The following morning, Sage Alistair summoned Lucan to his office at the Adventurer Guild Headquarters.
The royal invitation he had received the previous day lay upon his desk, its crimson wax seal broken and the elegant parchment spread open beside several administrative reports.
Although Sage had already instructed Boren to begin making the necessary preparations for the King's birthday celebration, there were certain matters he preferred to understand before setting foot inside the Royal Palace.
Westmark's nobility was one of them.
Sage understood the general structure of the Kingdom well enough.
He knew that House Alden occupied the throne, that Kingsford served as the Royal Capital, and that powerful noble families controlled extensive territories throughout the Kingdom.
However, knowing those things and understanding the complicated relationships between hundreds of noble households were entirely different matters.
