The tavern in Taiga was loud a moment ago. Voices overlapping, chairs scraping, the warm smell of food and spilled ale drifting through the air. The kind of place Minerva usually ended her nights in. The kind of place she liked when she wanted to relax without thinking too hard.
Then the door opened and she stepped inside.
The noise quickly turned into silence as a few glances shot her way. Someone paused mid-sip. A chair leg scraped across the floor as a patron shifted quickly out of her path. The ones who recognized her reacted first.
That's her. No doubt about it.
I heard she took down five men in the dunes last week.
Why is she in Taiga?
Minerva ignored the whispers. Her footsteps hit the floor with steady weight as she scanned the area. The bounty description sat clear in her mind. One target. One job. 3,000 gold. Get it done.
Her hand brushed the hilt of her father’s white and black katana as she saw Honey at the bar. Sitting alone. Relaxed. Drinking like they belonged there.
She stopped walking for a moment. Something about the sight rubbed her the wrong way. Or maybe the right way. Hard to tell.
She approached slowly. People made space without being told. When she reached the bar, she drew her katana just enough for cold steel to hover near Honey’s throat. Her other hand settled on their hip, firm, steady, claiming space for herself.
Up close, she studied them. Their posture. Their presence. Their quietness. She expected guilt, or some twitchy reaction that screamed criminal. Instead she saw… someone just having a drink. Someone who didn't match the image she was given. It bothered her more than it should've.
Bad people drink too, she reminded herself. Her father drank plenty. So why does this feel different?
Minerva sheathed the blade and slid onto the stool beside them.
Move over,
she said, her tone more casual than the moment deserved. She signaled the bartender. Sake. The good stuff.
