Lianna reluctantly followed the man into the inn. Her entire body was on high alert as she clutched the small bag of jewelry in her hand. At the first sign of foul play, she was prepared to bolt. Thankfully, the common room was filled with people. The din of voice, the clanking utensils and glasses, was jarring after the relative quiet of the market square.

“Why don’t you choose where you’d like us to sit? I wouldn’t want to choose seats that you didn’t like.” The man flashed her a dazzling smile over his shoulder.

She pursed her lips, hearing the acknowledgement of her suspicion in his words, before scanning the room. There were several open seats and small tables around the edge of the room, but the exits were less accessible from them as well. But the ones closest to the front entrance were all taken. She had planned on choosing the table regardless of what the man wanted, but now it seemed her choices were limited. She was weighing her options for the spots that were left when two women vacated the seats nearest to the door servers were using to come in and out of the common room.

“Those seats will do,” she said, pointing to the table the two women stepped away from. She half expected the man to find something wrong with her choice, but he simply nodded and headed in that direction.

He pulled her chair out for her before circling around the small table and sitting down in his own.

“Uh, thank you,” Lianna said. “You have some manners for a traveler. Not that that’s a bad thing, but it isn’t as common in small towns like this.” She paused, then clamped her lips shut to keep herself from continuing to babble. As nervous as she was, she would need to keep what she said to a minimum.

A waitress came by as soon as they’d taken their seats.The man deferred to Lianna to order first, and then he did, but the whole time, his eyes barely left Lianna. It seemed like he had something on his mind.

“I’m a mercenary–and quite a good one if I’m to say so myself,” he said after the waitress had left. “So, I’ve worked a few times for nobles. Manners are a necessity if you’re a merc wanting to have nobles as clients. But I could say the same for you? Are you perhaps a lady’s maid? You’re not a noble woman in disguise, are you? That could get me into a spot of trouble if I’m buying jewelry stolen from a noble’s house.” He pitched his voice low so as not to be overheard by others over the noise of the common room, and his smile never wavered, but Lianna felt suddenly exposed under the man’s gaze.

She cleared her throat. “Well, like you, I’ve had to work with nobles before as well. It’s natural to pick up a few habits, I suppose. If you’re astute enough to notice such mannerisms in me, then you’ll know if I’m lying when I say these aren’t stolen. They were given to me.” Lianna looked him straight in the eyes and didn’t let her gaze waver in the least.

“Well, you don’t seem to be lying about that at least, and that should be enough for me. I’ve no interest in peeling back anymore secrets. I just didn’t want some noble to come looking for my head over this purchase.”

Lianna wasn’t an expert at detecting lies, but she knew the man before her certainly didn’t look worried. She wondered if it was all a pretense. No, she told herself, I have to sell these in Yivim or I’ll never cross the border in time. She needed enough to pay for necessities as well as the gate tax. The newer the traveler, the higher the tax due to extra paperwork, and a few extra coins went a long way towards speeding up that paperwork. The last thing she needed was to be held up too long at the border gate due to slow paperwork.

“I suppose that is good to hear,” she said, deciding to drop her suspicions for now. “Did you want to take a look at them now? You can suggest an amount once you do.” Lianna leaned a bit forward and tried to pull from her memories of seeing merchants strike deals in Mills Yard.

When he held out his hand, she only hesitated for a second before placing the bag on his palm. He didn’t dump it out for everyone in the common room to see, which was a relief, only tilting the bag so that the light from the chandelier showed the few bits of jewelry within. He poked around in the bag with his finger for a few moments, but Lianna couldn’t tell if he was really assessing the jewels or not.

He put his thumb in and scratched the surface of one of the jewels. “These seem to be real and about mid-grade, more or less–certainly a grade above what that shopkeep could buy and sell but not high quality.” He tightened the string on the bag and bounced it in his hand before setting it on the table between them. “How about we eat before deciding on a price? I did say that I would buy the meal regardless.”

Lianna wondered if he was simply buying more time to think over his offer, but her stomach chose that moment to rumble. She simply nodded as she tucked the bag of jewelry back into her pocket, thankful that the noises in the common room drowned out her stomach’s complaints. The man flagged down the waitress, and they both gave their orders. It wasn’t long before the food and drinks were brought out.

