Listen to the Water | FULL SERIES | Wattys 2022 Shortlist | ✔

(36) Taiki: A Song To Welcome

When I return to Roshaska's city center, the meeting I left is just regathering after the evening's Unity Song. I'm regarded with a range of expressions, and people's hands murmur to one another as I take an open spot around the circle.

"What's the news?" signs Dasha. She's representing the Shalda people I helped bring here from the stone forest, and she's been invaluable in helping keep this place in order ever since.

"New arrivals?" asks a deep-sea Karu-Kel.

"Yes." I draw a deep breath. I think I'm just going to have to go for this. "They're allies and refugees, and could be valuable to us in several different ways. The group is... mostly Shalda."

Dasha cocks an eyebrow. "Say more."

"They're from Rapal."

I get the expected startle reactions. Murmuring breaks out around the circle, a stir of voices and covert hands. I'm glad I positioned myself closest to the doorway. Though several people's eyes dart to it, none actually try to leave and go see the new arrivals for themselves.

I grit my teeth. "Hear me out, please."

The murmuring settles. One by one, each pair of eyes turns back to me.

"I've been to Rapal before," I sign. It's not information I'm typically open about, but it has its uses. "And Ande, the islander who started this alliance, went with me. She's there right now. We've seen inside the city, and met enough people there to get a sense of what they're like. Anyone fleeing Rapal right now is trying to escape the fighting, ever since the surface Kels' Alliance took over. They've come all the way here because they heard this place was safe. They're willing to work with us, if we're willing to accept them."

There's silence in the room. Everyone still watches me, some very intensely, others with heads tilted or hands shifting like they want to sign. It's Dasha who's first to speak up again.

"What do they offer us?" she asks.

I mentally thank her. Her people's time among the Sandsingers didn't just give them enough fighting skills to defend themselves. They also picked up the Sandsinger habit of asking what any given Kel brings to their initiatives. I've seen both sides of that questioning, but it'll help me right here, right now.

"First of all, more people for the Unity Song. They all know it—it's universal in Rapal as well. Second, several competent healers, and fighters with experience against diving Kels. There's a good chance they have strong Nekta-singers as well."

I'm glad I asked about the fighters. Most of the group wasn't battle-trained, and I have to keep reminding myself that there are non-fighting Kels among the Ashianti—and Sami in general—just like there are elsewhere. There are just slightly less of them, proportionally.

"Third," I continue, "they come from a city with more old stories than anywhere else in the ocean, except maybe Roshaska. They know stories of times the ocean has changed before, and what might come from all of that. They also know how the open water works, in general, and most of them know several languages. If we ever need to bargain with attackers, or gain allies from other areas, languages are one of our most important tools. These Kels all know Shalda-sign, and most of them know spoken mid-water dialects, too, so they shouldn't have any trouble understanding us."

"What do they sing for?" asks one of the Kels around the circle. "Should we be worried?"

I didn't ask the Ashianti Kels what songs they know. Sar has told me it's not polite until you know someone, given past histories of infiltrators trying to find weakness in the Ashianti nation, or take advantage of their strengths. Usually by threatening them.