He took a long hard look at her. "I am not inclined to make you fight," He said releasing her elbow and putting his hand in his pocket to pull out a small sack of gold coins "I want to talk to you about  employment....perhaps you could accompany me on a short trip...I give my word not to harm you." His lips turned up in a smile, "I'll even let you keep the mask on," he said, "and you can run whenever you feel threatened. Besides, I don't like what those scum bags do any more than you." He tossed the bag toward her and turned to walk toward the canals propping against one of the pilings there to watch the water ripple and see if his carefully laid bait would be taken.  He knew something about people; he knew that being too direct would scare this swordsman off but maybe, just maybe, offering him an out would intrigue him enough to get him to at least talk and get him to possibly drop a hint about his true identity.