The tournament wasn’t to officially begin for nearly a week, and already the town, castle, and surrounding lands were packed with knights and nobles, lords and princes attending, many of them hoping to catch a glimpse of the elusive lost princess. Summer kept to her tower, and wore a veil and heavy cloak what few times she ventured out.
Among the throngs of folk were many knights of high renown — Boyd Strongarm and his lady Erica the Golden; Sir Scott and his boon companion Sir Stiles; the foreign swordmaster Kiran; blind Lord Deucalion, still a knight to be reckoned with; Sir Jordan of the Parish, whose lover was Lydia, the most beautiful woman in seven kingdoms; and Lady Allison the Huntress, a fey lady who claimed no land as her home but wandered freely with her father Sir Chris.
Sir Isaac felt lost in the sea of people, not able to comprehend who they were and there was not one familiar face in all his surroundings; that only caused his mood to sour that much quicker. He attempted to seek out someone of authority, but he couldn’t even comprehend the various banners and outfits around him, never mind match them to Houses and Kingdoms, and it was with a heavy heart that he decided to take a moment’s break, leaning with Buttons against the nearest wall, a frown upon his face.
Allowing himself the time to gaze around with more concentration a second time around, he registered some faces that could only be matched up to the descriptions he had swimming in his mind. If that was in fact, Boyd Strongarm and Lord Deucalion, he realised that if they were to be his opponents in the upcoming tournament, he wouldn’t win this on just pure luck — he would have to muster up every last bit of his fighting spirit, and allow himself to be a Lahey again, rather than the Hale he’d come to be over time.
It was perhaps fortunate that castlefolk were scattered throughout the town and surrounding lands to assist precisely the sort of lost folk Isaac was. One of them, a young blond man, approached Isaac, telling the knight his name was Garrett and offering to guide him to the registrar.