dark is the new black

[imperious]

ooc; okay, so I figured the easiest way for me to do this was to set up the post and then set up two different threads: one for canon-alignment shifted Peony, one for AUDark!Peony, so...yes. :|b

Comments

canon alignment shift go

[imperiator.livejournal.com]

[Peony is walking down the corridors of the Palace, a snotty nosed rappig quick on his heels. Peony looks down at the rappig, annoyed and almost disgusted]

You're more annoying than your namesake. Pretty soon we'll have to start tossing you into icy lakes, too.

[Saphir stares at him, and Peony stares back, until his expression softens a little]

Ugh, whatever.

[clinical]

[Jade was going to talk to Sesemann in one of the meeting halls, and he inclines his head politely towards Peony--before wondering. He's fairly good at reading Peony's moods, after all.]

Catching another cold, Your Majesty?

[imperiator.livejournal.com]

Just the guy I was looking for!

[Peony drapes an arm over Jade's shoulder, and begins to drag him down the hall.]

I was actually thinking about those military proposals that keep getting thrown at me, and I thought who better to talk to than my most trusted military officer.

[he nudges Saphir out of the way with his foot, as he pulls Jade along]

[clinical]

[If Peony is dragging him along, then he can't be feeling that off.] If you like, Your Majesty. I had intended on going to a meeting with Chief of Staff Sesemann. He may be unhappy if I don't show up. Why, he might even fire me.

[imperiator.livejournal.com]

Oh, I've been meaning to talk to him, too. I'll come to the meeting with you. I've been thinking about our military policy lately. Maybe those critics were right about us cutting the military budgets too much.

[clinical]

Perhaps if a war with Kimlasca seemed more likely, but it's peacetime. Our resources are better spent on researching the energy problem.

[imperiator.livejournal.com]

Seriously? When the hell hasn't a war with Kimlasca been likely, even if it is peacetime?

[clinical]

That is what the peace treaty was for, Your Majesty. [Jade smiles a little too pleasantly.] But if Your Majesty still doubts it, I'm sure we could strengthen Natalia's claim to the throne before taking Ingobert out of the way. The Princess could never be compelled to put her precious citizens at unnecessary risk. [Despite the nastiness of his implication, it's just a joke. And as much as he thinks Natalia will one day be an excellent ruler, Ingobert seems to have heeled enough to make war highly improbable.]

[imperiator.livejournal.com]

[Peony's tone is joking, although his words are not]

Oh yeah? And what would you suggest?

[clinical]

It's not a particularly difficult to play. Convince Ingobert that her position is undermined, have him pass laws that put it in stone, then have Natalia marry the new tertiary heir. With Asch and Luke dead, it's likely a cousin. Once she herself produces an heir, the succession is practically written in the Score.

[imperiator.livejournal.com]

It's as easy as that, huh?

[Peony considers this]

Then again, if we didn't do anything like that and just took out Ingobert it could be to our benefit, too. With a succession crisis and idiots battling it out, Kimlasca would be even weaker than they are all ready. They wouldn't have the strength or the centralized power needed to even think about Malkuth, let alone start anything.

[clinical]

[Jade doesn't acknowledge how strange that is. No part of him wants to accept this as anything more than a joke.] More likely, the circle of advisors that played Ingobert so easily would take control. It would easily lead to war.

[imperiator.livejournal.com]

What a drag. And I thought it would be easy. Unless we took out Ingobert and his advisors, too. Or just the advisors, and leave Ingobert in a weak position where he self destructs.

[Ingobert is an idiot, obviously]

[explains]

[That is a weird thing to see when climbing the stairs with a stack of reports under one arm. Peony must be having the worst day.]

Your Majesty?

[imperiator.livejournal.com]

Gailardia.

[walks over to the stairs and leans against the wall at the top as he looks down at Guy]

What've you got there?

[explains]

[He looks up, not really used to being several steps shorter.]

Military reports, diplomatic details. Things for you to sign or reject mostly.

[imperiator.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, then we better sit down and take a look at those.

[Peony heads towards his office, assuming Guy is following behind.]

[explains]

[Guy follows, though he does pause to try and steer the rappig gently with them, when it stops a moment. Once they get to the office he sets the documents down, arranges them in the correct order and urgency. Peony's being unusually eager to work, but it's just something to note.]

Here's the summary report, and here's the border reports.

[imperiator.livejournal.com]

[when they get to the office, Peony slams the door in Saphir's face before sitting down to look over the documents]

How about you tell me what you think, Gailardia? You know all about these things first hand, so your opinion would be invaluable.

[explains]

[Guy stops, opens the door for Saphir because he figures Peony must have been distracted or something. The rappig looks confused, but rushes in after a moment, and Guy shuts the door, turns his attention back to reports.]

It's tense. But things are getting better. A history of animosity isn't going to disappear over night, and people hold grudges on the borders. But the peace is being kept. I'm more worried about nobles stirring up trouble for gain again, here or in Kimlasca. Especially Kimlasca--with no foreseeable war it's harder to get promoted or ennobled for service to the kingdom and there's a lot of young bloods who won't be happy with that.

[imperiator.livejournal.com]

I'm not surprised Kimlasca would pose a problem like that. So, what do you think we should do to protect our people?

[explains]

Ideally I'd ship them off to work for Anise or something, keep them too busy to scheme. But most of the ones that would be trouble will be the rich and privileged. We can't do much about Kimlasca, we'll have to rely on the King for that. But for any malcontents here... Your Majesty knows the personalities of those in power better than I do.

[There are more then a few he's keeping an eye on, of course, but they haven't done anything particularly suspicious to warrant further snooping on his part.]

For now keeping alert to anything that may threaten the peace I guess. I'm sorry I don't have anything more concrete. The energy crisis is adding it's own dimension of agitation to anyone who'd want to cause trouble.

[imperiator.livejournal.com]

What about increasing our military presence on the border?

[explains]

I wouldn't recommend it.

[That's a surprising suggestion, but he doesn't think much of it.]

[imperiator.livejournal.com]

Why not? It would keep both sides from doing something, right? We can say it's to protect Kimlasca from any of our knights who might act recklessly.