As the silence stretched out, I contemplated her offer. The obvious answer was no. Not only did I not know her, anything about her finances, or how she operated, we had just met. She could be crazy, or worse, insolvent. My mouth opened to reject her, when her attention flicked to the now well chewed dead man.

  I followed her gaze and wondered what she was trying to tell me. Was it a threat? She and I were the only ones who knew I had shot him. Most investigators would see the goblin, the teeth marks, and have two and two equal four. Miss. Thrumlin, however, knew the truth. Blackmail then. That seemed doubly likely with how isolated we were.

  Yes, Reeds knew where we were. However, he was old and had simply offered me a ride. I doubted he would care much if I fell to a goblin attack that she wasn’t quick enough to prevent. He might have questions, but I doubted he would press the issue. Poker Face kept my panic from outwardly showing, as I shifted my focus onto the bisected goblin. Could that be me?

  “What I need is more details.” The thought nagged at me, and I followed through with it. “Perhaps I can scare her off with my class upgrade requirements?”

  With slow motions, I adjusted my suit, grateful I hadn’t chosen to wear a tie. The last thing I needed right now was a more literal noose around my neck. Murder, even in self defense, was a crime without the right permits and agreements. Things that someone in her line of business would have.

  “Can you, perhaps, tell me more about the work?”

  She nodded, her cat ears twitching, as her tail waved lazily behind her. A sign that she was calm for the moment. If it went from waving to rigid, then I doubted I would have much time left. As I waited for her to answer, I cursed myself for not loading my gun. It might not help, but I would have felt better.

  “We’re a small company based further south in the small town of Leyloon,” Rita said, tone almost carefree in a way that made my stomach roil. “For personal reasons, I would like to accelerate our growth. If what you said to Reeds was true, I was hoping you could help.”

  The fact she sounded genuine made it worse. Genuine people had ideas about how to make things work, self-imposed restrictions, and other inconveniences. As half baked a plan as hiring me might be, she clearly believed in making her company reach greater heights. Though her explanation left me with several questions.

  “How small are we talking?” I asked.

  “A handful of specialists.”

  Rita’s green eyes moved to the man’s body, and I shivered, though I kept asking questions. “And how long would my contract be?”

  “It would be for a year.” She re-sheathed her sword, and I almost sighed in relief. “After that, I doubt it will matter much.”

  “What requirements do you need to meet in a year and why?” I couldn’t help my intrigue, but Poker Face kept my expression neutral enough I felt confident it didn’t slip through.

  Her gaze didn’t leave mine, and I could see the hint of worry in it. “Twenty thousand gold, as to why? There’s something I need to buy that the business requires.”

  The smile that met her words was gentle, though inside I was celebrating. Twenty thousand gold in a year with such a tiny amount of people? I was good in my not so humble opinion, but not that good. Plus, I had another excuse that should get me out of this madness. If I explained how what she wanted me to do was impossible, then perhaps she would happily let me go without having to get any local authorities involved.

  Once she had I could go find another Mr. Fisher to work for and collect a fat enough paycheck to buy another version of my previous case. A twinge filled my gut at that idea, but I dismissed its complaints of boredom. Why would that matter? Boredom was, in a way, safe. That was what we all sought in the end.

  “Unfortunately, a certain factor means I don’t feel I would be best suited for your case.”

  “Oh?” Her green eyes fixed on mine, and I wanted to take a step back, suddenly feeling like I was at my first ever meeting with Mrs. Laker. She had been a piece of work, and a micromanager to the extreme.

  “The next job I take needs to be for my class upgrade,” I lied smoothly, a tactic that had worked out well for me in the past. “To take a new business from nothing to one million gold. Your task of generating twenty thousand is already near impossible, but a million is a certainty. While your request is intriguing, I believe I need to decline. Especially with the fact I need to re-purchase my monster cores and a legendary item.”

  She didn’t appear to give in at my words, much to my displeasure, instead she raised an eyebrow at me. “No hunt is won by deciding not to step out the door.”

  “That proverb is nice, but not applicable in my case.” I chuckled, but she didn’t. “A small business in the country will never reach what I, or you, need.”

  “Prove it.”

  I blinked at her. “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me.” She put a hand on her hip as the other held her sword loosely by her side. “Prove it. You’re not the first to tell me something is impossible, and then achieve it. Why not try? What’s holding you back?”

  “Sanity,” the word slipped out in a dry tone.

  That made her smile, a small twitch of the lips. To my surprise, she changed topics, her hand falling from her hip to gesture at the dead man.

  “Why did he try to kill you?”

  “A personal matter.” I wasn’t going to tell her the entire story, not right now.

