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smackenzieIt's dark in the cellar, but Brother Aimeric has left the door open behind him so there's a little light. Brother Peire wishes he had some candles so he could see the heretic more clearly, because right now the man is little more than a shadow sitting cross-legged on the cellar floor.
"Good morning," Brother Peire says, a little hesitantly. "I've brought you some breakfast."
"That's kind of you," the heretic says flatly. "Free food before you throw me in prison and charge me for inedible meals."
"We would never do that."
"No, of course not, you're good men." His voice is sarcastic. Brother Peire is a little taken aback.
We are, he wants to say. We are good men. But he doesn't think that saying so would help the conversation any.
His eyes are adjusting to the darkness of the cellar, thanks to the light coming in from the open door, and he can see the heretic's features a bit better. The man looks to be a few years older than he is, with short hair and clean-shaven cheeks and a russet coat. Brother Peire takes a step forward, intending to hand over the bread and water, but the heretic stands and takes them from him before he can move.
"Thank you," he says, and this time his tone is almost grateful. He puts the bread and the cup on top of a barrel so he can stretch, picks them up, and sits back down. He drinks the water, chews on the bread, looks up at Brother Peire. "Why are you still here?" he asks curiously. "Don't you have friarly duties to attend to? Praying for people's souls, that kind of thing?"
"I, uh, I wanted to talk to you," Brother Peire says. "To try and understand why you believe the things you do."
"So you might have more evidence to present the inquisitor when he arrives?"
"No! I'm just curious. I don't understand. You know God's word, don't you? And the teachings of the Mother Church? But you deny them. You deny God."
"I don't deny God."
"But you - "
"I believe in God the same as you. But my God cares less what I do in my private time. My God is more...." He chews thoughtfully. "I believe - my community believes - that anyone can talk to God, anyone can teach God's laws, anyone can lead a worship service. We believe God wants us to be more... equitable." He finishes the bread and brushes imaginary crumbs off his coat. "Sit. If we're going to have this conversation, I don't want to have to keep looking up at you."
Brother Peire hikes up his robes and sits on the floor, almost knee-to-knee with the heretic. The cellar is small and usually crowded with goods, but it's barely the beginning of spring, and the friars are running low on a lot of things. So there's room for two men to sit on the floor, but not much.
"Will you tell me your name? I'm called Brother Peire." He holds out his hand for the heretic to shake. The heretic stares at it for a minute.
"You're trying to trick me," he says.
"No, I'm not, I swear."
"Your abbot sent you to talk to me, and be nice to me, and wear down my defenses. You're here to convince me to recant in the kindest way possible. I know the Gray Friars don't approve of heavy torture, and I can tell by the fact that I've been locked in the cellar with the onions and the olives that you don't have the facilities to deal with heretics anyway. So they sent you to me to kill me with kindness, as it were."
"I just want to understand you," Brother Peire insists desperately, starting to feel as if this interview has gotten away from him. "I want to try. I don't know why anyone would deny God and His love the way you do - you and people like you - I've dedicated my life to Him and I don't understand how someone can look at me and tell me I'm wrong."
"Funny," the heretic says drily, "I feel the same way."
"I don't want to trick you, or hurt you, or do anything to you. I just want to talk to you."
"So you keep saying." The heretic sighs. "Fine. Brother Peire, is it? You may call me Rainaut."
"Rainaut." Brother Peire tries it out on his tongue. "Are you - were you very cold last night? I can ask Brother Abbot if we can spare you a blanket." The heretic - Rainaut - fixes him with a look that Brother Peire recognizes from his first year as an acolyte of the Gray Friars, the look an older friar would turn on him when he asked a stupid question or made an ignorant comment, when he should have known better. "That was a stupid question, wasn’t it. Of course you were cold."
Either the light is better or his eyes have adjusted, because Brother Peire can see Rainaut's face clearly enough to tell that the heretic is smiling.
"Are you laughing at me?" Brother Peire asks.
"A little bit, maybe. I'm sorry. You're very earnest, aren't you. There's no hidden meaning to your words." He shrugs. "You're young, you'll learn."
"Learn what? How to lie? No. The Gray Friars always strive to be honest, to ourselves and to others."
"And yet you tell people that burning someone alive will cleanse them of sin and get them to Heaven."
