Coin swept across the room in a blink of an eye, before Essine could open her mouth. He pressed two fingers to her muzzle to silence her and frantically looked around in the darkness, for fear that anyone else was hiding in the room.

"I'm... it's me, Essine, it's me," Coin hastily told her, eyes wide with panic. "Just... please, don't make too much noise."

He withdrew his hand from the trembling kobold. "Y-you... Th-this one saw... you were... l-like ooze, a-and you... changed your shape. W-what is happening? How did... how did you do that?"

Coin winced. He had hoped his secret would never be discovered, but that was perhaps pure optimism on his part. Deep down he knew he was going to slip up or be caught out eventually, he just assumed it would have taken longer. Or that he would have been exposed by something other than his own foolishness.

A chill raced through his veins. He was willing to kill to protect these people. He was willing to kill to protect his secret. But was he willing to kill these people to protect his secret?

That, he supposed, depended on what happened in this very moment.

"I'm..." He grimaced. This was harder to admit than he expected, the words refusing to take root on his tongue. But what choice did he have? "What I'm about to tell you... you have to promise to keep it to yourself. To never tell a soul. Can you do that?"

Essine, her eyes still wide with shock, offered him a nod. He wanted to believe he could trust her, but this was a matter of the utmost importance and secrecy.

Coin took a breath. "I'm not a human. I'm a mimic," he whispered, fearful that the very floorboards beneath them would hear and rat him out.

Essine's mouth hung open for several moments, the only noise being the patter of the rain on the streets outside, her expression flickering as she digested this information. "The... treasure chests with eyes and teeth?"

"We're not... always treasure chests," Coin murmured.

Essine's eyes roamed up and down his body. "C-clearly not."

"I'm... unique, I suppose," he said. "Some time ago, I accidentally ate a potion that did something... strange to me. Changed my mind, made me as smart as a human and filled me with ambition, and aspirations. The effect seems to be permanent." At least, he hoped so. Certainly, a long time had passed since the incident, and he was no dumber now. If the effect was to be undone, surely it would have happened by now.

"That is... that is surprising indeed, Coin," the kobold replied. Her ears perked up a bit. "But... whether you are human, or mimic, or something else, this one... this one still trusts you. After all, you have given this one much kindness. You are much kinder than most humans."

Coin frowned, glancing away from her. "I don't know if I'd go that far." How kind was it to lie to everyone you knew? "But, remember, you need to keep this between us. Even Elijah doesn't know,"

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"Even your mentor?"

The mimic nodded. "I wanted to keep it a secret. I wanted to make sure nobody knew the truth," he admitted. And, with each syllable spoken, an odd sense of... shame blossomed inside his gut. "I know how people treat my kind. And anyone who isn't a human, an elf, or a gnome."

Essine frowned, glancing away from him. "This one is aware." She probably understood better than most. "We do not all have the benefit of being able to blend in, as you do."

"... right," Coin murmured.

"This one will not tell your secret to anyone. That is a vow," Essine said. She reached out, hesitantly, and embraced his hand in her own. "Nor... nor does this one think less of you now. You are better than many humans this one has ever known."

A tiny smile tugged at the corners of Coin's mouth. "Thanks, Essine."

"But... perhaps you should be honest with Elijah? He is a good man. Open minded too. This one doubts he will think less of you. But being dishonest... that may have negative consequences."

"I... I know," Coin replied. But revealing your darkest secret to someone, even if you trusted them, was difficult. Particularly when Coin's secret could potentially lead to him being hurt or killed for his true nature. "I... I will be truthful to him. I will, it's... I just need time." At least, that was what Coin told himself.

The kobold leaned forward. "Good. This one is relieved to see you again. But... Where were you? Why did you sneak in so late?"

"Ah, that..." Coin sank back from the kobold, resting a hand against the footboard. "It's... a long story. I'll get into it tomorrow and explain the situation to Elijah... It impacts him too," he explained.

But exactly how he'd relay the story was a question he was still trying to puzzle out. Ideally he could recount a version of the tale that didn't involve him transforming into a treasure chest, or fighting against a bloodthirsty assassin girl.

Then there was the matter of Pearl to consider. He trusted Elijah, but the bard was a difficult woman to figure out. Frankly, the tale of a mimic turning into a human seemed like the kind of thing rife for storytellers to crow about far and wide. She'd be singing his tale from the rooftops if she got the chance.

"Needless to say, there's more going on in this town than any of us thought. Good thing we're leaving soon."

"Ah... well... if that's the safest option," Essine replied, giving him a small nod of his head.

Silence lingered between the two of them. Then a realisation seemed to hit Coin like a bolt of lightning. "Wait, why are you in here anyway? This is my room."

Essine's fur fluffed outwards, her ears flattening against the sides of her head. She looked away, abashed. "This one... this one was worried about you. You had not come back for some time, after all. So this one... er... wished to wait until you came back. And um... this one... fell asleep in the process."

Coin, who knew little about society and less about women, thought this was entirely normal. "Ah, I see," he replied.

Essine relaxed, sagging her shoulders as if a colossal weight had been lifted off them. "Well..." Essine hopped off the bed and quickly smoothed the wrinkles of her skirt. "This one should rest for the evening. So... er... good night." She turned sharply and scurried out into the hall.

And, once outside Coin's room, a thought occurred to her: If he was a shapeshifter, then Coin could turn himself into a very handsome kobold. But, on the other hand, she also found his human visage rather fetching too.

Now alone, Coin flopped onto his bed. It was in that moment that all the tension in his body hastily melted away. What a night. What a damn ridiculous, dangerous night.

The reality of the situation loomed large in his head. Valle Irons had tricked them, and soon enough they'd be carrying barrels of black powder that would soon fall into the hands of dangerous criminals. If they went through with the deal, at least.

And how far did this conspiracy reach? From the sound of things, it was a group with reach across the kingdom. Pain tingled in his shoulder, a reminder of the lead ball that struck him earlier. The image of their unfortunate prisoner, a great hole blown through his flesh and the plate armour that adorned him...

A shiver raced through his body. Such dangerous weapons. The lead ball hadn't gotten close to his core, fortunately, but Coin felt pain regardless. And that blow had hurt worse than any sword, spear, axe, or arrow he'd ever been it with before.

He rolled onto his back, the frame of the bed creaking from his movements. Even with his view of the world being as narrow as it was, the mimic was smart enough to understand that those hand cannons would go on to reshape the world if they became widespread within the world.

And when he thought about it, let that mental image fester in his mind, he was flooded with a dread he couldn't articulate.

Sleep did not come easy that night, and the throbbing pain in his arm followed him into his dreamless slumber.