"That spawn of a vat-fed?" Chuckled Làg. "Of course you cannot court her! She's hardly worth table scraps and only because her father was seated. She's lucky to be sat at all even if it is at the foot."
Qat raged and struggled to hide his anger. How dare Uncle Làg speak that way of Penda? And to call her that, knowing well that Qat's mother was on the Vats for years before Làg's brother married her and gave her the queen seat! He was the spawn of a vat-fed too. What made him so high and mighty he couldn't court who he wanted.
A growl escaped Qat so quiet he thought for a moment no one had head. But when he looked up the laid back ears of Làg and Daya made it clear he was not so lucky.
"You dare growl at me?" Demanded Làg while baring his teeth. "You are a guest at my table boy and only eat at my expense. I will not have an undisciplined upstart at my right hand. You have forfeited your place tonight. You will feel the hunger until tomorrow's seating."
Daya interrupted, "He's just a cub Làg..."
"No he's not," Làg responded. "He has aided in his first slaughter by our laws he is an adult and has been one for three weeks. It is my legal right and moral responsibility to show him what he faces if he leaves my table without another seat secured. Perhaps then he will value the station he has instead of seeking to debate himself with some weak toothed slut!"
"She's not!" Qat objected, growling in earnest now.
"She is!" Bit back Làg, "and every moment you spend with her is a waste of good food. Remember that wasted food tomorrow as you suffer in your quarters. Remember the calories you could have had if you hadn't been so flighty and disrespectful."