EFFECTS OF OPENNESS / CH. 2: MORE ABOUT LARA
JAMES'S FIELD DOME, JUNE 22ND FRISOL
[James, is that your field?] Karella's voice reached him.
[Yes, this is my field, these are my potato plants {image}, they are growing very well. I will be able to harvest some of the tubers in a few months.]
[Not all?]
[It is better to leave them longer, but the small ones have a good taste. And this is Margaret, my fiancée.{image}]
[Congratulations, Margaret. Know that I am called Karella, and I serve on the high council of Atlantis, and today I call you James and Margaret, because I call all who have gone out from us, and their children and their children's children. I know you cannot come, but still, the invitation is extended, to all of our blood, to help us who hide decide if that time should be over. The end of Atlantis may be near.]
[{shock!}How?]
[The interceptor is coming, it has been confirmed. It aims straight for us, and there is a chance it will explode as it hits the water. That shock wave could crack the dome, if we were still here. The reactors were being serviced, I did not remember when I last spoke to you, James. My husband and the other atom-workers rebuild them as quickly as they can, but... you know the song of the engines, James. There is risk, especially a risk when they are assembled in haste. If the engines cannot be started, and Atlantis does not burn, then the navy of the deeps and shallows will try to move our home, and that will not be quiet. We will be discovered, even with city's own engines, detection is likely, because we cannot move slowly, and nor can we fake such a large earthquake. So, at the command of the council, I invite all home, even those who cannot come, to help us decide if we seek to stay hidden or make ourselves known to the world before moving, so that no submarine commander commits genocide from fear.]
[I do not envy you that decision.] Margaret thought.
[You cannot see your ancestral home with your own eyes, Margaret, so I send you the view from the top of the council tower. This has been our city for a thousand years and more,{image}, here we have studied and lived and stayed safe{image}. Genocide is still possible, but it will not be complete, I know, because you are there. Guard our heritage well, James, and teach Margaret all things. Warn her what is inevitable in case of genocide. There is not time to defuse Thomas Bombbuilder's legacy, even if the council so voted. And do pray for us.]
[We will, High Councilor.] James assured her.
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A FEW MINUTES LATER
[Antimatter bombs.] Margaret thought, after James had explained.
[Yes. The power battery for the space-submarines, turned to a nightmare weapon. The space submarines probably would have worked, you realise, but land-men had invented intercontinental missiles and launch-detection satellites, it was too big a risk to ever build them. But the forcefields for power had already been designed, and some built. It was the time of mutually assured destruction, and increasing paranoia in the world's military. To make the bomb was only a few simple changes to the driver circuit. All that was needed really, was a circuit that would turn off the forcefield, under the right conditions.]
[Those being that Atlantis sent out some signal?]
[No. It was never meant as a weapon of war, but as a deterrent. Each bomb has a detector, and the detector listens for a signal from Atlantis, which varies, and modifies, but the rules are programmed. If that signal does not arrive, there is a second way it detects that Atlantis exists, and a third, and a fourth, we did not want any one problem to cause devastation. But if Atlantis is gone, then the bombs will self-trigger. They are a horrible weapon, no one is proud of them, but land-men still do not have the technology to stop them. They are our last defence, if we are threatened. We know we would loose an interspecies war, this was the way our ancestors chose to avoid one, at the heart of the cold war, and a time of great fear.]
[I don't like them.]
[Nor do I. Nor did Thomas Bombbuilder, when he'd thought about it more, but his arguments against them them were weighed against the arguments he'd made for them, and the Council insisted he continue. He could have refused, taken an oath to build no more, but he didn't. Part of the reason was that the bombs can communicate with each other. They don't normally of course, but they can. If there aren't enough, then that line of safety is removed. And also... the bombs are powered by the antimatter they contain. There is a... family legend, a rumour, that he told his grandson he did not put much antimatter in the last ones he made. I don't know if it is true, I don't know how if it's even possible to find out, without dismantling the bombs.]
