The room was quiet for a moment as Lura had revealed that the secret she was keeping was potentially fatal. Tanzik nodded slowly. “Will you be safe outside the city?”

“Oh, I don’t think I’m safe anywhere. But I won’t know the extent unless I finish what I came for. Best we, uh, continue this discussion out of earshot of the authorities, right?”

“Right,” Tanzik said. They left the castle and headed to a public garden full of vivid flowers, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Tanzik and Allena sat down on a bench while Lura paced nervously in front of them.

“So is this why you were in the study?” Allena asked.

“Best you don’t know the details. But yeah.”

“Lura, if you’re going to travel with us, we need to trust each other,” Tanzik said. “Whatever’s going on, we have your back. You can tell us.”

“Fine, if you insist. I’m doing a job for a contact so I can find out what this coin means. I burned him pretty bad last time we worked together so I owed him a favor before he’d introduce me to a coin collector. I was…” She stopped to surreptitiously look around to see if anyone was watching or listening. She didn’t see anyone but still lowered her voice. “I was planting a masonry contract with Furstin’s forged signature in Hárkast’s study. Hárkast will honor it to not make the throne look bad, which will help my contact’s friend compete with the mason’s guild.”

“That’s sleazy but not deadly,” Allena said. She had recognized what the symbol on the coin meant, and felt a little bad that Lura could’ve found out without committing a crime. But she didn’t know what the face was, or what the coin was.

“Well yeah, but that’s not the bad part. The coin…” She looked around again and lowered her voice to a barely audible volume. “Might have, maybe, possibly been kind of something I accidentally stole from the Rooks a little bit.”

Allena sighed heavily and put her face in her hands. Tanzik raised his eyebrow and looked at Lura inquisitively. “From… birds?”

“What? Bloody no, Tanzik.” He frowned at her. “Sorry, I forget you’re an outlander. The Rooks are an underground criminal cartel. They’re dangerous. Brutal. People who cross them tend to end up having tragic accidents.”

“Do they know you stole from them?”

“If they don’t, they’ll find out soon. I overheard a conversation I shouldn’t have in Komstadh about something valuable in the shrine in Violet Shoals.”

Allena frowned. “You said you went there because the Empire invaded! Has this whole journey been a waste of our time?”

Lura shook her head quickly. “No, they really did invade. That was true. I just… offered to take the letter going to Violet Shoals to have an excuse to be there.”

“And I guess you didn’t grow up there like you said you did,” Tanzik said.

“No. Sorry, just tried to make the story believable. But I picked up the coin from the shrine of Amanitra while we were getting ready to leave for Stormhall. And you know what happened from there.”

Tanzik thought for a moment, idly picking at a thread on his sleeve. “So the most dangerous criminals in Serevar are hunting you, and by extension us, because you stole something meant for someone else to pick up, and you’re trying to find out what it is?”

“Basically.”

“Okay. We’ll be at the gate, let us know how things go.”

“Do I not get a say in this?” Allena said.

“You can say what you want, Allena,” Tanzik said tiredly as he stood back up.

“I signed up to protect my home and country, not defend a criminal from the Rooks. I don’t think we should pursue this any further.”

“What’s our alternative? We cut her loose, she’s an easy target for them.”

“And if they come for us, then we’re all dead and we fail our mission. Furstin’s couriers are getting away right now and every minute we delay is a minute closer to failure.”

“Allena…”

“You wouldn’t be so casual about this if you knew who they were.”

“She’s right,” Lura said. “You shouldn’t get tangled in this. I was honestly planning on letting you leave without me and finding my own way. I think that would be best.”

“I agree,” Allena said.

Tanzik drew his cloak closer. “I’m an Imperial deserter, Allena. You knew this and you came with me anyway. You’re drawing power from a dead god. We all have targets on our back. We all have secrets we keep. I’m not going to turn either of you away, but I’m not going to try to convince you either. I’m headed toward the gate and will leave with or with you.” He walked away, leaving Lura and Allena together in the garden.

“Don’t follow this,” Allena said.

“I need to know.”

“You don’t.”

“You don’t get to tell me what I do or don’t need, Allena. I don’t owe you anything.”

“I know you don’t, but… this road doesn’t end well.”

Lura looked deep into Allena’s bright hazel eyes. “You sound like you know something.”

“I don’t.”

“Stop. You want me to be honest, you have to be honest in return. This coin’s an ugly, useless thing. Couldn’t buy a pan of dust with it. You wouldn’t care unless you knew something.”

Allena began to sweat. “I…”

Lura scoffed. “I don’t care. You’re a hypocrite and I’m done talking to you.” She left the garden leaving Allena alone, sitting on the bench among the serene wildflowers while she fidgeted uncomfortably with her hands. She looked toward Lura after a moment, and began to follow her at a distance.

