Disobedient Drudges

Writers: Miriah, Suzee
Date Posted: 13th July 2015

Characters: Bryvin, Yriadha, Unelle, Faibri
Description: Yriadha has to face Bryvin again after a minor mutiny
Location: Sunstone Seahold
Date: month 13, day 5 of Turn 7

Bryvin

Yriadha

Yriadha stared at the pair of drudges in front of her with steadily
growing anger. For the past month, ever since Bryvin had punished her,
she had felt as though her authority was questioned more and more. It
didn't help that the whole affair had been overheard, nor did it help
that the bruises too so long to heal. Everyone assumed that they knew
what had happened and the drudges and the other workers took the
opportunity to attempt to test her authority. These two were the worst
of the lot. Young, defiant women who had decided that since she was
not currently in Bryvin's favor, they did not have to obey her; they
believed they could speak to her disrespectfully and they would get
away with it. She stared down her thin nose at the pair, her eyes hot.

"Yes, you will scrub those floors. They are filthy." Her eyes
narrowed. "And it will be done before the evening meal." She watched
as one of the girls, a gangling redhead with crooked teeth, rolled her
eyes. It was something that no one would have dared do in her presence
not two months ago.

"We'll get to it." The other girl sniffed haughtily. "When we have
time. We have to..."

"You will do it _now_." Yriadha's voice was frighteningly cold, but
the pair felt brave.

"And if we don't?" The redhead smirked. "You can't lay a hand on us
and you know it."

Yriadha drew herself up to stand tall. "Perhaps." Her eyes narrowed to
almost slits. "But I can dismiss you from service." Her lips twisted
in satisfaction as both girls stared at her. "And I am doing so. You
are not welcome to work in the main Hold. Go back to your families.
You will get no further assistance from me but essentials. Be gone
with you."

"You can't do that!" The brunette protested, her eyes wide.

"We'll go to the Steward! We'll go to Lord Bryvin!"

Yriadha's face never twitched, but she had momentary doubts. Would
Bryvin keep the girls on just out of spite? The thought angered her,
but she was careful not to show it. She was supposed to be in charge
of the Hold's day to day running and she couldn't do it with lazy
drudges! "Go ahead, you little wretches. You are dismissed!"

The girls ran, cursing her. She watched them dart down the hall
towards the Lord Holder's office, but she didn't follow. She didn't go
there any more and hadn't since the last time. Besides...she saw
Bryvin enough. She shuddered and began walking towards the kitchens.

Bryvin heard the gabbling before the pair of women came into his
office. His eyes were dispassionate as though he had no idea of why
they were there. Of course it had been hard not to hear the
conversation down the hall. It was a natural consequence of the
actions Yriadha had forced him to take to gain her compliance.

"Yes?" He watched them hover in the doorway.

At first the girls shifted on their feet, looking at each other. Then
the tall gangling redhead spoke up hurriedly as she curtsied. "It's
the Headwoman, Lord Bryvin. She's being absolutely horrid to us. We
were busy doing other duties and she dismissed us without cause! We've
worked here for three Turns, both of us and we've been good workers."

"Without cause?" He lifted a single eyebrow. He found it very hard to
believe let alone the fact that he'd heard some of the conversation.
It would be quite hard not to in fact with their raised voices. He
picked up a hide and began reading it. "It sounded to me like you
refused to do what you were told."

The thin redhead flushed, then paled. "No we didn't! We had been
assigned other duties before that, my Lord. She's working us too hard
and even you ..." Her voice trailed off, embarrassed.

The other girl picked up quickly. "She's taking her punishments out on
us. That's all."

"And you think this gives you license to refuse her orders?" He set
the document down and looked at them without a hint of a smile. "And
then come to me to complain?" He looked back and forth between the two
women. "Her authority comes from me," he said standing and leaning on
his knuckles. "I have not removed it."

The girls glanced at each other, now clearly worried. The second
shifted on her feet. "But we thought...we thought she wasn't in your
favor, my Lord. That she didn't have authority anymore."

