[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/6RKxBzO.png[/img]
[img]https://googledrive.com/host/0ByCDZX18AmmONzZWYW96RjlQZUE/fancy-horz_zps742090b3.png[/img][/center]
[color=silver]
[h2]Lord Edryd[/h2]
Edryd was nervous, though he hid it well.  He had only been to the capital once in his life, in the beginning of his mercenary days, and he had certainly never been to an event of this importance before. He was still somewhat surprised at his new appointment as High Marshal of Gwenydd, and even more so when he was asked to join the Royal Party to the summit. Edryd had been given a short notice on the latter but had assembled a formidable retinue all the same.

He had brought twenty-five of his best Knights along with their squires, a total of fifty men. Among those Knights were Ser William Gold, Ser Gavin Larse, and Ser Alexios Dekanos; three of the seven men who made up Edryd's privy council. Ser William was the worldliest of his Knights and the best lance in the Crimson Company, and his counsel was amongst the most trusted of all Edryd's advisors. Ser Gavin was Edryd's former squire and perhaps the best overall fighter in the company behind Lord Edryd himself; an excellent equestrian, swordsman, and a more than able hand with both lance and bow. He would serve as the Captain of the Guard of sorts for their procession into the capital, and would be in charge of coordinating the rest of the Knights along with Ser William while Edryd went about his duties. Ser Alexios was a foreign Knight and extremely up-to-date with the political workings of the realm, and would be serving as Edryd's personal liaison to the summit. He was also a fair hand with a lance, and the best dagger fighter in the company to boot.

Edryd began to feel a bit more relaxed as he went over his preparations in his mind. He could afford to lose himself in his thoughts, being towards the front of the column in the Gwethydd Royal Party along with Ser Wiliam. The rest of his Knights were spread throughout the rest of the column, with Ser Alexios commanding the mid guard and Ser Gavin commanding the rear guard. Edryd glanced behind him, spotting his squire Nell. He had brought her along despite his better instincts; but he knew that this would be an important experience for the development of his squire. Nell was a commoner he had found shortly after returning to Albinkirk. She had actually entreated upon him to take her as his squire when he had been commissioning fittings on his armor. At first he had refused, but she had persisted for weeks until he finally gave in. 

Edryd smiled at the thought. He could not say he was annoyed at having such a dedicated squire; and dedicated she was, performing her duties with the greatest of enthusiasm and competence. She had been coming along well, picking up the sword with surprising ease, though she struggled with her footwork. She knew the chivalric code by heart, and her courtesies, he admitted, were above average. [i]However, that did not change the fact that she was a women[/i], thought Edryd. He was not sure how his peers of the realm would react to finding out his willingness to Knight members of the opposite sex; there were several such women Knights in the Crimson Company already. He would just have to see.

Edryd turned his thoughts ahead, towards the coming summit. He saw the towers of the capital in the distance now, and took pleasure in the reactions of those around him who were seeing them for the first time. He figured he ought to find his liege lord, and so handed command of the column to Ser William and motioned for Nell to follow him. The King would want to have a plan, Edryd was sure.
[/color]