Another thirty minutes passed whilst Lady Buxton and Sir Chester sat idly waiting in the Inn, and both of them were struggling to provide small talk. Although they had contrasting personalities, the two of them got along well enough, but not so well that they could comfortably talk for hours on end. Buxton found herself taking one of the knives for her boot, a small bronze dagger with a leather wrapped grip. It was as sharp as it could be, but nevertheless she couldn’t help pulling out a whetstone and begun grinding along its edge. 

“Who’s this?” asked Chester, giving his colleague a quick nudge with his elbow. He did not so much as blink whilst he let his eyes glide over the olive skinned beauty, appreciating most her enthralling amber eyes and her soft facial features. Even though she was draped in furs and linen, he could tell that beneath she probably boasted some attractive curves. He had always had a thing for ‘exotic’ girls from the far south, and on the rare occasion that he saw one he became uncharacteristically smitten and dirty minded. Buxton herself looked up in response and saw the graceful figure that was now walking towards them. She was not as impressed as her colleague, although she was happy to see a recruit that wasn’t some brainless brute of a man. 

“Lady Buxton and Sir Chester, I presume? My name is Karen ibn Nahal. I was send over from Southarbour to join the Consano. My commander regrets he couldn’t send anyone else with me. Here is a letter of recommendation from my commander.” She said and pulled out a small envelope from her bag. “I served as advanced scout and infiltrator, my abilities and skills should already be described in the letter.” Chester reached forward with a smile and received the letter, immediately opening it and examining its contents. 

“You presume correctly.” Buxton replied with a hearty smile, and with her hand she signaled for the recruit to take a seat. “I am Lady Buxton, Knight of the King’s Table and leader of the Consano.” She continued, “And this gawking gentleman is Sir Chester.” 

“Pleasure.” He smiled. “The letter seems legitimate, the Commander seems to think quite highly of you. “Excellent fighter”, “A marksman with knives”, “Skilled infiltrator” - I’m sure you’ll make an excellent addition to our little band of merry men. We will be conducting a full brief tomorrow morning at dawn, but before then is there any questions that you wish to ask?”