[How do you dismantle an antimatter bomb? Doesn't that just make it blow up?]
[You remove the trigger device, and then you have a nice and safe antimatter battery.]
[I'm not sure any antimatter battery ought to be considered safe.]
[We build to last, Margaret. We have no interest in consumerism and waste. Our components do not fail like land-men's do, because there was deliberately not enough of this or that in the mixture.]
[But still...] Margaret protested.
[The antimatter powers the circuit. If the forcefield weakens, it gets more power, but properly designed, it does not take much to keep the forcefield going. Plus of course, there is a second forcefield protecting the circuit board, too, to protect from impact, water, insect or radiation.]
[You sound like you studied them.]
[I was interested in coming to Mars, even before I left home. I can't say I knew I'd meet you here, but I'm very glad I came.]
[But Karella spoke of the your reactors destroying Atlantis.]
[The high councillor has told me she did not pay much attention in school, love. I'll teach you the song she referred to, but the verse about Atlantis burning has been out of date since Sathzakara's time.]
[James, I've not asked, but she spoke of Atlantis being a thousand years old. How far back does your history go? How long have my ancestors been two separate peoples?]
[History or Myth? We have never had a dark age, Alexandria's library burned, but Atlantis' never did, and our curators look after its treasures well. We started to hide after Rome declared war on us, for they feared us and tried to hunt us to extinction. We have their declaration of war. We were a separate people back then, and before. We have treaties signed by Rameses, with Agamemnon, with Priam, and with the first rulers of Athens. They are all in our library.]
[Wow. And before then?]
[Let me teach you of beginnings then, my beloved, when the world was young. As mankind spread out through the land of Nod, Havilah, Ophir and Shinar, Yah, the judge of all the world, spoke to the first of our people. He gave them the secret of the potion, and told them: your brothers will rule over the animals of the land, but they cannot see the leviathan at play. And he named us sea people, and told us to be strong and courageous, and rule over the fish of the sea. Thanks to the potion we could dive and swim, and catch fish, and thanks to our knives and spears the sharks feared us and the crocodiles avoided us. After the flood, which is another story, we became two people, the Outer Mer and the Inner Mer. The Outer Mer were stronger for they lived along the coast of the Atlantic, the Inner Mer stayed in the protected waters of the Mediterranean, and had more children. And it came to pass there was war between the Outer Mer and the Inner Mer. And none won. Then the Outer Mer said why do we fight, when we are brothers. One on one we beat you, but you outnumber us, and it has always been this way, no one ever wins. So why do we do battle just to give our sons and daughters to feed sharks? And a peace treaty was agreed, and the Outer Mer swore never to do war against their brothers. But the king of the Inner Mer dealt treacherously with them and broke his oath, and he ordered his soldiers to attack, to wipe out the outer Mer. Not all his soldiers attacked, some were true to their oaths, but many many Outer Mer died that day, and as they died they pleaded to Yah, who is judge of the living and the dead. And Yah sent sharks with no legs, and they killed the sharks with two legs, the Inner Mer who had broken their oaths. And after the killing was over a new oath was taken, the beginning of the law: an oath must be kept, because an oath-breaker is shark or sharkfood. And there were some of the soldiers who had not died, and they asked, what of us? And so there was the second part of the law of all Mer: not all sharks need killing, only the dangerous ones. And the soldiers threw down their spears and said we are not dangerous. And the women-folk asked, then who will protect us from the shark and the crocodile and the land-men? And the men said 'we will hunt, and use our muscles to bring home the game, and fight to defend our loved ones if we must, if the battle presses in hard, but we will not daily go armed for battle. We have been sharks, we will not be dangerous ones.' And they took an oath, and an oath must be kept. So the women picked up the spears and blowpipes, and the men of the outer mer taught them to fight, but would not fight themselves unless the battle was hard pressed, either. And so it is that the merwomen are warriors, and the mermen hunters. But all will kill a dangerous shark, if it has no legs or two legs or more. And that is the end of this tale.]
