"Are you done in there yet?" Aubrianna called out from the bedroom.
"Just about, my love," replied Alistair from the bathroom, submersed in the tub.
Aubrianna waited a few moments longer, but all that greeted her from the adjoining door was the sound her husband's off-key humming and splashing water. Finally she gave up.
"I'm hungry. I'm heading down to breakfast. Now."
No response. She sighed and walked out of the room.
She was almost done with her second cup of tea, the meal long over, when the odors wafted into the room. It smelled as if someone had cut every flower in the garden and deposited them in the hall just outside the dining room. The scent was so overpowering it made her nauseous.
Alistair entered the room and her eyes grew wide in shock as she realized that horrid smell was coming from him! He approached her chair, leaning down for a kiss and it took everything she had not to gag.
"Maker's Breath!" she exclaimed. "What on earth have you gotten into?"
Alistair's eyes twinkled. "Ah, so you noticed, did you? You like?"
"Like?" she exclaimed. "Perhaps if one were outside, one might appreciate it. But after having just eaten –"
"Excellent idea!" he said, interrupting her. "Outside in the elements is exactly where I need to be, for a proper test. Come!" he ordered, grabbing her hand and leading her out the dining room door towards the front hall.
"Alistair Theirin! What, by the Maker's Hand, are you doing?" she asked, barely able to keep up as he led her out onto the front steps.
But he was already down the steps, clearly on a mission that only he was privy to. He headed down the front path, turning this way and that, grinning like a boy. At least the smell was being carried downwind, Aubrianna thought as she watched her husband, an ever deepening frown settling on her face.
Finally, he seemed to have had enough and made his way back to her side, still grinning from ear to ear.
"It works! This stuff is amazing! It's good to be the king! I never had stuff like this in the Chantry!" he exclaimed.
"What stuff?"
"There's one for body, one for split ends, one to keep frizziness at bay, and even one that holds everything in place," he said, ticking off the list on his fingers.
"Hair products? Hair products!" she yelled, her face red with fury. "You're talking about hair products?"
"Uh-huh! And they're all amazing! They work! Look, not a hair out of place!" he exclaimed, tilting his overly fragrant hair into her face.
She coughed, the overwhelming scent stifling her. She pushed him away and fanned herself until she was able to breathe. "Just how much of this stuff did you use?"
"Oh, not much. I just tried a dab of everything."
Aubrianna's anger fled and she couldn't help but laugh, thinking of the dozen or so bottles of hair care products sitting in their bathroom, knowing that now, each and every one of them were gracing her husband's head.
