To the right

Making up her mind, Chantelle turns and walks confidently to the right. Although this form she has adopted is roughly the same size as her normal body, she is always a bit unsteady after changing shapes. She turns a corner and stumbles slightly and puts out a hand against a wall to steady herself.

“Well, what do we have here?”

Chantelle looks up to see the source of the voice. Two palace guards are approaching her with looks that betray surprise, amusement, and something else.

“Someone has started celebrating the prince’s Betrothment Day a little early, don’t you think, Ivan?” asks the guard who spoke earlier.

Chantelle straightens up and tries to steady her breath so as to appear calm. She reaches down to smooth her skirt, and only then realizes with horror that she neglected to put on any clothes at all! Her species ordinarily did not mess with such trivial things, and in her haste she forgot that a naked female human would most certainly garner attention.

The men approach her, and look at her with undisguised interest. “Off on a bit of a bender, are we?” asks the first guard. “A little early for the bottle, don’t you think?”

Before she can answer, Ivan speaks up. “I don’t think she’s drunk, Luke. Don’t you remember the briefing we got about the inmates who escaped from the mental hospital over by the Sanguian Forest? Could she be one of them?”

Ivan looks her over and considers his comrade’s words. “Nah, she’s tipsy. Look where she’s coming from — the prince’s quarters. I’ll bet he had himself a good old bachelor party last night, and she’s was one of the party favors. Isn’t that right, Miss?”

Chantelle thinks quickly and says, “That’s right! I was with Prince Stewart last night. I just woke up and he was gone. I went looking for him and locked myself out of his room by accident. Do you think you could help me?”

Luke leers at her, openly, and says, “Why, certainly we can help you. I’ve got a key right here that will fit into any lock in the palace.” He patted his front pants pocket and looked at Chantelle meaningfully. “It’s a right big key, too. Fits nice and snug in the hole.” He raises an eyebrow, suggestively.

“Thank you so much,” she says, undecided about how to respond to Luke’s innuendos. “I’ll just grab my clothes and be on my way.”

The three make their way back to the prince’s room.

“I probably should accompany you, Miss. We normally don’t let just anyone go into the Crown Prince’s quarters without him being present.”

Chantelle looks at the two soldiers, and makes a decision.