“There’s my favorite freelance wild man. Aren’t I the luckiest girl in the world? You’re just the face I was hoping to see today!”

  The chipper greeting almost had Alnyx turn and walk right back out the door he had barely made his way all the way through. The way his nearly empty coin purse hit his thigh convinced him otherwise.

  “Yes, hello to you too Fish. Do you want a little snack?”

  His traitor of a companion practically pushed his legs out from under him to get inside when their name and “snack” were said close enough together. The white and gray hound sat in front of the high counter, looking over its shoulder to Alnyx. He had no choice but to go in now.

  “You have something for me then?” He grunted, the heavy door swinging closed behind him. “Potential for an unpleasant storm scared my last escort group off.”

  “Everyone loves the Divines until late autumn.” The mortal girl behind the desk giggled when the hound stood on its hind legs and put its front paws on the counter, sniffing about for the promised treat. She took a piece of meat from the sandwich she had been eating out from between the bread and handed it over. “Have a fresh one, right off the Guild Master’s pen. Good one too. Tracking work.”

  As troublesome as working within the Tasker guild could be, it meant there was always work to be done. The re-organization of what was formerly several Mercenary clans into a proper business model meant an end to meeting in dark allies and price gouging. The cut the guild took for “ensuring future contracts, burials, and general upkeep” might have been more than Alnyx would have liked, but it made sure all the work he did take was legitimate.

  “What sort of tracking are we talking, Marigold?” The fact he remembered her name always kept him on the girl’s good side. Which kept him top of mind for high-paying jobs when he rolled in.

  “Came in from the Hunstmaster up in the Kingswood. Royal crest and everything. Apparently they’ve got a nasty beast of some kind on their hands that’s scaring away all their game. Took out at least one of their men too.”

  Exactly up his alley. Alnyx held his hand out for the paperwork to sign and claim as she lifted it from the top of a pile. The way she paused and left her fingers on it when she set it on the desk had him arching an eyebrow.

  “There is….One little thing. A Teeny, tiny, insignificant little change that came down from the top a about a fortnight ago. I tried to send a notice to you, but you’re a hard man to track down you know….”

  “A change?” Alnyx wrinkled his nose. “More fees? Whatever. Give me the new amount to sign off on.”

  “Not fees, for once.” She laughed. “The Guild Master and council aren’t allowing for solo contract work. After the incident with the Queen of Iris, all Taskers are on the Buddy System until further notice. Especially if they are, and I’m quoting here, without family and of an attractive face.”

  “Incident” was one way to put it. The Queen of Iris had hired a Tasker to serve as a private, personal guard when she took a trip to a temple on the far edge of her empire. Nine months later, a blond child was born to the raven-haired King and Queen.

  “You’re joking.”

  “Wish I was. Concessions had to be made to keep the office over there. Lots of work comes out of the region. All jobs are on a two Tasker minimum until a re-negotiation period. Exceptions are possible for extreme circumstances or a confirmed need of subtlety, with sign-off at time of acceptance from at least two thirds of the Council.” She said the last part as if she had been made to memorize it off of a missive.

  “And I’m assuming they haven’t upped costs to a two plus to compensate.”

  He didn’t ask it as a question, and she didn’t answer it as one. They both knew.

  “I don’t suppose Fish can act as my second?”

  “Not unless he’d stop you from impregnating a member of a monarchy.”

  Alnyx glanced down, as if he was going to ask the beast. He was smacking his maw, having eaten the bit of meat it had been given. The snort and way he flopped on the ground to lick its paws clean was answer enough. Bastard.

  “Very well. You have a Resident of a Contractor in town you have in mind, I presume? Expedited for a crown and all, since I might not have been coming in.”

  “Gosh you’re bright. And handsome. How issit there isn’t a Missus wild elf yet?”

  “Mister.” Alnyx deadpanned with a shrug.

  “Ugh! All the good ones are either married or wanna screw one another.” She finally took her fingers off of the contract so he could sign it. “You know what, I DO have the perfect person. He’s staying at the Snakehead Inn right now, and is on loan to us from the Scholars. Goes by Absinthe. The barkeep’ll know him for sure.”

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “Absinthe.” Alnyx repeated to himself, his signature on the acceptance line more a scribble than proper letters. “Thank you, Marigold.”

  “Sure thing. You come back safe now. Need my favorite eye candy.” She winked and giggled again when Fish stood with a single bark. “And I’ll make sure to have a proper treat for Fishy Fish next time too.”

  * * *

  The Snakehead wasn’t one of Alnyx’s usual haunts when he stayed at the Port. It was closer to the old part of the settlement, where there was money and politicians instead of normal, working folks. The Inn itself was the sort where your coin got you a room all to yourself instead of a bed-share in a bunk room. It wasn’t the sort of place he was normally granted entry into. Definitely not with Fish next to him.

