Ashlynn let the court absorb the sight of the new arrivals, listening to the whispers spread and the connections form in the minds of every lord and lady present. She gave them time. She had learned long ago that a revelation that was allowed to settle did more work than one that was forced, and the people in the Great Hall had already been forced to absorb a great deal.
Then, when the murmurs started to die down as people shushed their neighbors to hear what the new arrivals would say, she spoke.
"You see, Baron Otker," Ashlynn said, looking at the portly baron with more jewels set in his finery than the next three barons combined. "There's no reason for the court to be deadlocked. Dame Sybyll Hanrahan may not be here, but in a case like this, I'm certain she won't mind her cousin acting as her proxy."
"Dame Sybyll?" Owain said with a frown as confusion swept through the hall. "Hugo's cousin? What nonsense are you talking about?"
