Lost Duckling

Yvonne stopped sprinting once she'd reached the castle's courtyard, cuddling the child with one strong arm and throwing the door of the castle open with the other. She stepped lightly inside and caught the door with her foot so it wouldn't slam and startle her burden. "You still haven't told me your name, little one," she chided the girl in her arms, rocking her gently. "I will have to call you..." She hummed, making an overly dramatic (and rather silly) thoughtful face as she felt the child calming down. "Flower? No, that's not a name for a person... how about Bunny? No good, no good..."

She kept this silliness up as she walked into the vestibule, eying the castle from her peripheral vision. With no idea which direction to head in, she had to break off her fooling and call out. "Hello? Can anyone point me to the kitchens?"

"An-An...." the girl couldn't get her own name out between her crying, the way she cried it sounded like an angel was crying. She was soft, and the feeling around her was of heart break. Its fairly hard to make an angel cry. The girl shivered a little bit in Yv's arms. She was scared, but a lot less than before, but she wasn't able to get her name out yet mostly because of her throat being swollen a bit due to her crying. It took her a minute to be able to actually get her name out "Andraste." she finally managed to say, before she resumed crying softly. She just rested quietly in Yvonne's arms, tears still streaming down her cheeks.

"That's a lovely name, Andraste," Yvonne told the girl, cradling her in an almost baby-like fashion and stroking the girl's long hair. "Let's see if we can't find the kitchens, shall we? Some water will help me clean your cuts, and maybe there's something nice to eat that might cheer us both up after being outside." Whether the girl wanted to or not, that is.

Yvonne had been in castles before, though it had usually been midnight and she had been sneaking around, curious. But there had to be some logic to the place, right? Four doors and a staircase. Stairs were out, the main kitchen at least would be on this floor. She rather doubted either of the doors near the outer wall would lead her there, it would probably be further in... but that was where her logic ended. That left her two doors. Might as well try both, I suppose... worst case I interrupt some class, or some professor's work, and they tell me where I can find the kitchens.

Humming quietly, a gentle tune aimed at calming the child still in her arms, Yv headed for the door to the left of the stairs. No good. She saw books. If the place made any sense at all, the kitchen wasn't going to be attached to the library, there'd be a dining hall or scullery she'd be likely to find first. Swaying her step to keep as level as possible and not alarm Andraste, Yv made for the other door.

Parlour of some sort. Better choice than the library, Yvonne decided, And I can see another door to head through. She made for it.

The girl's fingers slowly took a hold of Yvonne's shirt, she was afraid to get it dirty, because she had already been yelled at for being a dirty mess in this castle. She pressed into the woman slowly wondering what her reaction would be... wondering what she wanted to do with her. She understood the most immediate things that they were going to do, but she didn't understand what she was thinking in the long term. Was she going to help her? was she going to just leave her be... was she going to make her call her mommy? She didn't know, and so she was still a little scared of what the long term held with miss "Ivy".

The filmy stuff of Yv's dress was soft on Andraste's fingers, and didn't seem to mind whether she was dirty or not. Yvonne's reaction to the girl's clinginess was simply to cuddle her closer. Through the sitting room door was a hallway, and there was a door immediately off that into what appeared to be a dining hall. On the right track, she decided, choosing to head down the hallway instead of enter the dining hall which might be in use--she couldn't see all of it through the doorway.

"What do you like to eat, Andraste?" she asked quietly, walking down the hall. "Is there something that would make you feel better?" Yv wasn't the greatest cook in the world, but she had been around long enough to know her fair share of recipes. Not as long as Andraste...

The room at the end of the hall looked like a small dining room of some sort, but Yv knew the kitchens must be close. Through the small dining room was her goal of the kitchens. "Here we go..." she sing-songed.

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