For a moment, everyone in the hall looked at Loman as if he were a helpless deer, ready to be skewered on Ian Hanrahan's sharp words, before admitting that he couldn't accomplish his goal without pleading for the baron's help. It was a moment that would lower Loman's standing in the eyes of Hanrahan Barony and across the whole of Lothian March for years to come.
But Loman wore a strange, barely noticeable smile on his face as he listened to the blustering and jockeying for position taking place at the table. It was as if, somehow, the entire conversation was beneath his notice, or at least beneath his concern. And in truth, it was.
The people were afraid, and the careful statements made by the knights revealed deep-seated worries for their villages, while even Head Priest Germot felt like he was powerless to do more than cling to the security and safety offered by the mighty stone walls of Hanrahan Town.
