Chapter 11: Joanna Becomes Engaged

The morning that Lord Renly Barrow chose to present himself at the First Counsellor's office was, by all outward measures, an unremarkable one. The autumn light came through the north-facing windows at its usual unhelpful angle. Master Pell was at his desk reorganising something. A courier had arrived with the harbour assessments, revised. Lord Stark was reading them.

It is a peculiar feature of significant moments that they so rarely announce themselves with appropriate ceremony. The morning of one's engagement, one's ruin, or one's execution tends to begin with breakfast.

Lord Renly Barrow knocked at the outer door at half past ten, was received by Master Pell with the mild efficiency of a man who receives all visitors equally and feels strongly about none of them, and was shown into the inner office with the single annotation that Lord Barrow had come on a personal matter and did not require much of the Counsellor's time.