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only my leather under armor. I felt my head on something soft, and I looked up to see Elsa’s smiling face above me. I suddenly realized I had been sleeping with my head on the lap of a dwarf Princess. Mortified, I tried to get up, but she pushed me back down and whispered, “Shush now, you’ll wake up Darroth.” I twisted my head slightly and saw that Darroth was stretched out on the same bench in the other direction, his head on Elsa’s lap as well, snoring slightly. I again reminded myself why I don’t drink dwarven ale, but with the kind of week I’d had, it had seemed like a credible idea at the time.
    Elsa gently stroked both our heads and looked at me fondly. She whispered, “As I was saying, Alex; this Maya of yours sounds like a sweet, wonderful girl to me, for an elf that is. I’m sure when you get back to the dark elf capital, you’ll be able to get all this Queen problem straightened out and get down to the business of destroying this necromancer once and for all.”
    Oh crap! Did I go and tell her my life story or what? The question must have shown on my face, because she nodded sympathetically. Then I noticed a certain pixie sitting on her shoulder nodding the same way as well. Sighing, I again tried to raise my head, but it felt like a dwarven smith was inside my skull using a five-pound blocking mallet on my brain.
    I groaned and rolled off the bench onto my knees. My fuzzy vision noted pieces of my armor scattered across several tables and on the floor. Rising painfully to my feet, I made a beeline for the jakes, crashing through several sets of doors until I found them. After splashing more than a little water on my face and placing a detoxifying enchantment on my stomach, I felt feebly fortified enough to head back. Just outside the door, I nearly smacked into a hovering pixie with a very disapproving look on her face. Nia looked down at me–barefoot, clothes in disarray and generally disheveled. I put fingers to my temples trying to massage memory back into my synapses, and failed horribly. This was the most I had ever imbibed at a single occasion–by a large amount.
    “Ummm, Nia…I didn’t do anything stupid, did I?”
    “Like what, Mr. Alex?” Nia answered with over-the-top false cheer. “Hmm…I don’t know…something like challenging Darroth to a drinking contest in front of the girl of his dreams? Oh no…you didn’t do anything stupid at all…no Sir!”
    I felt a flash of irritation at myself, and whatever freedom from the pain of my memories that I had gained from the effects of the strong brew, now came crashing back twofold. Nia could sense the rapid change in my mood, and she probably guessed at the cause as well. Gently landing on my shoulder, she whispered, “If it makes you feel any better, Mr. Alex, I think you passed Elsa’s test.”
    Going back into the main bar, I found Darroth awake, scowling, and sitting very close to Elsa on the bench. Logen, who didn’t look any happier, was setting out large bowls of lukewarm soup on a nearby table set for four. Nodding to the group, I guiltily started to pick up the pieces of my armor and compile them in a single area of the floor.
    Elsa chuckled. “I would have done that little chore for you, Alex, after I put you two big strong boys down for your nap, but that stuff is a lot heavier than it looks. Funny, when you were singing and juggling it in midair with just your thoughts, it looked light as a feather. I think you might have dented Logen’s floor in a few places, though, when you dropped some.”
    I groaned mentally, imagining the sight. Great! Could I have made myself out to be any more of a buffoon? Elsa caught my expression and decoded it instantly.
    “Oh, come on now, Alex; don’t be like that. Everyone needs to bust out once in a while, and with what you’ve been through, there’s no shame in it at all. Now come and eat your soup, we have business to discuss.”
    Since I had no secrets anymore anyway, I just