It was a good offer, a very good one at that. She could use that money quite nicely to re-equip herself, to get Dusty some new shoes, to pay her dues to the guild. All important things, all things she would need to do if she were to keep at this job. She needed this, needed it so badly it left a sharp taste in her mouth. But she was so afraid, unreasonably afraid. So much so that the stink of rotting corpses filled her flared nostrils and her eyes widened as rot-filled dark pushed in at the edges of her vision. 

She pushed it back, her fingers tightening even further around the mug in her hands. 

She couldn’t accept, not without some haggling, no merc worth their salt would agree to the first price, even if it was a good one. Big George would roll in his mass grave if he knew she had even considered it. She pondered past pay, she pondered the likely work and imagined making herself walk into that square tomorrow after a night in an alley and trying to find a better job than this. She wanted to wretch, there wasn’t going to be better. The time was now, she needed to strike a bargain before her nerve snapped. 

Fighting for control over her voice she spoke.

“Ten up front and then the sixteen upon completion. I’ll want coin, not credit.” 

Coin was sometimes a hassle but credit always seemed to be and she was fairly certain that she had what it took to keep some coin on her. 

“Do we have a deal? She extended her hand out over the table, the tips of her fingers slightly shaking. 

[i]Take it, please take it.[/i] She pleaded at the ink-stained man across from her. [i]Take it before I lose my nerve. [/i]