"Here," she said, holding out glasses for Shardik and Skii."Here," she said, holding out glasses for Shardik and Skii. Furry stood to her left and said, "Dave you said you were here. Take this," holding one for Nickolai. He took it, and drank deep. "Darjeeling and Matein," Shardik said appreciatively. "You've lived with me too long. And you must be Jofuran." She blushed. "Yes sir." "Very happy to meet you." "It's only been four centuries," the Centaur interrupted, smiling. She crooked a finger in his direction; he leaned over as she whispered something in his ear. He nodded. "You folks walked all the way from Rocchodain?" "Uh-huh," Furry admitted. "Well, you're probably tired. If you like, you can spend the night here before making the trek back. There's nothing planned for the evening except the dusk swim, and I think there's a common dinner tonight?" He glanced at Michelle, who nodded. The Mephit who had accompanied them in came sneaking up behind Shardik; Nickolai couldn't see what he did, but suddenly Shardik let out a screeching "Yowch! Aaden, don't pinch me like that! Especially not in front of guests." "Oh, you love it," the Mephit smiled, wrapping his arms around Shardik gently and hugging. "No, I just love you," Shardik replied, reaching up over his shoulder to scratch Aaden behind the ears. He glanced over at Michelle and said, "Should be a T-shirt." "What?" "'I spent the night at Shardik Castle and, stars, was I bored!'" "I'm sure we can find something to do tonight," Michelle said. |