"Yriadha runs this household very well," he said and pushed up off the
desk. "That as not changed. She just needed a lesson in obedience. As,
it seems, do you."

Fear gleamed in their faces at the thought of a similar 'lesson'. Both
paled and sank into identical curtsies, hands clutched in their
skirts. "No, my Lord, please." The redhead simpered and bowed lower.
"But...do we have to leave? Can't you stop her from that?"

"Why would I do that?" He sat back down and picked up his pen again.
"I suppose you could go do the work she wanted done and then beg her
for your job back. It makes no difference to me."

The girls stared at him. "But you just said that her power comes from
you. You can change her mind, can't you?" The brunette thrust out her
lower lip in a pout. "She _has_ to listen to you." She did not want to
beg for her job back. "And she won't give us our jobs back. She never
changes her mind, my Lord."

"You should have thought of that." He cleared his throat in a way
Captain recognized. The canine rose and growling slowly advanced
towards the women. "Good day," Bryvin said shortly. "Close the door on
your way out."

The girls stared at the dog for a long moment, squeaked, and then
darted out, slamming the door behind them as they hurried away. Once
outside of his office, they stopped and looked at each other. They
whispered amid themselves, figuring out a plan of action. Neither of
them could afford to go back to their homes and tell their families
that they had been dismissed. But, they decided, if Yriadha was afraid
of Bryvin, and Bryvin was angry at the Headwoman, they probably
wouldn't speak about the matter.

As they hurried to the kitchens, they met the Headwoman with lifted
chins. "Lord Bryvin said we could stay."

Yriadha stared at them and her gaze slowly narrowed to thin slits. Had
he really just wiped away her authority without a thought? Was this
further punishment? Hadn't she had enough? Bryvin had come to her in
the evenings for the past month, determined to break her of what he
called her disobedience. And Faranth, he had. What she had freely
given him out of pleasure before, he violently took from her instead.
He had stopped after she had stopped fighting him and acquiesced to
his demands , but this? How could she be expected to run the
household like this?

She drew herself upwards, her face growing cold as she peered at the
drudges."Did he? Well." She twitched her skirts and stood straight.
"Perhaps I'll go see why."

The drudges glanced at each other. That wasn't something they thought
she would actually do. "Lord Bryvin is busy right now. He doesn't want
to be disturbed." The redhead quickly interjected.

Yriadha's brow lifted. "I'll be quick then." She strode out of the
kitchens, her own stomach clenching as though she was about to go into
a wild wher den.

The moment she left, the girls broke and ran out of the kitchens in
the opposite directions. They would not stay for the aftermath.

Yriadha approached the door and stared at it for a long moment before
her insides clenched at the memory of the last time he had come to
her. She shook it off, lifted her chin and rapped briskly.

"Yes?" he called. He doubted the women would be back but you never
knew with females.

She had to take a deep breath before she opened the door and showed
herself. She stepped in, her face a mask of cool calm, but there was
an irritated light in her eyes echoed by a tiny bit of real fear. She
gave a respectful curtsy and rose, resisting the urge to clench her
hands into her skirts. Instead, she stood ramrod straight. "My Lord,
forgive the intrusion, but I was just told by Unelle and Faibri that
you told them that you would be allowing them to stay after I
dismissed them?" There was a twitch along her eye. "May I ask why?"

"Are those the two who just came to my office," he inquired looking up
at her from his desk. He noted the stiffness in her posture and the
light in her eyes. She was upset but holding on to her temper.

"Yes, my Lord." Her lips thinned only slightly. "I won't be able to
properly look over your household without maintaining my authority, my
Lord."

