Crises of Faith
By Elizabeth L. Brooks
The c**k churned in her and Faith made the noises the c**k’s owner expected, but in truth, she barely felt it. It couldn’t touch the burning, couldn’t slake the need.
She’d tried, God’s witness, she had. The burning had come on her along with her moonblood, but she’d pushed it from her thoughts, concentrated on her crafts and her skills and her lessons, and she’d held it off two full years before her oldest brother had caught her trading kisses with one of his cronies behind the gooseberry patch. She hadn’t lied, not quite, but she’d let Thom and their parents think it had gone further than that, and before another year was out she’d been wed to Nicholas.
The first weeks had been jolly, but then Nick had lost interest and Nick’s mam had started or
