “And it seems like those that do are happy with you—in one way or another.” This seemed to help Kimba relax a couple of her back muscles.

“So then it was Kelwin who spoke of me,” she spoke aloud. The Captain furrowed his brows, obviously not recognizing the name. “Oh. Perhaps not. Um, then Marano. No? It’s got to be Ellis. He even proposed to me after—” Before she could continue guessing, Emiko cleared his throat, prompting Captain Ignatus to change the subject.

“The job requested by King Cader and Queen Zanna is anticipated to be two months of work, from start to when you receive payment. Travel allowance of sixty gold is included.” Kimba noticeably perked at the mention of gold, but didn’t relax any further.

“What sort of mission takes two months?”

The captain’s laugh lines faded further into his face. “One where you will be in charge of escorting someone to a particular place, with the willingness to lay down your life to protect them.” The room fell silent. The scribe remained still, the steward fidgeted with his fingers, and the captain and the mercenary stared at one another for a good while.

“That’s asking a lot,” said Kimba quietly. The captain shrugged.

“So is three hundred gold.” This answer made her pause in shock. Ten gold to hear the mission. Three hundred to perform a mission that took two months. Just the travel allowance was plenty of gold to sleep in a tavern with a positive reputation and eat well, and with enough left over to buy supplies for the road, maybe even some new equipment. Two hundred and forty gold…. She clearly wanted to just say yes, but she took in a deep breath instead.

“And this person being escorted, it’s consensual?”

“Of course!” The fact that he was offended at the question clearly gave Kimba some relief, but she hesitated still.

“But you went all the way to another kingdom to seek me out. And it’s so secret, you can’t trust any royal guard or fancy soldiers you have under your command….” Captain Ignatus might have been a mighty soldier, but it was clear from this expression that he probably lost every poker game he ever played. Kimba continued, “How many people have already said no?” He could only answer with a small smile. Maybe he thought his desperation would get her to agree, but she shrugged. “Alright. Four hundred gold, not including the travel allowance.”

Emiko gasped. “Are you—are you seriously bargaining?” She looked at him, confused.

“Yeah?”

“To—a request from the King and Queen of Cudwi?” butt in Captain Ignatus.

“…yes.” That was how she got most of her payment anyway, was through bargaining and up-selling. It wasn’t like this wasn’t her job or anything. Their surprise was almost insulting. Emiko waved his hand and shook his head, looking to the captain for guidance.

“I—I, um—I’m sorry, I honestly didn’t anticipate this,” he said.

Kimba grit her teeth. “Bet you didn’t anticipate getting turned down so much that you had to go all the way to Fosath to find someone willing to accept this job, either.”

For some reason, Captain Ignatus’ laugh returned. “Are you saying it’s a yes, if you get four hundred and sixty gold for this job?”

“As long as sixty is paid up front, and I get that ten promised from before.”

“Fine.” He shrugged, even though Emiko looked like he was about to faint.

“Really?” She anticipated at least a little bit of arguing, but this was nice. Rin and Nina would find it funny later, no doubt.

“Really,” confirmed the captain with a nod. Kimba now let her gaze shift to the scribe again. When she looked at him, he looked to the floor. This was something that I found so, immensely strange. Could he not see their fates, either? Did no one see the threads? Was it like this for all other beings in every other world Weft and I created?

The captain continued, “Are you sharing this…mission and reward with your cohorts?”

She nodded, still staring at the man in the blue cloak.

“Who’s this guy?” she asked, gesturing to him. The captain sighed, and didn’t look to where she pointed.

“Let’s join your companions in the sitting room and talk about this mission with a lot more wine.”