The inside was dark, lit only by a few candles along the wall and a few dim chandeliers overhead. A thick, spicy scent filled the air, almost sweet enough to taste. At this early hour, only a few people populated the room, but even so, a woman undulated atop the stage. She wore layers of thin, translucent silks and peered at the men from the corners of her eyes, as if beguiling them. Holding a tambourine, she tapped it to the beat of a sensual, thumping music that seemed to thud in Gideon’s chest as he walked in and settled at one of the tables.

“Too curvy,” he muttered, playing with his change in one hand. A whole silver to enter? These girls had better be worth it.

Yawning, he leaned against the table and half-shut his eyes, watching the girl out of boredom. “No bardic magic, either. Has the art been lost?”

One silk after another hit the floor. A few of the men started whistling and calling out to her. Gideon drummed his fingers on the tabletop. “Come on, bring out the next girl already.”

At last, the woman on stage finished, to the great joy of the men sitting closest. With a last kiss thrown to the air and a wink, she tambourined her way off stage-left.

The next girl followed closely, drawing out a partner by the hand. The lead wore a tiny black outfit, but the girl she led wore a long, frilly nightgown. Long blonde curls, tied in a low side ponytail, cascaded over her shoulder, a counterpoint to the lead girl’s short, straight black hair. Putting a hand to her mouth, the following girl stared around with big, wide eyes.

“I can’t even see her body,” Gideon grumbled.

Music began to play, a tinkling number on the high keys of the dulcimer. The two danced back and forth on stage, with the one in the black outfit ‘accidentally’ stripping the other girl’s nightgown piece by piece, to great applause. At last, wearing a tiny white lingerie barely any more chaste than the lead girl’s black outfit, the second girl took center stage. The girl in black fell back, standing to the edge of the stage.

Gideon sat up. “That body… so slender. So short! And those tiny hands! She’s perfect!”

The dulcimer sped up. Staring into the heart of the crowd, the girl lifted her hands to dance alone. Ignoring her performance, Gideon signaled one of the staff members and began to rise. I’ll see if I can call her out to discuss a business opportu—

He froze, half out of his chair. Mana stirred around him. It flickered at his fingertips, practically leaping to his will even without him calling it.

Slowly, he turned to face the girl. Bardic magic…? I need her!

--

The curtain swished. Gideon stopped grumbling under his breath about the expense of a private booth and looked up. The girl from the stage stood there, silhouetted by the low light outside. Flickering candlelight lent the slightest of curves to her slender body, and the thin white fabric of her outfit tempted a second glance. Her hair spilled over her shoulder, the long blue ribbon that tied it loose. Long, pale lashes shaded her eyes as she stared at the floor, quiet and demure. She flitted a glance at him, then back to the floor, as if afraid to look at him too long.

In a soft voice, barely more than a whisper, she timidly said, “You asked for me?”

“I did. I want to discuss a business venture,” Gideon said, sitting up. He put his hands on the table and laced his fingers together.

Nodding silently, the girl cast a few more glances at him. Timidly, she approached, her hips swaying seductively.

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“I can’t help but notice you have a few assets I’m in dire need of—hey, hey, sit down.” He swatted her hand off his shoulder.

“Eh?” she asked. Tears welled up in her eyes.

Gideon’s fingers twisted for just a moment, making an odd shape. “I’m here to discuss a business venture, not get laid. I wouldn’t have picked you if I was here for the latter. Come on, sit down, and let’s have a discussion.”

The girl looked at him for a moment longer, then sighed. She grabbed the top of her head and pulled, lifting the long blonde tresses clean off her head to reveal much shorter, mousy-brown hair beneath. She threw the wig onto the bench beside Gideon and sat opposite him, rubbing her head. “Damn, that thing’s heavy. Alright. Out with it.”

Gideon stared for just a second, then collected himself. “Right. Er… What’s your name?”

“If you’re here for the night or here for a job, it’s Angel.”

