Theo looked at the coin, puzzled at her instant deduction. “Okay, how?”

Wingding. What else about this coin do I know, based on my talks with others? I don’t want to tip my hand right away, because I don’t wanna freak the guy out! He’s cute! He’s worth…at least a second date.

Flap. Wingding spun on her wrist for a moment while she considered a response, and Fiona pointed at a subtle clue. “The gold hardness is too high.”

“What?”

“The gold is harder than I’d expected. With gold, it’s malleable. This…isn’t so.” She took a butter knife to the coin for emphasis, and stabbed the coin–without leaving a dent. She showed a coin from her purse–a one gold denomination. “Now, if I do the same thing, it dents.”

Theo watched, impressed, as she put a deformation into the coin with the thrust, with people looking on in curiosity. She slid a real coin to him. “Now compare the weight.”

“Comparable to a real coin,” he murmured. “They're the same size, but the core sleeve of the coin is smaller on the bigger denominations. Weight is slightly different. By the way, do you know there’s magical gold?”

“Aurelium? Yeah, I know that.” She had actually researched it one night at Greg’s insistence, to familiarize herself with it. “It can react strongly to some marks, right?”

“Yes. Aurelium brings meaning to the phrase ‘the power of money’ around here, you know?” he added with a flourish. “I think one of your armor sets has Aurelium in it–it was the gold and silver one that Darla mentioned.”

“That thing was heavy as sin. It was good protection, though.” She hadn’t mentioned the incredible part of her mark–the fact that gold weighed nothing for her, or that she could fuse gold at room temperature. Maybe that armor would be even more useful, now! “So, where’d the fake coin come from?”

“You know, that’s the funny thing! A representative from the town watch came to me a few days ago, I believe her name was Lieutenant Pierre. Tall wolven woman, white fur, a very competent veteran of the watch–”

“Hey, I know her! She debriefed me and my friends after we busted down a bunch of transfigured ratfolk who were pilfering gold everywhere!” She leaned in, curious. “Sorry, I interrupted you. I still do some uh, weekend adventuring of sorts.”

“Never would have known,” he added with a smirk. “Alright, so here’s the thing. According to her, the rats had these coins on them when they were all moved to getting processed back to their various Folk forms, and that druid, man, he was not happy!”

I mean, I did hit him in the face with a fish missile. That’ll ruin anyone’s day, she thought as she tried to fight back a grin. “So, what tipped you off?”

“Pierre had a hunch there was something off about the coins. Her mark was telling her there was some mystery to be solved. She gets these premonitions when something is being hidden, either people lying to her or if something is not as it appears. But, she couldn’t figure it out. So she went to the banks, asking around, to see if anyone could examine the coins. Everyone just shrugged and said it was normal, so she came to my bank because I’ve sniffed out some forgeries as part of the day job.”

“Wouldn’t you have checked the hardness, cut up the coins to check all this?” she asked.

“I did. And you know what? They were malleable, like normal gold behaves. Even Aurelium! But, how did you know it was fake?”

“Okay, here’s a weird one for you.” She took a deep breath. “Gold weighs nothing for me. If you gave me a backpack of gold, I’d be lugging it around like I was wearing nothing! Now, I do notice a tiny bit of weight, but that’s the coin core probably. A lot of metals seem to weigh less when I handle them.”

“I mean, your athletics are known,” he said dryly. She raised an eyebrow at this.

“How, exactly? I haven’t had people chasing me around for interviews.”

“I heard a story about a woman chasing around some kobold about a week ago, carrying a giant hammer and keeping pace with the guy,” he added, and she suddenly felt her cheeks burning. “That was you, wasn’t it?”

“I, uh…there was a shoplifting incident.” Even though it was true, it sure sounded like she made it up.

“Normally, you just call the town watch for that,” he laughed. She narrowed her eyes.

“Former adventurer, we don't want to get out of shape!” She was ready to crawl under the table after he chuckled softly in response, and she groaned. This is embarrassing, I can’t believe people were paying attention. Wingding, I need to work on my visual appeal as a little bit less of a madwoman.

Flap. Wingding agreed with that, too. Theo had settled down, and looked at the coin in curiosity. “So, you can tell by the weight?” he continued.

“If it’s not gold? Yeah, it’s something else alright. But you cut them up, right?”

“Standard procedure, but we checked it with destructive testing last. Rikkard and the rest of the Kingdoms hate it when people destroy currency, even for checks like this. It’s expensive to melt it down and start over because you can’t just glue it back together. And don’t get me started on paper currency. What a joke, it’ll never catch on,” he scoffed.

