Weeping Monk POV.
When I was on my way to camp with the Green Knight who was unconscious. My thoughts were running rampant elsewhere, better said in other people. Who was that woman who knew my birth name, and she was a Fey. Why was I jealous when she said the Wolf- blood Witch was with child in her womb. And even more, little Squirrel, that he appeared in my dream and that I had assumed him as my son. All these questions were in my head: 'Oh sir, why do you do this to me, I don't help you by taking this land off the evil path of demons and here I am, having these sinful thoughts with one of your demons why?'
These are my thoughts plaguing my mind, until I entered the fields. We were starting the war, I went to Father Carden's hut and saw that he had a guest.
"We were worried, my son!" he says, taking me by the shoulders.
"Is that him?" asks the guest. "Is that the famous Weeping Monk?"
"My son, his most holy, sent us Abbot Wicklow to observe us in our initiative against the feys" the priest explains to me who his guest is.
"To hear a lot about you, about your achievements. They say you are the best warrior of our believers. Who holds an abnormal speed and agility!" says the abbot, and the priest switches the conversation to the Green Knight and asks me "So, what have you brought?"
"The Green Knight!" I say.
"God will smile today!" he says, happy with what he had. The paladins took the Fey down from Goliath and moved the body toward the front. "He likes to hide behind trees and shoot my men, one died in my arms in an attack on the Minotaur, his name was Peter, if I remember correctly. The poor guy was 14, he was a butcher, he died with an arrow in his neck, swallowing his own blood, are you proud of that Green Knight?" He expects an answer. "No answers, we like that, we have Brother Salt and his kitchens for the quiet!" the Abbot approaches the knight.
"Incredible, he almost passes for human!" he says, impressed by Fey.
"Some look like humans, and that's how they spread. Whether burned alive or by the sword, he'll tell us all he knows, tell us all we need about that Witch," threatens the priest. The priest's face holds an intense look of disgust when at the mention of said witch. Turning my head away from the other two, I look down to the floor hoping that with information given by the male Fey, I will finally know about the one that brings me the most improper thoughts I've ever had.
"Do you want my words, Father?" asks Fey "There's a lot I can tell you."
"Yes, I do!" says the priest approaching him. "We are very skilled in making your people speak, which suits us."
"Are you sure? I know many things, I've discovered many secrets, but what I can tell you is that your dear Witch has taken Grammaire and left several of her dead red baboons in the woods!" he says, looking at me.
"Take him to Brother Salt." And he goes into the kitchens and follows them, I wait outside, I hear all his screams and when the brothers come out, I go to the knight, wondering why he hasn't told the other paladins anything. I see that he's all hurt, that Brother Salt has done quite a job with him.
"How could you? You're one of us," he says in pain.
"I'm not like you demons!" I tell him feeling my jaw clench along with the rest of my body tensing.
"You're one of us, I've seen your hand change!" he argues. "But don't be afraid, I won't bite. You're part of the Ashes, it's in your eyes, you bear the mark of the grey people, I know only one other Fey with those marks, we haven't seen one in these lands for centuries, how did you get here?" I don't answer. "You only came to see me die?"
"Why didn't you tell them?" I ask, removing that doubt from my chest.
"About what?" he asks.
"Before, you could have said anything, but you didn't. I want to know why."
"Because all Feys are brothers, even the lost ones!" he says, those words, and I don't know what they mean, but it brings a calmness to my soul, I can't do that. Because it's slander with the most holy, he saved me from these demons.
"That suffering will purify you!" he moves his head in denial.
"You don't believe that, you know that's all a lie. I can feel it, brother", he says. It makes me angry, his use of familiarity when he doesn't know me at all.
"You're not my brother!"
"Look at you, you've been brainwashed very well, you don't know the difference between goodness and hate, who did this to you?" he doesn't realize we're saving your souls.
"Through suffering, you will see the true light!" I tell him. "We are saving souls, your soul!" I say to him.
"Why does your God want the little ones to die?" he says. Children are the only ones who can be saved without dying.