  She nodded, as though that was a normal statement. “Will there be others?”

  Her question made me pause. Would there be others? I have been in business for several years now. This man’s father wouldn’t have been the first I handed marching papers to. My feet shuffled in the grass, as I tried to count how many people I had fired over the years. Five? Ten? Dozens?

  Rita let me stew, though she jumped in to fill the silence herself after too long. “Wouldn’t it be nice to have fighters at your back? People you know like you enough to come and help if you’re in trouble? I could act as a bodyguard the entire time you work for us.”

  The offer tempted me. There were a few times before that my mortality had stared me so starkly in the face as it had today. My aching legs were a testament to that. While going out into the middle of nowhere held little appeal, it might be safer. At least until I could figure out if anyone else wanted to put a bolt, bullet, knife, or any other weapon into me.

  “I want some answers before I agree. First, how many people? Do you have a business license? How big is your client list? What are my exact duties?”

  Rita took each in her stride, and I listened to her talk about the company. It all sounded good, in the hypothetical. She had a high level sharpshooter, an alchemist, along with her own warrior class. They had contracts between the village of Yuliosa and the town of Leyloon. The latter, she assured me, often hired her for work protecting farms or tracking down creatures. Although the existence of her business license was a bit more sketchy.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Aside from the last, it sounded good. However, when asked about her finances, things turned more squirrelly. She claimed they got paid for their work, but refused to talk about specifics until I signed on officially. That wasn’t too unusual. Top earners rarely liked to speak about the amount of gold flowing in and out of their company, though I doubted that was her issue.

  “May I make a compromise?” I offered, when she finished stumbling over the topic at hand.

  “Of course.”

  “You’re correct about my needing safety, Miss. Thrumlin. I can’t argue with that after what happened. Perhaps, instead of joining, I can travel with you to Leyloon? Get the lie of the land on the way. Assist you with picking up some jobs as we see how we work together? No promises from either side until we reach the end of our journey.”

  “Agreeable, but I have a condition of my own.” Her ears flicked, and so did her tail.

  My smile met hers. “I’m open to a negotiation.”

  “Call me Rita.”

  “Deal.” As I stuck out my hand, I felt I was going to regret it. “Rita then. I’m grateful to be travelling with you.”

  “Likewise.”

  She took my hand, and we shook, and I felt my normal rush at striking a favourable deal. With that done, and my journal tucked under my arm, we turned and made our way back to the coach to continue our journey.

  ***

  We chatted a little on our way to the next town, though calling Ophilim a town was generous. It had the requirements: churches, trade hubs, and a large town hall. But compared to the towering buildings of Crecia and its bustling streets, the place was downright quaint. As Reeds drove us through, I tried to assess our current financial situation. The amount didn’t fill me with confidence.

  Aside from the four gold coins I had on me, travel money, Rita had little aside from a handful of silver and bronze. We wouldn’t go hungry, nor struggle for a place to sleep, but I knew the large inn we passed would be outside our price range thanks to the small town’s lack of a bank. My thoughts drifted to the first long trip I had taken with my father.

  A lord, impressed with his driving, had hired him to take him and his eldest son to a country estate. My father had begged permission for me to come along, citing that it would be excellent training for my future endeavors. The lord had agreed, and thus we had spent a week away from the streets of Peol.

  Out of everything from that trip, I remembered two things. One was how to look after the horses, as my father had refused to lift a finger to assist me in their care. Two were the types of inns the lords had stayed at. They had names like Golden Pheasant, or The Lady’s Grace. Many nights, after my chores, I would huddle at the edge of the stable wall and breath in the scents of fine foods that, at the time, I couldn’t name.

  However, it wasn’t the food that truly intrigued me. It was the music. No matter where we stopped, The Lord found a bard, or fool, or even village maiden to sing, play, or both. I would sit, entranced, and try to memorize the songs to the best of my knowledge, humming snatches whenever I could. Foolishly, I requested the chance to learn the bardic arts. My father’s cane had dissuaded me from that endeavor, though I never forgot the songs I had heard. Later, I found out their names.

  “You’re humming.”

  Only when Rita pointed it out did I realise she was correct. In my head, the last few notes of a song called The Dragon’s Lament faded from my memory. It was an older song. About a dragon who builds a nest on the edge of a cliff, and through the years loses their hoard to erosion and time. The bard who had taught me that story had taken more than my gold.

  “My apologies.” I didn’t meet her eye as I spoke, my attention returning to the window, and the new inn we had parked outside. “It’s a bad habit.”

  “No, it was nice. You have a pleasant voice.”