[Thank you, James. It's a lovely story.]
[The outer mer do not have webbed feet, and are stronger, but they are few among us.]
[{shock}Webbed feet?]
[Yes. Almost all Mer have webbed feet — if you look at my toes you might see scars where my webs were surgically removed before I came. We also have aquatic-mammal muscles, and compared to land-folk we have better memories, quicker reactions, better language abilities, poorer concentration, an innate desire to swim, and the ability to hear where fish are under water, or navigate in the dark. That's why I spoke of interspecies war. We're a subspecies. Closely related, of course, or you wouldn't be my tenth cousin. Oh the other thing... Mer genes tend to be dominant. It's not guaranteed, but expect our kids to have webbed feet, and want to spend their every moment terrorizing fish in that pool I want to make.]
[I thought that was just a dream.]
[I think that if Atlantis is going to be making itself known, then there ought to be a proper mer embassy here, with somewhere decent to swim. I'll talk to Karella about it if she calls. Also, I'd love to have my rock-cutter.]
[Rock-cutter?]
[Little hand-held fusion-powered laser cutting tool. Excellent for slicing holes in rock or carving and engraving. It'd make building a proper swimming pool much easier. Not to mention it being really handy for turning rock into furniture.]
[Hand-held fusion power?]
[Practical application of where Simon's hedgehogs should get land-folk in a generation or two, maybe sooner. Make a little cylinder, fill with hydrogen, apply a burst of power while squashing it a bit to get it going and then let out the light at your chosen frequency. Our rock-cutters have a few other forcefields in them to help keep the cut stable. The clever bit is the depth of cut control.]
[Depth of cut on a laser? That's impossible, surely?]
[Told you it was clever. It's all about reflecting forcefields. Don't look at me like that, Margaret, I'm not a magician, we've just had almost two thousand years head-start on you. The fusion reactors powering Atlantis had just been finished when one of our people went to see what was happening near Hastings. There seemed to be a bit of a battle going on. He wrote a funny song about how the Normans were so proud of their fleet of sailing ships, and he was on his way back to fusion-powered Atlantis for a nice warm bath because he didn't like the new neighbour's attitude. We've had forcefields since a couple of centuries after that. Land folk are catching up really fast.]
[This is so strange, James. I don't know if my people are mer or land-folk. I feel proud of my people's long stable history, of keeping records, but horror that your people could plant antimatter bombs. Does that make sense?]
[Of course it does. You associate with the people you grew up with, you associate with the positive things of being Mer. But really, both peoples are your people, Margaret. And in a different way, both people are mine. We're neither of us purely one nor the other now. I'm proud of the way our monarchy is run. The Mer have a council, which normally rules by consensus. Thus when there's an urgent problem, what do they do? Call an even bigger committee!]
[Don't be too hard on them, James. Surely this isn't something you can decide by decree.]
[Oh, they could. I think the average Mer is going to be happy with carrying on as we've always done or overjoyed at thought that soon they might be able to play dolphin any time they like. We're quite a simple people, really. Give us some waves to play in and most of us are happy.]
[Don't exaggerate.]
[High Councillor Karella, one of the most powerful leaders of our people, was once disciplined for endangering the secret of the mer. For a dare, because she thought it would be fun. According to the rumour, half the council apparently thought 'yeah, that could have been me when I was eighteeen.' That's what a serious people we are.]
[I'm sure she's learned her lesson. What did she do?]
[Swam up to a nuclear submarine's periscope and pulled faces at the back of it. From her description, I'm pretty sure it was a T-class fast attack sub.]
[They have two periscopes.] Margaret pointed out.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
[I know. I'm fairly sure she didn't. We take oaths seriously. Otherwise, I'm not sure we're as grown up as land-men.]
