Mar'iya

When it was time for the Governor to ask her hand in marriage, she again interrupted him and began a new tale:

There once was a village of fisherwomen in my land, and in this village lived the old fisherwoman Risa and her daughter Mar'iya. It came to pass, in the autumntime, that the friends of Mar'iya no longer saw her in school and when they asked their teacher about this they were only told that Risa and Mar'iya had sailed out of the bay three days before.

"But I saw her this morning on my way to school," objected Susesa. "She was standing by the gravel stone, watching me. I waved to her, but she didn't wave back. I don't think she saw me because she ran away after that."

The fourth day came as did the fifth and still Mar'iya was not seen in school or on the playground or in the streets. Her friends walked home from school on that fifth day and they talked about her absence.

"Maybe her mother is sick and she has to take care of her," suggested one.

"Maybe she herself is sick," said another.

"Let us go to her home and find out," said the third.

And so they went. Mar'iya and her mother lived in a shanty outside of the main village. By the time the three girls arrived at that little house it was late in the day. The house was truly a single cabin, built on stilts that extended from the beach down over the water. By the time they reached the cabin a thick fog had crept in, heavy with the tang of salt. Walking softly and whispering to each other, they climbed the stairs to the rickety front porch. It was piled high with nets, cages, buckets, and odd bits of rope and canvas. Around the corner of the house they spied a small pier, but no boat was tied to it. Everything was quiet but for the surge of the tide.

They knocked three times on the door, announcing their presence, but there was no answer. By this time tentacles of fog encircled the whole of the shanty, the porch and the three friends. Even as they began to leave they heard a strange sound, like someone calling from underwater. They saw then a strange light emanating out from the cracks of the front door. They heard a small click and saw the nob of the door begin to turn. The door was pulled inward with a squeal because the damp had swollen the wood. The three girls were frightened by this but dearly wished to see their friend. They peered through the half-open door and saw... nothing. An empty room!

"Mar'iya is playing tricks on us!" cried one of the friends.

"Come out you good for nothing!" they cried, half-jokingly, half trying to bring back their courage.

There was a door in this room and the three girls saw that strange light again from the other side.

"Come on out, Mar'iya, we only want to say hello," they said.

They were startled by a crash like a huge wave hitting the other side of that door. And then a second blow but seconds later. The girls were too frightened to move, they did not understand what was happening. Then they heard their names, each one, as from a voice underwater. A third boom broke them out of their frozen fear and when they saw the nob of that inner door begin to move the hair on their necks rose a full length. Even as the door opened they saw a silver light and a puddle of water began to flow into the main room from that door. The smell of fish and salt and seaweed nearly overwhelmed them, but still they did not leave. It was when they saw a hand, a little girl's hand, pale as whitefish, wet and wrinkled as something that has lain in water too long reach out from that other room, it was not until this that they ran. They ran without wanting to see the body that belonged to that hand, and they kept on running until they were safe in the home of Susesa. After being comforted by the family there it was Susesa's mother who told the girls that Risa's boat had been found two days earlier, sunken off of Point L'osbo and that Risa had been found only yesterday, drowned in the sea. As for Mar'iya, she was yet to be found.

The Governor sat like a stone on the couch opposite of Astra.

"Governor?" she whispered.

"I don't like that one," he said. "It..." He shook his head as if trying to evict a bad memory, he stood and walked away. "Good night," he said as he left.

1. Astra hadn't realized how much that folktale would rattle the Governor, perhaps she could use that to her advantage in her desire for freedom...

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