Ask Agnes

If there was someone who’d knew, it would be Agnes. My maid had friends all over the castle and she always knew the latest gossip. Yes, she could help me!

All I had to do was find her and that was easy enough. She had once shared that she had a crush on the stable master and loved to spend time around him when she could. That knowledge made me slightly jealous for she was my own crush from when I was little, but it finally became useful.

I paced down to the stables and, sure enough, there was Agnes. She was leaning across one of the wooden fences, laughing as the rugged stable master brushed a horse, completely unaware that I was watching them with a racing heart.

“Agnes?”
“Yes, my prince”, she replied, almost jumping back to face me.
“Can you, erm, take me to the dwarves?”
“Which dwar... Ohhh, the dwarves! Certainly, my prince, follow me.”

She hurried up the steps in an attempt to hide her flushed cheeks, but I noticed them. Regardless, there were more important things at hand right now.

A few minutes later, we approached a sturdy wooden door that lead to one of the towers reserved for guests.

“Here we are, my prince!”

I took a deep breath, then knocked on the door. Some commotion was heard and, a minute later, one of the dwarves opened up, visibly drunk.

“Aye? Can a help ‘ye? Oh, it’s you! The prince!”
“Hey! Mister emissary, I think we got off on the wrong foot...”
“Aye, aye, I can tell y‘ar a nice lad! What else?”
“I was thinking... can I join you for some ale?”

The dwarf looked at me funnily.

“Ye? Drink with us? Nae wae!”
“Please... I insist!”

The dwarf thought for a moment... or so I thought, it was possible he was just too drunk to comprehend.

“Alright, came inside... and take yer bonnie lassie with ye!”

He was referring to Agnes who took a step back, surprised...