Reconsolidation

Poor Ben; his father just called him a bastard prince. Poor Rob; he’s realized he abandoned a son. Things might be just a bid awkward. To the story!
*********
Ben felt his soul had been split. His own father called him a bastard prince? Then ran off? What were you expecting? He silently asked himself. For him to accept you with open arms?

He couldn’t fool himself though. That was exactly what he had been expecting.

“You shouldn’t be so down.”

Ben snapped out of his pain and noticed that the Great Kings were still with him.

“What?” he asked, still in a daze.

“Our friend has been greatly hurt by this news,” one of the Great Kings said, floating up beside him and putting a ghostly hand on his shoulder.

“He had thought no one would care if he disappeared,” another said.

“He honestly thought no one was waiting for him.”

“But here you are. A son that had been waiting.”

“I am not following you,” Ben said truthfully.

“Trenton has seen so much death,” said the one with his hand on his shoulder. “Marie’s death was the hardest though. She was the only woman he came to care for, the only one who really came close to him after his family was murdered.”

“He ran away to get away from everyone. And the pain. His destiny had been fulfilled. Why should he have stayed?”

“We had agreed with him at the time, knowing that he would only be reminded of the loss of everyone he cared for if he had stayed. We had no idea… About you.”

“If he had known of you, he would have stayed.”

“That’s why he ran off now. You’re a new pain. He regrets that he wasn’t there for you.”

“So you’re saying,” Ben said, switching his gaze between the Great Kings, “that he ran off because he’s… he’s afraid to face me?”

“Essentially.”

“Give him time though. He’ll come back. We’re most certain that he will.”

Ben gazed off in the direction that his father had ran off. “I hope you’re right,” he said softly. “I want to get to know him.”
**********
Rob wandered around the forest for hours, his emotions and thoughts still too raw and fresh for him to even consider trying to face Ben again.

To face his son again.

A son, the thought repeated in his mind. I have a son.

That was why Marie looked so happy as she tried to reach him. That was why she was smiling as she died in his arms.

A son.

This was why fate had brought them together. A cruel trick.

A son.

Rob couldn’t stop his tears. Marie just wanted to let him know that he had become a father. That was all. He was a fool to love her. Everyone around him had gotten hurt, he always pushed them away before that could happen. It was a lonely life but it was the only way he knew to protect anyone who might come close. But Marie… She slipped through the cracks and he fell in love with her. It was heart wrenching when she died. He didn’t even stop to listen to her vassals who came with her.

I should have stayed, he thought, his feet dragging him back to his cabin. I should have stayed and learned about Ben.

A son.

It was nearing evening when he finally found some courage to go back to the cabin. Ben was sure to be there. The kid had no place else to go. He paused at the door, listening as the Great Kings talked with his son.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Ben was saying. “That’s considered one of the Hero’s greatest victories.”

“Ha! He stumbled around in those tunnels for ages and got lucky when he stumbled on their secret lair.”

“A lot of Trenton’s victories were mere luck,” laughed one of them. “He has more luck on his side than skill.”

“Don’t say that. He started learning before too much longer. Towards the end, it was his wits and skills that won more than luck.”

Luck? Rob silently asked. Luck that I abandoned my son?

But fate had brought them together at last. Perhaps this was what fate had in store for him, to remind him of his past and just how often he had failed.

Standing out here isn’t going to make this any easier, he reasoned. Still, it took a few deep breaths and steeling his nerves to open the door. Inside was just as he expected. Ben sat at the table, surrounded by the Great Kings. The ghosts were very picky when it came to humans and they would only converse with those they liked. They had taken an immediate liking to Ben.

They all fell silent as he entered, each turning to him with an unreadable expressions.

“We’ll go,” one of the Kings said. In an instant, they were all gone, leaving him alone with his son.

My son.

He stared at Ben, uncertain what to say or do. He had never been good with kids. He’s not a kid though, he reminded himself. Ben has to be twenty about now.

Ben continued to sit there, his expression a mask that he couldn’t see through. That must have been something he had learned from his grandfather, King Cameron. A prince had to learn to hide their expressions in court. He was a prince…

“I’m sorry,” Rob finally blurted out.

Ben frowned. “About what?”

“Calling you a bastard,” he grumbled softly. “I shouldn’t have said it.”

