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You do not know just how much the Brothers disagreed with each other on this point, on the distinction between wilful disobedience to an unjust system and outright violent insurrection. The Book of Brothers covers the schism that developed between Adam and Cain after the great battle of Motte-Fallavon concerning the uneasy peace of the Wild in great detail, priests and scholars have long meditated and written on that chapter as the great tragedy of the Brothers that robbed the Kingdom of Heaven of their saintly founders in its very moment of ascension. One to death, the other to exile.
But even before his self-imposed exile, you must wonder whether the Brothers were ever at odds before then. Certainly there is no suggestion that his most brazen attacks were with the knowledge or approval of his more considered brother. The ambush on an overseer’s personal death squad, the slaughter of a corrupt magistrate’s household and later the razing of the Place of Pain, where state criminals were tortured to death. When he returned from his wandering in the desert, like Adam he was much changed. None could stand before him, masters flinched at the mention of his name, hired guards fled at the mere sight of the righteous avenger. Cain in the wastes, Cain in the streets, Cain at the gates of the City itself.
When Cain walked out of the flames of the Place of Pain, carrying the pitiful form of his sinless Mother rescued from her harsh captivity, he was confronted by the entire city garrison. Even the Dragon could not view himself as above the attention of such a brazen attack on such a public institution, and by that dread lizard’s command professional soldiery made war upon Cain’s followers and the streets ran red with the blood of both until…
<span class="mu-i">“I am here. I am ready.”</span> That is what the scriptures say, both sides peeling away as he stood between them unarmed. The Salve Reginae was handed into caring arms, whisked away for what good the healers might do to alleviate her suffering. But far from joining the melee, Cain commanded his own to stand aside before holding his arms out to the enemy to be chained. <span class="mu-i">“Do your worst.”</span>
They could have killed him then and there, cut him down like an animal in a butchershop. But they did not. It was the will of the overseers to deny him such an easy end. Cain was stripped to all bare dignity, bound in heavy iron and then bound again. His fate was not to be death in battle, no. The Cross awaited him, the ultimate public testament to any who might dare defiance again. The masters would have their example.
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