The first date that she had arranged ended up being with Da Seung. For this special date, she brought Old Gran and Lady Raina as chaperones. All four walked around the market on top of Yellowrock. The chaperones followed a short inconspicuous distance behind as they walked.

“Miss Uki. It’s a pleasure to see you, as always,” Da said, leaning down to kiss her hand.

Today he wore a classy dark business suit with a green bow tie that matched his eyes. Freya looked to see that he wore boots with a small heel.

“And you as well, Mr. Seung.” Freya pulled her paw back.

They locked eyes

“I love this pathway,” Freya said.

“Indeed,” Da replied, “It’s quite refreshing.”

Her silky dress felt marvelous underneath the cool autumn breeze. It flowed deep brown lines underneath her high waist. The waist itself was green lace in the fashion of roots intertwining. The slightly darker brown cape to the dress even came with a cowl that Freya had been told in no uncertain terms that she was not to use when on a date.

“Care to comment on anything, Mr. Seung? I remarked on the beautiful path and you should say something about the size of the parliament building or the number of debutants out for a walk as well,” Freya said.

“I am perfectly content to oblige. Please tell me what you want to hear most,” Da replied, keeping a carefully neutral tone.

“That might do at present,” Freya said, mirroring his tone and facial expression.

They walked in companionable silence for a moment.

“Perhaps, I may observe that coalition events are much more pleasant than the Aviary-led ones,” Freya added.

The silence returned as if summoned on command. Freya began to wonder if she had caused an offense.

“I must apologize, for I’ve had a problem with my bootmaker and the boot I was preparing, well it just won’t be ready today. I’ll have it delivered on the morrow. I trust that will suit you?”

‘That will suit me quite well, thank you,” she said, walking past the Minister of the Interior’s Manor.

The Minister of the Interior’s manor was like its people, who preferred to work underground. Therefore it had no roof, just a large outdoor space with gardens, perfect for dances. All of the food and living spaces were under the rock, with few windows. The moles and voles of the underground were first and foremost bureaucrats but she knew a few that did other things, like the Foremole of the tunnels she had been introduced to during career day.

The Foremole has said that mice were good at dealing with client issues and that was why he always kept one on staff. Freya was told that girl mice were great for fixing tunnel issues because of their better than mole sight, but she quickly dismissed the idea of spending her life underground.

As they passed by the Manor, a crowd of moles were lounging around watching a play.

“OH! A play!” Freya said. “I had no idea that there would be a play going on!”

“Ah, yes in fact that was one of the reasons I asked you here on this particular day. I thought you would be interested in this play. It’s about a lady mole trying to choose between a lord mole who doesn’t love her and an Inujag who has taken on mole form.”

Freya shuddered at the word. The Inujag, or the shifters, were central figures in the religion but she’d only heard stories of their wiles. They could appear as anyone but their eyes were always red whatever form they took. Old Gran had told her stories about them when she was younger to spook her from running off alone into the wilderness and she always felt unease when she was out late at night alone.

“I believe that it is about to start,” Da said, “and oh, here are the four seats I’ve had delivered for us and our chaperones.”

A mole nodded to Da as they approached the outside of the group. He led them to chairs close to the stage but off to one side. Lady Raina and Old Gran followed a minute later and took up seats a little away from them. The seats were far enough away that they could talk if they raised their voices, but not close enough to hear every word they said.

“I’ve heard that two of the cast are excellent actors and that the buffoon of the show is an excellent clown on his own so it’ll be either a comedy or a tragedy.”

Freya watched as four moles directly next to the stage struck up a tune with their string instruments. A warm series of notes made Freya feel relaxed as she sat there and before she knew it, two actors jumped on stage and began a duologue summarizing the protagonist’s problems.