I don't believe Griffith considered any of the hawks as friends as he said
now I think I understand why he did sacrifice Gutts, if that's what actually happened. Griffith has a tremendous ambition, he thought the highest he could get is by becoming a king. however, when he knew there's more or he could be more, he used every mean to go there
it's so heartbreaking to see all the sh** Gutts went through, especially that look after he heard what he thought was his friend, when he was troubled about killing a kid