"Take time? Weren't they being accommodated in guest rooms?" Sylas asked with a sarcastic tilt of his head. Christoph's lips tightened. There were no "guest rooms" for Sylas's retainers. He had cast them out of the castle long ago. Though they were likely still in the nearby village, retrieving them would take time.
"My apologies. I'll issue an order immediately to search the surrounding area. Please bear with me a moment longer."
Sylas sighed dramatically. "How inefficient. Just give me your signet ring, and I'll issue the decree myself. It'll be faster that way."
"My… my signet ring?" Christoph's jaw dropped. The signet ring was essentially the lord's seal of power. It carried the weight of the lord's authority, making any decree stamped with it as binding as the lord's spoken command.
'He's insane,' Christoph thought, staring in disbelief. Sylas's request was unthinkable.