The cloaked girl sucked in a gasp and turned her face away quickly, but not quick enough that Honna didn’t see the deep tinge of red forming in her cheeks. She climbed off Honna’s lap and stood up, holding a hand out, and pulling her up from the ground. “Right! I’ve loads of answers for you, truly. But…”

“You would have to kill me?” Honna finished for her, brushing grass away from her pants. “I absolutely can not believe you were just about to say that. That is the oldest line in the book.” She huffed in disbelief.

The girl stuck out her tongue playfully. “While that is a good line,” she bent down to grab a black, worn satchel from the ground where they fell, “I was actually going to say, I will have to take you to my boss first.”

“Oh!” Honna felt a little stupid for being so presumptuous. “Will he kill me?”

The girl threw her head back laughing. “You have the best questions, ya know.” She stopped laughing and picked a piece of grass off Honna’s shoulder. Her movements were slow and calculated, like she was still expecting an attack or something. “No! No one will kill you.” Her lips tipped into a frown for a microsecond. “At least no one on our side.”

The goblin cackled. “You think you’re important enough to kill? Nobody cares about you.”

The girl shook her head, the blue in her hair seemed to sparkle as it shifted in the sun. “Come on then.” She gestured to follow her down a slightly-worn, dirt path. “We don’t have far.”

Honna followed close behind, watching the back of her cloak sway with the girl’s steps. There was something different about her. The way she moved so freely was completely unlike someone walking down the street in the city, with their long strides and faces turned down, just trying to get from one place to another as quickly as possible. This girl lifted her chin up in the air, looking around and seeming to enjoy the view as she went.

She moved up beside her, but soon the cloaked girl's constant side glances set her nerves on edge. “What?” Honna asked, a little more anxiously than she had intended.

“You‘re not afraid?”

“No? Why would I be afraid?”

“Well, you know, me sort of kid-napping you.” There was a hint of amusement in her voice. “Not to mention, you just found out magic is a real thing.”

“Ohhh!” Honna nodded in agreement. “That was neat. Made my head a little fuzzy. Not really scary though.”

“And you’re just not going to ask me any questions?”

“You said I have to wait to meet your boss.” She couldn’t help the soft smile. “Besides, I know you expect me to.”

The girl stared in disbelief. “Never stopped anyone else from asking before.”

“My mom,” Honna started with a catch in her voice, “she used to take me on surprise trips. Little places, like restaurants or parks. No matter how many times I asked where we were going she would just say, ‘It’s not like I’m covering your eyes. Use them. Find out along the way.’” Honna smiled and shrugged. “She’d probably have another heart attack if she heard that I was finally taking her advice.”

A hand squeezed her shoulder. The leather of the gloves creaked as she held her still until she glanced up to see the girl’s soft-blue eyes, smiling at her. “A smart woman, that one. Just like her daughter.” She let her hand fall away as they walked past a broken stone wall, built into the side of a hill. Remnants of an ancient house left to crumble away.

“What’s your name then?”