It was late in the day at the Lothian castle when Owain gathered several of his new companions to welcome Lady Jocelynn Blackwell to Lothian March.
For several days, Owain had struggled to contain his growing impatience with the delays in his future bride's arrival. Every carrier pigeon that brought word of a washed-out bridge, a bad storm or some other setback on her journey just made the time he spent waiting more unbearable.
Under his father's orders, he had gone to each of the western barons seeking support to hunt the demons responsible for slaughtering Sir Broll and any trace of the mysterious 'Lynnda' or the missing kitchen boy 'Ollie.' In order to secure the support of those barons quickly enough, he'd made a number of promises and concessions.
Now, as one day of delay had turned into two, and two turned into four, he cursed the promises he'd made and the price he'd paid when it turned out to be completely unnecessary.
