When Doul arrives, he'll be met at the guarded nexus door by a young Arum man by the name of Ewar, who introduces himself as his Lordship's swordmaster and informs the older man he'll be escorting him to aforementioned Lord.

Castle Valdis is...an interesting place. Old, very old, but much of it seems new or at least fresh clean; recently renovated, much of that only recently complete. It's a life's work, this place, and Martel is happy to make it his. The lights that follow through the building are seemingly glass torches, lit up with enchanted fire by a command. (Some of the Arum men seem more used to it than others, but they all take it roughly in stride.)

The staffing is sparse, only the necessities, and Doul is led to Martel's library - to which the most effort has been devoted in restoration. It's an impressive room, and large. Martel, lately Lord of Valdis, is at one of the tables nearer the fireplaces and their cushioned armchairs, bent over a choice of maps and family histories.

"Thank you, Ewar," he says, without looking up and almost before the door is quite open.

Between the things that keep Martel and Candice respectively quite busy, sometimes it takes him a while to corner her to talk (he can corner her really quickly for...other things), to appraise her of what he's been acquiring and generally to do something other than make a nuisance of himself.

Candice is quite possibly the most patient woman in the multiverse, sometimes. Martel likes to give the impression, occasionally, that he lacks any patience whatsoever; this is not true, like many things he likes to give the impression of from time to time.

"There you are."