The Unenlightened Boor

Writers: Eimi, Yvonne
Date Posted: 31st May 2006

Characters: Shadux, Mariss
Description: Shadux asks Mariss to go riding as a sort of apology, but things don't go as smoothly as either of them would have liked
Location: Amber Hills Hold
Date: month 11, day 5 of Turn 3

Mariss pushed her hair out of her eyes and stared down at the rows of figures in the book before her. A moment ago they made sense. Now...
she closed her eyes and tried to fight back the tide of homesickness that engulfed her. Her father was traveling over the mountains and her Hold was gone, and Zelanka was setting her stupid _tests_ like she was some sort of idiot! **Only for a little while longer,** she told herself, **And then Da will take me home. Shards, I want to go home.**

A knock on the office door she'd retreated to startled her, and she looked down to see an ink blot on the page. She swore, grabbed a blotting sheet, and hurriedly pressed it against the page. "The door's open!"

"Excuse me, Mariss," Shadux said as he ducked his head uncertainly into the office. "Am I disturbing you?"

"No, not at all." Mariss sat a little straighter in her seat and wished she hadn't let her hair loose. Shadux didn't need to see her looking unprofessional. "Do you have news from the Hold?"

"Nothing new that I can tell you," he said rather apologetically. "Actually, I'm not here on business."

She set her pen aside. "Oh?"

"Yeah, well I'm going to be riding out to the canyon today, and I was wondering if you might like to join me. I figured you could use a break from all these hides Zelanka has you working on."

**Wait, what?!** Mariss had been under the impression that Shadux hadn't liked her and thought that she was a complete ninny, and now he was asking her to go riding? That didn't make sense. She glanced at the open ledger before her and thought quickly. If she pushed herself, she'd be at a logical break in about a candlemark, and the rest could be caught up to date that evening. A little 'fact finding' mission to discover what Shadux really wanted wouldn't be too much of a bother, then. Mariss raised her head and gave him a level look.
"I'd love to. I haven't seen anything but these walls since I got here."

"Good, its settled then," Shadux nodded. "When can you be ready?"

"I'll be at a good break in about a candlemark, but I'll need to beg a riding skirt off someone and change." "I'll find one for you and have it sent down." He looked at her with just a hint of doubt. "Do you have much experience riding?"

She debated lying, but getting caught in a lie wouldn't improve Shadux's opinion of her. "I can ride, but I'm.. a mediocre rider.
There really wasn't all that much opportunity to at Amethyst Cliff, and I'm more of a walker, anyway."

"All right. I'll saddle Wind for you. She's not too excitable. I'll meet you in front of the main building in a candlemark, then?"

A little later would be better, but Mariss wasn't going to say anything. "All right. I'll see you in a candlemark."

~*~

Shadux spent the next candlemark preparing the runners. He would take out his own Kittitas, while Wind was saddled for Mariss. That had presented a bit of a problem for him at first. Would she ride astride or sidesaddle? Finally he decided she seemed more the 'spirited' type. He rode his own buckskin gelding back to the front of the Hold with Wind following by her lead rope, just enjoying the idea of a nice, leisurely ride.

Mariss showed up right on time, wearing the divided riding skirt that Shadux had found for her. It was too big, and she'd scraped her hair back in a tight braid that she knew would be sprouting escaped tendrils before they'd ridden more than five minutes. "I hope I didn't make you wait," she said to Shadux.

"Not at all," he assured her as he hoped down from the gelding's back. "This is Windy," he said as he handed her the rope.

"Hello Windy," she said dutifully, taking the lead rope and reaching for the reins. She unclipped the lead before using the bottom step on the staircase to the Hold to help her mount, and she coiled the lead rope around her waist to keep it out of the way. At least Shadux had the sense not to try to make her ride sidesaddle. "Where are we going?"

"Well, it depends. How long do you think you can ride?" he asked, blinking into the bright sunlight that surrounded her, tricking his eyes into seeing her features all in shadow.

"A candlemark, maybe two? I have to finish updating Zelanka's records."

"Hmmm. That's not enough time to make it to the canyon, unfortunately." Shadux swung up onto Kittitas' back. "We can follow the river a ways if you like."

"What's the canyon?"

"If you follow the river to the south of the valley, it runs through a long narrow canyon," he patiently explained. "Its beautiful, really. That's where our dam is built which powers the entire Hold. There are also vineyards tucked away in there where the canyon floor widens."

"You've got a hydro dam?" Mariss asked, perking up. "Amethyst Cliff has- had electricity, but I never saw how it was made."

"We do have one," Shadux nodded as he steered his runner's head around to face in the direction of the wharf. "It generates more than enough electricity to light and heat the hold all turn round. It may be old, but it is one of the finest on Pern." At least in his own humble opinion, and in the opinion of the technicians who knew and loved it. "Perhaps I can take you out there when you have more free time."

"I'd like that very much." A hydro-electric dam... she pursed her lips in thought. "How many turbines?"

"Two, but that's enough," he answered automatically without having to think about it. However afterwards he began to wonder just how she knew about _turbines_ of all things...

She nodded, and wondered about how large the lake behind the dam would be. "What else do you have here? Can you see the sea from anywhere?"

Shadux nodded. "On a very clear day on the ridge overlooking the dam you can see that far. Have you ever seen the sea?"

