A couple of minutes earlier, the marketplace near Donkey's Horn got significantly livelier. People were swarming around a young lady, constantly demanding their attention.

"Sorry, I only have ten of these left and there are twenty people ahead of you. I'm sorry," she explained in a sweet voice. The way she kept turning from one customer to another made her long brown braid fly, sometimes even hitting the nearby people.

"I'll pay you thirty gold for it!" one of the men yelled.

"Thirty-two! Just get me rid of the rash!" another one yelled.

Before Zelia knew it, her simple attempt at selling a few ointments turned into a full-blown auction.

"Please, please, calm down. I can't take that much money away from you," she tried to calm the crowd down with a serpent's tongue. There was such a situation yesterday, and today, and there certainly would be one tomorrow, when she brings another few bottles from her supplies at home.

The rash was a relatively new problem, but one that drove people crazy. The crowd of scratching lunatics was willing to do anything even for the promise of some relief.

"Oi! You bitch!" a powerful shout broke through the marketplace bickering. Everyone turned around. A big, muscular man was stomping his way towards them, a massive red rash spread across more than half of his face and bald head.

"Um... sir? What's wrong?" Zelia squeaked. Her hand slowly reached for the counter and swept most of the remaining ointments into the sewed-on pocket in her beige skirt.

"I'll tell you what's wrong, you're a scammer! Look what the lotion did to me!" He pointed to his red and swollen face.

"I assure you, my cure is–"

"You'll pay for this, bitch!" he reached over the counter and grabbed her by the hand. His massive grip was so crushing she thought he was rearranging her bones.

"I'll make your face look even worse than mine!" He growled as he pulled her closer and his massive fist shot out towards her nose, missing only barely, thanks to her quick decision to duck.

With a sharp twist, she managed to pull her hand free and jumped over the counter. The man did not let that stop him, however. He pushed the table aside like it was nothing and picked up a few of the glass bottles of ointment, which he began throwing at her during their chase.

"Help! Help!" she kept on shouting as she bolted it through the streets, with the furious ruffian not far behind. The rest of the crowd stayed behind, flabbergasted at what just happened. Their instinct to stay away from conflict told them that it was best to leave it to the angry man to handle his business.

Zelia ran into the Donkey's Horn. Right before she reached the door, her breathing got even faster and with a quick clench of her muscles, she squeezed a few tears out of her eyes.

The situation inside was gloomy enough. Everyone was staring at queen Akara, leaning over the young visitor. Whispers spoke of bets being placed on whether or not she'd end up beating him senseless. The situation, however, changed completely when Zelia ran inside, purposefully pushing the door open with so much force it banged against the wall.

"Help!" she yelled out through her tears, drawing all attention to her. For a moment, her heart skipped a beat when she saw the queen was present too. That was most unexpected, but now was no time to back down. She ran inside, sobbing as loudly as she could.

"He... he..." she pointed to the man as soon as he entered after her. "He attacked me!"

Everyone's faces turned sour. Zelia seemed so frail and petite compared to the hulking mass that was her pursuer, so the people had no trouble believing her story.

"Hey, hey, no, wait a moment, I didn't! She's a fucking–"

"He tried to rob me! And when I tried to defend myself, he punched me! Knocked me on the ground and tore my dress," she wailed and lifted her skirt a little to show a large hole in it. The fact that it was there for ages now was a detail nobody needed to know. "I didn't do anything to him! Why would I deserve this?" she cried out, tears streaming down her face, gently falling on the right emotional strings of everyone present.

The people didn't need to know more. They surrounded the man while brandishing their weapons, just in case he would try anything stupid. A particularly large gentleman blocked the exit and pushed Zelia's pursuer further into the pub.

"I swear, I didn't!" He tried to defend himself, but nobody listened. A muscular man versus a frail lady. Zelia knew the local stereotypes well and played them like a well-tuned piano.

Kard would love to watch the entire scene play out, but he had his own role in all of this. He ran over to Zelia, and as a good and protective husband, he pulled her close. She kept on sobbing in his embrace as he gently stroked her hair.

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"Hold on, people," the queen spoke and pushed her way into the circle surrounding the man. Kard sighed. What a truly unlucky bloke. Maybe his fate would've been far less painful for him should the queen not be there.

"Put it on my tab," Kard told the bartender, who gave him an understanding nod. The married couple then quietly left the establishment through the back entrance, which the owner always left conveniently available for the thief.

Akara approached the man. As if her every step shook the ground, she walked right up to him.

"So, you like targetting defenceless ladies?"

"I... no. Your Highness, I would never–"

"No? Then perhaps would you like to take on someone like the queen? Or are you too afraid to prey on bigger fish?"

"No! I mean, yes! N-No! Please, I wouldn't... This is not–" He desperately tried to look for a way out of the situation, but none presented itself in time.

Akara's enchanted fist landed a beautiful right hook. A loud thud of the impact shook the entire establishment and could even be heard in the streets outside.

"Poor man," Kard muttered when they were a safe distance away. Akara's concussions were a real pain to recover from.

