Rescue mission

The wee man squinted up at him over a frail pair of spectacles. His red beard was wild and patchy in places, his mouth twisting into a look of disgust. "Piss off, human."

"Tell me where I can find a big castle with a captive huldra and a guy who hates the old fae queen, and I would be happy to." Matthew said to the wee man

His silence spoke the truth. But he looked away, his jaw set. "The fae queen is dead.

"No she sent me here." Matthew said bluntly "Una said I should find someone Co... Co.. Concho... something." He tried hard to recall the name

"Ye can fuck off right where ye came from," The wee man said.

"Nope, I suppose if you're not going to answer my question, I will just have to follow you around and let you enjoy the pleasure of my company for all time..." Matthew looked deathly serious about the prospect, we was leaving here with Linn's location or the wee man would have to put up with his human presence even longer.

"Aye, ye don't know what yer playing with, kid," He replied.

"A... leprechaun?" Matthew said not seeing what the wee thing was on about

"Aye," He said. "But not what I meant. If ye don't get outa here soon ye gonna be prey ta some tricky lass. Me? I'd do it meself but I canae be arsed."

"Well I'd love to leave, but I have a tricky lass to save." Matthew said becoming ever more impatieint "So if you just tell me what I need to know I can leave and hopefully we'll never have to see eachother ever again..."

"You got a feg, kid?" He asked quite suddenly, turning to Matt.

Matt summoned one to his hand and offered it to the wee fae.

He took it, and clicked his finger to light it up.

Matthew waited patiently for the wee man "I'll be honest if I had any choice in the matter I wouldn't be here at all, I have a particular weakness for that kind of woman. If my friend hadn't been kidnapped... Is there any kind of deal I can make to get directions from you?"

"Well," He said, taking a long drag from the cigarette. The smoke left his mouth and nose in a cloud, and he dissolved into a coughing fit. "Good god, havenae had one a those in donkeys."

"I see that..." Matthew said and made small talk "Never had one myself, when I was a kid my dad sent me to get em, so I learned how to make em from mana to save time."

"Not interested in yer life history, I got work ta get doing."

"Well there's a carton in it for you if you tell me where to find that castle" Matthew said to the little man

"Not good enough," He said. "I can get a packet from any mindless fool that comes prancing in here like it's nothin'. I seen yer type before."

"What type is that?" Matthew asked although he was reaching the end of his patience he didn't show it.

"Strong man, come to save girl -normally human girl - thinks they got sommat, can come to a land they don't understand and come out unscathed."

Matthew couldn't help but laugh a little at that, it was close and yet so far off at the same time "No, a Huldra actually, and I am fully aware of how badly this place could screw me up... Well I don't have much time so I better get moving, before I go though do you want to see something neat?" Matthew produced a gold bar from his coat and offered it to the leprechaun with an outstretched hand "Hold this, don't take your eyes off it."

For the first time,  the wee man was interested in what Matt has to say. His wee chubby fingers reached out to it, but he pulled them away in suspicion. He eyed Matt. "What do you mean?"

"Well it's a bit of a magic trick, I heard your type of fae was very good at holding onto gold, and quite fond of games, so I thought we might be able to come up with a wager..." Matthew said still offering him the normal piece of gold "It's quite simple, you take this, and if you can keep it away from me, it's yours and I piss off... if I can take it back then you tell me where I need to go... I mean unless you don't think you can keep a piece of gold away from a mortal, I can just be going if that's the case..."

"An how do I know it's real gold?" He replied, staring at it like a starved man stares at food.