As seems to be a frequent occurrence, I was dragged back to reality by Tadwick.

  Tadwick: “I can’t see any more bunnies.”

  Kiyui stopped kissing me due to laughing. He rested his head on mine before turning it towards Tadwick.

  Kiyui: “Oh honey, you don’t tend to see many bunnies at this time. They mostly hop about at dusk or dawn.”

  Tadwick: “But I saw one before.”

  Kiyui: “It was probably something else, Tadpole.”

  It may not have been a rabbit now that I think about it… I can definitely sense something nearby. It isn’t a smell that I recognise. What the hell is that? Suddenly Kiyui turned to me and pushed me against the wall… he placed his foot on the wall above my shoulder and leaned in to my ear.

  Kiyui: “Place your hand on my thigh.”

  Dwynfel: “What?”

  He got my hand and placed it on the back of his knee. Fucking hell… is he wearing stockings? My britches are starting to get tight again… shit… they aren’t designed for this sort of excitement.

  Kiyui: “Now, slide your hand down.”

  Dwynfel: “What? No… people will see.”

  Kiyui: “We’re outside, nobody will see.”

  Dwynfel: “Pretty sure Tadwick will.”

  Kiyui: “He’s busy looking for bunnies. Just trust me.”

  Fuck… okay… breathe… I trust him… I can do this… oh wait… hang on…

  Kiyui: “Do you feel that?”

  Dwynfel: “Umm… mmhmm…”

  Kiyui: “Now, unstrap it… and slowly slide it out…”

  Mother of fucking mercy… does he have to speak in such a seductive voice… it is really not helping my trouser situation.

  Kiyui: “You got it out?”

  I nodded back to him.

  Kiyui: “Good… three… two… one…”

  Kiyui pushed back off the wall, doing a backwards cartwheel. As he did, an assailant lunged forwards at me… striking down on me with a weapon that I was unable to fully register… I was able to deflect his strike using the dagger that I had just removed from Kiyui’s thigh strap. The assailant jumped back… clearly surprised that we had seen him coming. As Kiyui had cartwheeled back, Feifer had emerged from under his dress and began growling at the assailant. Kiyui quickly grabbed Tadwick and turned to face this mysterious guest.

  Mysterious he certainly was… he had long floppy ears that seemed to be covered in thick, black, yet highly manoeuvrable armour. His entire body was covered in this armour. He wielded a mace… which is not a particularly common weapon around these parts. I couldn’t see his face. What threw me more than anything was the fact that he was even shorter than me… he must only be about three foot tall.

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  Dwynfel: “Who the hell are you?”

  Assailant: “I am Kin’Ayesha and you will die by my hand.”

  His voice was incredibly deep… probably the deepest and most husky voice that I have heard in my life. Not the voice that I was expecting from this tiny little… rabbit… creature… thing.

  Dwynfel: “Why are you attacking me?”

  Kin’Ayesha: “Irrelevant.”

  He lunged forwards again. In all honestly… he is very difficult for me to fight. Every close quarter encounter that I have ever had has been with a creature of my size or larger. Fighting somebody smaller than me feels wrong. That being said… this little prick is strong. I can barely keep up with his swings… and they keep knocking me back. Fuck… this suit is difficult to move about in… it’s limiting my movement.

  Eventually, he got one past me and knocked me down to the ground. Feifer jumped forwards and tried to bite at him, but the armour was surprisingly effective and he was unable to bite through it.

  Kiyui: “What do you want?”

  Kin’Ayesha: “Stay out of this. You will not be harmed.”

  He lifted his mace and went to bring it down on me with heavy force, when suddenly he went flying backwards. I was bewildered at first… then Nomius appeared out of thin air. He took my hand and stood me up. The assailant smashed off the balustrade and looked up at us.

  Kin’Ayesha: “I will find you again. When your lack your bodyguard.”

  Then just like that, he jumped off the balcony and disappeared.

  Tadwick: “Told you I saw a bunny.”

  It took me a minute to get my breath back after being knocked down. I looked at Nomius in bewilderment.

  Dwynfel: “How long have you been there?”

  Nomius: [Signing] “Always.”

  Dwynfel: “What? Why?”

  Nomius: [Signing] “Watch… boy… keep… safe.”

  I looked back at Kiyui.

  Dwynfel: “You smuggled in a dagger?”

  Kiyui: “I figured you wouldn’t be able to in a suit. Dresses make such things a lot easier.”

  Dwynfel: Fair point… but seriously… who the hell was that?”

  Kiyui: “Don’t look at me. I have no idea who… or even what that guy was.”

  Dwynfel: “Oh great… so now there is somebody out there trying to kill me and we don’t even know why… fuck’s sake.”

  Flora: “Listen.”

  I gave an audible yelp. Fucking seriously… when did she show up.

  Flora: “Something wicked… this way comes…”

  Well, now what the fuck is that supposed to mean?

  Dwynfel: “Anybody else going to jump out at me? Or is this everyone now?”

  Kiyui: “The music stopped.”

  Dwynfel: “What?”

  He’s right… the music stopped… why has the music stopped?