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[Thrax]

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The noise of hammering, sawing, and general construction filled the air in Alderglen. The temple of the Sun was being remodeled. With Ishtar's blessing, Thrax had decided to renovate it to create the Academy of Alderglen, which would supplant the West Yew Academy that he had envisioned had things worked out differently in Yew.

Thrax spent a lot of time supervising construction, barking orders to the workmen. His former congeniality had evaporated. Setknakht noticed a decided terseness in his words and believed him to be mildly depressed. "Master Thraxanduril, that wound of yours is far from healed. I advise you to slow down and rest."

Watching laborers raising a set of framed glass windows to fit into a second story wall, Thrax's attention was barely disrupted. "There is not time," he said softly, then, yelling to the workmen, "Keep that rope taut! It's too loose; it's going to slip!" But his warning was in vain as the one end of the rope binding the windows together slid off and they crashed to the ground. Thrax cursed.

"Master, I think---"

"Stop calling me that," Thrax turned to face him.

Chastised, Setnakht began again. "Friend Thrax, ---"

"Don't call me that either."

"Thraxanduril?"

"Better. Continue."

Setnakht, normally very patient, lost his cool. "You are intimidating the workers! It is making them very nervous! Their efforts are impaired as a result. Leave them alone!"

Thrax grinned. "Don't be shy, Sek, feel free to speak your mind."

The priest sighed. He hated losing control, even slightly. "You are taking out your frustrations and anxieties on *them.* It is not fair to them for you to do that. Your anger would be better assuaged by talking to me about what you are thinking and feeling, and why."

Thrax sat down on a small, square, pile of bricks, placing his hands on his knees. "I ignored what I knew to be true. I am angry that I did."

"And what is it that you think you know to be true?"

"I started believing in people; that everyone is basically good and will return good for goodwill and kindness. I believed a lie."

"I see. You say this because of what happened the other day, and listened to your brother's counsel?"

"Yes, I guess so."

"I mean no insult, but your brother is selfish and cynical. He epitomizes the direct opposite of what you believed. There is a middle ground that neither him, nor you, are willing to see."

"That being?"

"The scale is grey, not black and white. Judge by ones, not tens."

Thrax sighed. "More mystic babble."

Setnakht was not offended. He stooped to pluck a single flower, one of several growing in a patch nearby. "Look," he said, handing it to him.

Thrax glanced at it and then back to him. "Oh, you're giving me flowers? I didn't know you cared, Sek. But I really don't think things would work out," he taunted, taking it. "Ish would kill us both."

"Look carefully at it. It looks like the others from a distance, doesn't it?"

Thrax nodded. "Yes, they're lovely." He put it up to his nose to sniff and savor the aroma.

The priest pulled up a second one and handed it to him.

"Stop, Sek, or the workers will start to talk."

"Compare it with the other." The similarities were many, but there were subtle differences between them: small tears in leaves, mismatched size of petals, variations in hue. "Without knowing someone, and looking at them from a comfortable distance, it is easy to believe they all are alike. But when you get close to them, enter their lives, become part of their world, you learn that there are differences in them, both subtle and glaring, both good and evil, and a blend of both. Do not judge them all by what you know of the one, the few, or even the many. Judge them one by one and do so only after careful observation. Or you will be believing the worst lie of all; the one you now embrace."

Thrax nodded, handing both flowers back to him. "A good lesson, priest. Give me more time to think on it. In the meantime," he concluded, rising to his feet, "allow me the belief that all these workers need someone like me to keep them on task to earn their pay."

Setnakht nodded. "As you wish. Just go easy on them."

From then on, Thrax's attitude changed for the better again. It would influence his behavior not just to the workers, but toward a good many others as well.