The Walking People

"And what of the Walking People, Master Gardiner?" inquired Colman, watching as his mentor's countenance took on an agitated expression. "They live on this isle as well. They are Christians as well. Are they not Irish as well?"

Rising from his chair, Gardiner looked out his study's window. For a long time, he was silent, before he said: "They are not. Real Irish do not travel around like vagabonds, they have homes in the towns, cities and villages. These Walking People are no better than the Mongols, barbarian nomads."

"And yet it was these 'barbarian nomads' whom Marco Polo met, was it not?" asked Colman. "The Mongols united China just as the Tudor conquest united Ireland, one of the few good things it did. Marco Polo wrote of the wonders he saw under Kublai Khan's reign, not atrocities! The Mongols are no more barbarians than we Irish were so long ago and the Walking People are as civilized as we. They are Irish, just as we are! You speak of us all being Irish, but wherefore then do you exclude the Walking People?"

"They are outsiders that threaten our culture!" snapped Gardiner, turning to face his pupil, his face a mask of rage. "For a decade I have defended Ireland from pythonesses, mages and the Walking People! There are no more pythonesses and mages in Ireland, but yet the Walking People remain, continuing to threaten us!"

"How could you have defended Ireland from pythonesses and mages when you haven't set foot from the cathedral in a decade?" asked Colman. "And how can you possibly call insisting that the Walking People stay away from the cathedral 'defending Ireland from them?' How can you say you have done any of that when it is clear you have done nothing?"