Posted By orchard on February 26, 2009

This story was written about the same time as Treachery (summer 1999) and is one of my favorites from that time period. It speaks to me about the power of a single individual to change another individual’s life. I think we run into people like that a lot in our own lives without really knowing it. Oh, and as a note, the name Eia probably needs a bit of explanation in order for English speakers to pronounce properly, even though it is dead simple. You see, I spent about 18 months in Portugal, and the name is built using Portuguese pronunciation rules. Thus, the ‘ei’ is pronounced as a long a, as in hay or way, while the the last letter is simply tacked on the end as a short ‘a’ like the a in about. Ei-a. Emphasis on the first syllable. It means, roughly, behold. I leave it to native speakers to work out details such as voice other grammatical nitpicks. It is a word seen rarely outside scriptural Portuguese writing. I think it beautiful. Oh, and by the way, I hope you enjoy the story.  Comment are open.

Once, in the distant eastern lands, a very noble thing happened, and this story will try to tell the wonder. Yet no one knows exactly what happened, or what caused it. Rumors ran rampant for years after, but the truth of what changed in a bitter young man may never be known. So, while there are many versions of what happened, this is the tale I like the best. Nobody told me this version, but many have heard it from my lips and they will hear it again before all is done.
Shad was a young man like many others—strong, active and more than a little mischievous. He was different in one very important way, and this difference made him the talk for miles. Some people pitied him, but most held a deep dislike for Shad. True, he was handsome, and even successful as a blacksmith, but he was more than a little surly, and the tales he told to other young men were usually lewd and bawdy, or sometimes dark, and frightening. Everyone knew that his attitude toward life was cynical, and his bitterness turned heads.
One time he was found making a flawed hammer. When confronted he lashed out at the man who called him to own up. He broke arms, and noses, with his sudden attack. The time he spent in the stocks only seemed to embitter him further.

After that people accepted his sometimes flawed work as a matter of course. His only further comment was that the people buying from him were flawed, so they didn’t deserve equipment better than they were. This bitterness extended to every aspect of his short life. Customers always had to wait before he would acknowledge them, and his work was always late. The area had no other blacksmith, and so they couldn’t go anywhere else and Shad always complained that there was too much work and that no one was ever grateful for his ability or work.
Strangely enough he was never short on business, but he complained that he never had time to spend his hard-earned money. As a result he was extremely wealthy. In turn this made him suspicious of everyone. Anyone caught lingering was a thief in his mind, and those who were nice to him were mere opportunists who wanted nothing but his money.
Despite Shad’s attitude there was no shortage of pretty young ladies who thought they could change him. These he shunned more than the rest, claiming loudly that all they wanted was his wealth. Nothing, it seemed, would help Shad, for he did not want help.
Yet all that was destined to change. As I said before, no one is certain why, or exactly when it began, because it wasn’t all at once. I believe, although some would disagree, that it started on the day that Eia came to town.
Eia was a stranger, but one that everyone instantly liked. She was young and beautiful, and yet far from arrogant. Some thought her a princess, but there was never a princess like Eia; for all her sweet smiles and kindly ways, Eia was a wild spirit, the kind of girl that refused to learn any of the normal things that a girl learned in that village.
Of sewing and needlecraft she knew nothing, and the only cooking she did was over a campfire. Medicine was a foreign thing to her, unless it was to dress battle-wounds. In fact her only skills were those that were usually only learned by woodsmen, hardened soldiers and the deadliest of fighters. She could hunt and kill any prey, and her skill with the bow was unsurpassed by any. The first day she was seen she got into a fight with Shad. It happened like this:
Early one morning she appeared in his shops and woke him, for that was where he slept, having no family or friends. She demanded that he make her a sword, and paid him gold for his immediate work. Scowling, he agreed to forge the weapon, but when she returned for it, he had not yet begun. The normally sweet girl, who had already endeared herself to the innkeeper and his family, turned furious. Coldly she demanded that Shad begin immediately, and she was going to stay and watch. The dour young man only laughed bitterly, and cursed loudly, saying she could wait like all the others. Eia had had enough, and told him that he would start immediately or return her gold.
Shad had never had anyone stand up to him, and girl or no, he wasn’t going to let anyone start. Swinging his fist, he intended to teach her who was going to win every conversation. The fight was short, and Shad was beaten in the blink of an eye. He agreed to her terms, cursing the whole while. The sword was made quickly, despite his broken nose and stiff that Eia provided for him. Was she hurt? Not at all, and when she commented to others that Shad must have lost a lot of fights because of his lack of skill, she did so innocently.
That turned heads. Shad was generally acknowledged as the best. When someone pointed this out, Eia only laughed, saying that he fought like a half-dead lap dog. Two days later someone mentioned this to Shad, who grabbed his sword, determined to show this upstart girl what he could do. He found her teaching some children how to shoot a bow. Screaming he attacked her, only to find that she was his better. He lost his sword quickly, and she gave him a scar to wear for his attempt.
I have been asked many times why this didn’t make things worse. Some people ask if they were married, and lived happily ever after. I can’t say why this didn’t further embitter Shad, but I do know they never married. In fact, shortly after that, Eia left for two years.
During that time, Shad changed somewhat. For the first time someone had proven they were better at fighting than him. Soon Eia became a fantasy for him. No, he did not love her. Quite the opposite in fact. He dreamed constantly of how to defeat her. Then one day he heard a tale of her, and thought to follow it. Here—here was his chance for revenge! Finally he could fight her and show her his skill. So he left, riding north into the mountains.
Four months he was gone. Some say this is when he changed, but I know that even once he returned he was still bitter, but something did happen while he was gone. He traveled for a month, following rumors of her location. It seemed that everyone knew her name, and everywhere he went people only spoke the best of sweet Eia.
“Oh!” they would exclaim. “You are looking for Eia? She was here but a month past. She went to the duke’s castle.”

