Kyriell House

[Barry Goldwater]

Having been elevated to the Privy Council (first as Earl Marshal, then High Steward, and now Earl Marshal again as of 1469), Edmund Kyriell has bought his family an estate in London so as to, essentially, keep his finger on the pulse of national politics in the capital. The new Kyriell home was recently vacated by a family of wealthy merchants, richer than some members of the gentry, who recently moved to Calais: it was thus deemed sufficiently spacious and luxurious by the Earl of Cambridge, or more accurately his wife (considering his lack of interest in this sort of thing), whose familial connections within the Worshipful Company of Mercers had alerted her to the vacancy in the first place.

[Oznerol]

Thomas Grey arrives to Kyriell House riding his grey steed. He's acompanied by several retainers.

[Barry Goldwater]

Grey is admitted into Kyriell House. Edmund, Earl of Cambridge awaits him in the dining hall, though there was no food in sight - it was still being prepared, and pleasant scents were starting to drift into the hall from the direction of the kitchen. The earl sets down his goblet of wine, much finer than the ale and beer he was used to on campaign, and looks to the new arrival with a mix of surprise and curiosity.

"Welcome to my humble London residence, my lord of Winchester." Edmund remembered the publicized letter-patent that elevated Thomas Grey to the earldom some years ago, though he had never met the boy turned young man in person before. "What brings you here?"

[Oznerol]

"I wanted to know how my aunt was. I heard your brother, my uncle now, has been named Lord of Monmouth, so I guess them both are in Wales currently"

Said the young earl. Grey was Lord of Glamorgan by marriage and had extense properties in Wales.

[Barry Goldwater]

"Your aunt is well last I checked, though she and my brother have yet to have any children," Cambridge replied. He motioned for Thomas to take the seat opposite his own. "I could summon Roger here if you'd like to meet him in person. When the King raised him to the earldom of Monmouth he was in quite the rush to vacate Cambridge Castle and ever since he's hardly left his new lands, I suspect he's overjoyed at finally matching me in stature...and getting away from my presence." Edmund laughs, now in less than a decade both of old Thomas Kyriell's sons had risen from lowly knights to earls of the realm. He was the eldest brother in the family, so he did not know how it felt to be trapped in an older sibling's shadow, but the thought that Roger might be relieved to finally escape his had crossed his mind before.

"Truth be told, he's even more...out of the loop, shall we say, regarding the recent political developments here. I at least have to maintain a constant presence here, what with being Earl Marshal, but even so it is already hard enough for me to keep up." Cambridge clearly didn't have the best of heads for intrigue, nor any great love for it. "I can't imagine he, who has no excuse to leave White Castle himself, knows any better, even though he is the one married to your mother's sister. Which reminds me: aside from meeting you, perhaps I should direct him to visit her as well - if she's taking visitors, of course - while he's in the capital. It'd be an opportunity for your mother and aunt to reunite, and for my brother to get her side of the story."

[Oznerol]

"Children will come, in due time"

Grey himself had a several months old son by his wife.

"I bet he's busy enough dealing with the Welsh. I have yet to visit my lands at Glamorgan, but certainly I've been told they're an unruly folk at first. Later on, they become fiercely loyal to their master"

Thomas wavered a hand.

"Your brother, our yourself my good Earl of Cambridge, are welcomed at Baynard's. My aunt will surely appreciate being reunited with her sister, considering my grandfather Rivers died not so long ago. Certainly, expect me to vouch for my mother's story"

Kyriell was similar to Woodville, both were knightly families, part of minor nobility for a long time, but neither had reached prominence before Edward's reign.

[Barry Goldwater]

"I'll wager the same." Welsh revolts were not unheard of, though the only dangerous one in recent history had been smacked down earlier in the century when Henry V brought Owen Glendower to heel. "Good thing Roger always loved a challenge, especially if it requires his wits," Edmund adds with another laugh. And this political affair may require those wits even more than whatever scheme the wily Welsh come up with, he reflected.

"And splendid. I'll write to my brother, get him to finally drag himself out of his new Welsh home and bring his wife along to London. In the meantime, you may inform your mother of our coming, so that we do not surprise her." Having finished cooking, Kyriell servants began to enter the hall, bearing trays of hearty meals with them for the two lords: roasted vegetables, fish pies, broiled pork that had been marinated in a sauce made with beer...Cambridge's palate may have been refined somewhat since he became an earl, but it was clear he still ultimately had a soldier's stomach. "If there's nothing else - please do dig in with me, m'lord of Winchester," He said with a grin.

