“How about this one?” Sapphire came out of the changing room again. She had already tried on several dresses. Pt’this enjoyed seeing her in the different clothes, but his attention waned in between. For a while, he had wandered around the shop, but he kept finding other dresses he liked. Soon he realized if he kept looking they would never get out of there. Some of the dresses looked good on her some didn’t. The one she wore now looked very good. He smiled. “I like that a lot,” he said. “Me too.” She asked the shopkeeper the price, and her face fell. She went back into the changing room. “I think we’ve seen enough,” Pt’this said. “Me too. I don’t think I’ve ever worn so many different clothes. Which ones do you want to get?” Pt’this smiled and picked up the pile of dresses that looked good on her. “We’ll take these and the one she just had on,” he told the shopkeeper. “What?” Sapphire’s head popped out through the curtain. “We’ll get those. Finish dressing.” She did quickly and came out. “Pt’this, we can’t get all that.” He smiled. “Sure we can.” “Did you hear how much that dress cost?” He nodded. “So?” “So, that’s more than all of my other clothes combined.” “That’s okay.” He kissed her. She deserved to have some nice things. Most of what she owned was patched and worn. All was second hand. He bought the dresses and had them sent back to the palace. “We’re probably going to have to get another wardrobe,” he said. “Probably,” Sapphire said. Her head was still spinning from the amount of money he just spent. “Where are we going now?” She asked. “I wanted to show you something, see what you thought.” He took her to one of the houses he had thought about buying. “We talked about moving out of the palace. What do you think of this place?” “What?” “What do you think of buying this place? You’re not happy at the palace.” “What about Kith’s place?” “You want to live there?” “I’m just not ready to sell it.” “So we won’t.” “Then how can we afford this place?” He smiled and put his arms around her. “Sweetie, I have had three very well paying jobs for three hundred years and have had little to spend it on. Even if I never made another coin, it would be a long time before we had to worry about running out of money.” “Really?” Was all she could say. “You didn’t know I had money?” It was his turn to be surprised. “How would I know that?” “Um, because I live in a palace and work for a king?” “All that means is you look fancy. I’ve known plenty of people who look fancy but don’t have any money.” “Well, we’ve got plenty of money. So, what do you think of this place?” She looked at it again. “At first glance, it looks nice, but there’s a lot that’s worn down. Do you want to put that much work into it?” Pt’this looked at the house again. He could see what she meant. “I’m glad I didn’t just buy it to surprise you.” “I would like to move out of the palace, but we don’t have to rush. I’m doing better there.” “I noticed.” He grinned. “I think the strength of the bond helps,” she told him. He pulled her close. “Shall we go see if we can make it stronger?”