  He and the hound looked at one another as they stood in front of the door. It was emblazoned with a mosaic of some sort of cobra, its hood fanned out as it looked ready to strike. If you couldn’t read the sign over it, it made it obvious where you were.

  “Go. We’ll meet you.” Alnyx rolled his eyes when he got a growl and bark in return. “Don’t give me that. You don’t want to go inside. You aren’t missing anything.”

  The head tilt said the wolf wasn’t sure they agreed. Neither of them broke eye contact for a long moment, mossy brown meeting the ever-ethereal and glowing blue of the beast. Finally Fish huffed a snort of air from his nose and turned his head.

  “It will be quick. South gate.”

  A lick to fingers that were exposed from gloves that were cut off from the top knuckle upward. A scratch behind furry ears. The wolf walked down the street like it was meant to be there, and the others around gave it a wide berth. Alnyx watched until Fish turned a corner and disappeared from view.

  Alnyx paused to look at his reflection in the window beside the door before going inside. His chestnut hair was long overdo for a trim, but he had recently shaved the sides back down to the skin. The rest was tied up and away from his face, and was as clean as a few days on the road allowed. The swirls of black and gray ink that started on the sides of his head trailed down his throat and further beyond what the leather armor covered. The black of the skins matched the bands of ink around the tips of his ears, and his fingers as he reached up to adjust the claw that was pierced through one of the lobes. No matter how well he could clean it, the tattoos were what often got him the scoff from desk workers at places like this. Perhaps he should have stopped to clean his face properly, the kohl that normally lined his eyes was a smudgy mess at the moment.

  Not that any of that stopped him from just walking in to places before, and it wasn’t going to this time. He was just…Not in the mood for an argument about being “civilized” this morning.

  “Just a quick in and out.” He said to himself, shaking his head and using the side of a finger to wipe away some of the errant kohl.

  He pulled the door open and the world did not stop spinning. The mortal behind the counter scowled and gave him a long look up and down, clearly having been watching since he stopped at the window. The distaste was evident without either of them needing to say a word. It usually was with mortals like this one, who kept their fingernails as clean as the counter top that they drummed them on.

  “Just looking for someone.” He held up his hands to show they were empty, even if the scabbards at his sides were very much not. “Bar?”

  “Don’t cause trouble, Blade-Ear. I won’t hesitate to toss you back out where you belong.” They lifted one hand and pointed to an open doorway over to the right.

  The insult had stopped phasing Alnyx a decade ago. At best, it was an observation that anyone with sight could make, at worst a bastardized translation of words in his native tongue. He’d heard the mortals call other Bloodlines worse things. So, he rolled his shoulders back and held his chin up higher as he went through the doorway that was pointed to.

  It was busier than he would have thought it might be, considering the early hour. People with money didn’t have to labor while there was sun to do work by, he supposed. All the fine fabrics and perfume in the room said the people at the tables here certainly fell into the “more money than sense” category. He wrinkled his nose as the cloud of scents was particularly potent at the table he had to walk by, several men all with at least one woman on their laps and arms around their necks. Alnyx recognized one of the women from his usual bar. Good for her. Hope she was charging him a premium.

  She gave him a wink when they made eye contact. It was easily missed by the man whose lap she occupied, who was more than transfixed by how low the cut of her bodice was. Alnyx nodded to the man behind the bar as he approached, sitting on one of the high stools furthest from the crowded center of the room.

  “Get you something Sir?” He asked and walked to stand across from him. “Ale, wine, spirits?”

  “Information. Looking for someone, and Marigold said you could point me to him.”

  “Well then. A Friend of Mari’s is a friend of mine.” The man took the towel off of his shoulder, wiping the bar-top down before speaking again with a lowered voice. “Who is it you’re looking for?”

  “Contractor. Goes by Absinthe.” He wished he had gotten any sort of description to go off of. “She seemed quite certain that the name would be enough.”

  “Ah, that one.” The man chuckled. “You’re a few bells too early for them to be out and about. Quite the night owl.”

  Of course he was. Mages always making things difficult. He was doubting more and more that this Spirit-named scholar was really the “perfect person” for a fight with a mystery beast. Clearly, Marigold was either playing some sort of joke on him or this was in response to him rebuffing her advance. Alnyx barely managed not to groan.

  “A few bells you said?”

  “Two at the very least.” The barman sounded apologetic. “You’re welcome to wait here for ‘em if you want. First one’s on me. Friend of Marigold and all.”

  When the tankard of ale was slid to him from across the bar, Alnyx caught sight of a tattoo on the inside of the man’s wrist. Black and green, the bud of a rose faded with time and sun. A mark shared by one of the original mercenary clans, uncommon outside of prison cells and cemeteries nowadays. A nod in appreciation and acknowledgment, returned in kind before the man went to go refill drinks for one of the tables.

  At least two bells. Fish wasn’t going to be pleased, at all. Alnyx made a mental note to step by one of the butcher shops to get a few good bones and maybe a bit of liver as an apology.