Page 53 of The Robin on the Oak Throne

Unlike the first shop, this one was new and gleaming with polished hardwood floors. Another damn bell jingled merrily overhead. The shop had the appearance of a jewelry shop with long glass cases along three of the walls, except they were completely empty. Not a single object or bobble in sight apart from an enormous, cracked-leather tome next to the cash register.

At the ring of the bell, a loud bark sounded from the back of the shop, separated from the entrance by swinging double doors. They nearly came off their hinges as the aforementioned dog rushed to meet the visitors.

“What the fuck is that?” Niamh yelled, jumping backward.

“Fuck!” Kierse screeched.

Graves didn’t move and sighed another insufferable sigh, as if the thing charging him wasn’t some sort of fuckingdemon. “Calm down. It’s a goblin hound,” he said.

Dog, or evenhound, was a generous assessment. The thing looked more lizard than mammal. It had the characteristic green-gray skin tone of the goblins, elongated canines, and both pointed ears and tail. It was roughly the size of a mastiff and could almost be considered cute if she looked at it sideways. It jumped up onto Graves’s black suit coat, its tongue lolling out like a rather oversize labrador, panting with excitement.

“That’s a good boy,” Graves said.

“Daisy, down,” a voice called as a tall, thin goblin entered the shop from the back. They were dressed in black, fitted pants and a black vest. This must be the inimitable Rio. A hard goblin to locate.

The hound,Daisy, jumped off Graves and headed for Kierse and Niamh.

“Um, hi,” Kierse said, holding her hand out.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Rio said. “He’s still a puppy, and their saliva is acidic until they can control the venom.”

Kierse jerked her hand back. “Uh…right.” That probably explained the giant, acid-eaten pit in the middle of the last shop.

“Daisy is a boy hound?” Niamh asked incredulously.

“Obviously,” they said. “He likes scratches behind his ears.”

She slowly reached for the back of his head and gave him a good scratch. Saliva dribbled out of his mouth, dropping with a sizzling hiss to the floor, before the hound collapsed at her feet, rolling around against her shoes.

“He’s…friendly,” Niamh offered.

“Unfortunately,” they said.

“Vriosa, I assume,” Graves said.

“Rio will do,” they corrected. They ran their long fingers down the front of their black pants. Daisy trotted along past them to merrily flop on a fluffy pink dog bed. Rio settled their hand on the massive brown leather book. “Do you know what it is that I do here in Nying Market?”

“You’re the bookkeeper,” Graves said. His eyes were fixed on the giant book. “You know where to acquire information.”

“You and I are the same in that regard, are we not?” Rio asked with a raised eyebrow.

“You’ve heard of me?”

“Tales of your time in the market have reached my ear. And what you paid is in here.” They patted their book. “Knowledge is power, after all.”

Graves clenched his jaw at their words. “I see.”

Kierse glanced between them, wondering what exactly was happening. Niamh leaned her hip against the counter and looked down at her nails. “What did he trade and trade for?”

Rio’s eyes jumped to Niamh. “I know what you traded for, too.”

Niamh shrugged. “So?”

Rio smirked at her before turning to Kierse. “What wouldyoulike to trade for?”

“I’m trying to regain my memories, and I was told that was something that could be done in here.”

Rio shrugged. “Sure. We don’t have any magic ourselves.” They snapped their fingers. “Monsters not magic, and all that.”

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