The summons arrived on a Wednesday, which Edwyn considered unfortunate timing, as he had scheduled the afternoon for a detailed review of the harbour assessments and had been looking forward to it with the quiet anticipation that other men reserved for hunting or cards.
The note was brief, written in a hand so precise it might have been engraved: Her Majesty Queen Cerissa requested the pleasure of Lord Stark's company at three o'clock, in the Solar Chamber, for a private consultation on matters of mutual interest. The phrasing was courteous to the point of being architectural — each word placed with the deliberate care of someone who understood that language, in the right hands, was not communication but construction.
Edwyn read it twice, concluded that the Queen wished to discuss something, and went to find a clean collar.
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