“Angel. Wonderful. I have a double proposition for you. First, I couldn’t help but notice your skill with bardic magic. I’m travelling with a small party, and we have an opening. Could I tempt you to join?”

“Travelling where? For what? What’s my cut? What’m I expected to do?” Angel rattled off.

“Travelling… to the capital. We’re dragon-exterminators, a small party of dragon-exterminators. I do the fighting, and the rest… are my support staff. You’d be expected to use your bardic magic to bolster my own prodigious magical powers,” Gideon said.

“My cut?” Angel prompted.

“I’ll give you a fair five percent. Dragon-extermination makes good money, especially once we consider the pelts. Plus, I can set you up with a good man. He’s an officer in the army, some kind of minor nobility, and incredibly single.”

“How do you know he’s single?” Angel asked.

“Trust me. Once you meet him, you’ll know,” Gideon said with a smug smile.

“Ten percent. We’ll see about the officer once I meet him in person,” Angel said.

“Ten percent, negotiable to five percent if you fall in with the officer. Think about the widow’s pension,” Gideon argued.

“Fifteen percent, and the officer’s a bonus,” Angel replied.

Gideon twisted his lips. “Alright, fine. Ten percent it is.”

“And compensation if I get injured. I have to worry about my trade, after all. A girl’s skin is her life.”

“Fine, fine. Whatever. Compensation.”

Angel smiled. She reached out and tapped him flirtatiously on the nose. “I’ve been so bored lately, stuck in this tiny town. No one knows how to properly tip a girl. If it wasn’t for the festival, I would have already left for the capital. If you’ll pay me for the trip I was already planning, then thank you very much!”

Gideon rubbed his nose, feeling somehow taken advantage of. He narrowed his eyes. Wily woman. I can’t underestimate her. I can’t waste time bargaining right now… I’ll have to accept it.

Angel sat back, running a hand through her thin hair. “So? That all seemed aboveboard. What’d you make the Nightfellows symbol for?” She bent her fingers in the same strange way he had, only flickering the symbol for a moment.

“Right, right. There’s a small vault I desperately need the contents of. It’s underground, in the stone. You’re small enough to fit through the vents and get there without going through the… house atop it.”

Angel nodded. “What’s in the vault? And whose house are we bypassing?”

Gideon unlaced his fingers and drummed them on the table instead. “That’s no concern of yours.”

“I need to know what’s in the vault, at least,” Angel replied.

Gideon hesitated. “You’ll know it when you see it.”

She narrowed her eyes at him.

He sighed and scruffed his hair, turning to look at the floor. “It’s a necklace. A pedant. I want the stone set in the necklace. You can leave the rest behind.”

“A valuable stone, I take it?” Angel asked, sitting back.

Gideon hesitated. “Not to the man who owns it, but to me, it is.”

Angel leaned her head on her hand and arced her thin brows at him.

He coughed. “It’s a magical stone. A stone with the power to absorb magic. I’m a mage. If I get my hands on that stone, we can do fantastic things.”

Almost subconsciously, Gideon adjusted the collar. He looked at Angel and shrugged. “As it is… it’s just a piece of costume jewelry. We’re doing that stone a favor.”

“Four gold, up front. We can discuss the rest later,” Angel demanded.

Gideon sighed deeply. He reached into a deep pocket and drew out his gold. “I have three on me. Is that enough?”

Angel hesitated, then nodded. She snatched the gold from his hand and hid it somewhere in her underthings. “Alright. Let me get changed, and then show me this vent of yours.”

Gideon smiled. “Of course.”

Angel started to rise, then paused. “You never gave your name.”

“Gideon. Gideon Nightfellow.”

She laughed. “You’re joking.”

Gideon shook his head. “Not at all.”

“Fine. Do whatever you want, sweets. Just don’t get me involved in that mess.” Grabbing her wig, Angel slung it back on her head and left the booth.

Gideon stared after her. He frowned. “That… mess? What mess?”