“Your hospitality is legendary, Sir Jonas. It would be an honor to dine with you. Come, Wil; we mustn’t dally.” Dunlap then turned to bow to Jonas and the rest of the assembled nobility. “Ladies, Master Peter,” he added with practiced decorum. The knight gave no indication through his demeanor of the seriousness of his business. Wil, on the other hand, had a hard time hiding an expression of concern. After goodbyes had been made the two visitors mounted their horses and rode to the stables at Lake Palace.<br/><br/>Wil saw to the horses, feeding and watering them before brushing them down for the evening. After that he hurried indoors to clean and prepare Sir Dunlap’s formal clothes for the meal. After those chores were done he spent a few minutes dusting himself off as best he could and washing up for dinner. He spent the last minutes before the call cleaning the road dirt off of Sir Philip’s armor and giving it a quick polish. By the time dinner was called Wil was exhausted. The life of a squire was one of little rest – even a squire who was one day to become an Earl.  If anything Sir Philip gave him more responsibilities rather than less due to the expectations that would arise from the young man’s future title.<br/><br/>As Wil worked his mind kept wandering back to Elizabeth Saville and her look of concern. He wished there was some way that he could put her at ease, but there was nothing he could think to do. He didn’t understand why his mind kept returning to her.<br/><br/>Eventually Dunlap and Wil presented themselves to the great hall at Lake Palace when called. Wil sat next to his mentor once they were afforded seats. Not knowing why, he looked around for Elizabeth to see where she was. Eventually he did find her, and she caught him looking at her again. His eyes dropped to the floor as his face blushed.<br/><br/>“Eat Wil,” Sir Philip commented on his squire's lack of appetite. “Tomorrow will be another long day. Even longer than today,” the gray-haired man added under his breath.