Coin slowly and stiffly made his way toward the wagon, passing other stalls filled with steeds and overgrown beetles. He watched, trying his best to appear casual, as Leona hopped off the fence and landed neatly on the well-groomed grass.

"Making new friends?" Elijah asked, chuckling.

"Oh, well, we just decided to chat while I was waiting for you," Pearl replied, smiling toward the young woman.

"Call me Astella," Leona replied, grinning brightly. "I assume you lot are travellers, like me?"

Coin remained silent, loading the bottles of soap into the rear of the wagon. Essine, seeming to sense his discomfort, joined him at his side. "What's wrong?" the kobold asked in a hushed whisper.

Coin watched the woman from the corner of his eye as she shook Elijah's hand, the sight sending a shiver down his spine. "She was there," he murmured.

The kobold's whiskers twitched. "Where?"

"There. Last night."

The realisation hit Essine like an open-handed slap, her fur bristling from the shock. She didn't dare look at Leona, but the threat of her mere presence made the kobold's pulse quicken.

Coin sighed, setting the soap beside the black powder casks. "Be calm. Don't do anything to rouse suspicion." He set a strong hand on her shoulder. "I'll keep you safe."

That, in an instant, seemed to calm her. She smiled. "Thank you, Coin." Knowing his true nature didn't seem to change the way she thought about him. A realisation that made Coin feel... odd. Not in a bad way. It caused a warmth to blossom in his chest, and he smiled without realising it.

"My friends and I were waiting for our horses to be brought out," Leona said, motioning to a pair of men standing idle by the stable gate. While one man carried a bow and sword, and the other sported a weighty axe, they did not seem like cold-blooded killers at a glance. "And that was when I heard your friend's lovely singing voice."

Pearl tittered, practically beaming as her ego was stroked. "It's always refreshing when someone recognises brilliance in an instant."

"Ah, well, our Pearl is quite famed as a bard," Elijah replied. Though he didn't sound too convinced as he spoke.

Coin made his way over as Essine moved into position at the rear of the wagon. "We should probably hit the road soon," Coin said. His voice had lost the monstrous edge it had in his non-human form, but he was still mindful when he spoke. "Looks like it's gonna rain, and the roads might get rougher."

"Oh?" Leona smiled innocently. Looking at that carefree smile, those unassuming eyes, Coin reasoned she could put many mimics to shame when it came to looking harmless. Had it not been for last night, he wouldn't have suspected her at all. "And where are you heading to?"

"Just some business down south," Elijah replied. He too bore a pleasant smile, but there was steel in his eyes. He hadn't forgotten the danger posed by strangers out here.

"Well, my friends and I are heading that way too. Always work to be done down in Sentinel. We're mercenaries, as it happens." Her cloak parted a bit, giving a glimpse at the swords on her hips, and the daggers on her belt. "We could give you an escort, for a fee. The roads are dangerous these days, after all."

Elijah, his smile never failing, merely chuckled. "Appreciate the offer, lass, but that won't be necessary. Anything threatens us, we have it well in hand." His eyes darted to Coin for a fraction of a second.

"Ah, well, no harm then. Just be mindful, yeah?" Leona tutted and shook her head. "Far too many weirdos in the world these days."

She sauntered back toward her two companions, at which point Elijah turned toward Coin. "She's one of them, isn't she?" he muttered.

"How did you-"

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"The eyes," Elijah interrupted. "When it comes to killers, my lad, it's always in the eyes. Come on, let's get moving."

"Er," Pearl glanced from Elijah to Leona's retreating back. "What do you mean? What are you two talking about?"

Coin hesitated. "We'll... tell you later," he replied. He supposed Pearl had a right to know if she insisted on travelling with them.

"Oh, very well. Men and their secrets," she muttered, going toward her own steed.

It was as they were making preparations to leave, the sound of footsteps drew progressively closer to them. A tall stooping elf in a finely-tailored black coat, followed by a small crowd of humans and gnomes. But now Coin had a decent sense for when someone was a potential threat, and those men were setting off a few alarm bells inside his head.

Not to the same extent as Leona, but still.

"The esteemed Elijah DiVenture," the elf greeted.

Elijah halted as he neared the side of the driver's seat. "You seem to have me at a disadvantage, chum. You know my name, but I've never seen you before."

"Names are for friends," he replied in a low, calm voice. "I'm here on behalf of my employer. Seeing as how you've stumbled into some... valuable resources, we were seeing if we could lift 'em off your hands."