[But you said Lara was ultra-conservative.]
[Yes. She considered it her sacred duty as a warrior to carry her weapons everywhere, just in case she got a chance to use them. She also read every law and treaty of our people, in case she got a chance to use them too. The question was whether she'd respond to you with her knife or her tongue. That's how she got her name. I actually gave it to her, she accepted it thought it was a good fit to her personality, and soon everyone was calling her Lara Knifetongue.]
[And you think she'll be a good match for Harry?]
[Yes.]
[Why? She sounds like an absolute terror.]
[Only to people she's trying to change. I wasn't ever precise enough to answer her, sure enough in what I said, and like I said, I didn't like her, or her constant demands for absolute precision.]
[Oh... I see what you mean. Very different results but the same sort of nature. Precision, loyalty, accuracy...]
[I think she's going to find a rock she can really rely on, and he's going to find that precision and conservatism can have their exciting sides.]
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MONSOL, JULY 17TH, 1PM
James's wrist unit buzzed as he was doing his rounds of checking the embassy compound's life support units. He didn't answer until he'd finished checking the one he was on — he was nearly finished he didn't want to miss anything suspect. “Hello?”
“James, it's Ruth,” she sounded tense.
“Hi, Ruth. Problem?”
“Personal problem, yes, are you on duty?”
“Yes.”
“Bother. When are you off duty?”
“Technically, end of the evening at Fiddler's arms.”
“Double bother.”
“Would talking to Margaret help? She's off at five.”
“How much does she know?”
“Karella invited her home and told me to tell her all.”
“She'll do then. Thanks.”
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MONSOL, JULY 17TH, 2PM
“James,” Alice said, looking rather flustered. “I've just had an official communication from their majesties putting all other plans on hold. Why today of all days?”
“Problem?”
“The Mars council are going to collectively think I've gone stark raving mad, but otherwise not really. You're going to be backing up what I say.”
“I am?”
“Just as soon as her Majesty Queen Karella, undisputed ruler of the deeps and shallows wakes up and I can persuade her to release you from your vow, yes.”
“They made her queen, then?”
“You don't seem very surprised.”
“Well, we've been a monarchy before. It's a lot of work for someone so it went out of fashion. If there's going to be a monarch then I guess Karella makes a good choice. The poor thing.”
“Hmm. Simon got some anonymous help with his hedgehogs.”
“I'd heard, Maam. And I must say I was very relieved.”
“Fifty grammes of antimatter,” Alice said, naming another snippet from her briefing.
“Approximately. They were intended to power interplanetary space-ships, Maam, but that project was cancelled and they were made dangerous because of your cold war. We don't like them, but they exist.”
“Rock-cutters.” Alice added.
“A useful tool, though I'm confused about the context.”
“Able to cut a plane from the air?”
James thought a bit and said, “they're not meant for that at all!”
“But they could?”
“I suppose so, Maam. Who thought of that?”
“Karella's ambassador to the United Nations, when an ambassador mentioned depth-charges.”
“Now they are disgusting weapons, maam. Like randomly dropping bombs in a park to try to make a sniper throw down his gun.”
“Apparently, Karella has nominated someone currently here to be Ambassador to Mars. /Apparently/, a little pod will eventually be flung this way, quote 'once they've finished designing and making it, maybe this week,' which I find staggering. It'll contain said ambassador's seal of office, and a few other things, apparently. Lastly their majesties have decided to volunteer me to explain these things to the council and other ambassadors. And it's Heather's school play this afternoon, and I'd promised to attend it.”
“On behalf of my birth people, Alice, I'd say a vow must be kept. I expect that introductions can wait.”
“James, it doesn't work like that.”
“Let me put it another way, Alice. As an officer of the crown, if I make a promise I must keep it. You are their majesty's representative. You planning to attend Heather's play is not at all the same as you promising to. One causes you some annoyance, the other attacks your position as a trustworthy person and there-by undermines trust in the royal family you represent.”
