The silence shattered with a booming laugh, grotesque and wheezing, rattling the chamber like the snort of a beast in its sty.
"Ha! Ha! Ha! Oh, this is rich!" Elder Gorrim's (The Pig) slammed his meaty palm against the polished table, the wood groaning under the weight. His laughter spilled over, thick with scorn. "A child? A boy barely grown into his boots? That's their proclaimed savior? The 'child of God'?" He shook his massive shoulders, his laughter turning to mocking snorts. "What spine could he have? He doesn't even have the hair on his chest yet! And yet, fools are whispering that the Crown Prince's plan has failed because of him?"
