“That’s a good question. I wonder…” Sister Grape truly seemed to not know, even though it was her own self they were talking about.

Maybe it was wash day: Sister Grape sat down (rather gracelessly) on a barrel next to a basket into which many a vestment had been tossed. Kicking her legs, she cast her eyes around the temple grounds, then looked up at the blue sky. “Probably…because I know.”

“Know what…?”

Sister Grape smiled and gave her “little sister” a proficient wink. “That I’m not any goblin’s daughter.”

“So let others make idiots of themselves jabbering if they want! They don’t know anything—they just talk, talk, talk. That’s all it is.” She smiled.

“There’s something else, too. You can worry, or you can rage, or you can cry—but you’ll still get hungry in time, and if someone tickles you, you’ll still laugh. So you’re best off just enjoying yourself—and it’s the moral way, too.”

“…”

Priestess didn’t understand. She didn’t understand, but it seemed like something very, very simple somehow. For it had been piling up and piling up, ever since she could remember.

Sister Grape leaned over on her barrel to look Priestess in the face. The young woman blinked and found herself confronted with eyes that could have sucked her in. She drew breath.

“You remember the teachings of our goddess. Remind me of the most important one?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Priestess nodded. There wasn’t an ounce of hesitation. “Protect, heal, save.”

“Very good.” Sister Grape grinned. Her smile was as beautiful and untroubled as a clear sky; it sprang from a sincerely happy heart. “If you ever feel lost, just follow that teaching. Who cares what anybody says? We have the goddess on our side!”

“…Yes, ma’am.” Priestess nodded again. “Yes, ma’am!” She nodded more firmly.

“Then follow the path straight and true!”

“Yes, ma’am! I will! I’m off to my adventure now.” She nodded again, even more emphatically, and then raced away. Her sounding staff was jangling as she turned half around, holding her cap to her head, and bowed. “Um!” She wasn’t certain what to say but “Thank you—very much!”

“You’ve got it backward.” That should be my line.

Priestess bowed once again to her amused older sister and then started off.

She had worries. She had hesitations. But she no longer cared about them. What she had to do and how to do it: She had learned those things long, long ago and had gotten this far by putting them into use. Maybe it was something she had simply become accustomed to, but she was certain now.

This path she walked must be what people called faith.