Camilla sagged with relief when Eloise told her that Cydric would be fine. She stripped the breastplate off him and was suprised to see that despite the blood that stained his shirt, the wound was simply a puckered scar, it looked to her like an old burn which she supposed made sense given Eloise's apparent area of specialty. Jisele helpfully returned with her thrown dagger, which she tucked into her belt before the Swords of Ulric managed to whisk the girl away.

The courtroom was packed with groaning wounded, the festive trappings of the ball in tatters. Greatswords were emerging from the tunnels the skaven had used to breach the palace, their weapons slick with gore but their expressions satisfied. Guards were moving around escorting the wounded to clear areas and bringing slow order to the chaos. Apparently she and Cydric had been forgotten for the time being. With both hands she picked up his sword and slid the heavy weapon back into its scabbard.

[b]"Can you move,"[/b] she asked Cydric in a concerned voice. He nodded and she put his arm over her shoulder and helped him to his feet. Even without his armor he was far too heavy for her to lift but he was able to do most of the work. Frustrated, she kicked off her shoes, the elaborate shoes, ruined in any case, and unsteady besides. Together they limped from the ruined ball room.

The palace was in chaos with staff and guards rushing around. After several attempts to flag down a passing servant, she helped Cydric to sit on a stone bench and grabbed one of the passing liveried servants. The man's eyes flared with anger to be so accosted.

[b]"Do you know who I am!"[/b] the servant blustered. Camilla smiled and drew the dagger from her belt without any particular menace.

[b]"You are the man who is going to help get my wounded friend to the room the Graf promised us in the guest quarters."[/b] The servant's eyes bulged but when Camilla stepped back he helped her lift Cydric and lead them through the hallway to another section of the palace. It didn't seem any more inviting than the rest of the palace to Camilla, saved for the fact that more tapestries hung from the walls and busts of grim looking men stood on stone plinths.

[b]"Do you know which room My Lady?" [/b]the servant asked. Camilla pointed to one at random and opened the door. Seeing it didn't appear to be currently occupied they helped Cydric inside. The suite had a small sitting room with a lush rug before a cold unlight fireplace. The furniture was made unifomrly of some sort of dark polished wood, including a small cabinet stocked with what looked like bottles of wine and liquor. A large feather bed stood in the bedroom along with a large mirror and a porcelain basin filled with water for washing.

[b]"On the bed," [/b]Camilla directed and they carefully laid Cydric down on the bed.

[b]"Can you get..." [/b]Camilla began turning to the servant but the man was already all but fleeing the apartment. She didn't have the energy to protest.

[b]"Lay back,"[/b] she instructed Cydric and ducked back into the sitting room. Opening the liquor cabinet she started pulling corks until she found something that smelled so strongly of alcohol that it burned her nose. Returning to the bedroom she found Cydric trying to sit up.

[b]"Lay back,"[/b] she repeated, a little more firmly, and pushed gently on his chest, forcing him back down onto the bed. Taking out her dagger she cut away the ruined silk shirt. It was ruined anyway, stained with blood and charred in places from proximity to Eloise's fiery blast. Dipping some of the ruined silk into the bottle she began to gently clean the cuts and scratches with the astringent liquid.

Glancing down she realized that her own dress was also charred, torn and stained with blood and viscera. Her jewels dangled and in places the fine chains had snapped or warped.

[b]"It figures, two hundred marks worth of finery and we totally destroy it within fifteen minutes,"[/b] she grumbled. Her heart wasn't in the gripe though, she was just relieved to see that Cydric seemed to be ok.

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