Marc warily followed Theo up a rickety staircase to his room. 

Theo flung the door open with a flourish. The room was eerily silent. 

It took about ten seconds for Theo to notice his backpack was moving. Theo crept toward his bag before scooping it up and upending it.

Scourge attempted to yelp past his mouthful of rations.

“I should have known better than to trust you with food in the room,” Theo said, holding the dragon up by the nape of his neck.

Scourge chewed rapidly as he struggled to swallow his food.

“Mortal Theo, you left me too long,” Scourge whined. Scourge eyed Theo, “And where is my offering?”

Theo froze. He had forgotten. “Well, a lot happened and-“

“Mortal Theo, does your word mean nothing?” Scourge fussed and nipped his hand.

“I got really hurt!” Theo yelped. “And you’re not helping things.”

Scourge scrambled up Theo’s arm and sniffed his neck. “You do reek of foreign magic.” Scourge clawed his way to the crook of Theo’s arm. “Since you’re hurt I suppose I can forgive you if you buy me two offerings, Mortal Theo.”

“Thanks,” Theo said while scratching the dragon under its chin. 

Then he put Scourge on the bed so he could pull a shirt on.

“Are you going to introduce me to Friend of Mortal Theo?” The dragon complained.

“We aren’t-“ Marc started.

“Don’t go giving other people strange titles,” Theo said, thumping Scourge on the nose.

Scourge hissed.

“My name is Marc,” Marc said. “But what are you?”

“I am the Terror of the Night, Blade of the Shadows, King of-“

“He’s a dragon I accidentally summoned,” Theo interrupted. “His name is Scourge.”

“Makes sense,” Marc said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “He’s just a dragon you accidentally summoned. Of course.”

Theo tucked Scourge into his shirt pocket. It was loose enough that Scourge wasn’t too noticeable.

“Anyway, I left him without snacks or breakfast, so we need to bring him to get food. You ready?” Theo asked.

“I don’t know if ready is the right word,” Marc said, but he shambled out of the room.

The two spent their walk to the market in silence. Marc led the way, though he looked like he was contemplating leading Theo into an alley and murdering him. 

Theo missed his easy air from the previous day, but he supposed that’s what happens when people discover you’re one of the most infamous people of the century. 

After a couple more blocks, the trio came to the market.

“How lucky,” Theo said, pointing to a small, brightly colored cart. “It looks like they have plenty of rings.”

“Fantastic,” Marc grunted.

The cart owner was a young woman. She was round-faced, and round-bodied, and seemed to beam with goodwill.

“What might you gentlemen be looking for today?” She asked as she put down a well-worn romance novel to greet them.

“Lover’s rings, if you have any,” Theo said.

The woman gestured to a couple of pillows piled with rings. “What style does your lucky lady fancy?”

“She likes simple things. A very practical woman,” Theo said with a sigh. “It’s for his sister. Their hands are about the same size.”

Marc scowled.

The woman gave the two a knowing look before peering at Marc’s hands. “I think I have just the thing."

“These are the simpler options. I have silver, copper, and wood. But these are the ones bound to impress.” The woman said, pointing at some plain gold rings.

Theo tilted his head. If it was gold, he could always pass it as something he had stolen from a noble’s vault. 

A simple wooden ring, on the other hand, would be much harder to explain.

“It does look impressive,” Theo said while taking the ring from the woman. He placed one on his finger. It was a good fit.

The woman handed Marc another ring. He shoved it on his finger with a grimace.

“She’ll love it,” Marc said, quickly removing the ring.

Theo would have to teach him better acting skills if they were going to stay… friends… acquaintances… espionage buddies?

“How much are they?” Theo asked.

“Five gold,” The woman said with a smile.

Theo nodded and pulled the coins out of his purse. Though he didn’t usually steal jewelry, he had taken plenty of coins from the nobles Dullahan made him target. He had to afford to eat somehow, and Dullahan certainly wasn’t giving him a paycheck.

“If you’ll let me wrap them,” the woman said. 

The two men returned the rings, and she packaged them in a white box with a bright red ribbon.

Once they were a suitable distance away, Theo explained how to use the ring to Marc. 

“Three taps means you need to meet,” Theo said. “After you tap three times, pause and tap the number of days we should meet in.”

“What if I can’t make it?”

“One tap for ‘yes,’ two taps for ‘no,’” Theo said.

“Where?”

Theo rubbed the back of his neck, and he said, “Maybe the capital.” It was centrally located. 

If Carrot kept a fast pace, he could reach it within a few days from almost any location in the country. “Do you know the Fount of Elain?”

Marc nodded.

“Good,” Theo said with a small smile. It was a fountain dedicated to an esteemed mage who had conquered the last evil warlock to roll around.

Maybe beside it they would build a Fount of Marc if the dunce ever managed to stop him and Dullahan. 

Theo half hoped it would be one of those embarrassing fountains where the man pees the water. Theo could make it his last request before he was executed – which would almost certainly be his fate.

“Your face looks weird,” Marc said, pulling Theo out of his morbid thoughts.

 “It’s probably the blood loss,” Theo said with a wave of his hand. “Anyway, I need to go. This excursion already has me behind schedule.”

“Your evil-doing timetable?”

“Yeah. I was supposed to poison five people by breakfast,” Theo said, hand on the doorknob.

Marc gasped.

“Relax. It was a joke. I don’t like murder,” Theo said. “Unless I’m murdering a slice of cake. By putting it in my stomach.”

“What?” Marc mumbled, but Theo was already gone.