"So the cavalrymen killed the horses.
"So living is good, right, Father? Living is good."
Caman listened quietly, then softly said after a moment:
"Before my ordination, I studied at a monastery of the Francis Order. The brothers there were devout and good people. They purposely set the monastery in the outskirts of the city, where the wealthy never passed with their carriages. They believed that there, they could be closer to the Lord.
"During the day, after morning prayers, they would treat the poor. Sometimes, a mother with a child struck by a sudden illness would knock on the monastery's door at night, begging for help.
"Those mothers... it was their children who were ill, but they were the ones suffering the most. They waited anxiously on the side, their faces twisted with worry. Some mothers, afraid to disturb the monks while treating, stayed silent and kept biting their fingers until their nails were worn to the quick, not noticing it at all."
