Byna's Blessing

When winter made me quiet, spring made me restless. I was buzzing with excitement for the approaching summer.

It had been a year since I’d last seen Byna. We had recently bought a hen and rooster, and were going to get another pair when we could afford it. Cadace had given up hunting, saying there was more money in livestock.

Despite this, I kept to hunting. It was useful to have something to fall back on. Plus, hunting was once again an enjoyable experience. Thoughts of Byna and mother no longer came to plague me. I cared only about food now; all the things that Byna had tempted me with were gone. My life became lazy and comfy. Luxury, love and beauty had no place in my mind.

Cadace despaired. I was rather careless, and slightly reckless, often staying out from dusk until dawn at least. The woods, moors and meadows were more my home than anywhere else; I slept in copses, hidden in grass, or in trees. It was not often that I went home.

At the peak sunny times, I slept to avoid them. Humid nights were good hunting conditions, as were twilights, and dawns. I slept and ate very liberally, with no clear mealtimes and no curfews or bedtimes.

One night, I’d crept up into the boughs and slept there. I awoke stiff and painful. I tried to move, but my shoulder buckled. Next, my foot slipped from its hold, and my arms gave way. I fell, quite painfully, to the ground.

Slowly, I raised my head from the mud. Now had been the wrong time to wear my summer tunic; the cold was soaked to the marrow of my bones, and my joints were reluctant, painful.

Cursing, I gave a desperate attempt to raise my whole body, whereupon I stood. A slight dizzy feeling came upon me, and I fell to the ground, leaning on the heel of my hands.

Watching an eagle circle ahead, I cursed Byna, then forgot her as swiftly as she’d come. Raising myself to my feet, I drew my blade, for the comfort of it in my hand.

Walking out into the field, I looked around me. Byna had her back to me, but there was something on the ground behind her.

My curiosity became too much. What would she offer me this time?

As I approached, it became clear she had a scabbard. I rushed over. The scabbard was luxurious, with jewels and gold patterns.

Grabbing the hilt, I, very slowly, drew the sword. The hilt itself was a simple, gold hilt, but the blade was… I couldn’t believe my eyes, the blade was diamond!

As I grew up I was often told of the best materials to make weapons. Diamond was very hard and very sharp. It was supposed to be the best thing to make a blade out of, but I had known I was unlikely to ever see a diamond, or a stone much more precious than a quartz. In my village, iron ore seemed like gold to the fellow villagers. In my hands, I held more money than I would ever hold as a peasant.

The sword seemed to glow proudly in my shaking hands. It was deft and light. It seemed to belong in my hands. This was what I’d dreamt of all my life. My childish ‘need’ for a sword had still been prominent, although now it bulged at the back of my mind. Now, holding a sword, I realised how deep my longing had been. I wanted this sword; I didn’t care about what I was doing or what I was accepting.

Byna did not ask me, just turned to look.

Still captivated by the sword, I stared at it, open mouthed.

“If you do not wish to accept, just lower the sword,” Byna said calmly, “because you know you shall not get it otherwise.”

She was evil, disgusting, I thought, but I couldn’t drop the sword, I couldn’t bear to lose it, and it was stuck to my hand like glue.

The goddess seemed delighted. She leapt to her feet and embraced me tightly.

“I knew you’d come to your senses eventually; you’d just need encouragement, but you’d realise eventually! You shall also get everything you refused, of course; you shall be beautiful, divine, immortal, and you shall never be turned away from Heaven! You may have any, and absolutely any, mortal or immortal you like – a daughter of mine deserves no less!”

Byna laughed and laughed; it pealed like bells in my head, the most beautiful music… Her embrace was tight and restricting. I felt a weird tingly feeling in my chest. She had not had close human contact with every mortal, I thought.

The weird feeling in my chest began to fade. What was happening to me? Weird thoughts entered my mind; I was enlightened slightly, in the sense that I could feel infinity spinning through my veins. This brought on a slight dizziness.

Reluctantly, I pushed the goddess away again.

“What’s happened to me?”

“You’re a goddess. I thought that was what you wanted.”

Holding my sword in one hand and my blade in the other, I looked anxiously at the goddess, who looked anxiously back.

“Show me myself,” I demanded.

Byna retrieved a mirror from a fold in her gown.

Looking, I saw something that looked kind of like me, but so different I reeled. This was unreal – so much so, in fact, that I felt slightly sick. I had aged around three years. My clothes were different, my tunic made out of rich and luxurious materials embroidered with gold thread, and it fitted tighter, so, now, I looked like a woman. There was a woman’s body and a woman’s eyes. My hair and skin were clean and clear, respectively. I saw the same divine quality – now it shimmered all around me.

“C…can you show me your son, if he’d have lived?” I whispered. “What’d he look like now?”

Another look in the mirror revealed a boy. He looked like Byna – blond, and broad shouldered, except obviously flat-chested with short lashes. I looked again, closer, and felt faint and angry.

For, save a couple of features, it was like looking in a mirror.