  Rita sounded serious, and I did what I always did when someone gave me a compliment I didn’t believe. A curt nod, and a muttered thank you, before I pushed open the door to escape. My shoes landed on the cobblestones, and I turned to help her down. She gave my proffered hand an odd look, but eventually took it as I gently helped her down. We both knew she didn’t need it, but old habits die hard.

  And speaking of old habits, the moment she was on the ground, I let her go, and moved to check the horses. Reeds was climbing off the driver’s platform, and he waved me away from his animals, though there was little force in the motion.

  “Get away, I have it.”

  “Reeds, let him help.” Concern filled Rita’s voice. “You know, the alchemist wanted you to rest.”

  “I’m not dead yet, girl, and he’s a guest,” Reed said, his stubborn tone diminished somewhat by the way he had to hang on to the coach to stop his coughing fit.

  As they argued, I studied the Inn Reeds had decided we would stay at. The sign outside labelled it as The Frogs Wart, with a rather appealing image of said Frog on the sign outside. It looked like it had seen better days. Cracks covered the plastered walls, and the stable made me wary for the animals we would leave in it. Unlike most of the other places, only a single lantern battled against the coming nightfall.

  “Reeds. Perhaps I can offer you a trade?” I waited until I had his attention before I continued. “This place has no stableboy, and I appreciate you rescuing me like you did. Rita wishes for me to continue with her to Leyloon. Perhaps you would accept me helping to look after the horses as payment for the trip?”

  He bit his lip, and I could tell he wanted to argue, though after another cough he nodded. “Fine. Though don’t think I won’t check your work.”

  “Any good employer would,” I remarked as I took the reins and led the horses into the stable.

  I heard Reed’s muttering as he moved towards the entrance, but Rita fell into step behind me. It seemed she was taking her bodyguard duties seriously. After finding a place to park the coach, I quickly filled each of the stalls with the horses. That done, I went about caring for them. Rita stood, hand on her sword, half watching me and the door, as I fed, watered, and brushed them down.

  None of them complained at my work, even when I checked each of their hooves and ears for any signs that they had picked something up on the road. None appeared. They all seemed to be in perfect health. When I straightened up, I noticed Rita giving me an appraising look.

  “An issue, Miss. Thrumlin?”

  Rita gave me a light scowl and tapped her hand against the hilt of her sword. “You agreed to call me Rita.”

  “My apologies, a force of habit.” I smiled, but she didn’t. “But you were watching me with such intent. Did my attention to detail satisfy you?”

  Her cheek turned a touch red at that, and she gave a curt nod. “It was satisfactory. When you’re hunting monsters, silent steps and steady hands will serve you well.”

  I chuckled, assuming she was joking. Her eyes told me she wasn’t. The laughter died, and she simply continued to watch me. After a while, I couldn’t take it any longer.

  “You don’t seriously expect me to, what, go on missions with you?” I asked, trying not to sound aghast, or let the shiver at the idea of facing an actual monster get to me.

  “Of course.”

  “No.”

  She appeared shocked. “You would be a member of the company. We all chip in.”

  “Miss… Rita. I am an accountant, and Fixer. Not a killer. My job is to help with your math, not stalk through woodlands or stride through battlefields.” I laughed, though I was becoming less surprised when she didn’t join in.

  “You can speak to monsters.” Her words were firm. “When you walk, you produce no sound. As to not being a killer? We can both agree that’s not true.”

  My breath caught in my throat. “That was self defense.”

  “Do you know what my father used to say? A death is a death. Self defense, a hunt, a war, or even an accident. None of the reasons matter. Only the outcome.” Rita’s words were soft, and I swore she sounded almost conciliatory, as though she was trying to soothe my fear.

  “The ends justify the means is a philosophy I can understand.” I scoffed and moved to a pale of water to wash my hands. “But that doesn’t mean I have any interest in staining my ledger with red. If someone needs to die, gold and other hands can do that work for me.”

  I knew what I had said the moment I had said it. The truth. People had died because of the gold I had spent. My bribery of the pirates was proof enough of that. If they didn’t go after Mr. Fisher’s ships, it would be others. Either way, death followed my gold. Though I would still say I didn’t cause those deaths. Anyone who called me a killer was wrong.

  She said nothing to that, and simply watched me. When I moved to the door, she stepped away, and then fell in behind me. A professional guarding her client. It unnerved me to have her at my back. The way she, or her father, had talked about death stirred something in me. Though what that emotion was, I wasn’t sure. My mind fell back to the bards and their songs. A much nicer topic.

  As my hand reached for the door, it opened with a tug. Then a large man, wearing an armband of lace, and carrying what appeared to be a well-wrapped box, pushed me over and fled down the street.