I have had this dream many times. Facing Frankenstein's creation, experiencing his goodness and innocence has caused me to recall it...
The afternoon sun shone down on the Arabian Desert.
The heat was unbearable, and the weight of Gabriel's chainmail made
it even more so. Hunched over in the sand, he mopped his brow. He sat
amongst his comrades in the camp, awaiting their next orders. The
Church had sent him, along with the Knights Templar of France, to the
Holy Land to rid it of a people whom they called savages. Saracens,
the men called them. He had heard horrible stories from his comrades
about what punishments the Saracens carried out on their own people,
let alone what they did to their prisoners. It was enough to make a
man decide that he would never be taken alive in this land. Many of
the men carried poison in their pouches, just in case. Suddenly
he spied the lines of men begin to rise as a man rode into the camp
on a brilliant white Arabian stallion. "Who is that man?"
he asked Etienne, a man in his company. Etienne looked at
Gabriel like he'd lost his mind. "Art thou mad, Gabriel?"
he said, getting up, "It is thy King." Gabriel
shrugged his shoulders and remained seated. "He is not my
King." Etienne and some of the others shook their heads
at him. "Thy King or not, he is the one who feeds and clothes
thee." Gabriel finally relented, and pulled himself to his
feet. The lines of men had parted to let the King through. The
sight was something to behold, men kneeling in a wave as the rider
and his splendid horse passed by. All of them. Except for
Gabriel. "Kneel, you fool!" said Etienne, trying to
pull Gabriel down with him. "I kneel to no man." By
this time the company's commander had seen what was happening. The
king had begun a speech to the kneeling men, and the commander did
not want to be reprimanded for one of his men being out of
line. "Kneel, Van Helsing," he said. "I
kneel to no man," Gabriel repeated. The commander stood up. He
paused, then backhanded Gabriel across the face with a gauntleted
hand. Gabriel staggered backward, and he could feel the blood
trickling out of his mouth. "I commanded thee to
kneel." "I kneel only to God." "The
king IS God, you fool. He rules by divine right." "He
is not God. He is human, as are you and I." The commander
was becoming exasperated. Reeling back again, he caught Gabriel
square on the jaw. Gabriel did not fight back. He was here in the
name of God, and he did not want to fight against the other soldiers
who were also here in His name. He also did not want to be sent away
in disgrace. But he would not kneel to anyone but the Lord. "I
give to thee one last chance. Kneel," said the commander.
Gabriel stood his ground. The commander was on him instantly,
beating on Gabriel's face with his hands and his body with the shaft
of a polearm. Gabriel felt something in his back give way, as he
plunged into darkness...