TroubleIsOurBusinessIndex | Time Under Chaos | Game Logs | Trouble Is Our Business Trouble Is Our BusinessGoran nodded to her with a grim smile, encouraging her to go do what she could. Her hand lit upon Morgan's forearm, as gentle as a sparrow coming to roost. "I am ready, Lord Regent." They were not far from the balcony that overlooked the square and already, through the shutters, the sound of the mob that had gathered in the courtyard below could be faintly heard. Goran turned to Ingrey. "Counsellor? Shall we?" he asked, indicating the exit. Ingrey gave a glance and a nod each to Claudio, Tasha and Solitaire before looking at Goran again. "Lead on." he said. Goran led them out to one of the main corridors, then paused and looked to Ingrey inquiringly. "I haven't seen Lord Chadwick in days, Counsellor. Do you have any idea where to start?" he asked. "That is the pertinent question." Ingrey said. "I didn't wish to unduly alarm the Regent, especially with the situation outside taking up his time. The appearance of Lt. Pavlo coming as he did was disconcerting." "Quite," Goran concurred. Ingrey paused and then continued. "His warning about Chadwick is troubling because I sent Chadwick here to the Castle; ostensibly I had sent him to safety." Goran quirked a dubious eyebrow. "We should begin with his quarters." Ingrey began. "If Princess Florimel is in residence, that would be a logical second place to look. Inquiring any servants along our route from this wing to there would be useful to establish if anyone has seen him going to an alternate location." "I've not had the pleasure of the Grand Castle Tour, Counsellor. You'll have to lead," Goran said darkly, stepping aside to allow it. "I have done a number of things as part of my civil service employment." Ingrey replied with the briefest of smiles. "Tour guide for Castle Amber was not amongst them. Until tonight." Ingrey began walking in the direction of the family's wing of the Castle. "It is fortunate for the two of us that, almost as soon as I was assigned to the Embassy, her Excellency ceded the drudgery of everyday visits to the Castle for me to handle for the most part. Thus, I know my way around well enough." "Fortunate indeed," Goran agreed as he stepped in beside Ingrey and matched his pace. "I'd never been much beyond the front gates until - wow." He shook his head in amazement. "Was the dock incident /really/ just yesterday?" Ingrey gave a grazing nod of the head. "Much has happened in the last hours and watches." Ingrey said in a tone of agreement. "Events and changes often happen in clusters, Goran. We're within such a cluster now." There were a pair of guards at the entrance to the private chambers who watched the approach of Goran and Ingrey with, it seemed, now great enthusiasm. "Private quarters," said one succinctly as they approached. "No outsiders." Ingrey shot Goran a look as if to seek his consent for Ingrey to handle this. Goran nodded crisply. Ingrey stopped his forward motion and gave a nod to the Chaosian Lieutenant for him to pause his forward motion as well "Ah, Excellent." Ingrey said, then taking a single step forward. "I am Ingrey Wererathe, Counsellor at the Chaos Embassy to Amber, and this is Goran, and Lt. Houshi. Both of them are unused to the passages in the Castle; you have almost certainly seen me here many times." "We have been charged by Morgan, appointed Regent of Amber by his Majesty King Merlin, to seek out and ascertain the health and welfare of Chadwick, son of Princess Flora. With no little haste and concern, I might add. This is not something to be delegated." "You can have one or more of you accompany us on our errand, of course." Ingrey added with a smile. "However, you will find that my concern for the health of someone I consider a friend, as well as the explicit request of the Regent, both supersede your standing orders regarding outsiders." Ingrey took another step forward toward the guards. Goran, standing a step behind the Counsellor, glowered at the guards. "Not without written orders signed by the Regent hisself ... " began the guard - but then there was an interruption. A guard was walking along the corridor towards them, a slight figure stretched across his arms. It was the Baroness Helgram, her dark hair wet and some of it plastered to her forehead, while the rest dripped down onto the stone floor. She was unconscious, it seemed, and deathly pale. Goran turned toward the approaching guard and Ingrey heard his sharp intake of breath. He hurried toward the guard, closing the gap between them in long strides. "What happened to her?" he demanded as he reached to take her, with surprising gentleness, out of the guard's arms. "She spoke to the mob," explained the guard, reliquishing his burden. "Calmed them down, she did, and they were starting to drift off home. But it was too much for her, I reckon, and she collapsed in the rain before the Regent could catch her." Solitaire instinctively clutched at Goran, shivering against him like a half-drowned kitten. She muttered faintly to herself in Rebman, an endless stream of equations; perhaps an internal defense mechanism. Otherwise, she made no indication of being aware of her surroundings. As her raven hair brushed against Goran's shoulder, it left a dark stain on his shirt. Blood. Goran was already moving before Ingrey could indicate Goran to go to her. He regarded the tableau of the unconscious baroness with regret. After a moment, he turned back to the two guards. He shook his head and stared at the guard who had responded