Less than a week later, the Prince and the Chancellor had both been busy.
Prince Alphonse's recovery had been gradual but promising, and the time had not been wasted. Perroy checked his food, made sure he rested, and acted as his eyes in the situations where the Prince's blurred vision made things like reading or writing impossible. In amongst all that, they plotted. By the time Alphonse was back on his feet, they had a plan.
Perroy had watched from a distance as the Prince addressed his troops, with a sense that he was watching a man who had finally been uncaged. No longer shackled by his desire to remain unremarkable, there was an undeniable charisma to the man. The troops seemed to agree, though the whoops and cheers probably had something to do with the fact that, after a stirring speech in recognition of his recent brush with death, Alphonse had granted them all extra rations, a generous amount of leave to visit their families, and the pick of his personal wine cellars.
More fascinating to the Chancellor was the fact that all of it had been the Prince's idea. It was social engineering in its purest form, Perroy's bread and butter, and yet he hadn't needed to be the one to suggest it. They'd worked together, of course. Perroy had begun to seed ideas around the camp well before the actual speech, talking wistfully about time off and family visits to the people he encountered while collecting food for the prince, or doing the other small chores he was currently handling for him.
It struck him, watching Alphonse speak: he understood why the Crown wanted him dead. Given the right motivation, the support of the right person - someone like Perroy, for example - Prince Alphonse was undeniably a threat to his brother's rule.
Perroy was still yet to throw in his lot with him entirely, of course. He wasn't looking to stage a coup - he just wanted the man to stay alive. And he wanted the kingdom to survive in the way most healthy for it.
That did sometimes mean breaking a few eggs. In this case: seeding chaos between the Generals. Nothing which would bring them to blows; just enough. He whispered to General Dumont about how his cavalrymen had been spurned for supplies in favour of General Odson. Odson, he told about unkind rumours which had been being spread by General Mitry. And so on and so forth. It was nothing life-threatening, but what it meant was that the Generals would not be working together while Alphonse was gone.
Because that was the next part of the plan, and the most important one.
"His recovery hasn't been anywhere near as smooth as we'd hoped," Perroy confided in General Absil. The man was a notorious gossip. "He's putting a brave face on it, but - well. He's still struggling with his eyes, and terrible headaches. The physician has recommended a leave of absence to recover." He prattled on, watching the General's eyes light up with glee. He would be there for a while yet, but his day would end with hearing that particular rumour pass like wildfire around the camp. Just as planned.
