Paks
Paks stared at the coins Nat tossed on the table. She’d pushed the Gaidin too far.
‘Now you’ve done it. Is it wise to piss off a Gaidin?’ Jesi chastised Paks. She looked to the retreating form of Nat and back to Paks, ‘I don’t think tonight’s going to end like the night you tried to cheer her up. You screwed the pooch, darlin’.’
Jesi tilted her head, ‘You just gonna sit there? Don’t make her come back here and drag your arse out of here.’
Paks shook her head and pushed herself from her chair. She didn’t even want to go out, but the Gaidin was insistent. Why should she feel bad?
‘Because she gave a damn when she didn’t have to and she’s one of the first in the Yards who DID give a damn. You’re being a pig-headed fool.’
Nat was already out of the inn by the time Paks reached the door. As she entered the cool night air, she looked around for Nat, though the area around the inn was a popular place to gather. She thought she saw the redhead duck off to the right, down a side-alley. Picking up her pace, Paks turned the corner, following who she thought was Nat.
The crowd thinned dramatically, and the woman she thought was Nat was out of her line of sight. “Damn,” Paks let go the curse, and turned to head back to the main thoroughfare.
“Well well, look at what we have here,” a rather weasel like man said as two larger men framed him and two other men moved in on Paks. “One of the Tower rats out for a night on the town? I know you’ve got coin, and that coin should be ours, don’t you think?”
The Ji’val should have been scared, but she was complacent, if anything. Giving the man a flat look as she tilted her head, she replied simply, “No.” She moved to step between the two giants on either side of her, missing the nod from weasel-man to his goons. One of them landed a solid punch to her mid-section, and she doubled over as the wind was knocked from her.
“No? See, you can either give us your money, or. . .well, you’ve gotten a hint of what’s to come,” the weasel-man replied.
Pulling herself up as she held her mid-section, Paks looked to the leader and just managed to reply, “Sod off.” She tried to walk away again, but the other goon next to her pushed her against the wall as the first one socked her in the jaw. She nearly fell to the ground, but the goon who pushed her against the wall kept her on her feet.