Chapter 322: Assembled Masters
Master Isabell smiled as she led Owain and his knights upstairs to the luxurious dining room on the third floor of the Fellowship of Wayfinders’ guildhall. Once again, there had been squabbling about who should host this meeting, but in the end, she had won the others over by suggesting they let Owain make the decision. Whichever guild he reached out to first would inform the others immediately and take on the role of host.
Owain’s choice of the Fellowship of Wayfinders already gave them their first advantage. He clearly valued the ability to transport eager knights and soldiers from the old countries across the sea above anything else or he would have met with one of the others first.
From the startled expressions on the faces of his knights when they were told that the other guild masters would be present, their decision to surprise the young lord with a collective meeting had already handed them a second advantage. Clearly, Lord Owain was trying to make adjustments to his plans but none of the guild masters present intended to give him much time to do so.
"It’s regrettable that Lady Ashlynn wasn’t able to accompany you on this trip," Isabell said lightly as they walked upstairs. "I had the privilege of supervising renovations to Blackwell Manor some years ago and formed a small friendship with Lady Ashlynn. She’s truly a remarkable young woman."
"Yes, well," Owain said awkwardly as the guild master’s small talk derailed his train of thought. Couldn’t she have chosen something else to comment on? The weather or the journey? But she had to mention the person he least wanted to discuss on this trip.
"It’s a joyous thing," he said, plastering on a charming but slightly exaggerated smile. "By the end of the year, I may be blessed with a son of my own. But the priests who examined her fear that it will be a difficult birth given my adoring wife’s stature and a journey of this length would be far too arduous for her."
"Really?" Isabell said, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "Certainly, she isn’t a tall woman, but with hips and a bosom like hers, I would have thought she’d have an even easier time of childbirth and nursing than I did with my lads. But I can see that Lord Owain is a man of impressive stature," she added, openly pandering to his vanity. "If most Lothian children are as impressive as you must have been as a babe, then perhaps the caution is wise."
"You know, I’ve heard that Lord Owain’s brother Loman is a priest of some renown in Lothian City," Master Sebastian said with a hearty laugh. "I wouldn’t be surprised if he double-checked the work of your family’s physicians personally, just to ensure everything goes well for his soon-to-be nephew and our beloved Lady Ashlynn," he said with a toothy grin beneath his bushy white mustache.
"Congratulations my Lord Owain," he said as he opened the door to the opulent dining room before he turned to address the people already waiting for them, all of whom stood politely as soon as Owain entered.