"I have no problem with children." I tell him. "They don't know what they are."
"You kill the children." he says, I feel a reprimand in what he says.
"I don't kill children!" I say in a loud voice.
"You burn their houses, you kill their parents and you see your red brothers run over them with their horses and you see it all with their weeping eyes, that makes you guilty!'' Again he brings words that make me think of demons as human. I look away from him.
"Brother. You can fight, I've never seen anything like it, you could be our greatest warrior, your people need you!"
"You are not my people!" upon retorting his pleas with such response, he looks me in the eye.
"Then tell them, if this is your place, tell them what you are!" And once again, his words become stuck in my head.
"I'll pray for you." I say, go out and he answers and "I for you."
And I go out with your words in my thoughts, am I really doing the right thing, to see the other Paladins kill these children, but because your words I would be accepted by your people. It made me feel really part of something bigger. But I can't, I remember the words of the father, these demons seem to want the good but deep down coexist with the devil to bring darkness to the earth, one of the Paladins warns me that Father Carden needs me to accompany him to the King's camp. I took Goliath and we went with the Abbot. When we arrived, the King was having a feast. And he was happy like some good news had been delivered at this exact moment.
"Father Carden." he says.
"Majesty!" says the priest. "I discovered you sent a messenger to speak to the Witch. We had hoped, in fact, we agreed that any negotiation would be coordinated by the Church," says the priest.
"Coordinated?" asks the king. "How did you coordinate with us your attacks on Feys villages?" he says, mocking.
"With all due respect, the expurgation of the Feys is an act of charity, an act of friend, we want no reward!" answers the priest, but my mind is on the words of the Green Knight: you kill children. You would be an asset to our people!
Is he right? No, the priest and the church are right!
"And you have robbed our lands, terrorized our people, turned many against the crown, and now they support a plebeian Fey, and have the audacity to call it a friendly act?" says the king to us.
"Father Carden is not a politician, Your Majesty, but a soldier of God. He did not mean to offend you, your majesty wants the sword of power, of course, the Church wants it too. To acquire such an important relic from the Fey would be a spiritual blow to them. But as friends, we understand your majesty's needs, especially at this time of uncertainty. Therefore, I propose an exchange, the sword for the witch. To burn this terrorist would have the same demoralizing effect," says the abbot, trying to get the king's support.
A thought of fear goes through my head, but why hearing that they would "burn" the Witch makes me feel afraid.
"No!" the king says and I sigh in relief, 'stop demon, those thoughts'.
"No?" asks the priest, surprised at the king's answer.
"The girl Fey has aroused a passion in the people. Burn her would only provoke them, I will keep her as a prize!"
"And the Feys at Grammaire?" asks the abbot. "Have you thought about it?"
"They'll have ships to go north, they don't matter!" the king communicates.
"This will be seen as a victory of the Feys against the church!" says the priest.
"If the church makes an exception, we have several soldiers to solve your problem!" he mocks the priest. Such mockery was enough to rile up the priest with his clear skin becoming red in anger.
"This is outrageous!" says the priest going towards the king.
"But perhaps I should have this Queen as my wife, they say she is so beautiful that her beauty makes all her subjects promise to do anything, she young, imagine how many heirs I would have with that woman, one thing I know is that they would be very powerful!" says the king to us, jealousy has filled my chest, who has the right to talk about her, she is mine, the animal in me wants to attack the king, but I can't move my body towards him, because I feel that the priest is taking me to where our horses are. We set out towards our camp. When we arrived, Father Carden and the abbot began to talk, while I went to arrange Goliath for the next adventure.
"Before declaring war on the king of England!"
"A false king, son of a whore. All you've done since you got here, Abbot, is undermine our cause!"
"I wouldn't be here if you hadn't suffocated this rebellion. Look what you Father Carden, the king is watching this bitch, and who made her so popular and now an icon that even humans are following. I must speak with the Pope urgently."
The two of them started walking, towards one of the tents.
"What's this?" he asks one of the brothers, I look in the direction the priest is going and I see the Fey boy, what did he come here to do? He should be with the woman.
