**Note: As my story is still in the making, all names, places, and events may be subject to change.**

Cressida felt like weeping with Faeryn.  The girl’s despair was almost too much to take.  “But Faeryn, can’t you see that if you will choose to become a woman, you will be able to make the world a safe and happy place – a wonderful place – for others who will depend on you?  The love and the security you give will last forever in the lives of those you help.  It stays though outward beauty fades, and it makes you truly beautiful.  Think beyond yourself, Faeryn.  As long as you live to serve others, you will never be unhappy or lonely.  Don’t join with the women you know in being vain and superficial; be the difference.  Be the one that changes the world.”

            Faeryn lowered her head.  “I can’t,” she said.  “It is impossible.”

            “Do not think that,” said Cressida.  “Think back to when you were younger.  You pretended that you were grown up and were married, even though it wasn’t real.  But eventually you did grow up and get older.  Now, even though it seems futile, pretend that you can really make a difference, and head for that goal.  Even if you only go a little way towards it, that is better than if you just stood still.”

            “Yes,” Faeryn said.  “That is better than nothing.”

            “Now,” Cressida said, “choose the road that seems the best for you and for others, not just the one that you want.  In a way it is better that you truly desire neither, for your choice will be easier.”

            Faeryn stood up, to emphasize what she was going to say.  “I…I will go to Byerron and speak with him, even though it is not what my father would wish.  Perhaps he will show me what to do.”  Faeryn hesitated, all her weakness and fear coming back to her slowly.  “I don’t know how I can persuade my father to lower the taxes.  If I try to do that, he might throw me in prison like Byerron.” 

            “Courage, my lady,” Cressida said in a strong, hopeful tone.  “Things always work out for the best.”

            “Why?” Faeryn asked.  “Why do things always work out for the best when there is no one to make sure that they do?  How do you know?  The gods are not concerned with the affairs of men.”

            “I have seen it in my life and in the lives of others,” said Cressida.  “Everything that seemed a setback when I was a child has turned into a blessing instead.  Those things that were hard to endure have made me stronger.  And I am certain that the same will happen with those things that are a setback now.”

            “That cannot be,” said Faeryn.  “The gods are not concerned with the affairs of men.  If we do not sacrifice, they send destruction.  That is the extent of their affairs with us.”  Faeryn sighed, a long, heavy sigh.  “I have wished, you know, that the gods would be concerned with us.  That would mean that we mattered somewhat in the universe.  I wanted there to be someone else ordering things, not just us simple men trying to work our own way against all odds.  But no, the priests and elders of the people have always told me that they care not what happens to men.”

            Cressida was lost in thought, hearing what Faeryn was saying but also wrestling with the issue in her own mind.  “I do not believe the priests and the elders,” she said at last.  “Have you ever noticed when you looked at a leaf that it had many tiny veins on it?  Or a bird in flight?  Or the way water flows over the rocks in the stream?  All of it is so amazingly beautiful and detailed.  I do not believe that the gods would make the world and make mankind and then abandon all they had made.  I have always felt a sort of attachment to everything I have ever made.  I think it must be the same for the gods.”

            Faeryn had never thought about the situation like that, and she desperately hoped that somehow Cressida was right.  She looked down at the floor, hands clasped behind her, as Cressida had often seen the men of the court do.  Surely she has been in need of feminine counsel for a long time, Cressida thought.  If only her mother had not died.

            “I will speak to Byerron about this,” Faeryn said.  “He seems to know something about the gods.  At least, he says that a god spoke to him.  Oh Cressida, I hope he is right.  The gods of this land are cruel and cold, ever demanding blood.  I –“ Faeryn jerked upright in anger.  “I hate them!  They frighten me!  They –“ Faeryn stopped speaking, dropping her head in her hands and sobbing. 

            “The world is cruel,” she said.  “I wish everything was different.”

            Cressida held out her hands, and Faeryn ran into her arms and cried upon her shoulder.  Cressida stroked her mistress’s long auburn hair and let Faeryn cry for a while.  When the tears had subsided, she spoke softly.

            “Faeryn, what you know of the world is cruel, but you do not know half of everything.  Could it be that what you do not know of the world is good, and that the cruelty you know is not much in comparison?”

            Faeryn wiped her eyes.  “I… I… I don’t feel it, but I will believe you.  I suppose in the end it will turn out that you were right all along.  I never can see very far.” 

“My lady,” Cressida said in a comforting voice, “you are yet young, but you have a sort of wisdom that many have not gained.  You will find a way.  Do not despair.” 

            There was silence for a moment as Faeryn pondered over what she had heard.  “Thank you, Cressida.  Would that you had been my sister instead of my servant.  I would have had a happier childhood, I think, if I had had you around.”

            The two girls embraced, and then Cressida was forced to depart to help in the kitchen.  Faeryn sat in silence for a long while, and then she made up her mind.

            She really would go to see Byerron.  She owed him that much, and it was the right thing to do.  Even if her father caught her and punished her, she could rest in the fact that she had done the right thing. 

            And, while she was at it, she would be able to satisfy her curiosity about this prophet who said he knew a god.

Copyright 2008 Cherise A. Do not reproduce at all without my express permission. If you like what I do, you can link to me instead.