![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
December Free Fiction: Advent Story: Thear Collection: Orla: 967 words
Read the first part of this story (LJ link).
“I agree that it's going to be difficult and our races' identity may change slightly, but I would say there is a lot of difference between change and destruction.” Orla sipped her soup and hoped she was getting through to him. “It might be good for us to change.” She looked over at the group of people who surrounded the priest of Anubis. “Life on Thear would be much easier if all the three races worked together. We're all very different and that's good, because it means we can learn from them while they're learning from us.”
“What do you think we could learn from the Dorma?” Yannis asked, drawing Orla's attention back to him.
“Practicality,” Orla replied. “We're very good at knowledge and learning, but we have very little practicality. The Dorma grow almost all of Thear's food, so everything we get from the Uisdro technically comes from the Dorma. I think it would be useful for us to have our own food supplies.”
Yannis nodded. “How about the Uisdro?”
“I've always thought that it would be great to learn how to fish.” Orla smiled. “I don't know how good I'd be, but I'd love to try. They also seem to be good at getting along with other people, even if they don't necessarily like them, which is something we could do with.” She bit her lip. “What do you think life will be like if we do end up in the dangerous position of not being able to trade with the Uisdro?”
“Difficult,” he replied, sighing, “but we should never have relied on the Uisdro as much as we have. You are right to say that we could learn from the other races. I just think we should have already learnt from them and be working towards being able to be self-sufficient as a race. That's something I don't think we've ever had to do, so I'm terrified that if the time comes that we do have to be self-sufficient we're going to fail.”
Biting her lip, Orla sipped her soup again, knowing that the vegetables in it had been grown by the Dorma and traded to the Tein-Igni by the Uisdro. “Yannis, have you ever thought about living in a mixed blood town?”
“It did cross my mind when I realised what was coming. I just don't think they're going to be permitted to exist if the Anubis movement does really start taking full control of the Tein-Igni.”
“They're going to have to fight the Bast movement.”
“The Bast movement? I've never heard of them before.”
“Most people haven't. Every one of the races has two deities they think of as their deities, and what's happened is that the people of the three races have split into three main groups. One is a patrichal group, led by the male deity, like the Anubis movement. The second is a matriachal group, following the female deity, which in our race is the Bast movement. Finally there are those people who don't want to be a part of either group because they feel they're a part of the Thearan movement, which wants all three of the races to work together.”
“Which group would you say you're part of?”
Orla smiled. “The Thearan movement. I would love to see all three of the races working together, but I don't think it's possible.”
“Surely that would lead to all three of the races being destroyed.”
“What do you mean by destroyed?”
“The Tein-Igni wouldn't exist any longer because everyone would, eventually, be Thearan, as you put it. Breeding with the Uisdro and the Dorma would change us into the Teindro or the Dorigni or something like that.” Yannis sighed. “I'm not sure that's what I want. I like being Tein-Igni. I like knowing that both my parents are Tein-Igni, that all four of my grandparents are, and I don't want to think that somewhere in my bloodline there is an Uisdro or a Dorma, because it changes who I am.”
“So you wouldn't marry someone with a mixed bloodline?”
“I don't think I would.” He looked at Orla and she could see that lack of emotion in his eyes again. “If I had a choice I would much prefer to marry someone I know to be pure Tein-Igni as far back as we can find out. Maybe that makes me a bad person, but it's how I feel and I'm happy with that.”
“What would you do if your wife had a child that was obviously mixed heritage?”
“I would love for there to be somewhere I could take that child to be raised by someone who would love him or her for who they were, but I don't think I could bring the child up myself.”
Orla raised an eyebrow, because that was the last thing she thought he would say. It made her realise that he really had changed. For the first time she didn't feel safe around him. There was no knowing what he would do and she made the decision that she would be best off leaving town as soon as possible.
“Are you a part of the Anubis movement?” she asked, trying to seem normal while she planned how she would leave and where she would go.
Yannis shook his head. “I don't believe in their Anubis, so I wouldn't ever be a part of that religious group, even though I do agree with some of their aims. The Tein-Igni needs to stay pure, but I wouldn't say that we should force that belief on everyone. Some people do want to marry outside of our race and I don't think they should be stopped.”
“What about Logan? Does he have any thoughts on the subject?”
