It had only been two days since Joseph had arrived in Mercia and he was already homesick. It was gloomy, wet and cold. The people he'd so far met were imperious, somewhat xenophobic and their choices of head wear was bordering on the ridiculous, traits that had grown and grown until Joseph had reached Rochester, Mercia's capital.
Joseph was only 17 and he had been deployed by the Duke of Lyon to the heart of the enemy, the Court of Mercia's Queen Mary. Joseph was a spy deep inside enemy territory, and as he full well knew if he was caught his death would not be a quick one. His primary objective was to attain state secrets, secondary was to actually assassinate the Queen. The Duke de Lyon would use opportunity to somehow undermine Mercia, perhaps through invasion, and use it as a spring board to launch his campaign for the throne. It was hard to imagine if successful the court of Aquitaine favouring is weak King over his far stronger cousin who has proven results. To archive that outcome was a tall order, and Joseph had no delusions to the contrary, failure was more likely than success and either way he would almost certainly die. Still the Duke had decided this was to happen, and who was Joseph to turn him down.
Joseph stepped out of his carriage and stepped straight into the presence of the great cathedral that now loomed over him, although it pained him to admit it Rochester was a beautiful city, wealth and power were symbolised in it's magnificence, if they had a ghetto they've done a good job hiding it. Joseph looked left down the mall where he could see the Royal Palace, the seat of power. It is incredibly hard to imagine Aquitaine ever occupying this great city, even should he be stealing the intelligence and assassinating the Queen. The great dreadnought he'd seen the estuary was beyond anything the Aquitaine navy had developed. Still, now wasn't the time to get sidetracked.
Joseph was at the Cathedral to meet a contact that was to assist him in gaining entry into the royal palace. He climbed the great steps and took a seat just out side the main doors of the Cathedral. As he sat waiting, the thought of his failure crossed his mind once again. It occurred to him that Duke of Lyon, or Charlie as he was affectionately known, intended for Joseph to die in his mission. The two were lovers, they had been since their early teens, and should Charlie try to take the throne of the legitimate king, regardless of how inept he might be, it would be a sight lot harder if people knew he had a boyfriend... or male lover as it the Duke might prefer for it to be described to lesson the damage.
Joseph had been waiting for almost 15 minuets before his contact finally contact turned up, and now that he had arrived he said nothing, instead he sat down on the bench and placed a newspaper beside him. After sitting silently for about 2 minuets he rose again and descended down the great stone steps, leaving the newspaper on the bench. After a couple of minuets Joseph mad the move to pack up and leave, he gathered up his bag in a motion that allowed him to take the newspaper unsuspiciously. He entered the cathedral and exited again a few minuets later though another door where another carriage was abating him.
Once safely in the carriage Joseph pulled out the to files, they were case studies of individuals he would pass himself off as, one was a cousin of the Royal Family, a young Earl of Lancaster, the other was a servant named Jonathan Howard.
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