He reaches into his pocket and flips a silver coin into the air.
The boy catches it with practiced ease, grinning wide. "Smart choice, stranger. Name's Dasdarin."
"Ok," he replies.
Dasdarin jerks his thumb over his shoulder. "Come on, then. Stick close. I'll show you the good alleys, the bad markets, and the one bathhouse that doesn't try to rob you while you're naked."
Alix said under his breath. "That's oddly specific."
"Experience, my friend," Dasdarin says, walking backward now, hands behind his head. "And trust me—Vassren looks pretty from up close, but this city's got teeth."
Alix follows him deeper into the winding streets. The crowd thins, the air shifts, and with every turn Kael leads him through, Alix takes it all in quietly—the layers of the kingdom, the tension beneath its golden towers.