"He's an informant Fey, he was trying to release the prisoner Fey, he's the Green Knight's nephew." says the brother, so the Green Knight is the Witch's brother.
"How many are with you?" asks the priest. "How many?
"Enough to kill you, you bastard, I'll gouge out your eyes... "...and the boy spits and starts to speak every possible curse, and a moment of dejavu comes to my mind. A small smirk makes its way on my face when I saw that kid again and hear his colorful choice of words, but soon I control myself. I can't smile.
"Ask Brother Salt to question you, and ask him to start with that brat's dirty tongue," says the priest. Out of the way of the kid, I see him with a little face I can't stand.
"He's just a boy!" I say. "He's no threat to us."
"You!" he looks at me and remembers me.
"Take him!" says the priest.
The priest listens to me and comes back and slaps me hard in the face, controls me not to, "Why do you embarrass me. Why?" I don't look him in the eye. And I go to my tent, I take off my cloak, I start to try to pray and talk to God but I don't have any answer, Carden enters and comes towards me.
"I have failed you." I tell him.
"How do you fail my son?" he approaches one of the crosses in my room, where he sits next to where I was.
"I cannot feel God's grace, I call him but no answer, only immense darkness." I say, in penance.
"Tell me more." he asks, placing his hand on my back.
"It seems that there is a serpent in my ears, and it poisons me." I say, thinking of all that has happened since the attack in Dewdenn, the words of the Green Knight, the possessiveness I feel with the Witch, that other Fey who knows me in some way, and the little one who was ready to put herself in danger for the one he loves.
"Does she talk to you?" I nod yes. "What does she say?"
"I'm afraid to hear her." I tell him.
"Fear not, it is our avenging sword of light in a battle against the Dark Lord, did you really think you could escape his touch? From his corruption, the beast does not tear flesh, it tears the soul," he says.
"Do you love me, Father?" I ask.
"Of course I do, my son!" he answers.
"Even if I am cursed?" I ask, remembering the words of the Green Knight, that even if he were a traitor he would still accept me.
"Those are dangerous words! We will speak of them one last time," he says. "You were born Fey, an abomination in the eyes of God, but I spared you from fire, because you can feel your own kind, I gave you scriptures, discipline, I made you one of the best soldiers, I turned you against your Maker, and put the first brick on the road to salvation. But I cannot stand in your place, my son, I cannot save you from the flames, you must have the will to do what is necessary. You have the will, my son!" he ends.
I sigh, but I answer "Yes, Father."
"Let this be the last time we bring this matter!" and he gets out of the tent briskly, I can sense his mood gotten worse with our conversation.
"What if I'm more inclined to give up and go back to my roots?" I say to the air and smell Fey there.
"Who's there?" I ask by taking my sword. I look everywhere, but I see nothing.
"How can you do this to our people, traitor?" A woman's voice, speak to me.
"I'm saving everyone!" I smell it, and I smell the same one that knows my name. "How do you know my name?" I ask.
"Didn't your dear father tell you everything? Now I realize that all you've done is because of this liar, this thief, he stole you from your family, my brother!"
"I'm not your brother!" I tell her "I don't have demons in my family".
"Yes, it is, when I had 2 summers, I remember that I wanted so much a companion to play with, I was so happy with the news that I would be a big sister, we grew up, my brother was very close to me, very handsome, super cautious. I was the hothead of the family, I played all the games with everyone from my tribe, they called me a witch because I had the Hiddens next to me. When I was twelve years old, I went out to walk in the forest, I ended up stopping at the nearest town, I knew that we, feys were discriminated against by humans, there he was the leader of the paladins, dear father cornered me and told me that I would burn, but I managed to lose him by camouflaging on the wall and he didn't see me anymore and I ran back to the forests and when I found my village, I had nothing else but bodies and ashes, I had lost my whole family. My parents, my brother, i've believed that my whole family was dead, until I looked you in the eye and saw that you had betrayed your people, and seeing you almost killing the person I love, i wanted revenge, but after listening to the conversation with this baboon priest, I realize that the old man is the one i have to blame for stealing a little boy, mistreating him, forcing him to be something he is not, just because he has a gift that can help to hunt down those who suit him, Lancelot, that is the real sin, the real devil, who corrodes souls, is Father Carden. " she says, coming towards me, tears falling from her eyes as she tried to hold back a sob. I felt my own eyes stinging as she got close enough to touch my wounds, I close my eyes and ended up having a Flashback.
