When The Petal Fell

17-2

Slowing to a walk, they saw the boy from earlier, down the side of the Court, near the trades entrance, waving them on. He disappeared through the door and Sora and Klaron followed him into the open courtyard, where the woman Sora assumed was Gabria, stood awaiting them. Her hands held at her waist, her face held in one of those Veils the courtesans used at all times.

"Gabria, I presume?" Sora folded in two, breathing heavy, leaning on her knees before the dark haired woman. Not even close to the vision of beauty that was Cierene, nevertheless, Gabria was a woman of rare attractiveness.

"My Lady Sora, my Lady Klaron." Gabria bowed in demure fashion. "I apologise for greeting you in this place, but if word got out that the Lady Cierene had gone missing? Well, the scandal so soon after the High Gardener's passing would be disastrous."

"I think that may be a little too late." Sora glanced at the boy, remembering him shouting about the very same thing inside the Thought Mage Hall. "But, never mind that now. What happened?"

"Well, as you know, the Lady Cierene is very close to our Seedlings. She cares for each and every one of them, deeply." Sora found it difficult to believe Cierene cared for anybody, but then realised her feelings on the subject could be a slight too harsh on her old friend. "We had concerns for one of our charges, Brella, a sweet little thing. Prone to flights of fancy, but often had wonderful gems of information mixed in with the fanciful."

"Forgive me, Lady Gabria, but you must refrain from over-description." Klaron, as Sora had come to expect, even respect, remained calm and focussed. "Go on, but remain brief and pertinent."

"I apologise. As you can see, worry has strained my self-control." Sora couldn't see anything strained about the woman. A picture of restraint and control. "I shall continue. The Seedling, Brella, disappeared first, we suspect no more than three days ago. The Lady Cierene reached out to the other Seedlings and discovered that Brella was last seen entering the Tweens from the Underside."

"The Tweens? Oh, dear Patrons! Please don't tell me that Cierene went in looking for her?" Sora clutched her fingers into her hair, raking through the messy, blonde strands. "She did, didn't she?"

Gabria nodded and Sora began pacing to and fro in the courtyard, muttering filthy insults at Cierene, at Pirizd, at murderers and the Tweens. Klaron, watched her vocalise her frustrations in silence, for a while.

"The Tweens are worse than a maze." Klaron began, after a short while. "The chances of finding her in there are so slim. We could search for weeks and not even touch half the tunnels or rooms."

"I know. I know. But, I can't just leave her down there. I can't." She paced a few more times, trying to think of the best way to find Cierene.

Going through the Tweens, tunnel by tunnel, room by room, would be a relentless, never ending task. Asking any of the denizens of place would gain them nothing. They would remain tight-lipped, distrustful of Top-Siders or Undersiders alike and trying to beat the information from the unfortunate population would as little use, too.

Then, she had an idea. It would be risky, and, more like, expensive, but she had few options to go with. She turned to Gabria.

"Do you know if Cierene brushed her hair before leaving?" Gabria looked at her, her face almost showing confusion.

"The Lady Cierene always cared for her appearance before leaving the Court. Why?" Gabria looked towards Klaron, who seemed as confused as the dark haired courtesan.

Sora smiled. They might be able to find Cierene after all.

-+-

"Alright! Which one of you bastards is next?" The huge man roared, brandishing the broken chair leg, eyes wide and wild, staring at a group of cowering men and women at the far end of the bar.