"But it will. That's not a lie. Heat can burn the illness out of a sick person - when you run a fever, that's your body burning off the infection - so it stands to reason that a blessed fire will burn out any demonic influence. But the previous abbot wasn't sure," he offers.
"And he's not the abbot any more, is he."
"Now you're trying to trick me."
Rainaut chuckles. "I think I like you, Brother Peire. If I'm still here tomorrow, come back and we'll talk some more."
"But I'm - "
"Brother Peire," someone calls down the stairs, "there are guardsmen here for the heretic."
Rainaut stands and dusts himself off. Brother Peire twists around to see who's talking to him, but three of the Mayor's guardsmen are coming down the stairs and blocking his view. He stands as well.
"Where are you taking him?" he asks.
"Ser Mayor wants him in prison after all," one of the guardsmen says. "He'll wait for the inquisitor there. Your abbot says you can still visit him."
The three guardsmen lead Rainaut out of the cellar. Brother Peire is surprised at how disappointed he is, and that he even feels a touch of worry for the heretic. He knows from other friars, and from general city gossip, that the city prison is a terrible place, cold and dark and damp, and that a person can vanish forever down in its cells. The Gray Friars have never been allowed to minister to anyone there, so he's never seen it for himself, but he has no reason to doubt the truth of people's statements.
He hopes the heretic - Rainaut - he asked for the man's name and he should use it - he hopes Rainaut isn't too badly treated in prison. The fact that Brother Peire is allowed to visit him there is encouraging, but the inquisitor will be in Montagui in a week and there's no telling what condition Rainaut will be in after that.
"What did he say?" Brother Aimeric asks Brother Peire, after the guardsmen have gone.
"That he doesn't deny God," Brother Peire says. "He believes that God is, is equitable." He isn't sure what that means, or rather, he knows what "equitable" means, but isn't sure how it applies to someone's belief, or their practice of their faith. Tomorrow he'll go see Rainaut in prison and ask. "He told me I was earnest."
Brother Aimeric nods as if in agreement. "You are earnest. Brother Abbot gave you permission to visit the heretic in prison?"
"He did. I'll go tomorrow." Today he has work, and prayer, and he and Brother Gueri still have to keep their appointment with Sers Aelinor to worship with her. "I should bring him something to eat."
But that seems to tread a little too closely to coddling a heretic, as the abbot gently explains to him later. The heretic must recant, and how can he see the error of his ways if people are caring for him in his heterodoxy?
"But wouldn't it help him see us in a kinder light, if we were to bring him food and water and a blanket?" Brother Peire asks, forgetting for a second that he's speaking to the abbot of his order, and his ecclesiastical superior. "If we show him nothing but kindness and charity, won't it help bring him back to us?"
"Obedience, Brother Peire," the abbot says, reminding the friar of his vows. Brother Peire blushes, embarrassed at the way he contradicted his abbot.
"Forgive me, Brother Abbot." Brother Peire bows his head in contrition.
"I forgive you. And you might have a point. Bring him some bread and water again tomorrow, and we'll see. You may continue to visit the heretic in prison, as long as you don't interfere with the inquisitor's work. In this case we will work alongside the inquisitor, so we might sooner convince the heretic of his wrongness."
"Of course. And thank you."
The Gray Friars are good men, obedient to their vows and their abbot and their god, but they're only human, and some of them like to gossip, and by the time the later evening service is concluded, everyone knows that Brother Peire was allowed to speak to the heretic in the cellar that morning, and even more interestingly, has been allowed to visit the man in prison and speak to him there.
"Is it true you're the abbot's weapon to counter the inquisitor?" Brother Imbert asks excitedly. "Are you going to convince the heretic to recant?"
"I don't know," Brother Peire admits. "I just want to talk to him."
It sounds like a very thin explanation coming out of his mouth, but it's the only explanation he has. He just wants to know how Rainaut can put aside God's holy word, how he can deny the laws of nature, to accept a different dogma and follow a different path.
Brother Peire is not worried about succumbing to Rainaut's heresy, but he's not sure he can bring Rainaut back into the light either. He's not sure he can cure him of his spiritual illness. But he can try. God wouldn't have prompted the abbot to allow him to visit the prison otherwise, and God wouldn't have put the curiosity in Brother Peire's head in the first place, if He didn't want him to try and reach the heretic.
words: 1808
total words: 7329
"Good morning," Brother Peire says, a little hesitantly. "I've brought you some breakfast."
