milliways_bar | (no subject)

"You look very comfortable, my son", Cadfael says with a smile.

"Someone give me this." He strokes the soft fabric sleepily. "I've never had anything so lovely!"

"A fine gift indeed. From a friend, or for an occasion?"

"I think it's for this Hellie-ween think I hear everyone talking about. I don't know who made it but I'd love to thank them. It is the most wonderful thing I've ever owned." It's the only think he's ever owned but that's beside the point.

"Perhaps they don't look for thanks", Cadfael suggests. "Or they would have put their name to it."

He strokes the quilt and it's lovely soft fabric. "Still, I would like to thank them. Such kindness is... rare. For me."

"That is a shame. Kindness should never be a rare thing."

"The fae don't always know kindness because fish don't always know the sea they swim in. Only those who have known hurt and hate can know the truth of kindness." He says quietly, fingering the soft fabric.

"...meaning that they are kind by default, and don't understand its absence until they experience it?"

"But men are different. My mistress tells me they are born with holes in their hearts, holes that can never be filled. That makes them lust, greed and hurt."

"Your mistress is right", Cadfael says with a regretful nod. "Men are born to sin, and can only strive to rise above it."

"You believe they can? I have only seen kindness in men here, in this place."

"I have no doubt they can. Not to perfection, that is beyond us all, but to do good, certainly."

"Do men from your world try to do better?" He listens intently.

"Some do. Not all, but that is the way of things - and some men can go from good to evil, or the other way about, over the course of time."

He nods thoughtfully, considering his words. "Thank you. You have given me a lot to think about."

"Do you often have contact with men, beyond your fairy lands?"

"Not within the borders of the Moors. Not any more. One man, he... he befriended my mistress and he betrayed her."

"And hurt her?" he asks, sad but expecting the answer to be yes.

"He drugged her hand and cut off her wings." He can think of nothing worse.

Cadfael gapes for a moment, horrified.

"Why would he do such a thing?"

"To be king." He shrugs, uncomfortably. "The old king hated my mistress with such venom that he swore any man who could kill her would have the crown. He took her wings as proof but she is strong and lived, maimed as she is."

"But will never fly again." That strikes him as terribly sad.

He shakes his head sadly. "She wants to do what is right and protect her people but she has so much rage, so much hurt."

"Does she have a channel for it? If her people are in danger..."