"Well," he stood and leaned on his desk as he had before. "First of
all, you are an important part of this Hold Yriadha. Or I would not
have taken the trouble to school you." He knew that wouldn't go over
well, but they had established who was in charge here. "I would have
dismissed you myself. Therefore it is not logical to believe I would
then undermine the authority I've given you. I might as well stab my
own foot." He stood up with a friendlier look in his eyes. "I didn't
tell them they could stay. I told them they should go do the work they
were told to do and then beg you for their jobs. Apparently they are
also liars. Do with them what you will." He stopped and lifted a
corner of his mouth. "You may not have them killed. They are breeders
and should learn from their mistakes."

Some of the tension left Yriadha's shoulders but her expression didn't
ease at his more friendly look; at the mention of 'schooling' her,
something indefinable flashed in her eyes but vanished just as
quickly. It could have been a burst of anger from deeply wounded
pride, or perhaps embarrassment that it had been done at all, but it
was gone before anyone would have been able to decipher it. She bit
the inside of her cheek sharply to still anything that might be
considered disrespectful at the last comment. Instead, she inclined
her head. "Very well. I apologize for my intrusion and the
misunderstanding." She straightened, not looking at him, but over his
shoulder and past him, refusing to meet his eyes, waiting to be
dismissed.

"Come here," he said and reached into a drawer for something she couldn't see.

That made her wary and her eyes flicked to the desk. She hesitated for
only an instant before taking a step forward and standing across from
him on the other side of the desk. "Yes, my Lord?" Yriadha could not
bring herself to be familiar with him again, to call him Bryvin as she
had before. Her position was precarious enough without forgetting
herself and she didn't want to bring on further punishment. So she
tried her best to remain cool and reserved, even though it was
difficult to bottle up the anger and humiliation that still simmered
with her wounded pride, especially since the entire hold knew she was
in disfavor with the Lord Holder. She clung to her position, swallowed
her passionate anger and secretly fumed at her own disgrace.

Bryvin pulled our a small red box with a silver ribbon. "This is for
you Yriadha," he said and held it out to her.

Yriadha looked down at the box and then back at Bryvin, her expression
revealing suspicion mingled with curiosity. She carefully took the box
and untied the ribbon, her fingers stiff. She opened the box and went
still at the sight of the coiled golden bracelet nestled within it.
Her eyes flicked to the small diamonds at the ends. Her pride wanted
her to fling the precious jewelry right in his face, but her common
sense overrode that immediate instinct and she was able to keep that
desire from revealing itself. She swallowed hard as she stared down at
the bracelet, hand tight on the box.

It was a beautiful piece; she had to admit that. "Thank you, My Lord.
It is lovely."

A small smile played at the corners of his mouth. "There is more where
that came from Yriadha," he said softly. It was a small chink in the
armor she'd drawn about herself but he thought there was a way to gain
her cooperation again. At least she'd learned the consequences of
flouting his authority. He decided not to press for anything addition
in this moment. "You are not out of favor and those who think
differently deserve what they get." He decided to let her think on
that for awhile. Perhaps he'd find other entertainment this evening
and give her some rest.

Her eyes met his for only a moment. Since when had she come back into
his favor, she wondered. When she had stopped fighting him? She
didn't put the bracelet on, despite its worth and it's loveliness.
Instead, she tucked the box in a pouch in her skirt. An unpleasant
thought occurred to her. "Thank you for the gift, My Lord." Her other
hand clenched in her skirt, knuckles white. "I assume you'll want
recompense for it?" She had to bite the inside of her cheek hard and
tasted blood.

"How about a nice hot cup of Klah if it's not too much trouble," he
said mildly. Sitting back down in his chair he added. "You _will_ wear
it at Turn Over." His tone was velvet but with a core of steel as he
looked up at her.

That surprised her; she had been fully expecting something far more
intimate and it showed on her face. There was also a flash of relief
and the tension in her shoulders eased. They hitched just a little at
his command, but settled just as quickly. "Of course, my Lord. I'll
send someone right away with your klah." She curtsied. "If you will
excuse me."

He looked back down at the document in front of him and made a simple
shooing motion with his hand. "Dismissed."

Last updated on the August 6th 2015

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Disobedient Drudges