<HTML> *** Rickkter laughed, shaking his head as he watched her go. Gods, he loved everything about her, from her personality and sense of humor right down to her looks. So what if some stopped when they saw her mephit nature? He had looked beyond that and found something far more beautiful. When he turned around, Rick was brought up short, looking into a deep, auburn red visage of himself. "Great Maker, Kershaw! You shouldn't sneak up on people like that. You'll frighten them to death." "Hey, I'm a Long and that's what I do," the red panda explained. He extended one of his two full mazers to Rick. "For you, my friend." Rickkter accepted, toasting his friend before drinking. The ale was of excellent quality, chilled to just the right temperature. The raccoon paused to savor it before taking a second long draught. "I see you came with someone quite lovely today," Kershaw observed. Rickkter murriffed then lifted his gaze from the ale to look where the red panda was. He immediately say Kayla talking with Jenn, the wife of Misha's friend Andre. "You're right and I'm glad you think so. Though you should really tell her that, might do her some good." "Oh, I probably will," said Kerhaw, and flicked his tail. "Assuming that would be fine with you." Lowering his mazer from his lips, Rickkter nodded and wiped his muzzle with the back of his paw. "Sure, of course. I want her to have a good time here. This is her first real party in ages, and I know she's been looking forward to it." His whiskers on one side of his muzzle rose as he smirked. "Despite some of the more... colorful things we've heard about Misha's parties." "Such as?" A large smile came to Rickkter's face as he said, "Bean dip." Kershaw groaned loudly, looking away and rolling his eyes back. "Don't even go there, Rick." "What? You're not going to tell me either?" "No, I'm not." He drank deeply of his ale. "Misha has standing orders, no Long is to divulge what happened then. You want to know about it, you ask him." The raccoon was still smiling. "Sure about that, Kershaw? Come on." "Rick, no. I mean it." "Oh, okay," conceded the mage with a deep chuckle. He looked at his friend, seeing that the red panda was wearing a deep black surcoat, gold stitching, and semiprecious stones on the cuffs and buttons along the front. To his waist was belted a six inch dagger with gold hilt and an eight sided ruby the size of an eyeball on the top. Rick could see that his fur had been thoroughly brushed and cleaned, lending Kershaw an appearance more affluent than even Misha's. "So who did you come with that you had to get so dressed up?" Kershaw turned and pointed to a gray furred Persian cat who was the center of a gaggle of other females. She clearly stood out amongst her peers, bedecked in a wealth of fine gold necklaces and bracelets. Her white dress had pearls sewn onto its design, the soft white a striking contrast to Kershaw's darker hues. The trim was white dusted with garnet and black and the entire gown was of superior cut to Caroline's. The feline stood out in the crowd of Keepers quite starkly. "That is Elizabeth Pudelick, daughter of one of the wealthier money lenders in town." Rickkter ah'ed knowingly, smiling as he nodded. "Yes, that makes sense. She's a very lovely one, there. But tell me, how did you come to be with a noble?" "By being the youngest son of one of the aristocratic families near Ellingham." "Really!" Rick exclaimed, his eye ridges going up. "Why are you not with them now?" "There is a mutual understanding amongst us; as long as we don't see each other, things are kept happy." He drank a mouthful of ale. "It's a very long story." End part 5b </XMP> </HTML>