Welcome to Gaia! ::

Klaus had been called on early by the prison guards, and taken to the palace to meet with the royal family. The sun wasn't even up yet. Klaus leaned against the window of the carriage as he watched the farmlands move by as the carriage moved. This country wasn't as technologically advanced as Rolin, which was possibly a god thing. Rolin had only one nature reserve. The rest was cities and factories. Here, it was nature as far as the eye could possibly see. Farmlands wrapped around the capital city with farming settlements to tend to them. What other places were there? Klaus wasn't familiar with the country all that much. Just their awful prison system.

The carriage stopped at the palace in the center of the capital. The two soldiers were were escorting him weren't exactly the nicest people as they pulled him out and to the throne room. At this point, the sun was just peeking over the horizon. The city was quiet except for the barks of dogs and early risers. In the throne room, Klaus was met with the image of the king and queen sitting on their thrones. "Kneel, foreigner." Not wanting to be hit or punished, Klaus obeyed grudgingly. Didn't matter how beautiful the country was; their soldiers were just as terribly behaved as the ones in Rolin. The king suddenly spoke and Klaus tuned out his recap of his crime. However, he suddenly mentioned a chance to get out of prison that caught Klaus' attention. "What...did you say?" "We will end your prison sentence, if you agree to our terms." He had to agree to be their son's personal guard. However, he had no rights or freedom as a citizen or even a person. It was slavery masked as freedom. No one in their right mind would agree to such a thing. It was degrading.

Fortunately for the royals, Klaus would rather live with the terms of their deal than go back to being a pet for the men in that prison. He accepted, and was taken to a bath so he could clean up. The royals returned his former clothes and belongings, including his weapons, all in mint condition. That was considerate of them. Once he was clean, Klaus dressed and placed the two swords in the white sash on his waist and clipped his wristbow to his wrist. He put on the locket and hid it under his ascot tie, and placed the slim image projector in his pocket. Once ready, the sun was up and he was escorted by a maid - who was obviously very uncomfortable around him - to the prince's room. He hated the wealthy, and royalty, but Klaus would...try...to behave. Just so he could survive. Once at the prince's doors, the maid knocked and waited for the prince to answer, already bowing before there was any sign of him being awake. What the? Was that expected? What was the point? That didn't make any sense to Klaus.

Klaus' eyebrow twitched a bit. Thin? He would do? What the hell did that even mean? "Klaus Ritter." Klaus watched as a servant came in to help bathe him, and Klaus knew he was going to hate this. They couldn't even dress and bathe themselves? Aristocrats were annoying. Having to keep an eye on servants was going to make this a million times harder. The servant man left and Klaus looked away from Laurel, avoiding the sight of his indecent dress code. "There's nothing you need to know about me, Prince Laurel. Nothing I tell you be of interest to you either. It'll simply bore you." Klaus didn't trust anyone here with anything about him. He wouldn't put it passed the wealthy to use the information against him. "Who exactly were you expecting?" Why they'd choose Klaus over one of their own soldiers was a reason beyond his comprehension. It was bizarre to trust the safety of your only heir to a foreigner, especially one who had originally come from Rolin to assassinate the young man. Well, officially, "spy". But, he wasn't a fool. Soldiers in Rolin were trained to kill, not gather information. There was a faction dedicated to that not controlled by the military already.

[[ Yeah, I know. Dumb site. ]]

That was why aristocrats were going to die when people finally got tired of taking care of them. They couldn't cook, clean, or even farm. Most couldn't fight off a toddler. They were essentially vegetables, and not the good kind. "Trial by combat? You people really are still in the dark ages." It was cute in a way, but he also felt bad that Rolin could easily demolish this country with their technology. "Of course I won't. Aristocrats are notorious for using any and all information against others, and I'm not keen on being forced into being a toy for you to trifle with." Laurel didn't seem like a horrible person, but it could easily be an act. Wouldn't be the first time someone pretended to be his ally. "What do you need to do today?"

[[ Do you have a name in mind for Laurel's country, by the way? ]]

So, he was claiming to be different. Klaus wasn't going to just take his word on it. "Don't get involved with technology. Rivendale will end up just like Rolin. Devoid of nature and polluted with smog and garbage." Klaus walked over to the window and looked out. He could see a garden and blinked. So many flowers. He'd never seen anything other than those weird yellow flowers that grew on weeds. Well, nothing else in person anyway. Nothing that existed. After a few minutes of being obviously mesmorized by the flowers, he shook his head and turned to Laurel. "...You didn't answer my question. Is there anything you need to do today?"

Advanced medicine was more of a poison than a cure. It cured certain ailments, but caused different ones usually. But, it was Laurel's choice. Klaus didn't necessarily care either way. "...I'm not all that interested in the garden." He was. Denying it after being hypnotized by it was useless. But, he wasn't going to be seen as weak or childish by anyone here. Soldiers, servants, royalty; it didn't matter. He'd check it out when everyone was asleep. "Alright. I was wondering so I could prepare myself mentally for the situation. I'll be accompanying you after all."

Klaus would be ignoring that rule. If that was enforced, it'd be stupid and dangeeous. It'd be the best place for an assassin to drop in and wait, seeing as the rule meant guards weren't allowed to patrol. Regardless, he wasn't going to get some kid's permission to look at flowers. That was just ridiculous. "No, I didn't, but I'll figure it out soon enough. No doubt I'll be seeing the entire palace while I'm here. Aside from a few closed-off rooms, such as your parents' chambers." Turning, he noticed Laurel at the door and steppe towards him. "You'll have to forgive me for following you around. I imagine it'll get irritating to you quickly."

Oh. Great. More rooms and passages for him to memorize. Well, he'd have to of he wanted to survive. "Is there a...a map or something I can use?" passages and rooms for guards. He wasn't looking forward to using them. The guards here obviously didn't like him, and neither did the staff. "Dry weather?...Is there a river you can use? You could dig water routes from the river to the farms if possible. Water crops that way."