I find The Brewer's Daft on my own after several dead-ends and wrong turns. It's a lot more crowded than the last time I was here. Everyone looks my way when I enter so I dash to the nearest table, keeping my gaze to the floor. Hopefully, they'll lose interest. I don't move the table to the corner where I'd like to be because it makes me self-conscious.

I haven't been sitting long when a fat man with an extraordinarily long nose walks up to my table. He has pointy ears like an elf, but he's too tall to be one. His nose juts out from his face a good six inches and I can see clearly up his vast, hairy nostrils. I assume he's either the cook or the owner because he's wearing a red apron and tall, red rubber boots.

He's speaking excitedly in Naga-Nuru, so I smile uncomfortably at him. He claps me hard on my sore back and continues on with his story, then he holds up a finger and leaves.

I glance around the room to see if anyone witnessed the awkward exchange, but they're busy with their own business. I take a deep breath and relax my shoulders. I hate my inability to speak Naga-Nuru, but it's a difficult language and apparently, I'm not gifted in languages.

The fat man reappears with a large tray of food. He sets each plate down in front of me with a flourish and more words. I'm guessing that he's explaining the food to me. However, he doesn't even try to slow his speech or gesture in order to help me understand him. I keep smiling and nodding, and pray he'll be done soon. He puts a stein of foaming yellow liquid down, abruptly stops speaking, and looks at me expectantly.

I'm so embarrassed by this man's behavior. He's placed five plates on the table and I pick up the spoon and try the purple soup. It tastes like the bottom of a sundae after all the ice cream is gone.

I glance up at the man and smile. "Very good. Thank you. Esterri."

The man responds with a joyful clap of his hands and shouts, "Labva!" He says something else that I don't understand and runs off.

I'm enjoying the soup and liking my little bit of freedom. I'm definitely feeling better. Maybe some free time was a good idea.

"Would you be happy for me to join you?" a female voice says over my shoulder.

I turn and almost drop my spoon when I see Princess Elaeria standing over me. I haven't seen her since the first few nights I was here.

It's weird seeing a princess outside of a castle. She's out by herself, too, in a pub. There's not even a bodyguard with her. I agree to let her join me, but I'm not sure if I'm supposed to bow or stand or something, so I just nod and point to the chair across from me.

"How are you feel?" Princess Elaeria asks in broken English.

"Good. Good," I say with more nodding. I have no idea how to make conversation with royalty.

Elaeria picks up a fork, grabs the plate of rainbow-colored eggs and begins eating. It irks me that she would eat my food without a word to me. It must be another human thing, I guess. I know enough about human history to know that there has always been competition for food. In Ashra, food is abundant, so maybe they don't have the same feelings of ownership toward their plate. Trelix certainly has no compunction about stealing food from me.

I start back on my soup and we both eat in awkward silence. I want to leave. I wish Elaeria would tell me why she decided to join me today. After all, I've been here for more than four months and we've only spoken once, on the night I arrived.

"So your training, it goes well?" Elaeria asks.

"Yeah," I say with more nodding. I need to say more words so I add, "It goes well. Yeah. Real well. It's going well."

"Good," she says. Now she's nodding, too.

Elaeria sighs deeply, looking very sad. "I want to talk to you about Prince Dathid."

The use of Dathid's title brings my guard up. To me, he'll always be grumpy Dathid. He's like an older brother. If he were a prince then he could never be my brother. Plus, I don't want to talk about him to his wife. It's weird just thinking he has a wife and weirder that his wife would want to talk to me about him. I wish I knew how to end this excruciating meal.

I try to match Elaeria's sad face. I don't know anything about marriages, especially one as strange as theirs. Nothing I say will be remotely helpful. It's gossip and I don't like it.

"You do..." she pauses, considering her words. "Dathid laughs with you. How do you do that?" I'm surprised she thinks I make Dathid laugh. I usually have the opposite effect on him. I remember the night he was drunk and we made some snide comments about the elves.

My face gets hot. Please don't blush.

"Um..." I say, stalling for time. "Well..." I add, but run out of words.

I pause for a long time and decide to just say what's in my head. "Dathid is a nice guy. He's a good cook, too." That doesn't answer her question, and the stuff about the cooking is a weird thing to say, but she should be talking to him and not me.

"I do not know," she says, seeming more frustrated than confused. "He does not talk. He talks to you."

"Actually," I say with more confidence. "He doesn't talk a lot. We were together nonstop for over a week before he started speaking to me."

I never thought that Dathid might be shy, but maybe he is. When he has alcohol he becomes talkative, but before then he often seemed at a loss for words.

"How do you have him to speak?" Elaeria asks.

"Listen, I'm not the one you should be asking about this. I have no experience with men, or marriages, or anything like that," I say, finally expressing what I've been thinking. I want to help Dathid any way I can, but I'm way out of my league trying to give advice on relationships, especially between a husband and wife.

Her eyes fill with unshed tears. "I do not know how. I was not supposed to marry a faerie."

I take a deep breath and decide to help as best I can. "I don't know Dathid all that well. We've only recently become friends, but I'll tell you everything that I can."

Her face lights with hope, so I continue. "I know he's been fighting for a long time." The Princess's face tightens. Starting by reminding her of the war between the races was probably not the best idea, but I forge ahead anyway. No use ignoring the elephant in the room.

"I know he's close with his family. I could see the bond he had with his dad, and he speaks of Manahata fondly. Part of his uneasiness could be the fact that he will one day have to leave his home." I'm proud of myself for having that insight.

"I can say also that I felt the resentment of the elves toward him before I even knew what was going on. That can't feel good."

She tilts her head to the side like a dog hearing an unusual noise. "Resentment? Good?"

I shake my head. "No, bad. The elves here do not like Dathid."

"No!" she says loudly. "No, we have made him home. Here. Here is home."

"Well, if you think that you've welcomed him, I'd hate to see how he'd feel if you made him feel unwanted."

"Why do you say such?"

"Well, for starters, I'd take down the tapestry of the elf gutting the faerie. And did you know that he's watched and glared at?"

She shakes her head, vehemently denying that such a thing would happen.

I'm offended she thinks I'm lying. "It happens. I've witnessed it. You really haven't done much to make him feel welcome and frankly, I don't know if the elves could do it given your history. But I'll say this about Dathid: he's a likable guy once you get to know him. He has a strong sense of family and obligation. If you'd do a better job of controlling your people, you may one day find that out."

I stand to leave but add, "I'm sorry, Your Highness, but I'm uncomfortable talking about him behind his back. If you want my advice, it would be this..."

I sigh and debate saying anything, but I've come this far, so why stop now? "Maybe instead of forcing him to come here, you should go to him. I've found the faeries warm and hospitable, and they would probably treat you much better than you guys have treated him. Get to know him. You have a wonderful husband and you're lucky to have him. I'm sorry, but I need to end this conversation." With that, I walk out of the pub.

At first I'm proud of myself for saying what was on my mind, but upon reflection I might have been too hard on the Princess. I just don't like how badly Dathid's treated here. Even Jonah was on pins and needles, and nothing ever rattles him.

I had to say something. I've never defended anyone before; weird that I would start with the warrior.