fandomhigh | Library, Thursday [3/10]

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Library, Thursday [3/10]

This morning Cassidy had walked in to a small battle going on between the books on auto mechanics and the books on computer repair. It was probably telling of how much she was getting used to things like this that she just put up shields around the armies automatically. Shaking her head, she started gathering up the books to shelve them again.

"So not the way for proper books to behave," she chastised each of them. "One of these days one of you are going to end up getting heavily damaged and that won't be enjoyable for anyone."

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"It's... a school where they teach children about discipline and the art of war," Ender said, as he racked his brain for the best way to explain it to a Kaeleeran. Hopefully that would suffice. "My sister stayed home and went to school there."

"Like a training camp?" She had read about them in books. So that plus Ender's description helped with understanding it.

"Like a training camp," Ender agreed, easily. "Did you get any schooling while you were still in Dharo?"

She nodded. "Oh yes. There were classes I attended and then there were my tutors in Protocol and Court behavior."

"What was that like?" Ender wondered. "Karla grew up as an aristo, so I'm not surprised she got the full-on education. It must have been different where you lived."

Cassidy nodded, but she was smiling. "I went to classes for the first part of the day. In the afternoons, I'd either do chores with my Mother where she taught me to cook and make repairs, or I was meeting with Protocol tutors. When I wasn't doing that, I was in the gardens and learning about the land. Sometimes I would take my books out to the garden or the woods and study."

"Sounds like your days were pretty full," he observed. Though he wasn't exactly one to talk on that front. "Are you still getting anything from home now? I don't think Fandom offers classes in Protocol."

"They were, but I love learning and getting the training I need to be a good Queen." She nodded. "Fandom doesn't, no, but I've been getting different books on Protocol from home that I study from every day."

Ender thought about it for a moment - and about Karla's words about how growing up must have been very different for Cassidy. "Do you actually wind up applying it in real life?"

"I try very hard to do so, but Karla pointed out to me when I first arrived that what I learned of Protocol probably wouldn't be applied very much in Fandom," she said thoughtfully. "When I go home for visits, I do my best to adhere to my training. of course, I'm studying it even harder now that I know that things are so much different where Shira and Ranon are from."

That... was interesting. "Protocol?" he asked, "Or your classes in general? What are you hoping to do with it?"

"Protocol is how we're taught to interact with others -- especially darker jeweled Warlord Princes and other males. There are times for Protocol to be enacted and times that you just take things on a natural course as they come. It's how our society manages to run smoothly." She frowned, her forehead creasing in thought. "Most of the time, anyway. Apparently there are those that twist Protocol around to their own means or disregard it completely."

"And a deeper study of it might help you find a few loopholes," he guessed. "I know Protocol is meant to keep gender politics stable, among other things."

She nodded. "Oh yes. Loopholes for things like getting out of being fussed at by males are harmless. It's when people try to find a way to ignore Protocol when dealing with each other on an even or uneven ground. It's supposed to offer protection for both genders."

She was a little naive, but then Ender had kind of known that already. As far as he was concerned, no form of interaction was necessarily bad, whether it be Protocol or not, but that the exploitation of the rules they all knew and thought to be self-evident beyond question was probably the problem.

"So has Shira told you anything about how Protocol is used in Terreille?" he asked instead.

Oh, she was indeed naive. She was becoming less so with the more time she spent in Fandom, but she was still naive about how things worked.

"Shira is kind of close-mouthed about a lot of things form Terrielle. But she did tell me that some things on Protocol are not as well-known as they are in Kaeleer. I sent some books to Ranon." She wrinkled her nose. "Of course, you better believe that I get fussed at whenever I do something and forget to tell her about it since she is my healer."

Ender's mouth twisted up into a brief smile. "Well, I think that's her prerogative."

"I got fussed at a lot when I got back from Agio," she admitted. "And then when I went off with the rescue party when that Labyrinth thing happened. But I had to, because Elle is going to be in my Court and a Queen protects her Court as much as she controls it. So, I don't think Shira should have fussed as much, do you?" She gave Ender a hopeful look. "And it wasn't like I was alone at either time."

"I've known Karla for long enough that I know not to get involved when the topic of fussing comes up," Ender said, holding his hands up. "One way or the other. I don't do it, and I try not to criticize anyone else."

"That's because you're an extremely sensible male." She deduced with a grin. "Fussing is apparently one of those things that the genders will never agree on, so it makes you decidely sensible for not getting involved with the topic either way. Of course, when witches are fussing at each other about things, it's probably a good idea for a male to avoid it."

"I put on the pretense of sensibility pretty well," he agreed, then added, with amusement: "But I'd never be stupid enough to claim I really had any to spare. I'm just clever enough to let my roommate handle any fussing that needs to be done."

That made Cassidy giggle. "A sensible person knows when to allow someone else to step onto that particular battlefield. Poppy says that sometimes teamwork is the most useful thing in dealing with a riled witch." Her Poppy had two red-headed witches to deal with, so he probably knew what he was talking about.

"I think we could all do with a little more teamwork from time to time," Ender admitted, "Whether it be for riled witches or anything else."

She nodded in agreement with him. "I don't think that teamwork should be limited to just times of trouble or riled people. It would make the world a lot easier to deal with or understand sometimes."

"It's the way I was taught at school," he said, easily, "To work with other people because if you drag each other along, you might all learn something." Actually, that had just been his own work ethic at work, but: details. "But that might not be the thing you want to hear about the fussing."

"As long as I'm not the one getting fussed at, then it's quite all right," she said with a cheeky grin. "I've always believed people can learn a lot from each other in all situations."

"If they're willing to keep an open mind," he noted.

"And that's the hard part, isn't it? Getting people to keep an open mind."

"Sometimes," Ender agreed. "And at the same time it's just a matter of finding the right language to talk to them in, I think. Most people are blocked up by all the things they want, except the things they want are usually a lot like the things we want-- it's easier, once you figure out what they want and why they want it. That gets you words they can understand."

She was a Queen; somehow he felt like it was important to talk about this.

She would agree that it was important, and she was glad to have someone to talk to about it that could give her different viewpoints than what she was used and what she had grown up with.

"That's one of the more difficult parts, and something that I want to be able to do. The way people sometimes approach things gets muddled because even though they seem to want the same things, language and understanding can sometimes get in the way." She sighed. "And finding a common ground and common language becomes more important as the problems get larger. I want to be able to bridge those gaps before a problem gets that big."

"People can be notoriously hard to understand," he said. "But wanting to make the effort is a big step all by itself. It's easy to get stranded in 'I think that person's evil and that one isn't'."

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Library, Thursday [3/10]

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