IC:

Reichstag Headquarters
Frankfurt
Holy Roman Empire

It had been twenty minutes since the British emissary had been ushered into the small chamber, but he did not get impatient.

Not this time; he'd gone through this before, when he had arrived in Frankfurt in response to the Germans' request for diplomatic discussions, he had sat in a small chamber with naught but the deaf-mute manservant Humphrey to wait upon him.

And here he was yet again, he thought. It was a different chamber, to be sure, branching off the Reichstag's council room instead of the Kaiser's palace - although by appearances one could not know that; the rooms were identical in every way. There was even another deaf-mute manservant there - Hubert this time - standing in the exact same spot Humphrey had in the other room; right by a small table with bread, cheese, and a small pitcher of water.

And, just like last time, Hubert had the uncanny ability to know exactly when the emissary wanted his glass refilled or more bread or cheese on his plate; right as the emissary was about to even think about gesturing, Hubert moved.

Just like last time, this both angered and impressed the emissary - although mostly he was just bored. He mentally went over what King Ethelred had told him...

...and then, from some unknown cue, Hubert moved from the small table and opened the door to the chamber right as a squire who was busy adjusting his tunic walked in.

"Your Eminence, I apologize for the delay," - a blatant lie, as the Germans often observed people in such ways, although the emissary was unaware of this - "but I am here to lead you to the Reichstag's main audience chambers. I trust that Hubert did not cause you any trouble?"

He had received this query in his earlier visit about Humphrey, and once again the emissary sighed to himself, No, of course not. The Germans might be bureaucratic, so level-headed as to appear emotionless, obsessive... yes, they had all these "faults", if you could call them that, but they were certainly respectful of hospitality. The emissary reminded himself of an old court maxim: the Germans are perfect - notoriously so.

The emissary replied in the negative.

"Very good, very good. Now if Your Eminence will please follow me."

They walked down the hallway until they reached the entrance to the audience chambers. Now for the usual diplomatic procedure, the emissary thought, as the squire left him to give his formal introduction.

A pause of a few seconds, and then the Briton walked into the chambers, tall and erect. German horns made a short "taa-taa-TAA" and the Reichstag members stood and bowed their heads.

The emissary did likewise.

He stared straight ahead at the senior body of the Council of Electors - the highest noblemen in the Reich, who would elect the next Kaiser. He saw the Bavarian Baron, Sigmund von Wilhelm, that he had seen before, although of course neither acknowledge each other's presence.

This was the classic "diplomatic pause" of the Reichstag; everyone in the room simply stared at the emissary, and the emissary in turn would either stare straight ahead, unflinching (if he were good at his job), or he would not (if he was poor at it), and thence the discussions would begin from that basis.

Once again, after some silent cue the members of the Reichstag sat down. To the emissary's left was the Secular Bench of the Council of Princes - consisting of other noblemen - and to his right was the Ecclesiastical Bench, consisting of various Bishops and clerics. Seated next to them to finish the "U" shape of the audience chamber were the two Colleges - Swabia and the Rhine - of the Council of Imperial Cities.

Then the Baron Sigmund von Wilhelm opened the negotiations.

***

OOC:

England and the Holy Roman Empire have declared alliances with one another. They are also planning a future joint campaign against France, although not as of yet; England has insisted that it must fortify itself first, and the Reichstag has decided in turn to simply wait (option 3), although even now Kaiser Otto III and his advisors are discussing various campaign plans.