Despite the import in agreeing to assist her in attacking La Sable, the mostly carefree air of the party persisted, though now without the awkwardness of before. These knights and warriors now had a surety of purpose combined with the tension of secrecy as tables were moved and put together to allow Maria to set down the maps she'd secreted in the room previously. The maps were unrolled, one showing the terrain between the borders of La Sable and Sorcier—and only La Sable and Sorcier—another showing a detailed map of La Sable's interior—as far as scouts and dragon riders could make out—a map of La Sable's capital—less detailed, but it marked out the major streets and avenues, as well as important buildings—and finally a floorplan of the Capitol Palace, which was fairly bare, with much of the building unknown.
The two Etrani in their party, Sir Byron Achtman and Dame Sarah Witherspoon, immediately set about expanding on the known floorplan of the palace.
"Etran does a lot of business with La Sable," the brown-eyed, brown-haired knight explained as she carefully drew in pathways, windows that could be opened that led to little walkways outside on the edges of the building, doors that only opened from one side, elevators, and even a hidden passage that could be opened by activating a switch two floors up, which led to the rafters just under the roof of the building. "The senators often meet with merchants in the Capitol Palace if they don't mind the fact of the meeting being known, so we've had opportunity to learn the floor layout over the decades."
Others—mostly Xiarmen knights, for some strange reason—were working on expanding the map of the city, adding known sewer passages that were relatively free of sewage—not that Maria was unfamiliar with sewage, since beasts had tended to hide in Yharnam's sewers—little alleys to allow one to cut through certain city blocks, and little cafes that served nice food.
That last was an inevitable side effect of her squire still being in the room, plying people with little plates of food and offering them cups of chilled juice. In a moment of foresight that could have equally been intentional or chance, the arrangements that Katarina had made as to refreshments had resulted in there being no alcohol among the selection, which had been part of why people had been acting so awkwardly. However, now it meant that no one's faculties were dulled as they poured over the maps, planned how to smuggle the party across the border into La Sable, how they would cross La Sable to reach the capital without being detected, how to enter and navigate the capital without being detected—or at the very least without being notable—how to infiltrate the Capitol Palace, and finally how to capture the entire senate and force them to surrender.
Put that way, everything actually seemed doable with their numbers. No doubt it would be far simpler if it was only Maria and even just and her squire, but she had been ordered not to cause atrocities, so setting the countryside and every town she came to on fire to serve as a distraction, and then setting the capital on fire to draw away guards and knights so she could attack the Capitol Palace was unfortunately not an option.
Everyone looked at her strangely when she finished detailing her original plan if she had needed to be see to her king's will without assistance.
"Well, we're definitely not doing that," Dame Matthew declared, and several nearby knights nodded fervently.
"Not even a little?" Sir Xu said. "Just a little fire?"
"No atrocities on civilians," Maria said firmly. "My king has commanded it so, and I am bound to enact his will. Any atrocities will only be enacted on fellow knights and nobility."
Sir Xu seemed to accept that, while Dame Matthew gave her that strange look again. The latter opened her mouth, paused, and visibly changed what she was going to say. "If there are any atrocities, you realize it will be your job to explain to my cousin, right?"
"However, I do not believe committing atrocities will be something that occurs in a party of knights whose hearts are filled with righteousness and justice," Maria said, turning away to fetch herself a cup of green blossom tea. Stamina was important, after all!
They only had a limited amount of time to plan—this gathering was still pretending to be a small, intimate party, after all—so they prioritized the plans that they would need soonest, which meant finding a way to get sixty people across the border without arousing the attention of La Sable's border guards—or Sorcier's border guards, for that matter, since that might lead to information reaching La Sable either through spies or simply loose lips. Maria sat with the knights who had emerged as the leading figure for the knights from each country as they contemplated the border map.
In theory, this should have been simple. As unfortunate as it was, a degree of smuggling occurred between each country. Certain goods were smuggled into La Sable and Sorcier to avoid inspectors on either side of the border—such as goods with high tariffs, kidnapped children, slaves and Siegbrau—despite the best efforts of the border forts. Of course, it was highly likely that some of the smugglers had an arrangement with certain patrols, fort commanders, but other products—such as the kidnapped children and slaves—would still need to be smuggled in complete secrecy since a patrol or commander could come down with a case of conscience.
At best, they could find some smugglers and hire them to smuggle the knights across the border to La Sable. Unfortunately, after making inquiries, no knights stepped forward as having any smuggler contacts. At least, not for that border.