“You're saying it's my sworn duty to attend the school play while the fate of nations is at stake?”
“Nations tend to be quite resilient, Maam. I've noticed that little girls can be quite fragile.”
“Any idea where Margaret is? I want to hear her thoughts on this.”
“Ruth came about half an hour ago and declared that what she'd called a personal problem was certainly work for Margaret. I think they're in the truthsayer office.”
“Hmmm. Come on. I want a body guard.”
“Who from?”
“My self-esteem. It's saying I'm going to make myself a laughing stock, and it'd be much better to accidentally break my arm, leg or failing anything else including my neck. Atlantis is a myth.”
“Well, fictional anyway, Maam. We just stole the name.”
“'Ruth mermaid'. Heather saw, didn't she? And Ruth even admitted it, didn't she? What was that about?”
“I took it as reassuring me she hadn't been the shark she'd pretended to be.”
“Shark?”
“We are a simple people, Alice. We like to keep things simple. Some sharks have no legs, some have two, or more. Most aren't dangerous, but they might be, so you watch them carefully, in case it turns out that they are. I knew that Ruth was a Christian, but by claiming herself a mermaid she was saying she'd never been a shark.”
“Mermaids can't be sharks?”
“Oh they can be, in other ways, but not the sort she'd pretended to be.”
“And this keeps things simple in your mind?” Alice asked.
“Yes. A dangerous shark might attack for no reason, but you can normally tell if a shark is dangerous or not before it attacks, assuming you watch it well. The fact their majesties are asking you to intervene on behalf of the Mer ambassador sounds like they've decided to be allies already, which I'm really pleased about.” James took a breath, “Alice, unlike most countries on Earth, Mars poses no military danger to the Mer, has a voice in the United Nations, and is a small population in an unusual situation. Is it any surprise Karella sees potential for an alliance? But you can't make an ally of someone who thinks you're a myth. I guess that's why you're involved.”
“So, what's wrong with approaching Mars's ambassador at the United Nations, as has obviously happened elsewhere?”
“Pass,” James said as they reached the truthsayer offices, and entered the airlock.
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TRUTHSAYER OFFICES.
“Hi, Alice,” Margaret said, “you look stressed.”
“Only because I am. Have a read of this.”
“Oh, that's interesting!” Margaret said.
“Interesting! Please drop all plans and stand by to be met by someone and go introduce them to the council, when it's Heather's school play in half an hour, and I've promised to go.”
“I told her she should keep her promise,” James said.
“I also need backup, like for example, James here being able to help me convince the Council that I've not lost my marbles.”
“Alice, meet Ruth.” Margaret said, “Ruth is currently wondering if you're talking about meeting her. Ruth is also wondering what she did wrong to be threatened with being made ambassador during what she was assured were the final waking moments of Karella Farspeaker's day. Karella promised her she could have a few hours to think up some excuses. When was this, Ruth?”
“About nine this morning. There I was, sitting at my desk at the council then bam! 'Hi Ruth, the council's gone and made me queen of all Mer, and we're coming out of hiding. Atlantis starts moving tomorrow and you're going to be ambassador, unless you've got a much better excuse than 'I don't want to be.' Goodnight, I need to sleep. Time for excuses and more instructions as soon as I wake up, unless something else urgent comes up.' And I agree with you Alice, how do we convince the Council that it's not a big joke? Not that I want the job.”
“So, Alice,” Margaret said, “you'd better go to the school play, because nothing's going to happen until Ruth gets her chance to argue.”
“I think you'll do a wonderful Job, Ruth,” James said.
“Ha!” Ruth said, and stuck her tongue out at him.
“And I also think I know just the way to convince the council.”
“Oh yes? What's that?”
“Get them to meet you at the pool. I think, Ruth, even though you had so little luggage, you brought your scale, didn't you? I noticed something in the lining of your baggage.”