***

Lura entered the Haunted Haunch and saw Olrick sitting at a table with a tankard in one hand and a pipe in the other. He nodded to her as she sat across from him.

“Hab.”

“Job’s done, Olrick. Who am I meeting?”

“I don’t need to remind you what happens if you’re trying to pull one over on me, do I?”

The anger she’d been pushing down spilled over and she slammed her fist on the table. “I don’t care if you don’t like me and I know I screwed you over, but you don’t get to call my integrity into question like that.” Firelight flickered across her dark, glistening eyes. “I’m running out of time, just give me a name.”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Don’t cause a scene.”

“Don’t give me cause.”

Olrick took a long swig of his drank and set the tankard down. “Vytvor, a collector of coins and antiques. Doesn’t like to meet on his turf, he’s upstairs. Last room on the left.”

“Vyt…”

“Veet-ver,” he said slowly, emphasizing each syllable. “He’s from Lanura.”

“Right,” she said as she stood up and walked toward the stairs. “Pleasure doing business with you, Olrick.”

“For the last time,” he said. “After you walk out that door, I don’t ever see you again.”

Lura climbed the stairs and knocked on the door. An elderly man in spectacles opened it and waved her in. He sat down on the bed. “Vytvor?”

He chuckled warmly. “Your pronunciation is abysmal,” he said in a strong Lanuran accent. “But yes, I’m Vytvor. Olrick said you have something for me?”

“Yeah,” she said, digging the coin out of her pocket. She handed it to him. “Hoping you can tell me what kind of coin this is.”

“Hm,” he said with a frown. He inspected it closely and turned it over in his hands a few times. “Interesting, it doesn’t look like any coin I’ve ever seen. And trust me, I’ve seen coins from all over Cyfandir from all periods in history.”

“Not as helpful as I was hoping.”

“Well, my specialty is coins, young lady. This…” He pinched the coin between his thumb and forefinger and waved it toward her. “This isn’t a coin.”

“What?”

“It’s not a coin. Not in the traditional sense, at least. It’s not money. With the exception of a few ancient coins, most coins have a minting mark of some kind. A design quirk, either intentional or incidental, that shows who made it. This was…” He looked at it closer and lifted his glasses. “Ah, yes! Chisel marks. Well done, but still noticeable.”

“Does that mean something?”

“Means it wasn’t made with a press or template, it was made by hand. Not unusual for ancient coins, but they didn’t use chisels and this doesn’t look nearly old enough. And iron’s useless as a coin metal, it rusts too easily. No one would’ve traded with it. No, this looks more like a token of sorts. A way of identifying with a certain group, more than likely whoever this fellow is.” He tapped the face on one side of the coin. “Maybe a proof of membership, or something to exchange for a favor, given to someone for performing a certain service.”

“Like a medal?”

“Eh, sort of. I remember reading that God Queen Katavy used to give this out as a way of expressing favor. She had these silver tokens that she’d give certain heroes of hers. Opened doors for them, gave them authority, that sort of thing.”

“Is that who the face is?”

“No, no, the God Queen is always represented with a halo around her head like a saint, and none of her iconography is present on this. She’s also always represented with long hair, and this face is bald. In fact, I’m not certain if it represents a man or woman. I’m not sure who this is.”

“What about the symbol on the back?”

“Ah, yes, I’ve been thinking about this.” He studied it for a moment. “This looks very similar to the ancient Serevaran rune for bird.”

“Similar?”

“Yes,” he said as he leaned forward to hand Lura the coin back. She took it and looked over the rune. “Likely a specific species. Ancient Serevaran runes used a system where broad terms were represented with a base rune and more specific types of that word—particular bodies of water, types of flowers, that sort of thing—would add something to the base rune. I recognize this as a bird, but you see the etchings on the top of the rune? Those indicate a specific bird.”

“Huh.”

“I’m afraid I wouldn’t know which one, though. Check the Stormhall library if you want, I know they have a linguistics section devoted to studying our ancient languages.”

Lura sighed. She didn’t have time to check at the library if she wanted to go with Tanzik. “Guess I know where to look.”

“Sorry I couldn’t be more help,” Vytvor said.

Lura forced a grin and shrugged. “I’m a couple steps closer than I was before. Let Olrick know we’re square. And that he’s a lousy wastrel.”

“Sure, was going to anyway.” He waved cordially as she left.

She went downstairs and, making sure no one was watching, quietly stole a knife from the kitchen. She left through the back to avoid seeing Olrick again and turned the token over in her fingers. Searching the library would take hours at the very least, and she’d have to work into the night to find anything. And if the Rooks were after her, it’d be safer out of the city where she’d be harder to find. Besides, Allena knew something. Lura formed a fist around the token as she walked briskly toward the city gate. She’d make her talk.

***

Tanzik paced impatiently by a fishmonger’s stall near the city gate. The last time he was here, he was knocked unconscious and dragged through as a prisoner. He was still sore, but was feeling better after being able to eat and move around some. Though he could’ve done without the bitter cold. He’d never understand how people like Allena were able to walk around without cloaks.