“I’m called Ignatious,” he said, raising his mug towards her, the smile on his lips seeming genuine.

Lia wasn’t sure what he wanted at first, but then she realized she’d seen people raise their glasses towards each other while drinking before. She registered that he said he was called Ignatious and not that it was his name, so she felt no qualms about giving him an alias as well. She picked up her own mug and tapped it to his, saying, “A pleasure, Mr. Ignatious. You may call me Lia.”

They both brought their drinks to their lips, but after one small sip, Lianna grimaced.

Ignatious chuckled. “A bit courser than you’re used to, Miss Lia? And feel free to call me Nate.”

“A-ah, no. I’m just not a fan of ale in general, but that was the cheapest they had.” His guess had been correct though, but Lianna had no intention of letting him know that.

“You could have ordered the wine instead, though it’s not of particularly good stock either. But drink is drink.” He knocked back his mug and quickly drank it down to half.

Lianna stared into her mug, wondering if she needed to do the same, but decided to focus on the food instead. That was when she noticed that her companion had ordered foods that weren’t quite as popular with those of her county. She could only assume they were possibly foods that were popular across the border.

“Are you from the duchy?” she asked, her upbringing of keeping polite conversation going over food, prompting her to ask something.

“Hmm,” he said around a bite before swallowing. “Not originally, but I have spent quite a lot of time there. I sometimes hire myself out as a guard for travelers and merchants, though, so I’ve seen many places.” Then he raised an eyebrow. “Are you on your way to the border by chance?”

“Well…,” she hesitated, unsure whether talking about wanting to cross the border into Rithan would raise suspicion or whether refuting it would look more suspicious. Since Ignatious seemed to be an observant man, she decided to opt for as close to the truth as she could manage without giving anything away. “I do intend to make my way there soon, yes.” She looked down at her food, trying to look distraught enough at the subject that he’d let it drop.

“I apologize if it is an uncomfortable subject. I couldn’t help but wonder. I intend to head back that way soon as well, so I thought perhaps you might be in need of a guard.” He flashed her a winning smile once more. “I have a few loose ends to tie up here in Yivim though, but if our schedules aligned, I wondered if you’d hire me to escort you into Rithan. What you have on you,” and he gestured to where the jewelry was stuffed in my pocket, “you could easily pay my fee and still have quite enough left over to pay for travel expenses.”

“You’re quite the salesman,” she said, and he shrugged, still smiling between bites. Lianna thought that sounded nice, but she needed to leave as soon as possible for the border gate and couldn’t wait. Having a guard who was familiar with Rithan would have put some of her anxiety to rest, but adding another day or two unnecessarily just wasn’t possible. She’d have to find another guide or source of information on the duke’s whereabouts once she crossed the border.

“Your offer is tempting,” Lianna said finally, “but I don’t think I can wait for your business to be concluded before I leave. I’d like to settle the sale here and now if possible.”

“Too bad then, but I understand.” He reached into an inside pocket of his overcoat and pulled out a small pouch half the size of the one she carried her jewelry in and laid it on the table, sliding it over to her. “Take this then. I believe it will be enough to cover the purchase.”

Lianna picked up the bag, surprised at how light it was. She glanced at the man in front of her, dubious as to whether he were toying with her or not. The bag did not feel heavy enough to contain enough silver to cover the cost. But when she pulled the top open and looked inside, two large gold coins sat within it–not even small golds but large ones!

This man can’t be serious? She knew the jewelry was probably worth one large gold in the state it was in, but two?

“You’re aware of what you just handed me, correct?” she asked.

He nodded and sipped his drink before saying, “Yes. And I wouldn’t worry about it. I’m spending my money how I see fit. Since I won’t be your guard for the journey, perhaps the extra will help instead.”

Lianna bit her lip, feeling a bit guilty about taking more than the jewelry was worth, but knowing the extra really would help her. “Alright,” she said and handed him the bag of jewelry in exchange. “But don’t regret it later, okay?”

“Deal.”