Who? What? Where? Gah!

[Kender Bard]

Shyamal held tight to Fausta's hand until she winced and shot him a dark look. "Sorry," he murmured and eased his grip. Outside of Humontis hadn't been so bad; there were quite a bit of people and a lot of activity but it was farther up the slopes. And the great amount of traffic helped to show the young prince the way into the mountain itself. Once inside though...

"This place is incredibly confusing," he sighed. He really didn't want to have to stop and ask for directions but it'd been an hour and they'd only made a giant circle and once almost wound up in an empty mine shaft. The prince, at his wit's end, finally gave in and asked for directions to the Leader. He was still a little lost and confused but heading in the right direction, mostly by following others coupled with the vague directions given.

Now he just wasn't sure what room to enter in the complex. He shook his head, touched his sign, and pitched his mind outward to a general query of the local people, hoping he'd touch off the right person or someone else who could help him better. ~I'm seeing Milady Layla Willows... could someone help me find her?~

[Deleted]

After a moment or two, there was an answer directing him to head to the top of the building past the senate chambers, and she'd have her own office.

Once they got the right office the man at the desk looked to them. "May I help you?" He said. The door behind him was closed.

[Kender Bard]

Shyamal let go of Fausta's hand and cast Altra a quick smile before stepping forward. Which each leader he spoke to, he lost a little of his shynness. "Yes sir. My name is Shyamal Negri; I have important diplomatic matters to speak with Milady concerning Morilanta. May I see her?"

[Deleted]

The man stood, and and entered the office behind him.
It was several moments before the door opened, and the man stood to the side of it. "Milady will see you now."

The office was large. Directly in front of them was a large wodden desk a tall book shelf to either side. The woman sitting behind the desk, was a younger woman. Younger than most people expected. Her naturally wavy hair was down and hung down around her sholders, ending just below her shoulder. She looked up at them, with blue green eyes. "Please. Sit." She said, her alto voice calm and steady.

[Kender Bard]

Shyamal smiled and bowed his head slightly as he took a seat. Fausta glanced around and sat as well but tried to scoot her chair back a little.

"This is very abrupt and I'm sorry to have just showed up like this," Shyamal began. "But I must keep my movements secret and keep on the move as much as possible, making it difficult for me to send word ahead. Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Shyamal of House Negri, Prince of Morilanta."

[Deleted]

Layla did speak at first, instead she simply raised an eyebrow at him.
After a moment of consideration, she finally put down her quill, and pushed some papers to the side. "You'll have to forgive my skepticism, however I was unaware that Morilanta had a prince, let alone that he would as old as you." She said. Her voice was still calm and quiet.

[Kender Bard]

"I'm aware of that," Shyamal said with a slight nod. "Much of Morilanta's goings-on are very secretive. I do have my house's signet ring and my royal circlet, for what it's worth." He reached into his pack and pulled out both, showing them off. "I'm not sure how much they would mean to you, however."

[Deleted]

Layla eyed the objects. They definitely weren't cheap knock offs. She looked back up to him.
"For the moment, I'll assume you are who you say you are. What brings you to Humontis, and to my office?" She asked. She still didn't look convinced.

[Kender Bard]

Shyamal carefully replaced the objects. "The people of Morilanta suffer greatly," he said, his voice soft. "And evil runs rampant. I want to change that. I want to wash off the blood that's covered my people and my home. Our high priest is a sadistic powermonger and my father is going insane. Their thrashings will bring only further pain and strife to the land. It is my hope that I can quickly remove them both from their positions, and take up the mantle of leadership in their place so I can offer the people hope for a change. I want to put a stop to evil in Morilanta. To that end, I need help. I come to ask you for a mere couple Earth men who can assist me in my quest."

[Deleted]

"How do you plan to accomplish all this. I won't lie to you, that sound like more than one young Prince can handle, and I won't send a single man into a mission that I can be sure about." Her voice was still neutral, but her face said she wasn't playing games.

[Kender Bard]

Shyamal repressed a sigh. "I know it sounds like a lot but it won't be as difficult as it seems," he said patiently. "Once I am in place to rule Morilanta, I will give everyone the opportunity to set aside evil and dark deeds; they won't be necessary for survival any longer, and so that can't be used an excuse. Those that refuse to give up evil will be..." He trailed off, frowning. "For now, let's say... kept away from everyone else. Everyone else will live their lives peacefully. Morilanta will start anew."

[Deleted]

"You're running this whole plan off the notion that people will want to give up that life style. What is more people want to keep it than give it up. You're going to be out manned. You're going to need to give me some sort of proof that you know this will have a chance at working. How will you make it so the people will survive without these evil deeds?" Layla folded her hands in front of her and leaned back in her chair.

[Kender Bard]

Shyamal chewed his lower lip softly at the questions. They were ones he hadn't considered before and now he did squirm in his chair, like a young boy caught under the penetrating gaze of a stern schoolmaster. "Um," he murmured, abruptly flustered.

Fausta raised her lowered gaze a little and said in a quiet voice, "She's not going to help you, brother. Let's go. The hospitality of Humontis is overrated."

Shyamal gave her a pained look for a moment, then sighed and stood. "Thank you for your time, Milady."

[Deleted]

"It's not a question of Humontis' hospitality, unless you've been mistreated during your stay." Layla said, there was an edge to her voice now. She didn't like being insulted. She sat upright and leaned her elbows on the desk, her folded hand under her chin.
She stared across the large wooden desk at him. " But you're asking for my help to take over a country, and you have no plans on how to do this what so ever. You can't simply walk in, and declare the destruction of a way of life and expect everyone to follow suit. So, I'm sorry if you feel this may have been a waste of your time, or that I'm being unreasonable. But I simply can not in good consciousness sent my soldiers into this situation without good reason to believe it will work. I'm sorry, but at this point, I don't believe there is anything I can do to help you. Perhaps once you come up with a solid method for accomplishing this, we can speak again on this matter. "

[Kender Bard]

Shyamal put his hands behind his back and took a deep breath, trying to make himself seem taller, older somehow. "I appreciate your honesty," he replied. "And I wouldn't ask anyone to send people with me if they didn't feel it was right. I admit, things aren't clear for my future. I only have the immediate things in mind. I think my first order of business will have to be finding good advisers." He swallowed and softened his voice. "I'm only fourteen now, Milady. Even I don't think I should be ruling a country. But nobody else is stepping up to fix things. My plan might not be the best..." He frowned and passionate confidence filled his last words. "But at least I'm trying where nobody else will."