The Savage

Part 1: Chapter Seventeen: Thrayd

Thrayd surveyed the jovial court from her place on the dais with sharp eyes. Court was as expected with the Nameless feast so close and the foreign guest. Food, drink and gossip flowed in excess. Her grandsons weren't helping the court's wagging tongues either. Llewellyn disappearing with the Duthaichi girl and Davyth's inability to hide his on going affair with the squire. It was enough to make the most pious personage talk and they were. She shifted in her cushioned seat and frowned as the Patriarch approached her.

"Your grace." He hissed lowly as he climbed two of the three steps up to her.

"Patriarch." Thrayd replied dryly.

"Disturbing things have been reaching my ears." He whispered leaning closer to her, careful not to spill the goblet of wine in his hand.

"Have they?" Thrayd turned her eyes back to the court.

The Patriarch cleared his throat, "Yes. Concerning the heir."

"What about my grandson?"

"The word of the Nameless is clear. Those that defile their bodies and lay like with like will succumb to the jaws of Marwolaeth." He recited.

"Doesn't the Llyfr also say that to drink is the path to Marwoleath?" She asked coyly. The Patriarch paused, his eyes darting from the goblet back to Thrayd, "The good book of Llyfr can be difficult even for myself to interpret. But the heir's indiscretions are blatant and an affront to the Nameless." He persisted.

"An exception can always be made for the heir." Thrayd replied smiling at him for the first time.

"Possibly, with some concessions." He said, running his chubby index finger around the rim of his cup.

"On our part I assume." Thrayd snapped, her smile vanishing.

"With all respect, your grace, I shouldn't be making such exceptions even for the crown. The heir's transgressions are... vast."

Thrayd's mouth pinched together. 'Vile little man.' She thought, "What do you want?"

"My lovely niece deserves a more prestigious position, wouldn't you agree? As she is, in fact, my niece."

"And what grandiose ideas does Efa have for this new position?"

"My niece has no such ideas of her own accord. She is a sweet and humble girl."

Thrayd snorted a crud laugh. "Then what do you want for her?"

"Only the best."

Thrayd sighed heavily. "Please be more specific."

"I will only say this. Her new position should be as great as your grandson's sins have been."

She grimaced. The Patriarch's meaning was obvious. There was no position in the household that Efa could be given that could wipe Davyth's transgressions clean. "I'm not sure what position I could give her." Thrayd replied with caution.

The Patriarch stepped down from the steps of the dais. "I fully trust you will think of something." He smiled as he walked away.

'Little rotten bastard.' Thrayd fumed to herself as her eyes found Davyth across the Hall.

Davyth had obviously began drinking long before dinner and was showing advanced signs of inebriation. He'd been fighting with someone. His face bruised and his lip split. Thrayd watched him stagger over to Lord Gruffyth. Snatching the shorter man's hat from his head, the court rang out in boisterous laughter. Encouraged, Davyth held the item out of reach as the nobleman struggled grasping at it, desperate to hide his balding head. Thrayd sighed heavily through her nose. Davyth gave the Patriarch too much to hold over them as control.