The Pen and the Sword

[thirdtimesthechar]

Who: Char and Light
What: Discussing the state of Sawa's monarchy
When: During summer court
Where: A dingy but secure back room in Imperial City

Officially, Char wouldn't arrive in the capital for another two days, thanks to his sidetrip to that Crystal King-forsaken island and his stated desire to travel overland, bringing his entry for the Air Race. Unofficially, he had pressing business with the brains behind the Left Hand of the Emperor that needed to be conducted in secrecy. Thus, arriving in a third of the time expected via Waypoint, Char made his way incognito to an obscure, neutral, and most importantly easily secured tavern in one of the poorer parts of Imperial City. He wore plain merchants' clothes and his shaded glasses, brought only one guard, also disguised, and ignored the usual wave of disgust that the cleanliness of even 'the poorer parts' of the imperial capital gave him. There were more important matters to attend to, like determining who was actually ruling Sawa, and thus half of the Empire, today.

Char gains himself admittance to the pre-arranged conference room with a nod and a tip of his cap to the mute bartender, intuition telling him Light was probably already here. He dismisses his guard at the door to the back room, and enters.

Comments

[justasplanned]

Light was also disguised as a minor bureaucrat down on his luck, drinking away his troubles. The astute observer, however, would notice that much more of the alcohol was on the table than in Light.

[thirdtimesthechar]

Char noted the brandy bottle on the table and sat down. "Mind if I join you? I'll pay for the bottle."

He briefly considered using that as a code phrase sometime, even though he just made it up on the plot. More importantly to the moment, he leaned over casually to pour himself a glass and spoke in a voice that couldn't be heard over the noise of the tavern - noise that encouraged to be especially loud in and around the back room for exactly that purpose. "So first thing's first," he murmured, "where's Mitsunari?"

[justasplanned]

Light waves Char to a seat, making a show of warmly welcoming him and his purse.

"Gone," he murmurs. "He's disappeared. I suspect he may no longer be with us."

[thirdtimesthechar]

"Dammit. I was afraid of that. Any idea who's responsible?" Char asks, keeping his face unreadable to the room. "One of Bradley's thugs would have gloated about it by now..."

[justasplanned]

"Oda Nobunaga. He had no love for Mitsunari and has already moved to take control of Sawa."

[thirdtimesthechar]

"He's still alive?"

Char can't help but show a little surprise at that one. Oda Nobunaga, famed and feared strategist though he was, was supposed to have died years ago. Then again, so had Char.

"Well, first thing's first, I'm going to have to call off the wedding until we can track down the groom. Second, who's been handling Mitsunari's side of the Imperial throne?" Char asks, getting his two biggest concerns on the table.

[justasplanned]

"Unfortunately. He has implied that he may have overcome death, although I don't know if he's carrying stories. While I don't know of any confirmed stories of someone actually escaping death, if someone were to do it it would certainly be that man. He's established a firm hold on much of Sawa, and has been extending his influence to Mitsunari's claims on the throne."

[thirdtimesthechar]

"This is not what I had in mind for our alliance. I respect Nobunaga as a strategist, but no one is kidding when they call him a demon king," Char says, legitimately taking a drink now. Oda Nobunaga...in different circumstances, he'd be...

...well, actually, even in these circumstances, an arrogant warmonger could have his uses, especially pitted in competition against Amestris for political power. "Do you have a plan yet? I think there might be a way to take advantage of this, but it's your country we're talking about."

[justasplanned]

"I've sent my sister away to Rome. I will continue to serve in Sawa. And I will bring that madman down."

Light delivers this line with dread certainty.

[thirdtimesthechar]

Char nods, taking a drink as if in serious conversation about economics with his new friend.

"I hate to be the one to ask this, but who will you replace him with when you do? Mitsunari had no heirs, and even he was stretching his claim to the throne a fair bit," Char observes. "I'm not sure anyone else in Sawa qualifies in any legal sense."

"Not that Nobunaga does either, except by virtue of 'you get what you grab'," he adds, looking disgusted by the concept.

[justasplanned]

"That's the trouble. The highest ranking members of Sawa are Waka and myself, and neither of those options is good for the rulership of Sawa. I may look into a general election, or something similar. If Mitsunari is dead, we have no proper nobility to take the throne, or at least none that I care to see take it."

[thirdtimesthechar]

"Well, there's much to be said for popularity over royal blood," Char admits, as a man who enjoys both is able to. "It'll be difficult to get other kingdoms to accept it, but then again, he'll be the one in charge of recognizing his own claim, won't he?"