"No," she said wistfully. "I never really went anywhere until-
recently."

"Perhaps we shall have to ride up there someday," he smiled. She seemed much more relaxed and pleasant out of doors. Perhaps they all just needed to relax a little after the time they'd had. "Well, there's the wharf up ahead. That's where the boats and barges dock to load and unload. Its a fairly new dock. It was built right before the Plague. The one before it was almost three hundred turns and a bit smaller. Of course, when they built this one it was for a full and prosperous Hold and we needed the extra space." Hopefully, with Amethyst Cliff added to it, Amber Hills would need the large wharf once again...

That probably explained the strange smell in the air. It was faint...
slow and sly and completely foreign. "Can we go by? I've never seen a ship, either."

"Well, we don't have any _ships_ here, really," Shadux explained, "we have boats and barges though. Tall ships can't come up the canyon. What we have are used for transporting goods, materials and people up and down the valley. Some of our barges are rather large and are pulled by six beast teams. You can carry a lot of goods on a barge that size."

Doing a quick mental calculation - and estimating upward to account for ease of passage due to the river itself - and Mariss nodded thoughtfully. Even if she was a little disappointed that there were no real ships. "What do you transport out of here? And bring in?"

"Livestock, hay, timber, wool, fruit, vegetables, you name it." Shadux was obviously proud of the abundance his home offered. They might not be a rich Hold anymore, but that was more a lack of hands than available resources. Now, with Amethyst Cliff's hands added to theirs...

The Steward's daughter arched an eyebrow. "That isn't very specific.
That could be anywhere, just about."

Mariss sure knew how to deflate the young man's ego! "Yes, well, we have more than most places can boast. And we have some of the fastest racing runners on the Southern Continent." At least _that_
she couldn't turn her nose up at!

"Hmmm." The runner she was on was quite fast enough for her - she'd never really understood the need to race at break-neck speed over rough landscapes. Instead she watched the clouds go by overhead and tried to ignore the unsettling feeling of not knowing where she was.
"Shadux?"

"Yes?" he asked, turning back to her after being mesmerized by the way the light danced off the flowing water.

"Are there maps somewhere in the Hold where anyone can look at them?"

"Of course," Shadux nodded. "In the Records Room. What kind of map do you want to see?"

"A topographic map, with roads and trails added." When he twisted in his seat to look at her, she glanced away. "I- don't like not knowing where I am."

"How do you know so much about _maps_?" he asked, a look of confusion crossing his face.

She sighed and debated asking him why she _shouldn't_ know about maps, but decided that it would come out rude. "For the same reasons that you know how to read maps, I'd assume."

"I know how to read maps because its part of my job," the understeward responded skeptically. "Why would a Headwoman's assistant need to know about topographical maps?"

"Because I've acted as much as an Understeward as I have a Headwoman's assistant." She tried to keep the exasperation from her voice. "I've never been just one thing. I'm a Jack of All Trades and I've assisted my father just as much, if not more so, than I did Vivvi."

Shadux reined his runner up short. "Your father _allowed_ that?"

Mariss reined his her own runner next to his, pursing her lips. "And just what, exactly, do you mean by that?"

"I understand that it is very sweet that you take an interest in your father's livelihood," he said carefully, not wanting to make it sound like he was chiding her for such unlady-like behavior. After all, it was likely she imagined she was helping out her father a lot more than she really was. "But didn't your mother complain about your spending so much time away from your real duties?"

Mariss gaped at him, shocked by the backhanded insult. "My mother is far too dead to complain about anything, let alone neglecting imaginary 'real' duties. Or do you really mean 'suitable'? I have never been anything but diligent, nor have I ever had anyone complain about a shoddy work ethic," she snapped. "I'm sorry to hear about your mother. I didn't know," Shadux said gently. "And if you could get all your other duties done as well as help your father, I think that's commendable."

He just didn't get it. "Why do you keep insisting that I have _other_
duties?"

What did she mean? Of course she had to have _some_ other duties, and he was pretty sure she was not dense... "Well, if you had no mother, who took care of your father? Who did the cooking, the mending, the cleaning and the household chores?" He replied calmly.

"Is that what you meant when you asked whether I neglected my 'real' duties?" she asked coldly.

"Well, of course I meant taking care of the home," he replied, as if it should have been obvious. "But if your father felt you had the time to help, then you must have been doing a fine job and you should be commended. I know how busy my sister was after my mother died."

Mariss suddenly decided that talking to Shadux was like talking to a brick wall; nothing she said would get through to him. He'd made it abundantly clear that a woman's place was in a kitchen surrounded by laundry and brats. She nudged her runner forward. "You never told me where to find maps."

"I told you, the Record Room," he muttered as Kittatas naturally followed. Shards, but she was so _sensitive_! Her father probably put up with her 'helping' just to keep peace with her. It obviously was a skill Shadux was lacking.

Mariss felt herself flush at her mistake, but she resolutely ignored it. If she was going to see the port today, then she was going to have to accept a little embarrassment... and somehow keep herself from strangling the unenlightened boor that followed her. **It'll be worth it,** she told herself. Shards and shells, it had _better_ be worth it...

Last updated on the May 31st 2006

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The Unenlightened Boor