The cleaning service and the caterers had done their smuggle version of holiday magic and the huge main room of the flat gleamed from polish and subdued holiday lights while the big table over by the windows was loaded with food and drink for the occasion. For a former furniture-maker's shop, it looked pretty good if he did say so himself.
"You put a lot of hard work into coming as far as you did as fast as you did. Not only should hard work be rewarded, but think of it as an incentive. The jump from journeyman to master will not be so easy, even for you. The celebration when you do will be epic compared to this. There aren't many of us left that keep to the old traditions, so we all tend to get together when a new master reaches rank."
He grinned. "Not to mention when I picked this big barn for my own, I couldn't help but notice the entertainment potentials of all this open space. Nice to break it in on something like this."