“So, was this just the one?” she inquired. Something else was going on here, a layer of complexity was underneath the simple thefts. Not a single ratfolk had mentioned the coins. At least, not that she’d heard of. Maybe even they didn’t know? “Were these stolen coins? Or were they in their possession the whole time?”

“That’s the thing! According to Pierre, she had picked out three of the ratfolk, and they stole them from another place. They were still trying to figure out who was being forced to steal from where, it’s a mess, according to her.” Theo blinked, and rubbed his temples. “Oh goodness, this is…uh…this is a regular thing for you, isn’t it?”

“You mean where I stumble on a bunch of weird stuff? Yep! Welcome to my average week! I cannot go seven days in my store without drama or chaos. It doesn’t seem to affect my sales though,” she added with a frown. “I was honestly hoping I’d be able to get into a routine of normality, but the fates had other plans.”

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Hey. Wingding let her annoyance be known with a message she flapped with her wings, like little tickles on her wrist.

Theo appeared to relax. “Kinda weird that of all the people Darla sets me up with for a little dinner out, it’s the woman who made it possible to find a possible forgery ring. I mean it’s only a handful of coins, but…” he trailed off. “No one has been able to prove they’re fake. If your mark has a power like this? That’s really something.”

“It’s a little…different than most merchants,” she offered while twirling her hair anxiously and trying to focus. Stop freaking out, he’s cute and you like nerdy. Don’t blow this, Swiftheart. “I mean, I’m a little different, too.”

“You know I read in a paper that you took on the dragon army with only a handful of people. Douglas the Red got what he deserved, utterly humiliated,” he added, looking contented by that. She didn’t know why that statement bothered her.

Doug was kinda greedy. He could be a little condescending. He was a little emotional. He clearly had an ulterior motive, or some other long-term plan–likely, to repossess all his treasure again. Or, maybe it was just an oversized grudge against her, and he was waiting for the moment to strike.

But that notion that he got what he deserved? Humiliated beyond reasonably funny? He hadn’t deserved that. She pondered a disturbing question: if Doug’s brother had done this more than once…just how many times had he had to endure his brother coming by and knocking over the dominoes of his life? And if he was so smart, why’d he let it keep happening to himself?

“Douglas had a good relationship with the Kingdom for years,” she interjected. “I know there are also others who have sought to vilify him. Hell, I’m the woman who forced him to sign a peace treaty at hammer point! But I can’t help but ponder if he was set up. His twin brother is a known deviant, and occasionally plays switcheroo.”

“I…didn’t know that,” he admitted. “Still though, that was a lot of headache for a lot of people. So, tell me something about you that I don’t know!”

“My life’s an open book,” she laughed anxiously.

“Not as much as you might think,” he assured her. “So, who’s the real Fiona, then, when she isn’t running a shop? Or, stumbling into a den of conscripted rat thieves carrying nearly flawless fakes? Or fighting monsters and unruly customers?”

“I have more fun with the monsters,” she giggled. “Greg tells me I have a fixation on dangerous pets. I have a pet phase cat that likes to use him as a cushion. A remarkably plain, grumbly pillow,” she added with a wry smile. “That cat is something else. He's super smart. And always being a total booger!”

“Sounds like your first love,” he teased. She scowled at him. “Hey, I had a cat growing up in the Fiefdala outskirts. My family owned a decent farm that would produce dairy and cheese. We had a big old mouser cat, and he’d bring us treats of dead mice. Not ratfolk mind you, real mice.”

“Thank goodness for that,” she exhaled with relief. “Yeah, he’s my world. And my friends. And my guildmates too, though that orbit is a little more nebulous,” she added with a smile. The waitress came back, a blue-feathered avian with green eyes, smiling politely.

“What’ll you have tonight? We have the lake prawns that came in with a big catch–likely the last of the season before the lake starts freezing over!” she said with gusto.

“Oh. I’ll have that. All of that. If it’s shaped like a shrimp, I want it!” Fiona stated, her eyes going wide. The waitress jotted it down and nodded to Theo.

“Remarian Trout, crisped, fried tubers, and a little bit of lemon?” he asked politely.

“You got it! The waitress hurried back to the kitchen, and Fiona glanced at the darkened windows, where the city lights were visible.

“You know, I didn’t grow up around here. I grew up somewhere a little more rural. There’s something magical about the cityscape, you know? The lights, the culture, the silhouette against the sky.”