"Layla, come get me!' I say, running with a wooden sword with a girl older than me, but she didn't want to play with me. She was camouflaging herself and using covertly for some prank she was planning: "You don't get me, I'm the future king of England!"
"If you were the king of England, Lancelot, Daddy would have to be king now, duh!" she says.
"Layla, come fight me, I have to be the best of our tribe, then I could marry the daughter of the people of heaven, they say she's the most beautiful girl in the whole kingdom, and I want her for myself, so I have to be the best fighter Fey to save her," I say.
"You'll have to wait another six years to claim her as your own," says Layla, as we return to our home.
"Kids, you gotta wash up before your daddy comes home from the hunt and pretends to be the fearsome knight you must defeat with you!" says Helena, my mom, chuckling at the game my dad was accustomed to playing with us. We ran to the little creek that was near our house and washed up and came home. My father Ban was already there, I ran to him and he picked me up in his arms and squeezed me in a wholesome hug. "My Lancelot, every time I see you, you are getting taller. He'll soon overtake me!" my father says.
"I'm going to the woods!" says Layla, and she goes out into the woods.
I go to sleep and wake up with screams and smell of smoke, I feel that my father is holding me in his lap and my mother is trying to hide our house from the attackers, but she can't and it catches on fire, we ran out of the house and see our village being massacred by men dressed in red robes, my father leaves me with my mother and tells us to run, that he was going to help others, we run but a man came and took me from my mother and took me to the leader of the attack he came to talk to me.
"God is love. A love that purifies, sanctifies and unites us, and today God smiles. Do you know why? Because we did his work. You see, we were created in the image and likeness of God. This is your garden, and we need to take care of it. We have to clean the garden and weed it out. The weeds, they're the demons, and we have to get them out of your garden. You understand, my boy. Demons have many faces, they don't want to be found, some are scary, some are shy and some are very young, but you, my boy, seem to have salvation, there is one thing we can use against these demons. Take him to camp, we'll start your salvation when we're done with those. Boy, your family no longer exists. Accept your new family!"
"Layla!" I say and I see we look alike, our hair, our eyes and the same marks we have and yet mine have brought fear to my people. How could I believe that everyone I've been killing is because they were demons.
"Father Carden said that he had finished with all of you, he said that I was special so I should go with him, but he preached in me that our people were demons, that we were an aberration but that even demons need salvation with their whip and their tortures that I ended up having to change who I am in order to survive made me forget my origin until a few hours ago with the words of the Green Knight and after seeing the boy being taken to brother Salt's kitchens. How could I do that to my family?"
"Brother, I knew deep down you wouldn't have done it without being forced," she says, touching my back and trembling in fear of what she would do. "Don't you know affection? My brother, what have they done to you? I should have stayed in the village, because I went to be so free" she slowly touches me, but when she stops touching me, I hear voices from deep inside my brain that I do not understand, but I feel that an enormous weight has been lifted from my back. "Okay, Lancelot, the wounds this abuser has made are healed. This tyrant will never hurt you again."
"I heard the queen ordered the release of the Green Knight and the boy Fey, but the priest said no, but the soldiers, they came and took the Green Knight." says a paladin outside the tent. "But it's gonna be quite a surprise for the Witch to have, Brother Salt has done some damage to the Green Knight. "My sister tries to get out of the tent, I hold her because I hear the voice of Father Carden. "Uther Pendragon, the false king, has chosen the feys above God. He chose to marry the Queen of the Fey, in exchange for the freedom of her people, if the men of the king attack You, You may defend Yourselves, kill them but bring me the Witch of the Blood of Wolf." I hear the voice of Carden. The animal inside me wants to go to the King and kill him for thinking of marrying the Witch, she was mine to have, that makes me angry, while I have the possessive thoughts about the witch in my head.
