“True. I could use the coin. It’s not easy for one like me to earn a living when I can count on my claws the number of people in Dunmire who even know I exist.”

“Then why do you live here? Why not go back to where you’re from? Where you’ll be accepted?”

“It’s complicated. Not everyone has the luxury of staying in the place they were born. And I like Dunmire. At night, when most everyone is asleep, it’s peaceful.”

“So about your face…”

“It’s a dealbreaker, huh?”

“Pretty much.”

“Fine. But don’t blame me when you have nightmares.” With that, Dagr used both paws to push back his hood, shaking out the vibrant blue hair she’d spied earlier. Hair that, given all of his other features, could only be described as a mane. A rather lustrous one at that.

“You’re a, well, a lion.” She couldn’t hide the incredulity in her own tone.

“Guilty,” he said with a fanged smile. “Is this the part where we part ways permanently?”

She paused only a moment before saying, “No.”

“You hesitated.”

“Do you blame me? You’re a lion. I’ve never heard about a lion-person-thing.”

“Thing? Now that’s just disrespectful. Though I’m not surprised you haven’t heard of my kind. We are a rare species indeed. We’re not shapeshifters, as we can’t transform between human and animal form. It would almost be better if we could. People are afraid of shapeshifters, but at least they’ve heard of them. But someone who is part lion, part human, but walks on two legs and looks like me? I might as well have two heads and a scorpion’s stinger tail. Speaking of which, do you mind if I let my tail out? It’s feeling kind of cramped tucked under my cloak.”

“Of course not?” She hadn’t meant to answer in the form of a question, but Bryony was still trying to come to terms with the creature she was staring at, rather rudely, not that he seemed to notice as he lifted the back of his cloak and drew out a long, blue tail, which immediately rose into the air, defying gravity.

“My kind are called the Mantarra. We have no true home, as we’ve been hunted close to extinction in the Southlands for many years.”

“I—I’m sorry. That’s horrible. But I’m glad you escaped. Were you being hunted too?”

“Yes, but not just by humans.” He left it at that, though clearly he’d left a lot unsaid.

“As long as you know the way to Comman Dur, I don’t care where you’re from or who you’re running from. How soon can you leave Dunmire?”

“Hmm, it could be difficult given my many obligations here. Say sometime between immediately and right now?”

She couldn’t help but smile at his dry wit, made more poignant by his unexpected appearance. Bryony never would’ve expected someone who looked like a lion to be adept at the fine art of sarcasm. “Works perfectly for me. Here is your advance payment, as agreed.” She located two gold coins from the pouch in her pocket and handed them to him, her fingers brushing his fur as the transaction was completed. It was incredibly soft.