Yes - They can well afford it

Tidying her table, princess Alice compiles her research into a folder, filled with maps, her own notes, as well as anything else of interest that her potential clients might want to know. To say the Merchants Guild of Karn was powerful was quite the understatement. Controlling the inflow of spices and the outflow of weaponry, their coffers rival even the royal treasury. Aided by the current king's hands off approach towards the economic aspects of the nation, their unabashed greed and monopolization has bankrupted most other guilds, allowing them to be bought up by Karn. Their current ambitions of cross-continental trade are in jeopardy due to Jamis' warmongering ways, and they fear that with him as king, trade and business will be sacrificed in favor of territorial expansion. As such, their preferred candidate is the second prince Del, a shrewd man who shares the guild's view on foreign policy. Perhaps, by the end of today's meeting, Alice can convince them that she's just as worthy of the crown as her brothers.

They were a logical bunch, and surely they'd be impressed by the depth and breadth of her findings. Plus, she knew exactly how much these recent bandit attacks have been affecting the bottom line, cutting deeply into their profit margins. Del had mentioned it in passing about a month ago, and Alice can only imagine that's it's gotten worse since then. Supply lines getting raided, huge expenses due to their increased hiring of mercenaries... but now that she had the solution in her hand, she knew she would have the upper hand when it came to negotiations. Perhaps she could even get away with demanding more than just money...

With the bundle of files and maps in hand, Alice heads out of the palace, her knight in tow. It was once again time to take to the streets. The guild hall of Karn has a subdued design, lacking in the ostentatious decorations found in the castle and the cathedral. However, the statue of Renard Karn, the guild's founder, placed in the central courtyard is unmistakable. With his stone arms outstretched, on his left hand is perched the statue of an eagle, representing honesty. An ironic message, considering how Renard managed to lie and backstab his way to the top.

Upon her arrival, Alice was led into a private meeting room with a young, far younger than she anticipated to be the financier of the guild within the Capital. Perhaps only a few years older than her, if that. Perhaps she can use his youth to her advantage...

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, my princess," the man bows as he talks. "I am Roger Wellington, financial overseer of the beautiful Capital. I must say, you are beautiful as the rumors suggest."

Alice stifles a laugh, as it would've been unseemly. How typical of these merchants, to begin talks with such blatant flattery, but if that's how they intend to play it...

"And you, good sir, are as young as the rumors suggest. Quite impressive to have risen to such a position so quickly," Alice counters, gauging Roger's reaction. "Indeed, it was you who negotiated trade agreement with the Northmen, wasn't it?"

Roger covered his surprise well, though a tiny twitch of his left eyebrow gave it away. He definitely did not except her to be so well read on the matters of the guild, but who did? "Ah, I'm humbled to know you've heard of me. But please, that's not what you're here for is it? Let's not beat around the bushes, as I'm sure your time is more valuable than mine."

Settling down in her chair, Alice stares straight into the young merchant's eyes, before getting straight to the point: "I wish to be queen." The merchants guild were opportunists through and through, and with the information she has in her hands, she could prove her worth, making her a candidate worth backing.

To his credit, Roger only lost his composure for a very brief moment before recovering. He studies Alice with renewed interest, evaluating her not as a prospective client, but rather a potential monarch. "You seem serious about this," he says after a slight pause. "As you know, we've pledged our support to prince Del, who's promised us complete access to the southern seas and all it's goods. Of course, we're not opposed to changing our allegiances, but can you make a better offer?"

"Not yet, perhaps, but I can offer you something better in the short term," the princess says, leaning in with a confident grin. With a thump, she drops the folder onto his desk, gesturing for him to take a look. Her grin only widens as Roger's expression betrays a slight hint of surprise at the content contained within in. Soon, he's enraptured by her findings, flipping through the pages eagerly.

Finally, he finishes with his perusal and places the folder back down, looking up to meet Alice's eyes once more. His eyes were more serious, evaluating her in a totally different light. Her ambitions seemed quite a bit more realistic than just a few minutes ago, and he knew that Del and Jamis would have serious competition. But, competition drives improvement, as Renard once used to say, so perhaps this wasn't such a bad thing.

"Assuming all of the following information is correct..." Roger starts slowly, thinking about all the implications this could have, on both the guild and the kingdom as a whole. "Then you are here to make a deal?"

"I am," Alice replied immediately. "And I'm you can verify the validity of that information with ease now that you know what you're looking for, so I've no reason to lie."

It was true, the maps had pointed out the locations of several bandit camps, and the merchants can scout those areas out with relative ease. It simply wouldn't make sense for her to come up with such a half-assed lie, and Roger knew this as well.

"Very well. What would you like, in exchange for this?" The overseer asked, ready to empty his coffers. For what she has to offer, there was very little that he wouldn't pay.

So, what does Alice actually want?