Court Conventions
Part of the Spectrum of Tayend series.
Theme= Yellow (only loosely I must admit)
Like most Elyne courtiers, Tayend of Tremmelin had an irrational fear of getting fat.
It sounded shallow, he knew, but who could blame him? After all, he had been raised in a court which found something to gossip about for everyone - no matter how immaculately they dressed, how wealthy their family, or how unblemished their reputation. For this reason, anyone who was noticeably different was no doubt the target of jests and speculation.
It was a court which favoured beauty and frivolity, and anything that didn't fall in line with its ideas was openly discussed. It was not as though a person would be shunned for being different in some way; in fact the Court of Capia greatly relished a diversity of courtiers. However, it only meant that the court gossips were always assured of having someone to talk about.
It was because of this that Tayend usually avoided court as an adult (unless of course he wanted to bump into a certain Guild Ambassador). But even Tayend could admit that Elyne court wasn't all that bad in comparison to the Kyralian court. As a lad, Tayend had, and still was, a diverting topic of discussion among courtiers. Lads were generally tolerated throughout Elyne. Tayend had rarely been the object of derision for his sexual preferences (the main exception being from Dem Tremmelin, his father).
Most Elynes expected, even welcomed, the fact that everybody held some exciting secret, and it was the courtiers unofficial mission to discover what these mysteries were. More often than not, false rumours would start flying around about an individual, but as Elynes like to say: There's always some truth in a rumour.
It sounded odd, Tayend knew, but he would much rather be gossiped about for being a lad, then for being fat. At least being a lad was something he couldn't change; whereas putting on weight was seen by many courtiers as a sign of carelessness.
The current fashions in Capia clearly reflected this notion. Closely fitted and colourful clothing was a necessity for almost everyone (with exceptions made for people over a certain age, on which the elaborate garb would look faintly ridiculous). Women's fashion was a little kinder – their dresses were tight from the waist up, but flowed out from the hips to the floor. It wasn't seen as such an awful thing for a lady to put on some weight; but other courtier women could very well make subtle jibes about the matter. For men however, they needed to be thin in order to look decent in the fashionably tight clothes. These clothes simply didn't look suitable on anyone who was even slightly overweight.
But Tayend's concern with putting on weight had begun even before he was an adult. Throughout Tayend's childhood, his father had been very preoccupied with presentation. He was strict in ensuring that while in public, his children would present a positive reflection on the Tremmelin family. But there was one incident that Tayend could never forget.
On his thirteenth birthday, Dem Tremmelin invited the family's relatives over for a small party. But what Tayend remembered vividly about the event was his birthday cake – a delicious creation their cook had spent hours on, covered all over with smooth yellow icing. Tayend had been looking forward all day to finally tasting it. But during the party, as he was eating his second large helping of cake, his father commented sharply, "If you don't stop eating like a gorin, you'll never fit into your court clothes. And if you can't look respectable in court, what use are you? " Everybody laughed, but Tayend didn't find it funny at all. Dem Tremmelin's cruel remark had stung his son more than he had intended. He had felt completely humiliated and didn't want to finish his slice of cake. Ever since that incident Tayend was wary of eating too much – lest someone else made him feel as wretched as he had felt that day.
Dem Tremmelin's words haunted Tayend for many years. But eventually the scholar learned that there were far more important things to worry about then what others thought of him.