Mike exhaled heavily on the silver ring before gently wiping it on a fold of his tunic to polish it. He grunted with surprise as he held it up for examination.

“It changed colour?” he noted out loud before looking to Jess with a quizzical expression.

“It’s a mood ring,” was Jess’s succinct reply.

“Meaning?” he asked.

“It’s supposed to change colour to symbolise your mood. Blue is happy. Black is angry. Green is excited,” she explained, eyeing the minotaur with curiosity. “There are other colours too.”

He seemed utterly enamoured with the ring turning the small item back and forth, admiring the subtle changes in colour. It occurred to her that her little frivolous trinket was probably much more exotic here. Please don’t ask me how this thing works. All she really knew was that it was temperature based.

After his gentle inspection he finally asked, “So it’s a magic item then?”

“Uhh… “Jess faltered. Her mind went to a sticker she had slapped on the front of her academic planner. Science is magic that works! “Yeah, I guess,” she finished. Close enough to magic anyway.

“How much do you want for it?”

That simple question blew Jess’s mind. How much do I want for it? What is the currency here?

Luckily for Jess, Nevin stepped in on her behalf. “Ten gold!” he exclaimed, grinning. He looked as excited as a kid in a candy shop. His eyes twinkled and his hands were balled into fists in front of him as though he was ready to victory pump the air. Jess wasn’t sure whether this was a good thing, or whether Nevin was just thrilled about having something that was more within his realms of understanding.

Mike smiled but shook his head. “No can do. Noble folk would pay that much, but I need to be able to turn a profit, Lad.”

Nobility? Ten gold for a small ring? How much for a boar then? How much for just the livers? Is one gold a day’s wage or a year’s wage? Jess’s thoughts ran away from her, untameable and whipped into a frenzy by her lack of understanding.

She licked her dry lips as she tried to process the information. She was out of her depths and slowly drowning unless someone was willing to throw her a lifeline.

“Look, I know I’m taking a risk admitting this… but I genuinely have no idea how much ten gold is even worth. I just need enough to buy the livers so that I can go home,” she said, then gave a tired laugh. “The jewellery is all I have. If I can’t get home, then I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

With his head tilted slightly, assessing the truth of her words, Mike commented, “I’m not sure whether ye’re brave or yer head’s full of dirt clods for admitting that.”

“Just desperate, that’s all,” she admitted earnestly.

“Hmm,” Mike mused, raising the chain once more to examine it, “I’ll make ye a deal then. If all ye’re wanting is to get home, I can give ye two gold.”

Jess winced. Shrewd business guy.

“Don’t make assumptions just yet, Lass. I’m not done,” he continued, fixing her with a stern stare. “I’m not one to speak ill of a man when his apprentice is in the room, but if it should turn out that Master Darkhault is as much use as a glass hammer… then I offer ye a promise as well. There’s a spare room in the back- ” he broke off, pointing a thumb in the direction of a wooden door behind the counter. “More of a cupboard really, but ye’re welcome to it. Until ye figure out yer next steps,” he finished with a soft smile.

It took more than a moment for Jess to fully absorb the generous offer. Very shrewd but also a softie. Who would have thought it?

“Well? What do ye think?” Mike prompted again, straightening up with his shoulders back. “Two gold will get ye the livers ye need. And a hot meal or two with wine to wash it down. Good wine if ye’re polite about it.” His words sounded confident but there was something about the way that his ear twitched that made her feel like he was putting on a false bravado.

Jess pursed her lips, watching the minotaur closely. She had no intentions of refusing the offer but if things went pear-shaped, it would be useful to better understand her host. His face didn’t change, but his ear twitched again. Unsure whether it was a nervous tic or merely a characterisation of his species, she replied. “I think I’d be an idiot to refuse. I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.”

Mike grunted a nod and slipped the ring and chain into a pocket in his tunic. Beside him, there was that blank-faced, befuddled expression again from Nevin. Though admittedly, Jess was beginning to grow concerned that Nevin’s resting features were one of open confusion. Jess forced an embarrassed chuckle.

“Sorry. Just an expression we use where I’m from,” Jess apologised to Nevin.

“Don’t worry about him, Lass. If he bothered spending time away from those blasted alchemist teachers, he might actually learn a thing or two,” said Mike as he stood. He flicked Nevin’s hood as he walked past, dislodging it so it fell away from the boy’s ruffled hair.

The boy squawked in indignation. The mature façade fell away as he huffed his annoyance. He fumbled with the hood, trying to return it to its rightful position but the fabric was twisted. Despite her situation, Jess laughed. Hard to imagine that, even in a minotaur’s trinket shop, such a small thing could bring a bit of normalcy to her world. Without much of a family back home, much less a partner, Jess had always poured herself into her work. People might complain about teenagers, but there was never a dull moment in a classroom full of them.

Nevin finally righted his hood, only for Mike to return and yank it down in one swift motion over his face. He flashed Jess a wink before sitting again, clearly amused by Nevin’s flailing form as he sought to right himself once more.

“Serves ye right for wearing that daft thing,” Mike informed him, chuckling.

“It’s my official robe!” came Nevin’s muffled response before he finally pulled the hood back to reveal his flushed, freckled face.

“It’s officially ridiculous,” said Mike, leaning over to offer Jess two large coins. “And it’s too big. I thought ye said ye would get yer Aunt Patty to fix it up.”

The coins were about a quarter of the size of her palm. They fit comfortably, side by side as she examined them with curiosity. Mike hadn’t been joking about them being gold coins. The colour was unmistakable, but it had Jess curious about how deep that colour ran. How old was electroplating? Were they solid gold? How pure were they? She resisted the urge to bite them. She wasn’t sure how Mike would feel about her testing the authenticity of his gold coins right in front of him. Or worse, what if she just looked even crazier than she already did by randomly biting the currency of this world?

“If I wasn’t wearing it, then people wouldn’t know I was an alchemist,” Nevin stated haughtily.

“He’s right there,” Jess mused out loud. She turned the coins over, admiring the crude but effective stamps on each side. She assumed the faces were the royalty of these lands. “I figured he was a wizard or something as soon as I saw him.”

Mike’s abrupt barking laughter caught Jess off guard and the coins nearly slipped out of her hands. She looked to Nevin for clues only to find her staring at him, mouth slightly agape like a kicked puppy.

“You don’t really think I look like a wizard… do you?” he asked in a low horrified tone.

“Well… I… erm…” Jess stammered, lost for words. What the hell? What’s wrong with wizards?

“I thought wizards were… you know… cool?” she finished lamely.

The way that Mike’s laughter increased in intensity didn’t do much for Jess’s confidence. It clearly wasn’t doing much for Nevin’s either.

“But… wizards look ridiculous!” Nevin insisted. He looked pleadingly towards Mike for confirmation, but the minotaur was still busily guffawing and wiping tears from his eyes.

“They do!” Nevin insisted, rising to his feet. “They wear big stupid gowns in really gaudy colours. They do loads of nonsense that they say is real magic… but it’s not!” he continued. His voice was high pitched and incredulous as his tirade continued. “Master Darkhault says they’re charlatans,” he said, sinking onto the chair again.

“Alchemists are nothing like wizards,” he finished, crossing his arms sullenly with his jaw clenched.