<br/>Ky half rose in his seat, wanting to reach out to the animal himself, while Phaedra covered her parted lips with her fingers.  What had they stepped into?  A world of luscious offerings designed to tempt the senses, magical beings who seemed to make the very air around them dance to their tune, and murals populated by marvelous creatures  just as likely to come out and play as their house pets?<br/><br/>Feeling slightly dazed, Phaedra gazed at the two women in awed wonder.  “I am very glad we passed by this way.  I don’t think I’ve ever felt happier these past few months.”<br/><br/>She sighed.  She would dearly love to frequent this shop, and she suspected Ky would too from the hungry looks he had been giving the women, but she had to think of their safety.<br/><br/>Which made it the more urgent to find their place in this world, just as surely as the tiger, with the caresses of the raven-haired sorceress, found its home in the magically animated wall and would never be torn away unless its mistress willed it.<br/><br/>Ky sat down, disappointed, when the tiger slipped back into the jungle of trees.  He looked from one woman to the other, filled with regret.  He was thinking the same thing. If Phaedra was right--- if they were fugitives, and if they frequented a place enough, and if the bounty hunters did manage to track them down, the last thing he wanted was to bring ill to these women and the rest of the shop’s occupants.  He decided that he couldn’t take that risk.<br/><br/>He scooped up the last morsel of his three and a half sandwiches--- as usual, Phaedra had barely finished her half of one--- and popped it into his mouth to chew morosely.  Then he swallowed and said to them gravely, “This place… and you… I assure you I will never forget, or your kindness to us.”<br/><br/><em>Never forget</em>… surely now, he thought, he could start building up new memories even if he never remembered the first thirty-five years of his life.<br/><br/><br/><br/>