“Well, after you told us about their legal code I decided to read up on the proper way to communicate with a mer-person.” Ronnie and Doug turned to hear what Steve had to say. “So, the first issue we have, which I am assuming you guys already know about is the fact that they don’t speak English… Really I mean they don’t normally speak air talk. They only talk under water.” The blank stares from Ronnie and Doug did not encourage Steve that this was going to be a successful encounter.
“Damn it, I don’t know why that never even crossed my mind.” Doug hung his head.
“Well… the good news is they do understand air talk and there are a few stories of mer-maids speaking to sailors.” Steve said trying to be encouraging. “The next problem is they live is a very strict caste system, a mer-person is only suppose to speak to another mer-person in his or her own caste, or if necessary one above, or one below. The lower caste member must keep his or her head bowed, and the higher one must look over the lower members head. Neither should ever make eye contact with the other.”
“So how are we supposed to know what caste they are? Or for that matter what caste are we?” Ronnie asked.
“Well, the wizarding community in general likes to believe they are ranked higher than other magical creatures.” Steve said.
“Well that’s bull!” Doug chimed in.
“Yeah I know that and you know that, but I am just trying to figure out what’s going to work for us. The bad news is, there is some belief that until you are a proven wizard, mer-people consider you nothing more than a NEP, which in their mind is less than the lowest caste, no offense Doug.”
“So, you’re saying we may be the highest or the lowest ranked caste?” Ronnie chuckled. “I think we were better off not knowing.”
“Well maybe, but from what I read, if a lower caste initiates a conversation the penalty is death.”
“And you didn’t think it would have been appropriate to share this information with us before we trudged all the way out here?” Ronnie asked sarcastically.
“Sorry, I just read that article before we came out tonight, and you told me to be quiet.” Steve answered with a shrug.
“Ok, so did it happen to mention anywhere in your research what they would do to humans that crossed the line?” Doug asked.
“Well, nothing is clearly documented. However, the tales of ships being wrecked is thought to be the punishment for sailors trying to speak to the mer-maids as they were sunning themselves.”
Doug held up his hand and they all went silent. “I heard voices” he merely mouthed the words afraid to make any more noise. Ronnie touched her ear and pointed with a shrug, Doug pointed to a clump of bushes near the pond’s edge. They hardly breathed as they strained to hear through the forest noises.
Doug started backing up, Ronnie took the cue, and they both started guiding Steve silently away from the pond. Within minutes they had disappeared from the pond, and silently maneuvered back to the dorms without saying another word.
