One of the men looked up from the sketch of the beautiful young woman, with the prominent exotic facial scar and asked knowingly, "Does this woman have anything to do with your grandson?"
"She has everything to do with him!" Thaddeus responded emphatically.
"Then we do this for him. We will accept no payment for finding her."
The dark clad men filtered out of the room, as quietly as they had come in. Thaddeus wasn't done yet though. He stood up from the desk and headed for his hot house.
He had picked up a passion for exotic tropical flowers during his trips to the Attorgron forests and for many years he had nurtured many of his favorite flowers in a special greenhouse that he had had built just for them. He stormed into the humid interior of the hot house, his cane rapping sharply on the tiled floor.
"Carlan! Carlan! Where are you man?"
His head gardener appeared from around a large Sataka flower bush. Carlan bore a puzzled expression and was clearly startled by his master's urgency.
"Yes Sir?"
"Oh there you are. You are going to need a large pot. I don't care what you do with the weeds around it, but you are going to pot up this one right here, with all possible care!" Thaddeus said indicating a small tropical bush that was covered in huge blue flowers that were pepper streaked with a crimson red radiating out from their centers, with hints of peach along the ruffles of the pedals.
It was commonly referred to as a fire flower and it matched the description of Krista's shoulder tattoo and the scented perfume that she liked to wear.
"If it dies Carlan I will personally feed you to the cannibals myself on my next expedition to the forests to replace it! Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes Sir!" Carlan said looking clearly shaken by the threat.
"You will personally oversee the flowers transport to my grandson's room!"
"Yes Sir!"
Thaddeus left the petrified gardener and headed back towards his grandson's room.
The next several days passed uneventfully. Thaddeus prattled on and on about anything he could think to say about what little he knew of Krista. He carried on entire conversations with himself, as he sat by Roric's bedside that stretched into hours. He even had Zarsha come in and talk about Krista.
During the entire time the exotic flower bush commanded a corner of the room where it could get its share of warm sunlight. It released the heady aroma produced from its spectacular flowers into the room's atmosphere as a reward for the diligent care given to it around the clock by Carlan.