"Before you kill the king. First we must save Squirrel," she says, pulling me into reality.
"Let me go to him, the brothers who stayed will not question me. Go to Pendragon camp and save the queen and the Green Knight." She sits down and kisses me on the forehead and without knowing how to answer, I leave the tent and go towards Brother Salt's kitchen, when I see an enormous force that puts out all the torches in the camp, I can get there by the smell of the boy. When I get there, I see a paladin talking to Brother Salt.
"No, I can do other things!" says Brother Salt. "Let's start with the tongue." And the paladin comes out, I take my knife and I kill him.
"Go ahead, cut, I'll keep talking, I'll tell you how ugly it is, I'll come back to haunt you in your nightmares, that even when you try to wake up, you won't be able to tell the difference from dream to reality" the boy really is something to see, how brave, I wonder if i had lived with my family i would behave in that way.
"Who is here?" he asks. "Have you come to watch? Crying Monk." says Brother Salt.
"No!" I say, taking the knife and cutting Brother Salt's neck and dropping the body on the ground, I go towards the little one.
"Percival, can you walk?" I ask him, cutting the ties of his arms and legs.
"I think so." he answers.
"Layla's going to get your uncle from King Uther's camp, come and stay close to me." I tell him, hiding him in my cloak and we leave the tent.
We walked for a while, passed through a multitude of tents until we heard metal sounds. and there was Abbot Wicklow and he was with his guards, so I saw 10 men, the Abbot coming towards me.
"Long ago we suspected that his affinity was not with the church," says the man.
"Who stole me from my family and made me a murderer," I say in anger.
"But would you like to know why?" asks Wicklow.
"He's just a boy." I speak to him.
"Yes, a Fey boy, nephew of the Green Knight, but here he is alone, maybe he reminds you of someone," says Wicklow.
"You don't need him." I said to him ,hiding the boy behind my back.
"Why can't he smell his own kind like an animal? Or can you just do that?" mocks the abbot.
"Behind the barrel." I tell the little one and he hides.
"The church has regained supremacy over this embarrassing episode. The famous witch will be burned, as you all deserve. While we're talking, her abominations are being slaughtered by the pirate Vikings on the beggar shore. And finally the corrupting weakness of Father Carden will be purged. Surrender, I know you have a reputation, but this is the Trinity Guard. You must know their reputation," the Abbot, speaks and a feeling of anger as he has the courage to say that our people, the people that I finally accepted as my own will soon be dead, I see the guards preparing to fight me, I pull two swords from my belt and as soon as the fight begins, five of them attacked me at once, but I am very skillful, I soon kill them.
But the battle was not yet won, the Abbot sent the five who were near him, to attack, they surrounded me, but i could not let them kill the little one, I was still standing with my two swords pointing them at him but they took advantage of my movement and took the swords from my hands, rolling up both with the flail and pulling them to the ground. One of them cuts my chest with the sword, the other three cut me deeper and deeper into my limbs and the other two whip me with the flail until I fell on my stomach on the ground, a guard grabs me by the neck, I knew it was the end of me, but I end up being released, I see the little one with a sword and defying the guards of the trinity. "Who's first?" he shouts loudly and bravely. They're headed his way, but something ends up giving me a willpower that makes me stand up and attack all the guards and kill them with a speed that's animally impossible for any human to move. One by one they were falling to the ground like the fish caught by a hungry eagle who swoops with intense precision and speed for its prey.
After killing the last one by twisting his head, I try to go to the abbot and the challenge showing my sword, but the coward runs and runs as fast as he can, but I am weak and fall to the ground, but I feel little hands lifting me up and speaking words I never thought I would hear.
"Daddy, come on, we have to go!" he helps me up. "Get up!" and he lifts me up and takes me to Goliath and helps me to ride and with my last strength I pull him onto the horse. As we ride he asks me if I have a name.
"Lancelot, long ago my name was Lancelot."