The smell of salt water in the air and the feeling of cold spray against his face should have been comforting to Rhys Blackwell after so many months spent far inland, suffering the stifling environment of Keating Duchy's late summer and false fall.
If he was honest with himself, half the reason he'd left for Keating so early had been to escape the presence of Owain Lothian and his obvious contempt for his hosts. Rhys had done the bare minimum necessary to pave the way for the young Lothian Lord to negotiate with the guilds of Blackwell County.
Within a week, it became abundantly clear that Owain Lothian was not only outmatched by Master Isabell and her fellow Guild Masters, but he was also completely unwilling to turn to his father-in-law for help in negotiating an agreement with 'mere merchants.'
