I'm really sorry to anyone who tried to review but couldn't because anonymous reviews were blocked. I'm relatively new and didn't think about the previous settings. So, now that my blunder is fixed, please read and review!
Ella impatiently tapped her long slender fingers along the banister. Char stood in front of the check in desk discussing the 'shoe-incident' with Franca. She descended the stairs, her eyes looking around the inn, wondering where the elves could have entered from.

"Does the shoemaker still live in town?" she interrupted, the words flying from her lips. She closed her eyes for a minute, reminded herself to be patient, once they discovered what was wrong with the elves, then they would figure out what had happened to herself and Char.

Franca looked up and nodded. "Yes. In fact, he lives just down the street."

Ella looked at Char and raised her delicate dark eyebrows. "Shall we take a walk?"

Char nodded, and smiled curtly at Franca, then followed her out the door. He looked down at the cobblestone roads and smirked at Ella's sock covered feet. Ella caught he eye and pulled a pair of socks from her purse and handed it to him.

"Thank you," Char replied. He leaned back against the wall for support as he lifted his legs in turn to put on the thick soled socks.

"Better?" Ella smiled.

"Much, thank you," he fell into step beside her and slipped his hand into hers. "You're always thinking."

"Well, it's what a queen should do. Right?" Ella asked, tossing the thick dark tresses over her shoulder as she held her chin up in a mock of the regal manner.

"I like you the way you are," Char assured her.

"Really," Ella stated, looking at him.

"Well," Char stated. A brief panicked look crossed his face, as though he wanted to stop speaking, but couldn't. "You push a lot."

"I push?" Ella echoed. "What do you mean I push? Just because I want you to be the good king that I know you can be if you just try?"

"Ella, shut up," Char murmured, pressing his fingers to his temples. His eyes suddenly grew wide and he clamped his hand over his mouth.

Ella reminded herself that he didn't mean it the way it sounded, she reminded herself to be calm, but except hearing the words inside her head, she realized she'd said them out loud.

Char stopped and turned towards her. "What is going on?"

"Something has happened that whatever we're thinking is the first thing to fly out of our mouths. So we have to be patient with each other, because we no longer have a filter. We just say what comes to mind no matter how irritated we may be or how much we don't mean it."

Char stated at her for several minutes before he dared to move his hand away from his mouth and speak. "Then don't you think we'd better work on our problem before we go off trying to solve the rest of the kingdom's?"

"We can't just think of us right now. There's some reason that the elves have decided that they need every pair of shoes in this town. What I don't understand is why the elves would turn like that," Ella pondered. She paused and looked around the small town which seemed to be slowly waking up.

"You know what we need to do right?" Char asked.

Ella looked at him and nodded. "We need to find Slannen."