“I couldn't leave it in the hostel, and it doesn't weigh much, and....”
“Exactly, and it's part of who you are. So, show them who you are. I expect ten minutes of swimming will save a lot of time. Plus it'll be more fun than arguing, won't it?”
“Haven't you seen how small that pool is?”
“Of course I have, but still...”
“Yeah, it'll be better than arguing.”
“And of course you could complain to Karella how tiny the pool is, maybe she could send us some rock cutters.”
“What, next cycle?”
“According to what Alice said, the fabricators are working on how to send you your seal of office, and such like.”
“Oh! That'd be nice.”
“I thought you didn't want to do it?” Margaret said, confused.
“It occurs to me that the ambassador for the mer almost has to have somewhere she can swim properly, doesn't she?” Ruth asked, looking on the bright side of the job.
“Told you,” James said.
“I want a proper knife too,” Ruth added, “what they call steel round here is just useless.”
“You sounded just like Lara, just then.”
“Lara Knifetongue?” Ruth asked, surprised.
“You knew her?”
“Of course. She's a cousin. How do you know her?”
“Urm... her brother was my best friend. I gave her the name.”
“Oh!” Ruth did a double take, and then burst out laughing.
“What?” James asked.
“I've heard all sorts of things about you, James Tongue-tied.”
“I never accepted that name.”
“And to think... Oh wow... if we hadn't worked out we were cousins she'd have probably gutted me. She was utterly convinced you were hers, James.”
“I know. I told her often enough that I wasn't, though.”
Margaret put an arm possessively around James and said “He's mine. Remember Harry, Ruth?”
“Mr reliable? Yes.”
“What do you think would happen if he met Lara?”
“Once she'd launched a vicious attack on him for not praising her beauty enough and he'd neatly pinned her to the ground without hurting her or getting a single smudge on his suit, you mean?” Ruth asked with a grin.
“And then they'd debated Plato,” James added.
“Probably a fully traditional mer romance and babies. Lara wanted the traditional number — lots.”
“I hadn't thought that far ahead, but yeah, you're right, she would, wouldn't she?” James agreed. “Should we warn him?”
“He's never going to meet her though, surely?” Ruth asked.
“That's not what his dream told him,” Margaret said.
“What's this about a fully traditional Mer romance?” Alice asked Ruth.
“Well, the typical Christian romance involves a lot of careful consideration, and getting to know one another, then the decision to marry and then, normally within twenty-four hours, taking oaths in front of a witness or three. Well, normally you'd arrange a party the same evening rather than just grabbing some people off the street. The older tradition was more a case of man grabs a woman and chains her up to be his a concubine and then assuming he's still alive after a few weeks and she decides she's not going to try to gut him for dishonouring her, she might decide to take a vow to stay with him. The council outlawed concubinage after we became Christians, by the way. The older one is roughly like the Christian version, but probably with a lot more alcohol at the party, but the even older tradition, which of course Lara studied up on, was that he would bring her some freshly caught game or a catch of fish, demonstrating his hunting ability, and she would blowdart him, which according to Lara demonstrated both her ability in self-defence and her ability to nurse him back to full health while preparing the feast. He'd recover and part of her vow would be to never blow-dart him again. Lara thought that was very romantic. You really think they'll meet?”
“Margaret and I were thinking he ought to be in on the treaty negotiating team,” James said.
“Well hopefully she's not going to spark an international crisis then. But Alice, shouldn't you be going to the school?”
“Just one question. How come you're telling me this when you're not released from your vows?”
“Because you're not going to violate them for us, Alice,” James said, “you needed to know, and you already know the greatest secrets of our people: that we are, and we have high technology.”
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ATLANTIS, EARLY MORNING, 18TH JULY
“Lara, your presence tells me your Mother has gone to her Lord. You have my deepest sympathy.” Karella said.
“Your Majesty,” Lara Knifetongue said, sadly, “Thank you. I don't understand why you asked me to come, but I am here.”
