"The love of the Prophets," Bareil once told Winn, "is unconditional." That was when he was young and sure that love was what mattered, and for a time Winn had found herself believing him. And then Kai Opaka had made her decision, to give her son to the Cardassians in exchange for the illusion of peace. Bareil had accepted this decision, even agreed to assist Opaka in her betrayal, but Winn could not. She ran to the streets, preaching furiously against the Cardassians and those who collaborate with them. "The Prophets love us," she said. "We are their children. They could not allow us to remain slaves, and will stand with us in our struggle."

Winn expected to be arrested, but instead the Cardassians took Bareil, and flogged him naked in the town square. In the ancient times, Vedeks could protect their people, and Bajoran women saved their men from shame. Winn cleaned the bloody gashes on Bareil's back, and thought of Opaka.

"To hear the voice of the Prophets, sit for a day in darkness." That was the teaching that the Kai once had given her. No darkness is greater than the occupation, and this darkness spoke the will of the Prophets more clearly than any revelation. Winn left Bareil the next morning, and returned to the streets, preaching of the martyrs of Kendra Valley and what Bajor must do to honour their sacrifice. Her words were repeated on Bajor long after the gates of the prison camp shut behind her.

Bareil liked to preach about unconditional love, and Winn had no doubt that he still felt it, even though the ten years that she spent in prison had proven too long for him to wait. But ten years of unrelenting torture had taught her to speak more clearly. In the end, it is not the love that the prophets give us that matters, but the sacrifices that they demand. At the end of his life, it seemed that at last Bareil understood.