[Oznerol]

"We'll wait you eagerly at Baynard's. Unfortunately, my wife will remain at Tamworth for the time being"

Said Thomas after swallowing a mouthful of lamb. A servant poured him more wine.

"We have to toast, for both our houses and the King!"

He raised his cup.

"Hail Edward!"

[Barry Goldwater]

"Hail Edward!" Edmund replied cheerily in response, raising his cup to match Grey's in toast before drinking it and merrily digging into the pork. This day had turned out rather more productive than he had expected, to be sure, but he was confident it would lead to good things in the future.

[Oznerol]

Elizabeth Woodville invites Lady Cambridge to serve in her household as lady-in-waiting.

[Gandalfus]

Kyriell is summoned to a rather formal gathering of the King's family that will be taking place at the Palace of Westminster. It is widely understood that Kyriell has been chosen for the role of guardian for the Prince of Wales.

[Gandalfus]

Cambridge is summoned to the King's presence at Westminster to discuss the Courtenay matter.

[The Mad Skylord]

Thomas Stanley saunters up to Kyriell house and requests a meeting with Edmund.

[Barry Goldwater]

Stanley is permitted entry, of course. He would find Cambridge in the middle of his lunch, a hearty and awfully sweet meal consisting of honeyed everything it seemed - buns soaked in honey, roast chicken doused in a honey-based sauce, leg-of-lamb served with a honey and beer sauce, and coffins (pies) filled with chicken in honey. Edmund's eyes lit up with recognition at Thomas' entry, but as his mouth was full of honey chicken at the time, he motioned for the Earl of Wiltshire to take the seat directly facing his own and dig in if he so wishes.

[The Mad Skylord]

Stanley had a slight grimace as he sat down and took a bit from a chicken leg. He could feel the bile rising and the beginning of heartburn before the food was even in his belly, he quietly picked up the beer and sipped - to his disappointment it was laced with honey too. He was too afraid to even touch the milk. "Well, Edmund, I cam for business but that can wait. I'm simply too curious now. What's with all the honey? Isn't it making you feel ill?"

[Barry Goldwater]

"Not at all!" Cambridge replied cheerfully once he'd finished swallowing his chicken. "We Kyriells all have a great love of honey, passed down for centuries. I've heard it started with my ancestor Baldric, one of Kent's great beekeepers some two centuries ago; their honey made him rich and prosperous, until he lost control of them one day and they promptly stung him to death." He lifted a goblet of mead and drank deeply. "When I was a child, the priest at Westenhanger told me his last words were to commend his soul to God and wish his family safety from the rampaging black-and-yellow cloud of death. But, when I was older, my father told me that his last words were actually more likely just cries of 'Not the bees!', followed by incoherent screaming." Kyriell's fairly humble origins were well known, so he didn't bother trying to pretend it didn't exist; if anything, he found his lowly ancestors' escapades funny in the vein of peasant comedies. "Fortunately, I no longer have to worry about personally handling the apiaries on my estates these days."

[The Mad Skylord]

Stanley listened in vague curiosity, chuckling a little at the end. "Well, better than the stories of my ancestors. My great grandfather was accidentally castrated by one of his own men. An excellent example as to the reason not to throw a battle axe - no matter how impressive it may seem."

He grimaced as he took a sip of water - was there honey in ing everything. "Well, Edmund, I'm here to ask you to sponsor a warships or two in the fleet. We grow close to having a full three squadrons - which is certainly the most powerful navy in Europe - but I find myself two ships short of the goal."

[Barry Goldwater]

Cambridge laughed and set his goblet down. "Ah, well, we have comedic stories of nobler deeds too. Baldric's grandson, the first of us Kyriells to attain knightly rank, was said to have broken up a gathering of witches. Dressed himself in a bear's hide and got close enough to punch the lights out of the coven's leader, at which point the rest of his posse stormed into their den. Truly, he knew the bear essentials of witch-hunting." The earl chortled.

"How much will a ship cost me?" Edmund asked, when the conversation moved on. "The Royal Army's expensive as all hell, but they don't have the numbers to defeat France alone. Truth be told, I was thinking of reserving my funds to expand my livery and maintenance contingent, to support the King's army when the time comes at last. Which I dearly hope will be soon, of course." He was growing rather antsy to invade France already: the King had announced his intentions and completed the recruitment of the Royal Army's first companies already, as far as Cambridge was concerned it was high time to use them.