Ben and the Padre
"She went to Vodacce, Ben?" The padre asked from across the bar at the Hidden Stag.
Ben was a hulking Avalon with arms the thickness of most men's legs, and a ruddy face that seemed disproportionately small considering the size of the rest of him. Usually, Charese's formidable bodyguard, but for today and for the rest of the month was given the task of 'watching the bar.' "That's what I said, Padre." Ben said, while wiping out a glass with a clean towel. Except for where the padre was sitting, the whole bar was lined with the entirely of Charese's glass collection. A myriad of differing colors and shapes, thicknesses and textures set in four rows straight. Every single one beautifully clean. The padre thought that it looked rather pretty in the flickering light of the fireplace in the opposite wall. "Did she say why?" The padre asked. Ben was inspecting the bottom of a glass pitcher that he had just picked up. "Actually, she did say a little bit," Ben said in his conversational tone. A tone so deep that it seemed to start from the bottom of his massive feet. "And that was?" The padre prodded. " Something about Talen getting cross with the local guild there in Dionna, and something about a side trip to the mainland." "Who does she know in Vodacce?" "I don't know," Ben said exasperatingly, "Maybe it has something to do with that Vodacce that Talen was with when he left." "Maybe it has something to do with Talen, you think?" "No," Ben set down the pitcher solidly, "I don't think," he said, "What I do think is that I think that you should think that its none of your business." "Repeat that again, I got lost somewhere along the line�" The padre zigged and zagged his glass about. Ben rolled his eyes and asked the ceiling silently, "Why?" "I had no idea that you were so pious, Ben�" the padre drank his shot. Ben refilled it wordlessly, still staring at the ceiling, "No, I was wondering why there was a stain on the ceiling." "Oh?" the padre looked up to the ceiling and indeed saw a spot on it, a large one, "Oh." "Or maybe how is a better word for it." The padre twisted his head for a better look, "It looks like�" Interrupting him, Ben said, "Never mind what it looks like, padre." The padre looked at Ben, "You think someone did it purposely?" Ben shrugged uncommittedly, "How could they not have?" The padre echoed the shrug, and fixated on his now empty glass. Wordlessly, Ben filled it. One of the girls, Beth, sat by the padre laying her hands on the edge of the bar, mindful of the glasses. "Ben, its really dead today," she nodded to another girl that was idly sitting at an empty table, "Maureen's wondering if she can make it a night�" "Sure." Beth carried on as if she didn't hear him, "It doesn't look like its going to get any better, Ben, letting a few girls go home isn't going to break you." Ben cocked his head curiously. "And if it does get busy, you can�" Beth frowned, " Why are you looking at me like that?" The padre drew close to her, "Because, love, he said, 'sure.'" "Oh." But Beth seemed a bit confused. Ben continued his curious stare, touched a bit with amusement. The padre was practically on her ear as she didn't nod away, "Why don't you go tell Maureen, love, I'm sure she'd like to know." "Oh." This time a little less confusion. Beth carefully got off the stool and talked to Maureen. Maureen got up and smiled a charming smile at Ben, and a turned a slightly naughty one at the padre. Ben waved her off, and the padre gave a dirty wink. As for Beth, she began to clear off a table that had been dirty for a few hours. Shaking his head, Ben watched the young whore, "What does Talen see in her?" "What do you mean, Ben?" The padre finished off his drink. "Talen's one of the smartest people I know, but Beth's�" Ben struggled with a the ending. "Not?" The padre completed for him. "Is that what you're trying to say?" Ben frowned. "I guess so, but not so blatant." "I disagree, on occasion, Beth has shown remarkable intelligence, she's just�flighty." "Flighty? I don't know, padre, sometimes she forgets to take the money." "Maybe a little absent minded, Ben, but they're really the same thing. But she's fairly fetching, as well, Ben. And her voice is magnificent. Too bad you don't come to mass, Ben, she's well worth listening to me rant about this and that� Just to hear her sing�" The padre smiled, remembering. "I've heard her sing, padre." Ben refilled the padre's glass, "But that's not the question. That's what you and others see in or about her. What does Talen see?" The padre nodded, "You might be making me rethink about you, Ben." "What are you talking about, padre?" The padre swished his drink around the bottom of the glass, following Beth with his eyes. She was laughing with a bit of the help that was helping her clean some of the dirty bar trays. "Where do you think her laughter comes from, Ben?" "I imagine, her throat." The padre shook his head, "What about the other kindnesses that she does, where do you think that they come from?" Ben shrugged, "Is this some kind of riddle?" "Her heart, Ben, her heart and soul. It isn't like the rest of them, here, I should know. Its her soul that Talen loves, not her voice, not her pretty turns, not her absent mindedness. There is a beauty in of itself that shines through those magnificent eyes of hers. She and Talen are so much alike in so many ways�" Ben nodded assent. "Do you think that he'll come back for her, padre?" "I think he means to, but�" the padre answered. "But?" Ben prodded. "She may not go with him." He said, sipping his drink. "But you just said that she doesn't belong here�" "Unlike Talen, she doesn't know that she can leave." The padre answered. "What would she do? She would ask herself�" "Why wouldn't she leave? Padre, that doesn't make any sense. If she was given the opportunity to leave, no strings, she should." "That is one of the problems with people, Ben." The padre looked into his eyes morosely. "If other people could make your decisions for you, whose life would it be? Yours or theirs? Its her life not his, Talen knows this. Which is something that most people never catch on to. Talen's going to ask her, but he already knows the answer. He's going to ask her, mind you, not tell her, not drag her through that door, as you think he should. He's going to ask her." "And when she says no?" Ben asked him. "It'll break his heart, as it should." The padre drank his drink completely. "Then why is he going to ask, padre? Why not just move on, find somebody else?" Ben was about to refill the padre's drink, but the padre covered the empty glass with his hand. "Because, Ben� She might say 'yes.'"Return to Uncommon Valor