"That's kind of you," the heretic says flatly. "Free food before you throw me in prison and charge me for inedible meals."
"We would never do that."
"No, of course not, you're good men." His voice is sarcastic. Brother Peire is a little taken aback.
We are, he wants to say. We are good men. But he doesn't think that saying so would help the conversation any.
His eyes are adjusting to the darkness of the cellar, thanks to the light coming in from the open door, and he can see the heretic's features a bit better. The man looks to be a few years older than he is, with short hair and clean-shaven cheeks and a russet coat. Brother Peire takes a step forward, intending to hand over the bread and water, but the heretic stands and takes them from him before he can move.
"Thank you," he says, and this time his tone is almost grateful. He puts the bread and the cup on top of a barrel so he can stretch, picks them up, and sits back down. He drinks the water, chews on the bread, looks up at Brother Peire. "Why are you still here?" he asks curiously. "Don't you have friarly duties to attend to? Praying for people's souls, that kind of thing?"
"I, uh, I wanted to talk to you," Brother Peire says. "To try and understand why you believe the things you do."
"So you might have more evidence to present the inquisitor when he arrives?"
"No! I'm just curious. I don't understand. You know God's word, don't you? And the teachings of the Mother Church? But you deny them. You deny God."
"I don't deny God."
"But you - "
"I believe in God the same as you. But my God cares less what I do in my private time. My God is more...." He chews thoughtfully. "I believe - my community believes - that anyone can talk to God, anyone can teach God's laws, anyone can lead a worship service. We believe God wants us to be more... equitable." He finishes the bread and brushes imaginary crumbs off his coat. "Sit. If we're going to have this conversation, I don't want to have to keep looking up at you."
Brother Peire hikes up his robes and sits on the floor, almost knee-to-knee with the heretic. The cellar is small and usually crowded with goods, but it's barely the beginning of spring, and the friars are running low on a lot of things. So there's room for two men to sit on the floor, but not much.
"Will you tell me your name? I'm called Brother Peire." He holds out his hand for the heretic to shake. The heretic stares at it for a minute.
"You're trying to trick me," he says.
"No, I'm not, I swear."
"Your abbot sent you to talk to me, and be nice to me, and wear down my defenses. You're here to convince me to recant in the kindest way possible. I know the Gray Friars don't approve of heavy torture, and I can tell by the fact that I've been locked in the cellar with the onions and the olives that you don't have the facilities to deal with heretics anyway. So they sent you to me to kill me with kindness, as it were."
"I just want to understand you," Brother Peire insists desperately, starting to feel as if this interview has gotten away from him. "I want to try. I don't know why anyone would deny God and His love the way you do - you and people like you - I've dedicated my life to Him and I don't understand how someone can look at me and tell me I'm wrong."
"Funny," the heretic says drily, "I feel the same way."
"I don't want to trick you, or hurt you, or do anything to you. I just want to talk to you."
"So you keep saying." The heretic sighs. "Fine. Brother Peire, is it? You may call me Rainaut."
"Rainaut." Brother Peire tries it out on his tongue. "Are you - were you very cold last night? I can ask Brother Abbot if we can spare you a blanket." The heretic - Rainaut - fixes him with a look that Brother Peire recognizes from his first year as an acolyte of the Gray Friars, the look an older friar would turn on him when he asked a stupid question or made an ignorant comment, when he should have known better. "That was a stupid question, wasn’t it. Of course you were cold."
Either the light is better or his eyes have adjusted, because Brother Peire can see Rainaut's face clearly enough to tell that the heretic is smiling.
"Are you laughing at me?" Brother Peire asks.
"A little bit, maybe. I'm sorry. You're very earnest, aren't you. There's no hidden meaning to your words." He shrugs. "You're young, you'll learn."
"Learn what? How to lie? No. The Gray Friars always strive to be honest, to ourselves and to others."
"And yet you tell people that burning someone alive will cleanse them of sin and get them to Heaven."