"Well, he did ask for it," Zelia smirked and wiped the fake tears off her face. "Should've confronted me in private. Amateur."

"So how much did you make?"

"Ninety gold pieces. Cha-ching! We're rich, sweetie. You look a lot worse for wear though. Rough night at work?"

"Yeah, didn't work out. Got at least something though," he smiled and showed her the few coins he managed to obtain.

"Hehe, nice. I'll give you some ice for the eye when we get home, but... since I did so well tonight, how about we eat out?"

"Pasta at Grinier's?" Kard smiled at the idea of their favourite restaurant.

"Pasta at Grinier's," she replied.

As the night progressed, the streets got quieter once more. No matter how much people enjoyed the local nocturnal life, they had to sleep as well. The hours after midnight were quiet and only the last few establishments were still open. A dark smudge could be seen moving on the roofs once in a while, as the assassins slowly crept out of their central and got to work. Kard pitied their victims, though never enough to try to sway their fate.

The couple's laughter filled the street although they desperately tried to hide it. Waking up their neighbours was not their goal, yet it was hard to contain the overwhelming joy.

"His face was absolutely golden! You pretty much danced around him!" Zelia laughed.

"Right? He looked at you like you were trying to rob him."

"Yeah, but in the end you did that. The way you pretended to slip and fall onto him was brilliant!"

"Right? And then the coin trick."

"Hahaha, yeah! You paid for his damaged coat with his own money!"

"And still got plenty to spare," Kard grinned and tossed the freshly looted wallet into the air a few times. "But the best part is how you got the ice."

"Oh come on, that was child's play!"

"No, that was brilliant. You wrote into the menu that they offer free ice for every drink and they believed it!"

"Well, it's their fault really. They should have more unique handwriting. This was so easy to copy."

"And then how you just asked different waiters and they kept bringing more and more ice," Kard snickered and lifted the ice bag off of his black eye.

"Hey, keep it on! I didn't go through the trouble of getting you ice if you're not going to use it!"

"Don't worry, I'm using it, I'm using it," he assured her and wanted to keep reminiscing about their recent experience in the restaurant, but a loud yelp tore them both out of their cheerful mood.

There were two men in the nearby alley, ruthlessly beating some poor fellow, while the third member of their group was tying a knot on a long rope.

"We should go," Zelia muttered and pulled her hood deeper into her face. Kard, however, did not move. "Kard? You okay?"

"That's the bloke from the pub."

"And?"

"They'll kill him. He's new here."

Zelia sighed. "Damn it. Why us? Why is this always on us?"

Kard shrugged. "Guess it's just my poor luck."

"Okay. Our target? Important person?"

"I'd go for a distant relative."

"Oh yeah, distant relative is a classic."

The two walked into the darkness of the alley, pulling the hoods off their head. Their faces had to be seen for the plan to work.

"Oi! Lads! Got a problem with my..." Kard froze for a second, trying to judge the man's age."

"Nephew," Zelia whispered.

"Nephew! Problem with my nephew?"

The three scoundrels stopped what they were doing and eyed the couple. "Ey! Kard! The fuck you doing here, you sod?" one muttered, his breath so bad it could open a safe.

"Came lookin' for my nephew."

"This bloke one of yours?" another man asked.

"Yeah. I'll ask for one last time. What's the problem?"

"Fucker clinked his dice! Cheated!"

"Did you take his money?"

"Of course! We're not dull!"

"Good, then I'll take it from here." He walked over to the young man, who looked up at him with eyes full of hope before Kard's fist landed on his cheek. "Dumbass! How many times do I have to tell you to quit that shit!" he yelled at him.

Zelia quickly came to his aid and they both grabbed the man by his arms.

"I assume since you have your money, you have no problem with me beating some sense into him?"

"Nah, you can have 'im. Family should stick close," one of the men said and tossed the prepared rope aside. "Bloke should've said he knew ya. We had no idea."

"That's fine. No offence taken. He deserved the beating," Kard dismissed the man's apology and along with his wife, they began dragging him away.

"Squirm around or go limp if you want to survive," Zelia whispered in the man's ear, who was so shocked by the situation that he barely had any strength in him left anyway.

"You don't know the rules, idiot?" Kard asked the youngster. His face indicated he couldn't have too many years over twenty.

"I... I miscalculated," he whimpered back. "Why... why did you help me? What will you do to me?"

"Take you home and talk some sense into ya," Zelia replied.

"Listen, pal, you're lucky we were around. You can't just come here and start scamming people!"

"Why? Everyone does."

"That's because others have connections here. You're alone. No friends, no family, no importance whatsoever. They can kill you and nobody would give a shit. Just be happy they went to do it themselves. If they hired an assassin on you, not even god would help you."

"I... Thank you. It's nice to see some kindness in this city."

Zelia smirked. "Don't flatter us, buddy. Should you have any money left we'd be taking it as a rescue tax."

"So count yourself lucky you have an empty wallet," Kard said as they dragged him through the streets.