ThePowerOfBlondesIndex | Time Under Chaos | Game Logs | The Power of Blondes
Tasha followed behind the lieutenant who, she assumed, was retracing the steps he'd made moments earlier. There was something about his uniform that made her feel a little hungry. She shook her head, and made herself concentrate on the scents around her. If Chadwick had trumped in at the ambassadorial wing, his scent should be fresh along this route. However, there was no recent scent there, yet his old scent was strong, as though he used the corridors often. As they approached the end of the hall, they slowed and Tasha drew up beside Lt. Houshi, and asked him, "Should I go on alone from here? Which way do I go?" But there was a guard moving forward, a broad hand raised. "I'm sorry, my lady, but you can't come here," he said firmly. "Princess Flora has given strict orders ... " Tasha smiled and linked her arm through the guard's raised arm, lowering it and turning him around in the process, "Oh! Princess Flora! Just who I want to see... And her lovely son, Chadwick..." She tilted her head and looked up at him with her shiny blue eyes, her pretty pink lips pouted as she continued, "I am so worried about Chadwick! I was with him at the barracks and we were separated. I heard he has returned... Do you know where I can find him?" She started to head down the hall intending to lead the guard along before he realized what she was doing; her other hand waved behind her to Lt. Houshi to stay where he was. The guard looked down at her. It was clear he was not wholly unmoved. And then, as if a solution had revealed itself to him, he smiled. "As it's you and you ask so nicely, Mistress, I'll send someone to enquire if he's able to receive visitors." "Oh, thank you!" She pressed his arm closer to her side and smiled up at him. She hoped Lt. Houshi had taken her hint and returned the way he had come. He had certainly retreated out of her vision. He nodded towards the youngest guard. Tasha called after the younger guard, turning her dazzling smile his way, "I so appreciate your doing this! Please let Prince Chadwick know how concerned I am!" "Certainly!" said the younger guard woodenly and then he hurried away. The older guard smiled at her indulgently. "Would you like something to nibble on while you wait?" he asked. Tasha's pink tongue slowly traced her top lip from one corner to the other, as she inhaled deeply, then shook her head, as she wrinkled her nose. The guard's scent wasn't as pleasant as Lt. Houshi's or the young guard's who had just left them. "No, I don't think I really need anything to eat at the moment." She sampled the scents in the air again, categorizing them: known or unknown, recent or old. It was a confusion of smells - what you would expect from a place that is frequently used - by the family, by servants, by guards. Faint aromas reminded her of the dinner party she had attended - perhaps the same ingredients had been served in the servants' hall as well. Several people must have dined off fried fish; there was also a faint aroma of blood and the seedier side of the city. From this position she could also scent the faint presence of Chadwick, (but not, interestingly, Flora). She sniffed delicately again and looked curiously at the guard, "Did you say you had spoken with Princess Flora? Recently? Were you here... in this hallway?" And she recalled Ingrey having mentioned also seeing Flora speaking with Chadwick... in his room. She could certainly tell that was nearby from by the faint yet current presence of Chadwick's scent, yet... shouldn't she be able to smell Chadwick's mother if she were talking with her son, or had been only moments earlier? "Oh yes," said the guard. "It was the Princess, right enough." His voice took on a tone of reverential apprehension. Tasha thought of when she had been introduced to the princess and attempted to bring to mind the odor that had accompanied her memory. There had been a confusion of scents before dinner, but she suddenly realized that she was unable to really remember a scent that was particularly 'Flora'. Perhaps a faint recollection of spring flowers? Or had that been the bouquet on the side table? With a thrill Tasha wondered if Flora was one she would not be able to scent at all. Yet, it still concerned her. "How can you be certain it was the Princess? What if... what if it were someone that wanted to harm Chadwick?" The guard looked at her, as though astonished. "Why would anyone want to harm Lord Chadwick? He's 'armless enough." "Perhaps," Tasha replied, "He is by himself, harmless, however, he is still the son of Princess Flora, and thus someone of importance." Then Tasha leaned in and whispered, conspiratorially, "And I heard from a certain... lieutenant... that his life has been threatened." Her big, blue, puppy-dog-eyes gazed up at the guard, "And I would be so very sorry to let that happen!" He glanced uneasily over his shoulder. "We'll see what 'appens ... oh, there 'e is!" There was undisguised relief in his voice as the younger guard re-appeared, bringing once more the faint smell of cooked fish. "He's looking a bit rough," he reported, "but he's with his mother now. He says ... he says he wants to go on a picnic with you, Miss. When he's better, like." Tasha gave the older guard a knowing look when they younger reported that Chadwick looked 'a bit rough'. "Oh, a picnic! What a dear!" Tasha smiled warmly, then turning to the older guard she commented, "See, we are friends! He wouldn't want to take me on a picnic if I were of any danger to him, would he? Please, let me go see that he is all right. I may be able to help him if he is ill. Please?" She looked from one to the other with the most sincere expression of concern mixed with hope. She didn't need to remind the older guard the concern she'd expressed about Chadwick's mother. "No Chaosians," said the guard firmly. "These are private quarters. Lady Flora ... would not be amused." The younger guard gave a faint shudder, as though an unamused Flora was a thing to be avoided at all costs. Tasha let her annoyance show, "If that even *is* Flora... which I'm beginning to wonder...." She stepped back from the guard and suddenly there was no longer a pretty young blonde girl, but a gray puppy, who took off at a dash down the hallway following Chadwick's scent. The guards looked at each other, startled, and then with a collective shout of, "Hey!" they took off in hot pursuit. But even as she ran into the private corridors, Tasha was aware that Chadwick's scent was rather fainter all of a sudden ... It now, inexplicably, seemed to be behind her. The puppy paused only for a second as that registered. She was glad that Chadwick seemed to be up and about and she would find him later, but it was Chadwick's rooms that were of a greater import. She skidded to a stop as she found the right door, her nails scrabbling for purchase. She sniffed along the edge of the door to pick up any scents within before transforming back into the young lady she normally was. Then with human hands she tried the doorknob to see if it would open. It appeared to be locked, from the inside. The fish smell was stronger here than before ... and mixed with a heady perfume that might be worn by a woman ... Tasha filed away the scents she picked up, especially the unknown perfume smell. And then she heard heavy footsteps in the corridor behind. "'ere - you can't go in there!" "That's all right. Chadwick is no longer here anyway." With extreme dignity Tasha turned around and headed back down the hall toward where she had left Ingrey and Claudio watching over Pavlo. The guards, their expressions disapproving, trailed after her.
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