"But it will. That's not a lie. Heat can burn the illness out of a sick person - when you run a fever, that's your body burning off the infection - so it stands to reason that a blessed fire will burn out any demonic influence. But the previous abbot wasn't sure," he offers.
"And he's not the abbot any more, is he."
"Now you're trying to trick me."
Rainaut chuckles. "I think I like you, Brother Peire. If I'm still here tomorrow, come back and we'll talk some more."
"But I'm - "
"Brother Peire," someone calls down the stairs, "there are guardsmen here for the heretic."
Rainaut stands and dusts himself off. Brother Peire twists around to see who's talking to him, but three of the Mayor's guardsmen are coming down the stairs and blocking his view. He stands as well.
"Where are you taking him?" he asks.
"Ser Mayor wants him in prison after all," one of the guardsmen says. "He'll wait for the inquisitor there. Your abbot says you can still visit him."
The three guardsmen lead Rainaut out of the cellar. Brother Peire is surprised at how disappointed he is, and that he even feels a touch of worry for the heretic. He knows from other friars, and from general city gossip, that the city prison is a terrible place, cold and dark and damp, and that a person can vanish forever down in its cells. The Gray Friars have never been allowed to minister to anyone there, so he's never seen it for himself, but he has no reason to doubt the truth of people's statements.
He hopes the heretic - Rainaut - he asked for the man's name and he should use it - he hopes Rainaut isn't too badly treated in prison. The fact that Brother Peire is allowed to visit him there is encouraging, but the inquisitor will be in Montagui in a week and there's no telling what condition Rainaut will be in after that.
"What did he say?" Brother Aimeric asks Brother Peire, after the guardsmen have gone.
"That he doesn't deny God," Brother Peire says. "He believes that God is, is equitable." He isn't sure what that means, or rather, he knows what "equitable" means, but isn't sure how it applies to someone's belief, or their practice of their faith. Tomorrow he'll go see Rainaut in prison and ask. "He told me I was earnest."
Brother Aimeric nods as if in agreement. "You are earnest. Brother Abbot gave you permission to visit the heretic in prison?"
"He did. I'll go tomorrow." Today he has work, and prayer, and he and Brother Gueri still have to keep their appointment with Sers Aelinor to worship with her. "I should bring him something to eat."
But that seems to tread a little too closely to coddling a heretic, as the abbot gently explains to him later. The heretic must recant, and how can he see the error of his ways if people are caring for him in his heterodoxy?
"But wouldn't it help him see us in a kinder light, if we were to bring him food and water and a blanket?" Brother Peire asks, forgetting for a second that he's speaking to the abbot of his order, and his ecclesiastical superior. "If we show him nothing but kindness and charity, won't it help bring him back to us?"
"Obedience, Brother Peire," the abbot says, reminding the friar of his vows. Brother Peire blushes, embarrassed at the way he contradicted his abbot.
"Forgive me, Brother Abbot." Brother Peire bows his head in contrition.
"I forgive you. And you might have a point. Bring him some bread and water again tomorrow, and we'll see. You may continue to visit the heretic in prison, as long as you don't interfere with the inquisitor's work. In this case we will work alongside the inquisitor, so we might sooner convince the heretic of his wrongness."
"Of course. And thank you."
The Gray Friars are good men, obedient to their vows and their abbot and their god, but they're only human, and some of them like to gossip, and by the time the later evening service is concluded, everyone knows that Brother Peire was allowed to speak to the heretic in the cellar that morning, and even more interestingly, has been allowed to visit the man in prison and speak to him there.
"Is it true you're the abbot's weapon to counter the inquisitor?" Brother Imbert asks excitedly. "Are you going to convince the heretic to recant?"
"I don't know," Brother Peire admits. "I just want to talk to him."
It sounds like a very thin explanation coming out of his mouth, but it's the only explanation he has. He just wants to know how Rainaut can put aside God's holy word, how he can deny the laws of nature, to accept a different dogma and follow a different path.
Brother Peire is not worried about succumbing to Rainaut's heresy, but he's not sure he can bring Rainaut back into the light either. He's not sure he can cure him of his spiritual illness. But he can try. God wouldn't have prompted the abbot to allow him to visit the prison otherwise, and God wouldn't have put the curiosity in Brother Peire's head in the first place, if He didn't want him to try and reach the heretic.
words: 1808
total words: 7329
