A Marriage of Swords
The air was thick with conflicting scents: beeswax polish, roasting meat, the metallic tang of nervous sweat, and the ever-present, cold breath of the mountain.
The eastern lords arrived not as a unified bloc, but in wary, separate contingents, each assessing the others as much as their hosts. Lord Gryffen came with the largest retinue, his men polished and arrogant in silver-and-green livery. With him were Lords Berrick of the southern valleys, a stout, pragmatic man, and the elderly Lady Elara of the lake country, sharp-eyed and silent.