Ben snorted. “I’ve been called a bastard all my life. Trust me, I’m used to it.”

Rob shook his head. “That’s still no excuse. It’s still not something I should have said.”

For a long moment, Ben didn’t say anything. “Thanks,” he finally said softly. “Many people don’t apologize.”

He’s had a hard life, Rob thought, still uncertain what to do about Ben now. He’s told me before. He’s been pawned off onto servants… been called a bastard all his life… And I left him all to that.

“Still a shock, isn’t it?”

Rob blinked. Ben lifted a corner of his mouth in a smile. “To be honest,” he continued, “I’m in shock myself.” He turned his head away. “I’ve believed that you were dead for so long… Everyone has. To find you alive…” He sighed. “A lot of things suddenly don’t make sense.”

Rob knew that feeling. His world was wrenched in so many directions when his family had been killed, then when Marie was murdered. Nothing made sense. Nothing seemed right. A solid fact, a point of his strength, was suddenly gone and he was left to pick up the broken pieces.

“Marie…” A lump appeared in his throat. He coughed to clear it out. “Marie called you after my father…”

Ben turned around again. “Yes,” he chuckled. “My grandfather wasn’t too happy about a common name for one of his grandsons, but my mother insisted. She hoped that you would approve.”

Rob somehow managed a weak chuckle. “In truth? If I had learned back then, before she died, I would have been too excited about having a child than what she called him.” He tried to smile. “But I’m glad. It’s a good name, it suits you.”

Ben’s checks colored with embarrassment. “Thanks,” he muttered, turning away.

What’s he embarrassed for? Rob wondered, walking over to the table and sitting next to his son. It’s probably because he’s never had a father’s praise before.

That thought really cut him to the center.

“Ben,” he sighed. “I’m so sorry. That I wasn’t there for you… If I had known…”

“That’s what brought me here.”

Rob frowned. “What?” he asked.

Ben turned to him again. “I told you I was on a quest. My grandfather needs to confer the throne onto one of his four grandsons. He gave my cousins and I each our own quests to complete. Mine was to find you.”

“Find me?” Rob repeated. “Why find me?” He started to get a sinking feeling. Had Cameron sent his grandson out to find him so that he would return? That was something Rob had no intention to do.

“To put my mind a rest,” Ben answered blandly, propping his elbow on the table and his fist on his face. “Or so he told me. He said it was for my own benefit than actually finding you.”

“To put your mind a rest?” Rob asked, raising an eyebrow. “Somehow… That doesn’t sound like your grandfather.”

“Oh,” Ben agreed readily, “my grandfather had another motive. I’ve finally figured that one out.” He shook his head. “Anyway, I went to the Stronghold, where you finally killed the Tyrant. I met up with a professor and we both figured that you had gone to some place where news of the outside world would never reach you. Because, if news had reached you, you would have learned of me and came out.”

That professor knows me too well. He would have. Curse the Great Kings, but if he had known about his son, he would have come out of hiding.

“That’s what sent me out here,” Ben finished. “Rumors tell of towns up in these mountains that news never reach.” He started to chuckle. “And we were right.”

“Yeah,” Rob grumbled. “Well then, what now? You’ve found me… however by accident. What do you intend to do?”

Ben didn’t answer, looking intensely at his face. Rob wanted to flinch under his searching eyes. Marie often wore that look when she tried to pull an answer out of him. It was both nerve wracking and comforting to know that Ben had inherited something from his mother.

“I don’t know,” Ben finally said. “I was just told to find you or your grave. Nothing about what to do when I finally found you.”

“Inconvenient,” Rob muttered. “Your grandfather is a tricky person.”

“I think he’s quite clever, actually,” Ben disagreed. “That other motive I mentioned? My grandfather wanted me to know just how hard everyone had fought for peace and that its now up to us to keep that peace.” He smiled. “I actually just figured that out before the bear attacked me.”

“Was that why you were sulking?” Rob asked. “I’ve had at least one King keeping an eye on you. They said you were sulking.”

Ben sat up. “Really?” he asked. “You’ve had them watch me?” He held up a hand. “Don’t answer. But… Yeah. I was sulking as I was figuring that one out.” He began to lightly finger his nose again.

“Fascinated with your nose or something?” Rob asked. Well, Ben was his son. They should try to get to know one another.

