The members of reformist clique have dispersed, each ready to rejoin their servants and, under cover of the night, travel to City of Troy.
General Carlinn had the longest corridor to traverse, alas, when he was in the middle of the way...
"My good General." The Spymaster moved away from the wall, blocking Carlinn's way.
"Can we talk?" "I do not think there is anything we need to talk about, Parsley." Half-groan, half-hiss escaped from between the teeth of the Spymaster.
"...You know well how I despise my first name. Please, never utter it again." General's lips curved in a sly smirk.
"We need to talk." "Speak then, if you have to." "Oh, but I have only one question, my good General... Why did you not tell the boy about the problems that linger behind the curtains of the Throne, hmm?" "..." "Fifteen million coins of debt, with both Garaz and the Church demanding repayments already. How about wyverns dying en masse and their younglings unable to lay fertile eggs? How about the children being brought to Archbishop's arcane laboratories, children who then no one sees again? Oh, let's not forget the plague coming from Wastelands that is now ravaging the southern Mainland. Somehow, I haven't heard you mentioning any of these topics to Julius." "The last thing he needs to burden himself is such... secondary mess. There is civil war going on, Spymaster, and he is about to perform something historians will be writing about. Once the dust settles, then we can bother him with these issues." "Fine. Such secondary, petty issues are nothing compared to the glory of incoming fight. But there is one more thing, General. I think we both know what I'm talking about?" "..." "The foreign ships on the Sea of Solitude, General. He must learn about these. Are those invaders or explorers? The sailor we captured gave us nothing - except wild rambling in unknown language and an emblem with double-headed crow that no one ever saw before. What shall you do about that, good General, clearly-" "Enough, Spymaster. These problems can easily be solved when we're done with toppling Yurgen. With someone as strong and bright as this Julius, with ghost of Troy behind him, we can do every-" The Spymaster let out a huff.
"Now I see how it is, General. You do not want what is the best for the Empire. All you want for the Empire to become glorious again. You want the old times of Helra, where she ordered everyone about and kept a close eye on everything, and everyone was happy, clothed, fed, and knew their place. The times when petty villains rose against the mighty Empire and were utterly crushed by the glorious Imperial Army. Wake up, General. These times won't be returning, the Empire is a bog now. And if you will continue to keep the future Emperor in the dark, then I promise you - I will invite him for a dinner, and after that dinner, he will be looking for a new General at his side. One that isn't a senile, wrinkled, gloryhound." General Carlinn was silent for a long while. Then, he simply turned his back and resumed walking through the corridor.
"Good night General!" The Spymaster half-shouted after the old warrior.
"Get some sleep, tomorrow is a big day, after all." With hate burning in his eyes, the Spymaster turned around and dissappeared in the darkness.
//You may now return to your scheduled RPing~