Eye to Eye

Writers: Eimi, Yvonne
Date Posted: 12th August 2006

Characters: Shadux, Mariss
Description: Shadux makes an effort to get along, but Mariss doesn't make it easy
Location: Amber Hills Hold
Date: month 12, day 22 of Turn 3

Shadux grabbed his mug of ale and started for the table full of other assistant stewards when he noticed a young woman sitting off by herself down at the end. He groaned slightly as he recognized Mariss. She seemed almost small sitting there with so many empty seats around her. Maybe she wanted to be alone, though. His first impulse was to leave her to her solitude. After all, he wasn't exactly her favorite person, nor she his, if he were to be completely honest with himself. But he did feel somewhat, and annoyingly, responsible for their little fights. He should be more welcoming, even though she was a bit strange. Maybe he had been a bit too hard on her and her ideas. It wasn't her fault, really, that her father didn't know how to bring her up properly. And he had to admit, she was sharp. _Very_ sharp. She'd make a fine Headwoman someday if Zelanka found no other to take her place.

Taking a deep breath he resolutely changed course and walked over to the chair directly in front of her. "Do you mind if I join you?"

Mariss looked up, startled, and was even more surprised to see that Shadux was the one who had addressed her. She glanced over her shoulder to see if he was talking to someone else, but no, he was definitely talking to her. "Ah- no. No, not at all." She closed her book after glancing at the page number, then set it aside so that she wouldn't appear rude. Not that it should matter - Shadux didn't really make an effort to be nice to _her_.

"What are you reading?" he asked with a nod towards the book.

She lifted her chin, prepairing for a fight. "'A Journey Over the Sea of Asov'. The one by your Journeyman Larstad."

"He is a piece of work, isn't he?" he chuckled. "Although I liked 'The Inland Isles' by the Harper Master Kashard. It was much less technical and much more... romantic, I guess would be the word." Yes, she did have a sharp mind if she could follow Larstad's work. Mariss floundered for a moment, unsure of what he wanted with her.
Why was he talking books!? "I haven't read that one, but I did find Kashard's study of Copper Canyon interesting."

"I have to admit, I haven't read that one yet. I guess I'm partial to our own canyon," Shadux shrugged as he set down his mug and studied her a moment. "You like story about far off places, then?"

She paused, still unsure of his motives. "Yes."

"May I ask what it is about traveling that interests you so much?" he asked as he wiped a bead of ale from the rim of his cup.

"I don't know. I guess... that Pern isn't as small as we sometimes think it is, and that there's so much to _see_. And there's so many different people..." she trailled off, lost in thought. "Why don't you go to the Weyr?" Shadux asked. He didn't intend it to be an accusation or a dismissal, more of a point of curiosity. "With a dragon, or a dragon rider, you can go where you want to go and see what you want to see. Be what you want to be even, or so I'm told."

She shook her head. "I'd never leave my father."

"That's an enviable level of devotion," he said with a thoughtful nod. "Its obvious you would do anything for your father." And by the way he flaunted tradition, it was obvious he would do anything for her too.

"He's all the family I've got." Mariss shrugged. She couldn't imagine life without him. "Anyone else would do the same."

"No, not anyone. I think the relationship you and your father share is quite rare." There were plenty of fathers who didn't care for their daughters as they should, and plenty of young women who couldn't wait to get away from their families. His older sister was a bit like Mariss though, he realized. She had always stayed close to home. "You are lucky in that regard."

She smiled, briefly. "I suppose so."

"So what other books do you like to read?"

"Anything I can get my hands on, really." Mariss paused, but Shadux looked as if he was waiting for her to elaborate. "I like books on theory and mechanics, and history. And the occasional novel." That she _wouldn't_ elaborate on. She didn't even tell her father the sort of novels she preferred - it would probably curl his hair if he knew!

"Theory and mechanics interest you?" he asked curiously. It wasn't exactly the kind of thing most people, let alone most women, would find in the least bit interesting.

Mariss felt herself bristle a little. "It's never a bad thing to know how the world works."

"True. Just... not many people would consider it fascinating reading material." And even fewer would be able to follow them. Shadux had to admit, it was... impressive.

"Yes, well, I'm not exactly normal, am I." Mariss met his eyes in a not so silent challenge. He probably thought worse things about her than 'abnormal' but she suddenly wanted to hear him say them. Having the assistant Steward act nice to her was out of character, and it made her uncomfortable.

"Knowledge is never a bad thing," he said with a shrug. "Even for a woman?"