Ben immediately took his hand away, quickly hiding it behind his back as he blushed. “Sorry,” he muttered. “They’ve been trying to break me of that habit for years.”

“There are worse habits out there,” Rob pointed out.

“Yeah,” Ben muttered. “But… Well, it is a very distinct nose. For a long time, it’s all that linked me to you.”

Oh, that remark hurt.

I shouldn’t have left, Rob thought, staring regretfully at his son. I shouldn’t have left him. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t known. Ben was his son. He deserved more than just a famous father who vanished.

“I’ve always been quite proud of my nose,” Rob said. “I was very sorry when I had to break it.”

“What?” Ben asked, sitting up. “You broke your nose?”

Rob nodded. “Once I decided that I was going into hiding, I broke it so no one would recognize me. Everyone always focused on my nose. If I didn’t have it, no one would see me.”

“That’s true,” Ben agreed. “Grandfather gave me a medallion to make people forget my features even as they looked at me.” He touched his nose again. “It kept my nose hidden.”

It did a good job, Rob thought to himself. It kept him from immediately recognizing himself in the kid.

But now the medallion was gone and the truth out. They talked long into the night, talking of anything that came to their minds. Rob slowly relaxed as he talked with his son. Ben was very easy to talk to, placing him at ease as only a practiced prince could do. Rob didn’t mind though. It was nice to learn more about his son.

However, in the back of his mind, he had a new troubling question brewing. Now that he knew about his son, what was he supposed to do next?
*********
As usual, he woke up to the smell of Rob’s cooking. Ben didn’t say anything as he woke up, still just a bit surprised by everything that had happened.

He really is alive. Rob was actually Trenton the Hero but… He wasn’t at all like he imagined his father would be like. Oh, there were some things that he expected about him, but other things were completely different.

“You’re awake.”

Ben blinked in surprise. “How did you know?” he asked, sitting up in his bed.

“We told him.”

Ben was suddenly surrounded by the Great Kings. They smiled at him.

“They’re all snoops,” Rob explained, placing the food on the table. “Can’t get away with anything with them around. They probably watched us last night as we talked.”

The Great Kings sighed. “He has no faith in us.”

“He doesn’t trust us, you mean,” corrected one.

“That’s not quite it,” argued a second. “He trusts us completely, even to snoop around.”

“He knows us too well.”

Ben was still a bit uneasy around these ghosts. They did like to talk though, so he put up with the chatter.

“What?” one King asked, seeing his expression.

“You’re not what I expected,” he said honestly. “You Great Kings. I was expecting a solemn group of poltergeists who scared people.”

“Oh,” Rob laughed, “they’ll scare people. But not often. If anything, they’re all softies.”

“Except for those who try to hurt us,” huffed one. “Like that Sarries.”

That’s right, Ben remembered. These Kings had been trapped by the Tyrant for years. They vowed to do Trenton’s bidding when he freed them.

“We don’t have to worry about that anymore,” Rob pointed out. “We live a peaceful life here. No one is trying to kill us.”

“A relief indeed,” a second agreed.

Even the Great Kings wanted to get away? Ben wondered.

“We know that look!” one said, pointing at him. “Yes! We wanted a peaceful life too!”

“It’s hard for anyone to imagine,” a third said, shuttering. “We spent hundreds of years trapped by the Tyrant.”

“We were in darkness,” shivered the fourth. “No one… There was no one but my own thoughts, my own fears… It nearly broke all of us.”

“But Trenton freed us. We vowed to serve him because of his service. He literally saved us.”

“Yet, because of us, he has suffered many terrible things.”

“When he proposed that we all run away, we agreed.”

“It was the least we could do, after what trouble we’ve caused him.”

Ben stared in amazement. Oh, he knew the story well enough, but history didn’t often make mention of what the Great Kings were like. Scholars had always made the Kings seem distant and powerful, beings not of this world and didn’t understand it. They had vowed to help Trenton because he freed them.

This was the first Ben had heard that they vowed to him because he saved them.

“A lot of people forget that the Great Kings were human once,” Rob said, noticing his surprise. “Because my friends don’t always like talking with people, everyone just assumed things about them and forgot about the humanity they once had.”

“Eloquently put,” praised one of the kings.

