A Problem in Dreamland (Part I)

"Your Majesty... Roland?"

The voice was soft and distant.

It wasn't until Roland felt a tickling sensation around his ear that he suddenly realized someone was calling his name.

"You spaced-out again." Nightingale leaned dramatically on the long table, looking right into Roland's eyes. She held her chin in her hand, with her head slightly lopsided, and one pale index finger was swaying from side to side. It was obvious that she had used that finger to fiddle with Roland's ear.

"Um... really?" Roland cleared his throat, pretending that he was reading the statistical report that had just come in. "Probably because of the warm weather today. It makes me doze off easily."

"This isn't the first time to you started daydreaming." Nightingale walked back to the recliner on the other side of the tent. "Ever since you came back from Reflection Church, you've constantly been in a daze. Has anything happened?"