“You want to get Holly a boxed collection of the Mixing?” Abigail said, eyeing the package.

“Yes, Why, do you think that she won’t read the whole thing?”

Abigail tried to calm herself, looking at the poor mouse. She had been through a lot. Raven knows that she was hurting. Retail therapy was probably the best thing for both of them.

She also knew that there probably wasn’t a perfect gift that would make the two easily make up again. Holly has been strange since the ball season.

When Holly had asked if Abigail was interested in attending the course, it was an immediate yes. The foxes all grew up together taking the same language courses, learning to sword fight as a group. Really they all grew up being social together, so she felt readily able to speak to most of the foxes from her generation. It was harder now to find one that she hadn’t talked to once or twice growing up.

From what Holly and Freya had said, neither the rabbits nor the mice did this.

Abigail supposed that with a smaller number of creatures, the foxes needed to develop ways to make themselves more social as a group. Because there were so many of the other two, it always seemed like friends of friends were always getting paired off as they got older.

“See this box?”

Abigail grinned. The perfectly sized container held the Mixing books just right.

Outside of the scriveners shop as little mice played with little rabbits, the roar of the crowd reached a laugh. Down towards the central atrium of the mesa, a bard had begun to perform, and the pups squeaked with glee as they rushed in. The little notes that wafted over them turned Abigail’s whiskers up.

“Oh Freya, do you think that your mother would like to listen to a song or two?” Abigail said, as she examined the stack of books outside of the shop.

“I am nearly certain that she will be happy to attend, shall we ask her to come with us?”

“Of course, we need that chaperone.”

“It’s what you do when you’re a debutante, right?” Freya giggled.

Abigail laughed. The stack of books could wait. There were songs to be heard and the pair needed to get a good spot before all of the younger ones took them up.

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Abigail and Freya trotted back to where her mother was across the cobblestone street. The underground tunnel echoed the paws of the last group of pups that passed them-not running but moving with a purpose.

“Miss Uki, would you come with us?” Abigail said, weaving in between the last little ones.

The elder Uki looked out from the doorway at the commotion.

“Oh Raven, there’s a lot of children out here, it must be one of the best bards.”

Freya looked like she wanted to squeal and run down with the children.

“Go on, I’ll follow,” Miss Uki said, “I’ll be right behind you.”

Freya linked arms with Abigail and the two started walking towards the central atrium.

A trick of the light and a series of mirrors lit up the large room. Even in this deep underground, it was nearly a day out. Hundreds of years ago, this had been the place that mice, foxes, and rabbits made their stand against the beasts and the walls showed that it had been treated with care. The fortifications of the old yellow rock coalition made for stadium seating for the creatures, and the many layers of walls outside of the city itself led to a feeling that this was the safest place for anyone to be. At least this was how Abigail felt every time that she came here. She felt the warm embrace of civilization, commerce, and custom all around her as vendors hawked their wares.

But ahead of them, two moles were making the most joyous sound and she was here for it.

Abigail was going to enjoy the show.

Bells rang out as the bard finished his set and then the crowds began to cheer. A female rabbit with long white fur had stepped up to the stage. Her voice was clear and carried well, even though it was a little nasal sounding. As she sang about the end of a love affair, it reminded Abigail of some of the stories that her father told her about his travels.

"Is this where we sit?" Freya whispered to Abigail.

In front of them, the moles had taken positions of power. They wore fine leather armor and carried short swords. One sat behind a small table with a ledger while the other stood by the door. The ledger had a picture of a snow-capped peak.

There were five rows of seats, which meant that there was enough room for everyone who wanted to see the performance.

Both girls found places near the center of the audience. This was the only way that they could watch without worrying too much about someone bumping into them.

All of the little mice and rabbits were asking the two moles to play fight and before Abigail knew it, the moles were engaging in some of the best mock swordfights that she had ever seen. The crowd roared with laughter at each new attack.

Abigail glanced sideways. Freya's eyes were wide with excitement and she leaned forward to whisper something to Abigail. But as soon as the young mouse spoke, Abigail couldn't hear her.

"What was that?" Abigail said, trying to lean closer.

Freya giggled. "It was, 'Do you think that my mother would like to come to sit with us?' "

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that she’ll join us shortly. Ah, there she is!"

Behind them, Miss Uki found her way to a seat in between the mouse and the fox. She had a bemused smile as the practice swords bounced off each other.

"I daresay that these poor moles have some fight in them, don't they?" Miss Uki said.

The fox and the rabbits laughed as the moles continued to spar. When one of the fighters fell to the ground, the other quickly jumped over him and pressed against the wall. Then he slowly walked to the center of the arena and picked up one of the fallen moles' weapons.

Then the second fighter attacked, wielding the weapon that had been dropped. In seconds they were trading blows and the crowd roared its approval.

The first fighter ran out of breath and sat down, leaning against a pillar.

Abigail clapped, her breath moving a bit faster.

"Are you having fun?" Abigail said.

"Absolutely!" Freya replied. "I mean, I never thought that we would get to see two warriors fight like this, not even on in one of those romance novels. And to top it off, the bard's tune is gripping."

There was a pause as the bard finished another song about a journey to the northlands. The audience was silent as the bard thanked them and left the stage. The fighters bowed, and then returned to change costumes with the rabbit.

When she returned, she was followed by a trio of performers dressed in beautiful costumes. A harpist accompanied the dancers who moved gracefully around the stage.

"Well, I'll say that they're very talented," Freya said as the rabbit danced around the stage.

Two of the dancers paused to kiss and then join hands. When the third dancer joined them, the three started to move in unison. Their movements reminded Abigail of the dance classes that she had gone to as a pup, except that they were more fluid and graceful.

After the song ended, the music stopped and the dancing pair twirled away from the others.