“Where did you grow up? Bar’dathi?” he asked.

“You know, elves come from many different places,” she added with a smirk. “Nah, it’s from a corner of the world I doubt you even know exists.”

“I know most of Fiefdala, but the rest of Cepalune, I’m a bit rusty. Where?”

“Massachusetts. Rolling hills with a bunch of nested ponds and lakes, fall foliage that almost is as pretty as Fiefdala. They have warm summers, cold winters. And kind people,” she added with a wry smile. “There are a lot of humans there. Not so many elves.”

“Ah, I can’t say I’ve heard of it. Cepalune’s a big place. Getting bigger all the time, they say, with mages that can tear holes into the fabric of the aether, and connect faraway worlds,” he added with a contented sigh. “Imagine other worlds, Fiona. Imagine the stories those people have told about these faraway places.”

I can imagine it better you could ever know, Theo. She leaned in, curious. “So what was it like for you, growing up?”

“Life was simple. Milking cows, dealing with cleaning out the stable, chasing my sister’s coattails so she’d play with me instead of her dolls,” he laughed. “What about you, is your family back there?”

“Uh…I think so. I haven’t…kept touch,” she trailed off.

Mirana, I hope you’re safe. I hope you guys beat the monsters. I hope mages and warriors were hiding on Earth that rose up and dealt with those things after I was gone. She knew she needed to change the subject, quickly. “So, how’d you change careers?”

He let out a soft sigh. “Because running a farm my dad, and his dad ran? Nah, that wasn’t for me. My sister loved it, though, and went to Fiefdala proper to study economics. Didn’t think I’d end up as an accountant at a bank. My mark is pretty mundane for most, but I can do some detailed mental math, without any tools or an arcane datapad,” he added proudly.

“A math wizard!” she declared, trying not to laugh. “I mean, yes, the phrase totally applies!”

He took it in good humor, and gave a hand wave while he fought back a few laughs. “Yeah, I know, it’s not up to par with real mages or being a hero, but I really liked doing mathematical stuff. The world’s growing up, Fiona. We don’t need to rely on our marks for everything–people are learning to run their lives without them, or barely using them. I mean, I still use mine, but it’s more passive than, say, mages shooting off fireballs.”

“Hey, magic is magic, great and small,” she assured him. Though she had a nagging feeling her magic was starting to wander into something more than just great.

The meal arrived, and they spent a good chunk of time idle chatting. Fiona only could get a word in when she wasn’t enjoying the large lake prawns with delightful seasoning. Nothing on Earth had tasted like this–savory, and a hint of sweet from the meat itself. Meanwhile, Theo occasionally talked about his hobbies–hiking was just one of them. He also collected various metallic ores, to test them for possible commercial viability as currencies. None were going to replace gold anytime soon, he concluded.

One thing she knew for sure: He was worth a second date. “So uh…Theo. What are you planning for tomorrow?” she asked, her lips curling into a smile.

“Well, I was supposed to go for one last hike before we get all snowed in, the squalls have been drifting over the lake further south, like the big ones are always huge snow events. You uh…” he trailed off, looking intrigued.

“This girl grew up in cold climates. Mind if I tag along?” she asked, and his face lit up.

“Oh yes! I mean, um…was that too loud?” he asked, barely over a whisper. She giggled at that. This boy was either genuine sweetheart material…or was part of a pack of demonic cult worshippers.

“No, it wasn’t–”

Her arcane relay went off in her pocket, and she frowned. She tried to ignore it, but it pinged again. She felt an ear twitch. It had to be bad news. Whenever a phone rang right when she was having a great moment, something inevitably went wrong. “Would you excuse me for a second?” Theo nodded before she got up from the table and went to the window overlooking the harbor.

It was Greg, of all people. “Greg, what’s up?” she asked casually. She was met by a hesitant pause from him.

“I’ve got a problem, Fiona. I thought I could handle it on my own, but I think my father’s men are tracking me. Can we meet?”

“Greg I’ve got one question, first. Has your father ever done coin forgery? Coin forgery that was effective enough that no one could tell it was a fake?” she asked, her ears tensed.

“...Why do I get this feeling that you stumbled into something else crazily connected to everything else, Fiona?” he sighed. “Yes, if I believe what I’ve heard, my father has…attempted…to circumvent traditional currencies, let’s say. But why–”

“Greg, I’m bringing a plus one. Be nice to him. I want to be able to take him on a second date.”