Neave finished eating her first eel kebab in a matter of moments, and the second wasn't far behind.

"I hope you enjoyed that," Alexei said with a sigh, "Though how you even managed to taste it I'm not sure."

The girl looked up at him, a content smile on her face. Yes, she'd definitely enjoyed it.

Eventually, he was going to have to try to teach her to talk somehow. Or communicate in some way beyond head nods or shakes at the very least. He was growing tired of trying to decipher what she was feeling already and it had only been fifteen minutes at most.

"Well, I'm glad you did," Alexei said, "Next we're going to get you some new clothes, we can't very well have you running around in a torn-up oversized night shirt, can we?"

In a flurry of movement too fast for Alexei's eyes to track, Neave launched herself out of her sitting position, cocked her arm back, and let loose a colossal right hook.

For a moment Alexei was worried that the punch had been intended for her, that her meaty meal had given the girl the strength to try and run away.

Instead, her fist sailed past his head and connected with something behind him, causing a resounding boom of energy and a sickening cracking sound.

Alexei sprang up from his sitting position in surprise with his ear ringing.

The slave master wasn't kidding when he said Neave was strong. That was a ridiculous amount of speed and strength for a kid who was so tiny and malnourished, even if they were a beastkin.

"What the hell was that!" Alexei yelled, his voice sounded a little muffled in his right ear.

The fox-girl, as was customary, didn't say anything in reply. Instead, she pointed urgently at something behind him.

Alexei twisted on his heel and was surprised to see a man sprawled out on the floor, groaning under his breath.

The figure was dressed in an all-black cloak that had a hood that hung low over his face, obscuring his identity.

In his hand sat a short but lethally sharp dagger. If Neave hadn't realised what was about to happen, if she hadn't taken him out when she did, that blade would likely have been jutting out of his neck in a spray of blood and viscera.

Someone had tried to kill him.

Someone had tried to have him assassinated in broad daylight.

Neave had saved him… and knocked his assailant out cold. 

"Thank you Neave, you did a good job," Alexei said. Neave grinned at the praise.

Alexei closed the distance to the would-be assassin, picked up the dagger, and tossed it into the nearby river.

"There, with that out of the way we can have a more civilised conversation, don't you think?" He asked, before flipping the man from his front to his back with a foot.

Unfortunately, the attempted murderer was still unconscious.

Alexei activated his power and began to combine hydrogen and oxygen. It coalesced into a small ball of floating water in front of him… which was subsequently dropped directly onto the killer's face.

The cloaked man woke with a start, coughing up water that had made its way into his open mouth and down his throat.

"Why did you try to kill me?" Alexei asked, stepping down on the man's chest to stop him from trying to escape.

The man's eyes were wild, darting back and forth as he tried to figure a way out of the situation.

There was none.

Instead, the man clamped his teeth down hard against each other until one of them cracked open, spilling a clear white liquid across his mouth.

"Wait, no!" Alexei yelled, he recognised the poison for what it was immediately.

The last resort of the Assassins of Delsi.

They were a sect of assassins, some of the most dangerous in all the land, and when they had been bested they had been trained to take themselves out of the picture. Permanently.

It had only been dumb luck, a combination of Neave's strength, speed and good hearing, that had saved his life.

The poison took hold quickly, in moments the assassin was frothing at the mouth. His life leaving his eyes.

"Damn it," Alexei muttered under his breath. "Come on, we can't stay here. I was taught in the Academy that Delsi always travel in twos. The second won't be far behind."

Alexei's plans melted away in an instant.

They couldn't go and buy clothes for Neave now, it'd put both of them at risk.

With one of the assassins dead, the other one would likely try to take them out as quickly as possible, both due to being hired for the job and now out of a need for revenge.

Instead, with his eyes constantly checking his surroundings, Alexei decided to take the fastest route back to the Trout's Gills. At least there he knew there were people that he could trust.

Perhaps the barkeep would be able to give them some information about hiring some bodyguards. At the very least, with four walls around them, he'd feel a little bit safer.

He only hoped that they didn't ask too many questions about Neave.

The barkeep hadn't seemed to be the questioning sort so far, but explaining the sudden appearance of a beastkin girl and her bedraggled appearance to the barkeep wasn't something he looked forward to doing.

They made it back to the pub without any further incidents, but the whole way he couldn't help feeling like he was being watched by someone. The hairs on the back of his neck were bristling uncomfortably. But whenever he turned around, no one looked even the slightest bit suspicious.

He ushered the girl over to a table and got her to sit.

"Wait here while I go and talk to that big strong woman behind the bar," He said, biting back the feeling of disgust he felt when that purple mist glazed over Neave's eyes once again before she took her seat.

They were safe, he hoped, for now at least.