She didn't know if she was in a trance, but she was definitely focused on writing. The silence had awoken her muse, it seemed and her hand sped across the page, sometimes stopping to cross something out and write a substitute above the word. She didn't notice her table mate peeking over at her writing.
“Look… it’s all there.” The brunette smiled prettily at her debt collector who grunted down at the small human. The dwarf he worked for snatched the bag and opened it peering at the bag of coins suspiciously.
“What did you do to them?”
Mia sighed exhaled, exasperated, “Would I really screw you over? Come on.” She gestured to the bag, “just take it so you and I can be done with one another.” He grabbed a coin from the bag and bit into it, viciously. Mia winced, so did the dwarf.
“Tastes real… "He sounded suspicious you could have had someone magic them.” She shrugged. The bag of coins were real as they could be, but she did not have the brightest reputation with this dwarf--her own doing, not that she was apologetic. The dwarf gestured forward a bored looking elf.
“I can tell from here that magic has not been used on them. They are the real deal.”
“Great!” Mia clapped her hands together and smiled at all gathered, “so we’re done here?” She was already edging for the day.
“No, we’re not.” Snarled Thestrat Silverhide and his muscle, either a goblin or just a really ugly human snatched at her shirt. “You’ve screwed me over for the last time, Emily.”
She’d kind of expected this. Even with the promise called over her shoulder to pay the dwarf back, he’d just seemed so angry the last time she’d seen him. The last time she'd seen him, she was already on the run and calling over her shoulder a promise to pay him back. He was angry then and still seemed so now. “Sorry, boys,” the pretty smile was back, “but I can’t stay to play today.” The human managed to shrug, even with the collar of her shirt in the grips of the muscle man. She’d no sooner finished speaking when she thrust her pointer and middle finger directly into the goon’s eyes, no hesitation. He screeched and grabbed at his face as Mia whirled and shoved her way through the closed door. She pranced down the stairs leading to the rest of the tavern and pushed through the few afternoon patrons.
Once outside Mia didn’t stop running until she’d reached the safety of another shop. She doubted that Silverhide would have followed her since he had her money and she doubted the ugly human would have been able to follow her, likely blinded at the moment. There was only a small part of her that hoped it would be temporary.
----
Later the same evening, dressed like a man and her hair neatly stuffed under a cap, Mia approached the same tavern. Now that it was evening there was much more activity. The door was propped open, allowing the warm spring air to filter through the sweaty bodies of the drunkards. The small unassuming boy went unnoticed slipping through the crowd to the back stairs.
With a full bar downstairs, Mia knew her dwarf friend would be busy downstairs keeping the ale and coin flowing. Once upstairs, the rogue paused and listened quietly. There was no movement in the small office. From her pockets the woman produced what could easily be mistaken for as a very ordinary rock. She placed it by the door and whispered a simple incantation and the rock shook, glowing green.
There were no magical enchantments on the door, Silverhide overconfident in his ability to keep the room safe. Picking the lock was just as easy, the skill being second nature to the woman by this point. She sighed when the lock clicked open and listened intently. There was still no sound from inside the room, but that didn’t mean no one was waiting inside. Cautiously she eased the door open and when she peeked through the doorway she spotted her bag of money, still sitting on the table.
Dark eyes scanned the room looking for someone, anyone, lurking but she saw nothing and with a light step entered the room, closing the door behind her. The work that followed was quick. After some searching, Mia found some other bags of debts that had been paid. Quietly she collected the money, adding up to what she’d given Silverhide earlier that day, replacing every coin with a fake. It might look like some others might have cheated him, but that was hardly Mia’s problem; her debt was paid without losing a coin.
Not long after she was easing herself back down the stairs, blending in with the drunkards and slipping right by the same elf from earlier as he entered the tavern. It was not long until she was headed out of town on the back of a horse she’d cheated out of a drunk gambler a fortnight prior.
Within the span of three days, Mia had payed off the remaining of her debts in the area in much the same fashion.
Laila looked up, seeing something out of the corner of her eye, and when she did she caught Otto's eye. Smiling, she took one plug out. "Peeking?"