© K A Jones 2011
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
This entry was originally posted at http://kajones-writing.dreamwidth.org/43331.html. It currently has
comments.
“I agree that it's going to be difficult and our races' identity may change slightly, but I would say there is a lot of difference between change and destruction.” Orla sipped her soup and hoped she was getting through to him. “It might be good for us to change.” She looked over at the group of people who surrounded the priest of Anubis. “Life on Thear would be much easier if all the three races worked together. We're all very different and that's good, because it means we can learn from them while they're learning from us.”
“What do you think we could learn from the Dorma?” Yannis asked, drawing Orla's attention back to him.
“Practicality,” Orla replied. “We're very good at knowledge and learning, but we have very little practicality. The Dorma grow almost all of Thear's food, so everything we get from the Uisdro technically comes from the Dorma. I think it would be useful for us to have our own food supplies.”
Yannis nodded. “How about the Uisdro?”
“I've always thought that it would be great to learn how to fish.” Orla smiled. “I don't know how good I'd be, but I'd love to try. They also seem to be good at getting along with other people, even if they don't necessarily like them, which is something we could do with.” She bit her lip. “What do you think life will be like if we do end up in the dangerous position of not being able to trade with the Uisdro?”
“Difficult,” he replied, sighing, “but we should never have relied on the Uisdro as much as we have. You are right to say that we could learn from the other races. I just think we should have already learnt from them and be working towards being able to be self-sufficient as a race. That's something I don't think we've ever had to do, so I'm terrified that if the time comes that we do have to be self-sufficient we're going to fail.”
Biting her lip, Orla sipped her soup again, knowing that the vegetables in it had been grown by the Dorma and traded to the Tein-Igni by the Uisdro. “Yannis, have you ever thought about living in a mixed blood town?”
“It did cross my mind when I realised what was coming. I just don't think they're going to be permitted to exist if the Anubis movement does really start taking full control of the Tein-Igni.”
“They're going to have to fight the Bast movement.”
“The Bast movement? I've never heard of them before.”
“Most people haven't. Every one of the races has two deities they think of as their deities, and what's happened is that the people of the three races have split into three main groups. One is a patrichal group, led by the male deity, like the Anubis movement. The second is a matriachal group, following the female deity, which in our race is the Bast movement. Finally there are those people who don't want to be a part of either group because they feel they're a part of the Thearan movement, which wants all three of the races to work together.”
“Which group would you say you're part of?”
Orla smiled. “The Thearan movement. I would love to see all three of the races working together, but I don't think it's possible.”
“Surely that would lead to all three of the races being destroyed.”
“What do you mean by destroyed?”
“The Tein-Igni wouldn't exist any longer because everyone would, eventually, be Thearan, as you put it. Breeding with the Uisdro and the Dorma would change us into the Teindro or the Dorigni or something like that.” Yannis sighed. “I'm not sure that's what I want. I like being Tein-Igni. I like knowing that both my parents are Tein-Igni, that all four of my grandparents are, and I don't want to think that somewhere in my bloodline there is an Uisdro or a Dorma, because it changes who I am.”
“So you wouldn't marry someone with a mixed bloodline?”
“I don't think I would.” He looked at Orla and she could see that lack of emotion in his eyes again. “If I had a choice I would much prefer to marry someone I know to be pure Tein-Igni as far back as we can find out. Maybe that makes me a bad person, but it's how I feel and I'm happy with that.”
“What would you do if your wife had a child that was obviously mixed heritage?”
“I would love for there to be somewhere I could take that child to be raised by someone who would love him or her for who they were, but I don't think I could bring the child up myself.”
Orla raised an eyebrow, because that was the last thing she thought he would say. It made her realise that he really had changed. For the first time she didn't feel safe around him. There was no knowing what he would do and she made the decision that she would be best off leaving town as soon as possible.
“Are you a part of the Anubis movement?” she asked, trying to seem normal while she planned how she would leave and where she would go.
Yannis shook his head. “I don't believe in their Anubis, so I wouldn't ever be a part of that religious group, even though I do agree with some of their aims. The Tein-Igni needs to stay pure, but I wouldn't say that we should force that belief on everyone. Some people do want to marry outside of our race and I don't think they should be stopped.”
“What about Logan? Does he have any thoughts on the subject?”
© K A Jones 2011
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
This entry was originally posted at http://kajones-writing.dreamwidth.org/43331.html. It currently has