“Hey hey, soldier,” Allena said as she approached.

“Former soldier,” he said tersely.

“No, you’ve only changed who you’re fighting for. Instead of the Empire, you’re fighting for the last bastion of freedom in Cyfandir.”

“Sorry. Been a little on edge.”

“We’re going up against the Empire, it’s understandable that you’re not looking forward to the confrontation. But they won’t know you’re a deserter, right?”

“I hope not. Sometimes deserters will have likenesses of their faces drawn up and distributed. Not sure if they’d make it this far. You nervous?”

“Yes. I just hope we can buy the king enough time to put an army together. And I wonder what’s happening at home.”

“Me too.”

After a moment, a soldier pulled up with a carriage drawn by a few horses and laden with supplies for the journey. They also had some weapons and armor for them to replace what had been damaged, broken, or lost during their journey.

Tanzik took a shield and spear, as well as an axe that he put on his belt. He also took a set of leather armor and some chainmail to put over it. He didn’t like being burdened by heavier plate armor and liked the maneuverability that lighter armors had.

Allena took a dagger, a small battle hammer, and a sturdy oak quarterstaff. She wasn’t comfortable in armor, but took a thick brocade jerkin and some studded leather wrist guards for some minimal protection.

“Do you know if Lura’s coming?” Tanzik asked.

“I’m not sure. She had something else to do but I don’t know if she’ll come when she’s done.”

“We can’t wait much longer, we need to get some distance today at it’s already late afternoon. I know what she fights with, I’ll grab something for her.”

“You’re sure she’s coming?”

Tanzik hesitated. “Yeah. I trust her.” He picked out a bow with a quiver of arrows, a few knives, and a set of leather armor.

As they began to load things up, Lura approached out of breath. “Hey, I’m here. Allena, can I have a word with you?”

“We don’t have a lot of time,” Tanzik said. “We’ve already waited too long.”

“Oh, you can go on ahead, Tanzik, we’ll catch up.” She glowered at Allena as she took her weapons. “We’ll be quick.”

Tanzik shook his head and rubbed his eyes. “All right, just hurry.”

“Coming?” Lura said with a smile.

Allena’s heart beat harder. She knew that smile. It was trying to hide a lie or a dangerous truth. She reached behind her back and loosened her dagger out of its scabbard. “Yeah.”

Lura led her to a secluded alley nearby. Before Allena could say anything, Lura whipped out a knife and put it to Allena’s throat, backing her into the wall so hard she hit her head.

“Lura! What—”

“Stop it. Drop the act and answer my question. If I don’t like the answer, I won’t hesitate.” She adjusted her grip, angling the knife toward Allena’s jugular.

“Lura—” She gasped in pain as the knife cut into her skin. Her heart was racing and it was hard for her to breathe. Sweat soaked her back.

“You know what the coin is. I’ve been patient. But I’m out of patience. So unless you want the last word on your breath to be my name, you’ll tell me the truth. Now.”

“Okay! Just… just let me go.”

“No.”

“Lura, I’m scared. Please.”

“I don’t care,” she said.

But despite her words, she did step back. Her knife was still pointed directly at Allena’s throat, but she had some room. Allena used the opportunity to reach behind her and pull out her own knife, but the scabbard was empty.

“Oh, looking for this?” Lura let Allena’s dagger fall out of her sleeve into her hand. “Yeah, you’re not very subtle, I saw you going for it before I came here.” She tossed the knife aside, her own still pointed at Allena’s throat. “Last chance.”

“I’m sorry,” she said shakily. Her lip trembled and tears began to stream from her eyes.

“For what?” Suddenly Lura was pushed backward by an invisible force. She immediately raised her arm back and threw her knife at Allena.

Allena grunted in effort as she splayed her hands in front of her, using a burst of magic to push the knife back.

Lura gasped in pain as the blade sunk deep into her chest. She looked up at Allena with fury and bewilderment as she stumbled back to the opposite wall and sank down. She coughed, blood spewing and oozing from her mouth as well as her wound.

Allena felt sick to her stomach and covered her mouth to stifle a scream. Her head spun. Her stomach churned. Barely processing or thinking, she grabbed her own knife and put it in its scabbard. She went to Lura, who tried to reach up and grab her. Lura shivered and shook, her breathing wet and ragged. Her vision blurred as she felt herself slipping into unconsciousness as the sight of her own blood overwhelmed her with a wave of nausea.

Allena reached into Lura’s pocket and pulled out the coin. “I’m sorry for this,” she said. She closed her fist around the coin and a faint glow of magic crept through her fingers. “You can’t know.”

And the last thing Lura saw as she passed out was Allena opening her hand, and the fateful iron coin turned to dust that blew away in the cold northern wind.