To the Barracks

How the mighty have fallen. Once, general Kurtis was king Cassian's right hand man and brother-at-arms. Together, they were an unstoppable of nature. However, nowadays, the only threat he poses is to the food on his dinner table. Owing to his past victories, he still retains the title of general and command over the troops, despite not having stepped foot on a battlefield in over a decade. It is well known throughout the upper echelons of court that Kurtis supports Jamis' claim for the throne because Jamis reminds him of his youth. Both warmongers, eager to solve any political problems with their weapons. Fools, both of them. As much as Alice would like to simply off Kurtis and be done with, assassins are in short supply, and doing the deed herself would be far too risky.

Since Jamis himself is not in the Capital, the best way to disrupt him would be through his staunchest supporter. Admittedly, Alice wasn't exactly sure what she planned to do exactly, but she did know that earning the general's trust would be key, which is why she's heading over to the barracks to pay him a visit. {if Finley Met = false}Walking alongside her was the final person involved in her conspiracy, her personal knight Finley. Like all members of the royal family, Alice was assigned a knight at the age of sixteen, over two years ago, and in those two years she's grown to understand that while the young man was skilled with a blade, he had little else going for him. Still, he was loyal and absolutely smitten with her, so there was little reason not to make use of him. {endif}

The barracks is located near the east gate of the Capital, with a large pavilion set up outside the city walls so that soldiers can spar and train. Most of the men who reside here are the grunts of the army, made up of a mix of mercenaries and drafted civilians, completely lacking in civility. Knights, such as Finley, are of noble birth and tend to have their own personal trainers and sparring grounds. As Alice walks through these dirty and messy buildings, she notices how disorganized it all seems. Soldiers drunk on the streets, others too busy ogling her to remember their tasks. It was a shame, to see how her nation's armies has deteriorated to such a state.

Finley nervously clutches his sword, an unbecoming display for a knight, though Alice didn't bother to chide him. What was there to fear from this rabble? Let them gaze upon her, because that's the best they'll get. Her heels clicking on the cobbled street, she arrives at the command tower, an imposing stone structure built into the east gate, rising high into the sky. At the front are a few low ranking officers, who were too busy playing cards to notice her at first. After an impatient cough from Alice, they scrambled to their feet hastily, before giving a sloppy salute.

"Uh, sorry 'bout that princess, ain't hardly no one comin' here at this time, so me and the boys figured-" the leader of the trio began, but he was immediately cut off.

"I'm here for general Kurtis. Let him know I'm here." She says curtly, not even sparing them a glance. The stench of beer emanating from them was overwhelming, and their clothes seems to have not been washed in days.

The three of them look at each, before the leader shrugs his shoulder apologetically at Alice. "Sorry princess, the general hates getting disturbed right about now. Prolly busy plowing that redheaded whore from yesterday an' all. If one o' us go up there, he might just chop our heads off!"

Alice raised an eyebrow at that. "You're saying that fat bastard is having sex with a whore in the middle of the day, when he should be training the troops?" This was absurd. When she becomes queen, Kurtis' head would be the first to roll.

The leader gestures vaguely to the empty fields outside the walls, and says: "does it look like we train' right now? In fact, we ain't stepped foot out of the wall in months!"

Sighing in annoyance, Alice steps forward. "All the more reason to let me through then. This needs to change, now." However, the trio doesn't budge.

"Hey now princess, we all know the general ain't gonna listen to anybody but Jamis, and besides, we supposed to be watching these doors. He gonna get mad at us if you just walk on through like that," the leader says, and the other two nod dumbly in agreement.

As tempted as she was to just have Finley threaten them with a painful , it probably wouldn't endear him to her at all. Perhaps it would be best to return later-

"Ah, wait a minute now princess," the leader says, seeing Alice turn around. "I've got an idea. Us three could simply go look for a suspicious noise we was hearin', and coincidentally, you just walk right on through! He'd be mad still, but at least we got an excuse o' some kind, ya know? And in return..." his sleazy gaze was directed right at Alice's backside. "Just a quick touch, ya? The general's being hoarding all the good girls, and we been left with nothin' but scraps. Haven't even seen a pretty lady like you in months!"