“Lara, you have devoted yourself first to traditions, and then to your mother,”
“It is true, majesty. Both were what I felt was my calling, my duty. I don't know why.”
“You feel neither have brought you happiness?”
“Devotion to tradition drove away a boy I thought I loved, and my care for my mother was to no avail.” Karella had expected it; she was teetering on the edge of deep despair. Hence this meeting.
“What I want to be assured of, Lara, is that if nothing else, you know you also have a duty to live, to worship God not the tasks you've set yourself or others have set you, and to not make God a liar.”
“Not make God a liar, your majesty?” Lara asked, confusion breaking through her misery.
“I have spoken to James who you claim you drove away. He is engaged to another and in respect of land-men customs they will not marry for some time. But, months ago, before we knew of the interceptor, he wrote you a letter of introduction for a land-man who knows your face from his dreams. A man who has no more fear of your knife than Jacob did Sathzakara's.”
Lara caught her breath, and Karella continued, “I do not promise that you will wed him or even like him, I have not sought the future, but I do believe you will meet him, and I ask that you be as fully prepared as you can be for that day whether it is in five weeks or five years, and also that you prepare others.
This land-man left Mars, where James is now, to look after his mother, and he is now in mourning. James said the image from his dream had the two of you debating, beside the Turnbull ring, so I do not think you need to seek him out, it is far more likely that in God's timing that he will seek you. But his predicted presence reminded me that it is inevitable that land-men will walk among us, not just one or two, but many. You are a warrior, I want you to train others to be as proficient as you are, just in case there is trouble. I also want you to set yourself to understanding modern land-folk customs as well as you know ours.
"You know there is much fear, much uncertainty, yet your cousin Ruth walks happily among them. So, I want you to learn and understand and then pass on your learning. Rhianna, the land-folk truthsayer, will be here for another month at least. She is young, but of our blood, and it would be good for you to learn from her, I think. And remind people: there will be a time soon that we will be playing in the waves and catching fish as we were meant to. Surely we cannot swim or walk among strangers unable to use our weapons properly.”
“What if they do not listen to me?”
“Warrior of the Mer, you know our traditions, and according to those who know you, you have the skills of Sathzakara. What would she do?”
Lara's hand fingered her pipe, looking at her queen in wonderment. “You mean...”
“I mean I want our girls prepared. Do not embarrass those older than yourself, but feel free to aim at any lax, idle and rebellious. I want every maid of the mer ready should some drunken or stupid land-man not respect the law. I name you chief trainer in combat. Choose others to help you, find even those who can beat you, for it is no embarrassment to not be able to beat those wilier or stronger or faster. Some, after all, have lived for combat, not just traditions. Ideally I want everything, and I know I ask too much. While Rhianna is here, I want you to learn from her as a dedicated student, at least three hours a day. And at least three hours a day I want you to be teaching others how to hone their own skills. You have learned much through self- study, pass on its methods.”
“And what of the other hours of the day your majesty?”
“You also need time to mourn, young one, time to practice yourself, time to think, and swim and be yourself. Plus, of course, some time to find those you are to instruct, but I think you know where to find those most in need of instruction, I hope you don't need to dart too many of them. Where you choose to spend your solitary time, and how you choose to do these things, I leave to your discretion.”
“I will obey, your Majesty.”
“I know,” Karella said, smiling, “But do not be too hard on those who have never liked the word duty. After all, a Mer who never plays is a dangerous Mer. But it is not good to think only of playing either. Here is your letter of appointment. Do not dart anyone who hasn't yet read it, that would be most rude. Though of course, if they won't read, perhaps you'll need to make them listen as you read it to them. Now, I think you may need to prepare some more darts.”
“I go, your majesty,” Lara said, grinning.
“Lara, before you do — remember to always have a rest-day, remember to allow yourself to mourn, and to find friends. All those things are also important, perhaps even more important than duty.”