directly as Ingrey spoke. "In this Time of Tumult, your dedication to duty is commendable. However, you really must agree that with an armed mob outside, a riot in the city, the state of the good Baroness." he gestured in the direction of Goran, Solitaire and the new guard, and other assorted calamities, that tracking down the Regent to get a written authorization is an entirely too fastidious following of protocol." "Come, my suggestion was more than reasonable. Have one of the two of you accompany us on our mission. My word is honorable and staked on my reputation. Surely, you have no intention on maligning my reputation, do you? I may not be of the House that my good friend the Lieutenant is, however, my honor should not be lightly impugned. Let us pass, with one of your number. The health and well being of a noble of Amber are in the balance." The soldier hesitated, and then took a step bap back. "N... no ... no. I see no reason why you shouldn't pass," said the guard. He sounded a little dazed. "Well I do," said a voice, icily. Flora moved forward, surveying the group gathered in the hallway, as impeccably attired and with all the poise that she might display on receiving ambassadors for a tea party. "That you have conquered Amber, Counsellor Wereathe, is a fact well known to us all. That you should therefore trample at will through our bedrooms seems to me wholly distasteful and, indeed, an abrogation of power that is well nigh intolerable. The Baroness is hurt ... I suggested we withdraw to suitable apartments to see that she is tended to." Goran watched the proceedings with feigned patience, his eyes glancing from one speaker to the next, awaiting orders about where to take the injured girl in his arms. Meanwhile, he spoke to Tear in low soothing tones in a language that was unfamiliar to those within hearing distance. However, if Flora could hear, the language was reminiscent of what she had heard spoken by Czar Nicholas I at the last ball she attended at the Winter Palace. "No undue disrespect was intended, Milady Princess." Ingrey replied, with a nod of the head toward Flora. "Goran, Lt. Hendrake and I did not come here to trample through your bedrooms, or anyone else's for that matter. In the midst of an encounter with Morgan, the Regent, a Chaosian officer appeared, speaking words of warning of the health of your son, whom I had sent here to safety not long before." "I agreed to seek your son, as a request from, and a favor to, Morgan. Also, I consider Chadwick with some affection and care. His well being is a concern of my honor. Certainly, the state of the Baronness suggests that she should be tended to, and immediately." Goran nodded almost imperceptibly, glancing up at the Princess as Ingrey continued. "However, finding your son, and tending to him if necessary, is my primary objective. Forgive me any impertinence in seeking to accomplish that goal in a less than supple and diplomatic manner." He glanced back at Goran, the guard and Solitaire, then Lt. Hendrake, and then back to Flora. He gestured toward the Princess with a nod of the head for her to precede them all. Goran looked to Flora inquiringly as he settled the injured Baroness more comfortably against his chest - not coincidentally revealing more of the bloodstains she was leaving on his shirt. A slight narrowing of Flora's eyes suggested that this had registered with her. "We will place the Baroness in one of the rooms I set aside for Ambassadresses," she said decisively. She nodded to one of the guards escorting them. "The room used by the Irlankan. You should find it fully prepared. I shall find my son." Ingrey gave a nod of acquiescence. She looked steadfastly at Ingrey and Goran. "And then perhaps, you will inform me, one of you, why we appear to have a Regency." Goran glanced over at Ingrey, then, realizing that the Counsellor might not have all the details, said, "Highness, The Prime Minister was seriously injured in what appears to be an overdose of Pattern energy. The Professor, Delluth, attempted to get help for him by sending him back to Chaos. Apparently things are unstable there now, because the King was in quite a hurry to go retrieve him personally. He left Captain Morgan in charge as Regent in his absence." Ingrey gave a nod and a pose of gratitude toward Goran for his explanation. Flora gave a slight frown. "Your explanation, as I requested, could have waited until the Baroness had received attention," she said. "As it is ... " A sudden thump! from further down the corridor seemed to jolt her. "See the Baroness tended," she said crisply, and headed away down the corridor. A pasted smile of crisp politeness appeared above Goran's tightly-set jaw, and he nodded formally as the princess departed. Ingrey gave a bow toward Flora. The guard moved forward. "Let me escort you," he said to Goran and Ingrey. Barely glancing at Ingrey, Goran immediately followed the guard. He held Tear snugly against his chest to keep from jostling her as he strode briskly down the corridor. Ingrey stood there for a long moment, regarding the departing forms of both the security expert of the Ramblin Queen and the Princess of Amber. His eyes flickered back and forth. It seemed a final look at how protectively and securely that Goran held her caused him to make a decision. "Three or four is a crowd ina room meant for two, Lieutenant" Ingrey said to Houshi, and then motioned for him to follow him...and he headed to follow Flora. (Ingrey Exits to So Where Is Chadwick; Continued in Trouble is Our Business-Goran and Tear |
