Rumor Control

Writers: Heather, Miriah
Date Posted: 4th September 2019

Characters: Thayde, Finlon, Uvanon, Egyrette
Description: Finlon's rumors about Enamra's hickey get him in trouble with Thayde.
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 13, day 2 of Turn 9
Notes: Mentioned: Enamra, Endarin

Thayde

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"Really?" Uvanon, eyes widened, then flicked to Thayde as he was
finishing his lecture, but kept his voice down to a whisper. "That
was you?"

Finlon nodded, barely moving his lips as he answered. "Yeah." He
didn't know who was responsible for the love bite on Enamra's neck, no
one did, but from Thayde's tense expression the last few days,
Finlon was sure it hadn't been him. The Master Dolphineer was probably
pretty upset about it. The thought of someone else bedding the pretty
girl was frustrating especially since the she'd declined the
invitation to go out on a boat to swim with his brother and himself.
Something about being improper, but then she'd found someone to go to!
It wasn't fair and her felt more than a hint of jealousy curdle his
belly. Fingoran had said it wasn't him and Enamra had ordered fancy
under things, so she'd obviously found some one, shaffit!. There was
no harm, he decided, in taking credit. "Yeah. At the cove about a
candlemark from here. She just about screamed me deaf. "

The girl sitting in front of them turned around. "Are you sure it was
you, Finlon? I don't think you even know how to give a hickey," she
arched one blonde eyebrow.

"Really sure." He flashed a grin. "Come out to the docks with me after
the lecture and I'll show you. " he wriggled his brows suggestively
and winked. "I'll give you the same I gave her. "

Egyrette rolled her eyes. "I doubt it."

"What's so interesting over here?" Thayde asked, having been watching
the trio whisper to one another while the rest of the class worked.

Finlon looked up and then sat straighter. He did _not_ want another
seven day cleaning windows. "Nothing."

He should not have talked to the Uvanon, who not only lacked in
common sense but also subtlety. "Nothing but hickies." He snickered
and was glad to hear other classmates titter. He didn't see Finlon
close his eyes and wince.

Thayde's eyebrows lifted marginally. "Ah, hickeys. How did you get on
that topic, Uvanon?"

The young man glanced at Finlon, saw the tight jaw and cleared his
throat. He wasn't entirely stupid. "Uh...just talking, sir." If
Finlon had messed around with the Master's wife, he didn't want to be
the one telling him! "It's nothing."

Egyrette had no trouble tattling. "Finlon was saying he gave your wife
that hickey she's wearing around."

Thayde turned his head and looked at Finlon. "Oh really? When did that
happen, Finlon? When you were washing windows?"

The quiet of the classroom made Finlon want to sink down into the
floor. His eyes narrowed at Egyrette, hating her for putting him in
this very precarious situation. Make a Master angry or face
condemnation and ridicule from his peers and younger boys who idolized
him? For him there really wasn't an option. Feeling a shrinking in his
bowels, he flicked his gaze around quickly. Fingaron was going to
throttle him. "No," his chin lifted. "After. It's not her fault that
you can't make her happy and I can."

He knew immediately that he shouldn't have said anything and should
have just kept his mouth shut. All eyes were on him and the tension
in the room seemed to ratchet upwards until he could nearly feel his
skin buzzing with it. *Oh whershit and blazes... I'm dead. I'm so
dead. **

Thayde tossed his head back and laughed, a deep one from the stomach.
At least the kid had balls, right? "And what happen when you woke up
from your dream? Did you have to change your sheets?"

Finlon's face immediately flamed with humiliation and the laughter
around him only made it worse. He shrank in his seat, wanting to hide
from everyone.

Leaning in close, Thayde said for Finlon's ears only, "Be very careful
with Enamra, Finlon. Not only is she my wife, and I'm very protective,
but the Hallmaster has a soft spot for her, like a daughter. I
wouldn't want Master Endarin hearing that you were making things
difficult for her."

Finlon glowered at Thayde, a full teenage sulk writing itself on his
face. "Fingoran's gonna convince her to leave you," he muttered,
"Just you wait." Then he clamped his lips shut and crossed his arms
over his chest, looking away.

**Fingorna again, is it?** Thayde figured he might have trouble with
him after that day in the parlor. "He can try," the Master Dolphineer
said as he turned and walked back to the front of the room. Although
in the back of his mind, there was a little niggle of doubt. Was
Fingoran closer to her in age? Probably, although not by much, he
reasoned. Although Fingoran had made her feel pretty and complimented
her, which could be problematic because she seemed to believe that
Thayde had never called her beautiful before the other day. There was
also the fact that Fingoran had never broken her heart by sleeping
with another woman behind her back. **Don't be stupid. She said she
would never break her vows. She's told you that she wants to be with
you. Why obsess over a little boy's fantasy?** Looking up at the time,
Thayde looked around at the class. "Congratulations, you have made it
through this month's rotation in the observation tower. Class
dismissed."

Silgan gathered his things, studiously ignoring his snickering
classmates. He was glad this rotation was over. The last person he
wanted to look at for a long time was Master Thayde. Faranth, if his
brother heard about this, he would be raked over the coals as well as
tangled in a loom.

Last updated on the September 11th 2019

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Rumor Control