Pete was a bit disappointed in his drink, but perhaps that was the entire point. The man at the opposite end of the small table had ordered two cups of something Pete could not even say, and when he asked about it, his pronunciation had been corrected. Pete had immediately declined and requested that whatever had been ordered came in a kettle so he could see it divided into two cups in front of him. There was no need to make poisoning an easy crime, and the other man at the table had nodded approvingly.<br/><br/>What annoyed Pete was the look on the waitress' face when the drink was ordered, but before she could object the man opposite Pete flashed his money pouch and the maid went off, so whatever Pete was drinking it had to be expensive. So ridiculously expensive it required a display of funds before it would even be served.<br/><br/>And it tasted like, well, tea. Pete was unable to taste anything that separated it from completely ordinary tea, and now Pete wondered if that was the entire point. Perhaps it was all just a code by the establishment that if you said the unpronounceable word they would serve you completely ordinary tea and make it seem like it was something incredible expensive, all to make Pete feel unappreciative and as if he owed the other man something. Pete shrugged, uncaring, and asked the man to pass him the sugar, and watched carefully if the other's face revealed anything as he butchered the possibly-ridiculously-expensive drink with five spoonfuls of sugar. The other man made no change in facial expression, though to be fair it was very hard to see anything in the smoke-filled room. Pete considered both factors evidence that he was drinking nothing out of the ordinary.<br/><br/>"What do you know of this kingdom, Mr. Girly?" the other asked. Pete shrugged, though he was unsure if the other could see it. He had agreed to share dinner with the stranger because he had nothing better to do, and because the other had been mysterious and with an obvious agenda. Pete could smell adventure a mile away, even if in this case it turned out to just be tobacco.<br/><br/>"Why don't you tell me what I need to know about this kingdom," Pete said softly. There was a lot of noise in the tavern, but it seemed they had reached the part of dinner where hushed voices were necessary. Pete did not usually dine in taverns such as this. The smoke was making his eyes water and now and again he coughed softly, though he did not rush the conversation to get out.<br/><br/>"This is a kingdom of fragile peace, Mr. Girly. There are many pretenders to the throne, and with the old king disposed of, but not dead, there is a power vacuum and many factions that want to see themselves in charge. The current king is the old one's brother, but he has not yet secured his position fully, so the time to strike is now."<br/><br/>"And for this you need a fencing master?" Pete asked with an amiable smile on his lips and he looked softly at the other. He would stare him in the eyes, but the smoke was obscuring them. "Unless the princes need lessons I am not ideally suited for... whatever it is you are suggesting."<br/><br/>At this the other man, a plump, bearded fellow with cautious eyes that masked a stronger personality, leaned over the table and their heads were now so close it looked like they were scheming, and Pete casually tipped his chair back to seem relaxed, even if the smoke was preventing anyone from paying much attention to them. Pete coughed.<br/>"We both know your area of expertise is not in the sword-" Pete interjected immediately.<br/>"My expertise is exactly my sword. If you are referring to any skills I possess, that may have been more financially securing, then they are strictly secondary. I am a swordsman before I am schemer." And his smile grew slightly, letting the other know there were no hard feelings. "You are just confused because I am such a good schemer, as well."<br/><br/>The plump man weighed his words carefully before continuing. "In that case, Mr. Girly, I should inform you I expect your secondary skills will be more useful in this particular endeavor. But it is fully up to you. My employer has assured me we should only direct you attention in a specific direction, but allow you complete freedom in how you wish to pursue your goal. He told me you can be quite... unpredictable."<br/>Pete nodded, intrigued. He disliked being tied to plans not of his own making.<br/>"Though he also said you are reliable."<br/><br/>Pete leaned forward now, and almost on cue the plump man leaned back in his chair.<br/>"You want me to scheme in such a way that your employer ends up as king. That will be quite a challenge, and I will have to re-"<br/>"No, Mr. Girly," It seemed it was Pete's time to be interrupted. "My employer does not wish the throne at the moment. He benefits from the conflict itself. It is a secondary matter who ends up in a position of power. This is, I suspect, why he chose you among many, because you have a talent for chaos, and chaos is all you are asked to produce. The pretenders are not acting on their claims to the throne. You will make them. You will spark a civil war and if you feel one side deserves more punishment than any other then you are free to administer it. The war itself is all that matters to my employer, make it happen and he will share a portion of his earnings with you and your companions."<br/>"And since he benefits regardless of whom I favor I do not need to be informed of his name. Very clever."<br/>"His name is Verse, Mr. Girly," The plump man said much to Pete's surprise, and Pete almost reacted to it. He had wanted to show he was clever in not asking for his employer's name. "He told me to inform you once you did not ask for it. He seems certain you would make it a point to find out anyhow, in order to gain leverage in case of double cross. No one else knows him, Mr. Girly. Like you, he is a foreigner, though not from quite so far away."<br/>"And since I see no scenario where a double cross would be beneficial to him, I am to accept the conditions without further discussion, correct?"<br/>The plump man nodded.<br/><br/>Pete wanted to accept the mission immediately, but still made a show of thinking it over. In any case it would look well to show hesitation and prove he was not a man who did things without consideration, even if Pete was just pretending to look contemplative. In the end he nodded and tried to widen his smile, but instead went into a coughing fit. Someday he would have to learn a fencing technique to cut smoke.<br/>"You mentioned companions? How many?"<br/>"That depends on how many accept these conditions as readily as you did. Others, I suspect, will take their time to consider the moral implications of this undertaking, and not just make a risk/benefit analysis for themselves." Even Pete was impressed with the plump man at this point, though he would never show it.<br/><br/>--------------<br/><br/>And so Pete waited in another room, away from the smoke for his companions to decide whether or not they would accept. They would do well to, having been let in on plans of such magnitude without a lengthy introduction to see if they were men of the right mindset to take the job, implying that they were not going to leave the tavern in a condition that let them tell the authorities of the conspiracy. On the other hand, there was no way anyone could inform the king and his enemies that someone wanted a civil war and be taken seriously. The fragility of the kingdom did not appear a secret.<br/><br/>The first companion came into Pete's room as he was half-way through his dinner, which had proven to be not nearly as expensive as the possibly-tea drink. Even sitting down Pete was almost as tall as the other, who was a tiny thing with features almost matching Pete's in femininity. Neither of them had beards or any sign of facial hair growth for that matter, and Pete only considered himself the winner of their unspoken effeminate contest because his shirt was opened to reveal his hairless chest rather than an undershirt.<br/><br/>Pete got up from his chair in his own tempo and rather than curtsey, he gave the other a hand to shake. Standing, Pete was a full head taller than the other. The stranger had short black hair, whereas Pete had long, curly hair in the color of candle-lit amber. Pete chalked that up to another point he won over the other.<br/>With a smile that was only slightly condescending Pete shook the other's hand softly and introduced himself simply as "Pete Girly, and this will not be the first realm I ruin."