Monk’s Confession

“I was a warrior once.”
“You? The monk was a fighter? I can’t say as I can picture that one.”
“It is true. I had been on duty one night at the inner gate. We had been warned that someone had been breaking into the palace at night, and that things had gone missing. We had not been told what was missing, but that the offense was being taken seriously, and viewed as an attack on the royal house. A reward was posted for the capture of the thief. I took up a posting in the garden, from where I could see the living quarters and the service entrance to the galley.
“In the dead of night, I heard rustling in the shrubs outside the galley. I investigated, and ran across a man burdened by a sack. When the man turned around, I found myself face to face with one of the monks from the monastery. When he handed over the sack, it was filled with bread. The monk had been hiding himself in the pantry at the end of the day, then baking bread to deliver to the poor that lived in the forest. I took stock, then let the man go.
“In the morning, I approached m superiors, and made my report. I refused to give up the identity of the man I had stopped. I thought to myself ‘this surely is not the thief they are looking for.’ I was let go immediately. My wages and possessions were taken from me. When I was at my lowest, the only thing I could think about was the courage of the thief. His dedication to others. I should have been morning the loss of my life, yet I was inspired to live like never before.”
“But it was the palace that assigned you to travel with me!”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because, even as an outcast, respect and leadership are qualities that have no bounds.”
“And what happens after our journey?”
“I will go back to my studies, and my prayers. It is my life now.”
“But surly the palace will take you back? They would not have given you such responsibility if they did not want you to come back to their service?”
“It is not up to them. A calling is a calling, and one can not fight the forces within the heart. They know of my loyalty, and of my honor. But they know that I can never go back to the life I had before.”