That night, Teilo crept out of the dormitory to sneak a visit with Lucius, impounded in the same tiny wattle-and-daub cell that Teilo had occupied before.

“Brother!” he whispered through the hole his own fist had made. “I have brought you bread and cheese from supper.” He extended a loaf of bread through the opening, followed by several hunks of cheese. Lucius grabbed them eagerly.

“Why did you do it?” Lucius asked. “The people on the mainland will be devastated by your destruction of everything that is most sacred to them.”

“We had to. It was for the good of their souls, and your soul too!”

“I have been thinking,” said Lucius. “Mihael instructs us that serenity, gentleness, and patience are the qualities we should aspire to when dealing with others. He always tells us to avoid anger, arrogance, and discourtesy. This destruction is not what we have learned here. I don’t understand. Whatever happened to compassion and charity—to divine love?”

“The world is changing, Lucius. Martinus represents the new way, and I am proud to be a part of it. He is a powerful man; he has even come to the attention of the church in Rome! The more important he becomes, the more important I will be too.”

“Those are not the words of the Brother Teilo I stole apples with. What you did to the Pagani and this kind of talk makes me very sad.”

“I want more than stolen apples. I’m leaving Inissi Leuca behind. I’m a grown man now; I can make my own decisions, and I want to see the world!”

Teilo walked into the night and did not return to the little cell.

Lucius thought endlessly about the fate of Aurelia and her kin. What he had seen of the Pagani showed him that they were simple and honest. They fed each other and their ancestors, honored their gods, and did magic to help the earth. They were not evil people, as he had been led to believe. The only evil he had witnessed was the destruction wrought by Martinus. If this was true Christianity—for Martinus was favored by Rome—he wanted no part of it.

Alongside his fear for Aurelia and her relations lay his ever-present wish to find his own blood family, no matter the cost. A few nights later, he smashed an empty chamber pot and cut a hole in the wall with a large shard. In the grey light of pre-dawn, he collected his clothing, water-skin, and blanket, and slipped through the wicker and mud wall. He crawled over the massive vallum that sheltered the monastery from the sea winds, walked the shoreline until he found the little leather boat that Teilo and Justan had left hidden in the usual clump of bushes, and paddled across to the mainland.