The alternative was for them to try to make their way through isolated wilderness between fortresses, which was theoretically viable. However, that was a chancy prospect, as they would be traversing unfamiliar paths that might lead to hazards and dead ends, and would no doubt be encountering wild creatures such as ogres, drakes, wild boars, bears, giant feral rats, slimes, mad lunatics with giant cleavers, basilisks, and wild dogs. While they would still need to deal with the latter regardless, having an established trail would remove the uncertainty of whether they were going the right way and how long it would take.
There was also the option of just crossing the border normally. They had not yet been closed, as far as Maria was aware, so doubtless merchants were still crossing back and forth for their trade.
"We could disguise ourselves as a merchant train," Sir Xiaolan suggested. "A decent-sized merchant caravan having sixty people accompanying it would be completely reasonable, and it would allow some of us to remained armed and armored, although we'd have to use rougher weapons and armor to look authentic."
"Won't we need wagons and trade goods for them to carry, though?" Sir Siegbiwan said, bemusedly accepting a plate of thinly cut fried vegetables and other vegetables that seemed to have been dipped in batter before frying. The King's Blade still acting as a servant just smiled blandly, and moved on to offer the next plate to Dame Millicent. Maria could see Katarina going around directing the Blades to bring snacks and brinks to various tables. It was one of the things that helped retain the party-like atmosphere, in addition to Katarina going around chatting with everyone, asking if they needed help with something, and occasionally actually going to get someone who seemed able to assist with the problem.
"I'm sure we can find something—"
"It wouldn't work," Dame Witherspoon and Sir Achmed said. The two looked at each other, and the latter gestured for the former to go ahead. "Ignoring the fact that we're unlikely to acquire the correct kind of wagon on short notice, the guards and inspectors at the border would be familiar with the merchants who regularly ply that route. Having a new train with an unknown merchant simply appearing would be cause for added scrutiny, and even if we could acquire the right kinds of wagons without having to accost some poor merchant, those at the border would be an obstacle."
There was a sigh, and everyone regarded the map again.
"Hi, everyone!" As if drawn by the lessening of spirits, Katarina appeared, holding a small plate of snacks. "Do you need anything? Tea? Apple juice? I managed to convince the kitchen to send us some bread and meatballs, and both are still hot. A snack might do you all good, you shouldn't try to think on an empty stomach." For some reason her squire was looking at Maria when she said that with an expression that might have been disapproving and might have been Katarina trying to look sneaky.
Maria sighed and—wait, why was there a plate of food in front of her? It wasn't anything excessive: two slices of tender-looking ham, a three slices of crusty bread still so warm that the butter that had been spread on it had melted into a golden oil that had soaked in, some meatballs covered in a red sauce—which admittedly smelled appetizing— three strawberries, and some fried battered vegetables. She looked to the side in time to see the King's Blade who had somehow managed to place the food in front of her in the maybe five heartbeats her eyes had been closed while she sighe—
Clink.
Maria turned back in time to see a cup of apple juice had been placed next to her plate, another King's Blade a mere flicker of movement in the corner of her vision. She gave her squire a flat look. Still, what was she supposed to say? 'Squire, stop trying to feed me?' "Thank you," she said and used the small fork to impale a meatball.
"I think we're all well, Squire Katarina," Dame Millicent said, the redhead giving a smile as she enjoyed a plate of battered and fried mushrooms. "Thank you for asking."
"You're welcome! So, are you doing? Is the plan coming together?"
The other knights glanced at each other, and seemed to conclude there was no reason not to tell her. "We believe we have a serviceable plan, but it's going to be hard on us, and will likely to be time-consuming." Sir Siegbiwan said.
"Ah. Well, hard work is going to be hard, but nothing worth doing is ever easy," Katarina said. "Well, except eating."
There was a smattering of laughter at the observation, lightening everyone's spirits. Katarina smiled as if that was exactly what she'd intended to do. "Can I get you anything else? Maybe I know someone who can help?"
"Unless you happen to know anyone who has experience with the smuggling paths between Sorcier and La Sable, I think we'll be fine," Dame Witherspoon said.
Katarina tilted her head, then brightened. "Oh, I know someone like that!"
Maria paused in her eating to join everyone in staring at Katarina. "You do?" she said.
"Sure! You do too, Dame Campbell," Katarina said.
Everyone turned towards Maria, who could only blink in ignorance. "I do?"
"Eh? They didn't tell you? How do you think Sadako-chan and the others got into the country?" Katarina tilted her head, and hummed thoughtfully. "Sora might know something too, maybe? He was a slave too, and he must have gotten him into the country somehow."
…
"I must ask you to excuse me, sirs and dames," Maria said, getting to her feet. "I must fetch my maid."
She left her empty plate and cup behind.