At the castle he would be told that she was gone for some days, but wasn’t she a sweet girl? No, they didn’t know where she went, but it was to the south. Riding hard he found she had gone north again. So went the whole time, until he found himself lost in a blizzard. Heavy snow mired his horse, and he shivered bitterly.
That night found him shivering. His horse had died, and this was death coming for him. As blackness found him and he prepared to die, his bitterness struck him. Grudgingly he admitted his pain, and recognized that he was unhappy. It may have been hours or minutes, but somehow he was found and when Eia brought him to the shop where he had once worked, everyone stopped and stared. No one doubted that he hated her, but here she brought the half dead man and nursed him back to health. When he gained his health, she was gone. During this time is when I believe he changed the most. He saw the days pass, and everyone came to help, never asking for anything in return.
Months and years passed, but everyone who helped him found, with no payment, much needed tools repaired or made without asking. Slowly, people noticed the change in Shad. He was still surly, but tools were made better than ever before. Prices dropped, and service improved. Nobody mentioned it to Shad more than once. Then it happened, all at once. Eia returned, this time in a beautiful dress instead of leather armor. This time she had a young groom, and their child was a year old. Everyone waited for Shad to attack her, but she went into his shop alone, and was gone five minutes. When she came out she was smiling. She and her husband left promptly.
I have never found out what was said, but Shad was never the same. He only saw Eia twice more. A year after his final change he married, and she appeared at the wedding, wished them luck and was gone. Shad did live happily after that, and although his beautiful wife asked many times, he never told her what had been said in those magical five minutes. Yet she was grateful for Eia. Shad never mistreated her, and was a perfect gentleman to everyone. His service to those around him became legendary, and was given a magnificent funeral. Thousands came to see him, and his grave is clearly marked.
Yes, a noble thing happened, for a heart was changed. The bitterest of souls became the most loved among men. There is nothing more noble than that.  What’s that you ask? Oh, the last time Shad met Eia? Why, just before he died, she showed up—still young and beautiful. She took him aside and they spoke.

“Has it been worth it?” was all she asked. His only reply was to take her hand, kiss it and smile, before tears flowed from his eyes.

“My lady, as you say.”

“Good, then your life has been full.” She left immediately, and hasn’t been seen since. I don’t know where she is now, but chances are she is still hunting, camping and fighting.

Categories: fiction, moralistic
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