A Merry Evening

"Thank you, Mayor," the woman replied. "And I must thank the Lady Astra too, for her discernment."

"I hadn't realised that it was a contest," Astra said. "I thought that your sauce was the best, perhaps because it was the most unlike anything that I have ever had before. But the other two sauces were also excellent, and there was very little to choose between them."

"Do not worry," the mayor said. "Everyone is happy to accept your verdict... But you don't have a drink! That will never do. Here."

He pressed a tankard of ale into her hand, and Astra took a cautious sip. The beer was every bit as good as the food. The last sauce had made her very thirsty and, almost before she knew it, her tankard was empty and she was accepting a refill.

"Perhaps you could manage some more pork?" Mistress Quickly suggested.

When she had finished her first helping, fifteen minutes ago, Astra had felt full, but the ale seemed to have washed the food down. "Thank you. Just a little, perhaps." She was passed a plateful fully as big as the first.

The merry-making continued till late into the evening, with eating and drinking and the telling of tall tales.

Astra woke, but kept her eyes closed for the moment. She felt awful. It seemed as though a cannonball was in her stomach, the inside of her mouth was as parched as a desert and she had a pounding headache. Her memories of the evening were a little hazy, but she seemed to remember telling a very risque story at one point, to roars of laughter from her audience. The party had eventually wound down, and the mayor had offered her a bed for the night. That bed, in his guestroom, was presumably where she was now.

She opened her eyes - and gasped. The curtains had not been drawn, and the full moon was shining through the window and its light was falling on her face. Before she could look away, it transformed into the Eye, and she seemed to hear Reaibn's voice saying:

1. "Come back, Astra. Fred needs you."
2. "I told you that if you over-ate you would put on weight." [25380]
3. "I thought that you should have some new clothes."

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