"Of course." So its back to that then? "Mariss, I don't believe a woman should be ignorant of the world, if that's what you think."

She frowned. "Is that _really_ what you think, Shadux?" His actions certainly spoke otherwise; every time she put her knowledge to good use, he had been horrified.

"Sure I do," he protested. Shards, what kind of man did she think he was? "A woman should be allowed to read and ask questions about whatever she likes. The better she understands the world, the fuller her life will be and the greater the support she can offer her husband and family will be."

"Simply support, hmm?" Mariss arched an eyebrow. "Before the Plague, women Crafted and taught with just as much skill as men did. And they still do at Weyrs and in the North. Innovation isn't limited by gender."

"I never said it was. But that was _before_. The Plague changed a lot of things." Amber Hills would never have survived if things had continued the way they were before. The division of labor had been a necessary evil. Children of Shadux's generation were raised with that knowledge. "It's not that women cannot be equally smart as men, Mariss. They just have a different role to play. Healers are educated in the internal workings of the human body, and Technicians in the internal workings machines. Even so, I would not want a Healer to fix my broken generator, and I certainly would not want a Technician performing surgery on me. They have seperate and important roles to play, just as men and women have theirs."

"Perhaps. But a Technician or a Healer also has the choice whether or not to _be_ a Technician or a Healer. It's not predetermined by their birth."

"None of us had a choice, Mariss. Do you think if I had been asked I would have chosen to be born the son of a steward in a Hold that was on the edge of survival? We do the best with the lot we've been given. That is how it is."

She bit her tongue; he probably didn't mean to call her ungrateful.
Probably. "But you're still privelaged, Shadux. You could have apprenticed, or chosen another line of work if you had so wished. And to be honest, so am I. But the women who wash your clothing, or weed the fields, or clean out the latrines - how many options do they have?"

Was she being difficult on purpose? "_Someone_ has to do those things, Mariss. Those might not be pretty jobs, but they are extremely important. They are the backbone of the entire Hold! Don't look down on them because their tasks are not as educated as you would like. We _need_ them. _You_ need them."

"I'm not saying that latrines should not be cleaned!" Was he being difficult on purpose!? "I'm asking you, though, how many options do you think those women have?"

He was sure she was just trying to make him angry, and he was determined not to let her. "They can apply themselves the same as you have. There are other jobs a woman can do besides just cleaning a latrine."

"And what would you say if a nice young woman from an outlying cot came up to you and asked for an apprenticeship under a carpenter, because she was good with a hammer?"

"And how is she supposed to devote herself to a craft _and_ raising a family?" he shot back. "Apprenticeships take time and dedication, both incondusive to being a mother and a wife."

"And what if she'd make a successful carpenter, but a poor mother? Or if she was infertile? And anyway, there is no strict timeline for an apprentiship, and there is no reason why a mother couldn't foster her children out during the day. Many of the women working in the laundry or in the fields do it already." The Hold lacked workers; there was no sense in having able-bodied women sitting at home gossiping when they could leave their older children with an elderly aunt. He was growing very sick of her turning her nose up in the air. Just where did she think she was? _Who_ did she think she was? How dare she pass judgement on them and their system! A system that had sustained them for nearly two generations! "Perhaps in a bigger Hold you could afford that luxury. But this isn't a bigger Hold, Mariss. This is Amber Hills. The most important job a woman has in life is to be a mother - is to add to the numbers of this Hold just so we can all survive. We don't have the luxury of time or equality as _you_
see it. Women produce children and take care of the Hold, and then men feed those children and provide necessities for the Hold. If you play with that system, we will die. We will all _die_. _None_ of us have options here, Mariss. If you are looking for a better world, you've come to the wrong corner of it. We're too busy just trying to keep food in the children's mouths to listen high ideals that won't come to us for generations if _ever_ again!" He pushed back his seat a bit harder than he had intended and downed the rest of his ale. "If you will excuse me, I have some work to do."

She hoped that she didn't look as smug as she felt. The worst way to win an arguement was to run away, and Shadux obviously didn't have a good enough reply to the notion of fostering to sit and talk it out.
"I hope that you have a pleasant afternoon, Shadux. Thank you for your company."

Shadux bowed politely, but inside he was determined that this was the last time he was going to voluntarily seek out her company. He wished nothing more than she would take her self-righteous, snide self and leave their Hold for good, and never look back. She certainly would not be missed.

Last updated on the August 14th 2006

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