Crisis: from Rainbows to Razors
Cly's eyes turned downward. "Yes, Father," she replied, demure, and took Larissa's arm. "Larissa?" she called, first trying to gently shake her to disrupt her concentration, before going any further. Larissa twitched, but unlike Damien, Clytemnestra didn't catch a punch to the jaw. "What, Cly?" Clytemnestra dropped her hand. "I'm sorry," she said. "I thought you lost within your own efforts. I didn't want to tamper with it, or go in after you, unless I had to... it would be like a bull in a china shop. Let me go find Chadwick and we can get out of here." She looked... scared, almost, like she had avoided some terrible mistake. Larissa shook her head as though trying to clear it. "Yes...find Chad." There was always Chadwick, of course. And it had been Clytemnestra's mission to rescue him in the first place. And that is exactly where she went, searching for Flora's son. A smile, a touch on his arm when she found him, a graceful disengagement from the crowd. "Let's go home, Chadwick," she said. "We really need to talk." "Very well," he said with a touch of a smile to those who tried to crowd him in. He was still concerned about the Merlin situation. It wouldn't dawn on him for several moments that he should be worried about his own mother. This appeared to be exactly the thing that was on Cly's mind as she led him back to the carriage and got them ready to return. "There's only room for two," Larissa said, still sounding faint. "You two go ahead. I'll just...rest here briefly." She essayed a smile, though it was strained. Cly kept looking back at Chadwick after she got them moving. "Your mother sent me an urgent message, to come get you," she said. "I hope she sees that the other events this morning put things in... perspective." "Is something wrong," he asked with sincerity. The urgency from his mother was odd. "She's not hurt, is she?" "No, no," Cly said. "She's not hurt. She's just... worried for you, I think." He was confused. "Worried for me? But... it was what I was brought up for. She taught me!" He shook his head, not at all clear on why his mother would concern herself over his activities. It was all very strange. Clytemnestra pulled a little too sharply on the reins, and barely got them through a turn without upsetting the carriage. "She... taught you? Herself?" she asked. Chad jerked, but recovered enough not to fall onto Clytemnestra, and nodded, "the basics, I mean... I can't imagine mother teaching me advanced techniques. Not a ladylike field to study and all that." "That depends very much on who you ask," Cly said. "I just don't believe... I mean... did she use models, or something?" "Mannequins," he said casually. "It's not like she would put herself in those kinds of positions." Chad looked back to the Queen, wondering what Lily was doing. Cly looked sharply at Chadwick. "You poor thing," she said. "The others were right all along. I just... I don't believe it. Mannequins? I guess it's better than Aunt Flora showing you herself, but the least she could do would use live participants, or something. You miss out on so much..." "Well, you start with mannequines," he corrected. "Then you get the real thing. Mind you, you have to start slow." He looked sideways at her. "You aren't interested, are you? I could probably teach you the basics. I'm quite good." He grinned pridefully. Clytemnestra smiled, placed a warm hand on his upper thigh, and said, "I'm familiar with the basics, thank you. I wouldn't mind teaching you more advanced things..." She sighed, then, and removed her hand. "But now is not the best time." Chadwick looked thoughtful as he considered whether now was, in fact, the best time. Probably not, since he wouldn't want to mess his clothes or muss his hair before seeing his mother. He nodded agreeably. "Very true. Perhaps we could arrange for something later." "Perhaps. But it has been a trying day. Let's see how things go when we get back." And indeed, the castle was rapidly growing larger as Cly took another turn at breakneck speed. Chadwick did his best to compensate, but he enjoyed being flung about a bit. There was the sensation that, at any moment, he could take flight. The guards on the gate, primed by earlier alarms, leapt forward officiously to halt the approaching carriage, and then, taking a look at Clytemnestra's set face, thought better of it and dived to either side instead to avoid being ridden down. Flora, standing graceful and stern, like the sculpture of a steel lily in the middle of the courtyard, appeared to have no such qualms. Cly demonstrated once again that she did know how to stop; with a turn and a heave on the reins, she brought the carriage to a halt within a foot of her aunt. She was down in a thrice, seeing to the horses, knowing that they were going to pay for the desperate events of the day, as well as the glamour of calm she had placed upon them... Chadwick was clearly bothered to see his mother so upset. He had weathered the fire just fine, and he was more than a little surprised to hear of her concern. "Mother? Do you need a hug?" "No," said Flora icily. "I need an explanation. What were you doing on That Vessel, Chadwick, and exactly what happened on the docks this morning, Clytemnestra?" Chadwick hardly noticed his mother's tone. "I was playing 'Clue'," he said. The King took me there, but left me in the hands of a charming young lady you absolutely must meet. Anyway, there was a fire and the dreaded Johann appeared." He looked over at Cly, hoping she'd take it from there. "Who promptly faced off against my father," Cly continued. "A less-than-successful attempt at assassination, I think. His... creature... stabbed him in the back. By that time there was a fire raging, and Chadwick acquitted himself in fighting it. There's more," she said, with a significant look towards the people around them. Flora nodded. "We will speak more in my apartments, my dear. Although I imagine we shall be called to Council. I must have a few words with Mandor as soon as he returns - but could you be so good as to find my brother, Bleys? You may take Chadwick with you." "Of course, Aunt Flora," Cly said. She smiled slightly. Chadwick approached Cly with a friendly smile. "That went well, I think." The smile stayed, though looked a little forced. "That's an understatement. Your mother was... unhappy... this morning." She looked back at Chadwick. "I don't know what that means, at the moment. But I suppose we'll find out. Let's go find our uncle." Bleys was not in his room, or the smoking room, or even the kitchens ... the baths ... They eventually ran him to ground in a small room off the library - a section seemingly devoted to novels of too dubious a content to be stored on the main library shelves. It was clearly a familiar retreat for Bleys; there was a comfortable armchair by the fire - a rack for pipes, and a sideboard with a selection of decanters. A valloon glass of brandy was on the table at his side, despite the hour. He looked up as they entered and raised an inquiring eyebrow. "What's up, sweet Ness? Has Chadwick here finally escaped and you're looking for a bolthole to stow him in?" Chadwick looked utterly confused at the word 'escape', and looked to Cly for clarification. Cly smiled. "Touche', Uncle," she said. "But it may be a little late for a bolthole... Aunt Flora wanted me to find you, thinking we all may be called to Council after the... events... down on the docks." "There was a fire," Chadwick added. "People could have been hurt." He was biting back Lil's name, not bringing it up due to the uncertain feeling that doing so might be a mistake. Bleys rose to his feet in a swift easy motion. the brandy glass pushed to one side. "What was this?" he asked abruptly. "Merlin was there last night, wasn't he? Was he attacked?" "Merlin was protected, but... ummm. Mandor was rather sleepy looking when I last saw him. I'm sure he'll be fine, and Johann was captured." "I think Father was the more likely target," Cly said. "Johann was there, with guns. Merlin was, um, unconsicous the last I saw him, but I don't think he was hit. This all happened at the docks, near the Queen." "Guns?" said Bleys. "Hell." Chadwick quirked an eyebrow. The choice of words was... well, was a gun really so dire? What was a 'gun' anyway. One of those noisemakers that Johann had been waving around? [Bleys] reached down and picked up his sword and sword belt in one easy gesture, strapping it on with casual expertise. "And Merlin's unconscious you say? Any idea why? Who's with him?" "I don't know who's with him right now," Cly said. "As to the why, it's... I mean I felt... Pattern." Bleys looked at her for a long moment and then nodded. "I see," he said. "Let's get over there, shall we?"
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