The Maidening Ceremony

Chapter Six - Scene 1

            

"Miss Arilya, how is school going?" Viola accosted as Arilya swam towards the center of the Community to watch the races.

"It is going great.  The infants are so cute!  I am having a lot of fun playing with them."  Teaching gave her a sense of purpose. Finally she could contribute to the Community without being mocked by her peers.

"Cute?  Are you kidding me?"

"You do not think the little ones are cute?"

"Not at all.  They are so whiny, so needy."

"You are crazy."

"You are the crazy one.  Who would want to spend all of their time hanging out with infants who do not know the difference between coral and kelp?"

"I am teaching them the difference."

Viola glanced past Arilya to the fairgrounds.

"How is working with Damien?"  Arilya hated the way Viola always had to put her down.  She could understand they felt differently on almost every subject, but was it absolutely necessary for Viola to make her feel like an infant?

"The healer is so much like you, Arilya.  It is a good thing you were not assigned to him."

"What do you mean?"

"He spends all day worrying about his subjects.  Like, does so-and-so have enough food?  Did we give so-and-so enough medicine?  Is so-and-so getting enough rest?"

"That is his job."

"No, it is not.  His job is to treat and move on.  He is too soft.  No wonder there have been so many illnesses lately.  Merpeople are lazy.  The Community wants Damien to attend to its every need."

"But that is what you are going to do when you are the healer, right?"

"Absolutely not.  Treat and move on.  That is the proper way to deal with subjects."

"I am glad Damien was my healer when that shark bit me."  Arilya traced the long scar on her arm.   Viola's eyebrows arched upwards.

"It would have been better to be someone like me.  He let you come all the time and see that Finley boy.  If I had been the healer, that would not have happened."

"I am glad he let me!" Arilya's voice rose of its own accord.  "Finley became my best friend."

"Exactly my point.  Mermaids and mermen are not supposed to be friends."

"Here we go again.  I do not care if the Community does not like it or if you do not like it.  I am never going to stop being friends with him."

"You will have to eventually."

"Why?  Because we will both be married?"  Arilya realized her voice had gotten to the same decibel as a small merphan excited to watch a race for the first time.  Forcing calm, she continued, "Because we have already talked about that and I do not think it will be a problem."

"That is not what I meant.  He is a hunter now.  Or training to be one, at least.  He could easily be killed on the hunt.   It would be smarter of you to put some distance between yourselves now.  Mermaids do not become friends with mermen because they never know when the hunters are going to leave for good."  Viola patted Arilya's shoulder, no doubt thinking she had been helpful, and swam away.  Arilya's stomach churned.  She knew the dangers of Finley's assigned career, but hearing her friend treat them as inevitable caused her more anguish than she could bear.  She decided to skip the races, unable to face the Community when all she could think was how miserable she would be if anything happened to Finley.  He was her bright spot, her hope for fun and laughter.  Without him, what would she do?  How would she go on?