Jealousy and Reading

Writers: Heather, Miriah
Date Posted: 12th March 2019

Characters: Thayde, Enamra, Hista
Description: Enamra deals with a bully, then an offer from Thayde
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 10, day 10 of Turn 9
Notes: Mentioned: Jylanya

Thayde

Enamra

Enamra wiped sweat off of her brow as she finally hauled the last bit
of linens to the laundry. It was someone else's day to do them, so she
was relieved. It was so much more than it normally was; she guessed
that maybe someone hadn't been doing their fair share and whoever did
have to do the washing this time would not be happy.

The work at the Hall was hard, but she was still grateful for it. It
was so much better than being hungry. She'd even noticed with some
degree of private pleasure that even some of her garments weren't so
loose around the chest and hips anymore. Not that it really mattered,
but sometimes she liked to think that she was at least starting to
look pretty.

She quickly washed, brushed her hair and finished her duties for the
day. She grabbed a redfruit and decided that for the evening, instead
of listening to the other drudge's for the rest of the evening, she
was going to enjoy the night air. No one ever seemed to mind, except
one drudge in particular, who had taken a special dislike to her.
Enamra preferred to ignore her when she could and avoid her if
possible. Today, unfortunately, was not going to be that day. "Where
are you going?"

Enamra stopped, the redfruit almost to her mouth. "Outside. "

"Well, you can't." Hista scowled down at her, but there was a gleam of
pleasure in her eyes as well. "You've got extra chores today. " She
pointed at the wall, where the lists were posted.

Enamra couldn't read the chore lists and Hista knew it. "No I don't.
Jylanya said..."

"Jylanya said..." Hista mimicked her with a nasal whining twang.
"Well, stupid, its right there. " Knowing the girl wouldn't fight
back, Hista waited until Enamra turned to try to puzzle out the list,
then gave her a swift kick in the rear. She smirked when Enamra yelped
and then shoved her out of the drudge's room. "Scrub time, stupid!"
She slammed the door, leaving Enamra rubbing her aching bottom.

"What was that?" Thayde asked, looking up from the book he'd been
carrying. As was typical for the dolphineer, he was in his swim
bottoms and sandals, shirt hanging open. Today there was a book in one
hand, one that he'd left behind in his quarters and had taken a break
from the dolphin infirmary to retrieve. The slamming of the door had
broken him from his reading and walking, which he didn't recommend
since he'd ran into or stumbled over things more than once while doing
so.

She jerked her hand away from her bottom at his approached, sure that
it would soon be bruised. She turned to face him, looking both
defeated and a bit frustrated. She didn't want to make trouble,
especially being the newest drudge, but it seemed like she was
scrubbing the floors nearly every single day and no one else was. "I
thought I was done for the day, but I guess I'm supposed to scrub the
floors again. Hista keeps telling me that I have extra because I'm the
newest. "

Thayde wasn't sure how things worked as far as drudge chores went, but
he'd had siblings growing up, and he knew what hazing was like from
being an apprentice once upon a time. "Have you asked Jylanya about
it? She makes out the chores, doesn't she?"

"She tells them to me every morning, but..." Her voice trailed off at
the sound of giggles behind the door and she looked over her shoulder.
"I guess she adds more on later when the lists are posted. I don't
want to bother her. She's really busy and she helps me out more than
she really has to." Her face crumpled just a little as another word
emerged, just loud enough for her to hear. " that slut... " She knew
that Hista was talking about her now and swallowed, but still managed
not to cry. She'd heard it often enough. "I just need to get it done.
Excuse me, Master Thayde."

The sound of giggles on the other side of the door continued. Thayde
frowned, sure that Enamra was being picked on but not knowing how to
offer her help. If he spoke with the girls on the other side of the
door then they would only make things worse for Enamra down the road,
he was sure. So what could he do to help? He watched her walk away for
a moment before it hit him.

"Enamra!" he called, taking a few jogging steps to catch up to her.
"Can you read the list that Jylanya posts?" he asked.

As she heard him follow her she stopped, looked at him through the
veil of her hair, then shook her head slowly. "No. I don't know how to
read." She rubbed at her arm before she shrugging. "My Papa said
that..." Hidden, she flushed with embarrassment. "He said that I was
too stupid." She scoffed her foot, much like a child would. "None of
us could. He could a little bit though. "

"Would you like to learn?" Thayde asked. "Then you never have to rely
on those other girls to tell you what's on the chores list."

Endarin had said that she would be allowed to learn, but...She
glanced back and slowly tucked her hair behind her ears to look up at
Thayde, only to dart them immediately downwards again. Could she? It
would be nice not to have to bother Jylanya about it. And maybe she
could help in other ways, besides scrubbing the floors and the tables.
" But the classes are in the daytime and I have to do chores during
the day." She flicked her eyes up astonish quickly. "Do you think I'm
smart enough? It looks really hard. "

"Of course I think you can do it. You didn't think you could have a
baby, but I helped you do that, didn't I?" Thayde gave a pause as he
considered what he was about to offer, since it was an investment of
his time. "What if I tutor you after you get done with chores every
day?"

She flushed even brighter. "Women are supposed to have babies... when
they're married." Which she hadn't been, but she'd done it. At the
offer, her eyes shot back up and lingered longer on his face. "Really?
I don't want to be a bother. " She nibbled her lower lip and then
nodded. "I guess I can try. It might be nice if I could. " She looked
back at the door. "Master Thayde?" She swallowed and shifted
uncomfortably on her feet. "Does everyone here...do they think like
Hista does?"

"How does Hista think?" he asked.

She chewed on her lower lip and hugged herself. "She says that I'm a,
" she flushed as she lowered her voice, "a slut. And that I'm as bad
as a greenrider and if I had short hair I'd look like a boy." She
tugged at a lock of her hair. " And she calls me stupid all the time."
Her brow furrowed deeply. "I don't know why she doesn't like me."

"Maybe Hista is jealous," Thayde suggested lightly. He had two younger
sisters so he knew a bit about how they'd felt when they had dealt
with "mean girls."

"Jealous? Of what?" Her sisters had never been that mean to each
other, even if they were jealous of their toys or clothes. But, they
were little and she wasn't. " She shook her head. She would just have
to put up with it. "When can I start learning? Is it hard?"

The Master Dolphineer took in Enamra's long hair, which had began to
take on a silky texture now that she was eating a better diet, and her
eyes framed with thick lashes. She had more to envy than she might
know, he reasoned. "It might be hard at first," he admitted, he
couldn't exactly remember learning to read himself since his mother
had taught him before he'd ever gone to harper lessons. "We can start
as soon as you would like."

She would have been able to start this evening, but now she had to
scrub more floors. "I guess it'll have to be tomorrow." She sighed.
"Where do I go?"

It was on the tip of Thayde's tongue to invite her to his quarters,
but that raised a little flag. He didn't want to give any tongues
cause to wag. "Meet me in the dolphin infirmary. I'll introduce you to
some of the dolphin patients I have in there right now and then we can
get started." It was a nice public area, he decided, where apprentices
and journeymen came and went checking on dolphins periodically.

More dolphins? There was an immediate gleam of interest in her eyes
and she nodded quickly. "Will Ada be there too? When? What time?"

"I can invite Ada," he chuckled. "How about a candlemark after evening
meal? Does that give you enough time?"

She thought quickly. "Yes, if I hurry and don't have to do anymore scrubbing."

"I'll see you tomorrow evening then," Thayde confirmed.

"Okay. Thank you, Master Thayde."

Last updated on the March 19th 2019

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Jealousy and Reading