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean," Elijah replied, maintaining a carefree smile.

"Oh, come now," the elf chuckled, smiling and revealing a shiny silver tooth in his mouth. "No need to be coy. We had a feeling Morley had a bit of black powder he was unwilling to part with, and too well guarded for anyone to take by force."

Pearl gripped the reins of her steed, regarding the strangers warily. "Good grief, are you people going to get to the point or not? Your intentions are obvious to anyone with eyes and ears, so just state them plainly and dispense with the act."

"That one's got a mouth on her," one of the gnomes remarked.

"Mm. Too true," the elf said, stroking the pointed beard on his chin. "Fine. Then I'll be blunt. Hand over the black powder here and we'll even pay you for your trouble."

"And if not?" Coin asked. He clenched one of his fists, muscles trembling with enough force to crush steel.

The elf let out a jovial chuckle, as if someone had just told him a real rib tickling joke. "Well, young man, that isn't something that should be said aloud. Might traumatize a child, after all."

"My dear friend," Elijah said, lifting his hands into view. "Alas, I don't make business deals with men of your... social status. Particularly when I'm sure you'd use it for something rather untoward or dangerous."

"Oh, believe me, you don't know the meaning of dangerous yet," the elf replied, his smile steadily fading.

Coin glimpsed Leona from the corner of his eye. The enigmatic assassin was watching them cautiously, brushing the mane of her horse in a bid to appear normal. But her happy expression had shifted into a stony, ice cold expression. Her gaze could have punched a hole through someone as well as any hand cannon.

"You're not getting our cargo, you heard the man. And if you try to push the matter, you won't live long enough to regret it," Coin warned.

"Making threats, eh? Word to the wise, pretty boy, don't go picking fights you can't finish." The elf sighed and turned to Coin, flanked by his men. "Don't say we didn't try to be reasonable about this."

A flash of steel caught Coin's eye, a dagger racing toward his jaw. Coin's hand swept up, quicker on the draw, gripping the elf's wrist with vicelike intensity. And though he jerked and writhed, he could not break free of Coin's grasp.

"L-let go!" he hissed, his eyes widening in panic. A single flex and he could have snapped the elf's wrist like a piece of dry wood.

"Were you thinking of killing me? A pretty risky idea, we're barely outside the town. Killing people in public isn’t something civil folks do," Coin mused.

His head thrust forward, his brow slamming into the elf's face with a mighty impact. Blood gushed against Coin's forehead, the elf's noise buckling under the pressure of the impact. He hit the ground with a thud, howling and clutching his gushing nose.

The others in his entourage reached for their weapons, while Leona and her allies subtly reached for theirs where they stood.

"G-goodness!" Pearl cried, taking a harder grip on her reins.

"My dose! My damn dose!" the elf shrieked. He tried to rise to his feet, only for he and his allies to halt as Coin held a palm out, electricity dancing between his fingers.

"You attacked first. I can do whatever I want in my defence and be justified," Coin reasoned. "Make a move. By all means."

The elf glared at him, blood pouring from his nostrils. He grit his teeth and backed away, motioning for his cohorts to follow him. "You're dead, you hear me?! Dead!"

It was hard to take a death threat seriously when the person making it had a clogged nose.

Coin watched them leave, tucking his hands into his coat pockets. They'd meet again, of that he was certain. Another threat to be wary of while they travelled. The inner workings of his ears shifted, biomass warping and sculpting his hearing until it was sharper than a hunting hound.

Just in case.

Elijah seemed similarly wary, sparing a glance to the swords in the rear of the wagon. "It's clear what they want. But if they were to ambush us on the road, they wouldn't risk doing anything that could set the casks off. Suppose we can be thankful of that, at least."

"Maybe it would have been better to just give them the powder? Instead of antagonizing violent criminals?" Pearl suggested, nervous sweat dappling her brow.

"We don't make deals with criminals," Elijah said, hoisting himself into the driver's seat. "We best get a move on, quickly."

Coin nodded as he took his seat. He glanced back to Essine, who shifted uncomfortably where she sat, watching the casks.

"Danger always lurks in our shadow," the kobold murmured.

"Seems like. But I won't let it hurt you, or any of us," Coin replied.

They set off, Dancer's legs scuttling across the grass toward the stable exit. And, as they went, Coin's eyes briefly met Leona's. She smiled at him, and there was a look in her eyes he couldn't quite read.