“I’m just…” Ben said, shaking his head. “I’m just so surprised.”

“By what?” Rob asked.

“Well,” Ben said, sitting down at the table. “I’m surprised that there are so many people trying to run away from the wars.” He sighed. “I knew the wars were terrible, but I never thought that it was to terrible that even ghosts wanted nothing more with it.”

“War is a terrible thing, Ben,” Rob said, sitting. “I’m sure Cameron wanted each of his grandsons to know that.” He paused, rubbing his bearded chin thoughtfully. “That reminds me. Why did he send you and your cousins out on these quests?”

Ben rolled his eyes. “He’s trying to decide which one of us is going to get the throne.”

Even the Great Kings looked surprised.

“Why is he trying to pick one of you?” one King asked. “Shouldn’t there already be a clear successor?”

Ben shook his head. “My grandfather had only daughters and they only had sons.”

“Shouldn’t your oldest cousin take the throne?” Rob asked, frowning. “Matthew, wasn’t it? He’s the oldest, and the son of Cameron’s oldest daughter.”

Ben snorted. “As if the court will make anything that simple. They claim that because my grandfather didn’t have any sons, but his daughters did, all of us could become the heir.” He started to portion out his breakfast. “And they told him that he had to pick. These quests are a way for us to prove which should be the heir. I have no idea what my cousins’ quests are and they have no idea about mine.”

Rob got his food, his expression thoughtful. “So, you’ve completed yours… Does this mean that you go back, and if you’re first, you get the throne.”

“No,” Ben said bitterly. “We’re all supposed to stay away for a year.” He picked at his food. “Actually, once our year quest is over, we’re supposed to return to the capital and make a report about our quest in front of the entire court. Then he picks one.”

“What’s with the bitter tone?” a ghost asked, floating beside him. “Don’t you want to be king?”

The answer was out before he could even think.

“No.”

His father and the ghosts looked at him in surprise.

“You don’t want to be king?” one King asked.

“You’ve lived as a prince your entire life,” another pointed out.

“And here I thought every noble wanted the throne.”

“At least all the corrupt ones.”

Ben glared at the ghosts. “I don’t want to be king. I’ve seen what its done to my grandfather. I don’t want that.”

Suddenly, Rob laughed.

“What is so funny?” a King asked, glaring at his father.

“Oh,” he said, settling into chuckles. “I just think it’s funny. I didn’t want anything to do with nobles, ended up having a prince for a son, and he doesn’t want to be a king. At least my boy inherited more than just my nose.”

Ben immediately smiled. It was nice to know that he got something else from his father.
***********
Once the field had been watered, Rob wanted to take Ben somewhere. The boy didn’t ask any questions and went along with him. Rob was amazed at the kid’s trusting nature. And he was also very forgiving.

A trait that Ben must have got from Marie.

“Where are we going?” Ben finally asked as they walked down a faded trail.

“We’re going to a special place,” Rob answered softly. “Something I think you’ll want to see.”

They soon came to a small glen. It was a beautiful place, filled with wild flowers and hundreds of butterflies. The sunlight shifted through the trees, causing shafts of light in the tall grass.

“What is this place?” Ben asked, looking around amazed.

“This?” Rob repeated softly, walking around the edge of the glen to the other end. “This is where I buried your mother.”

Ben stopped short.

Rob came to the simple headstone he had left to mark Marie’s grave. He knelt before it, the same sadness hit him every time he visited her grave.

“I couldn’t leave her there,” he said softly. “Among all those dead… in that violent place…”

“So,” Ben whispered, coming up behind him. “You took Marie’s body?”

“The Kings helped,” Rob confessed. “Once I decided to settle here, I found this place and buried her here. I know that everyone must have wondered what happened to her…”

“Not really.”

Rob frowned, turning to see Ben’s pale face. “Everyone assumed that she had been buried in the mass grave,” Ben explained. “So many people had died there, and there weren’t enough living to dig everyone a single grave, so one large one was made and all the dead were piled in. Everyone assumed that’s where Marie’s body went.”

Ben dropped to his knees, staring at the grave, tears welling in his eyes. “I’m glad she wasn’t,” he whispered. “I’m glad…” He started to cry, bending over in sorrow that Rob knew too well.

Rob put his arm around his son, sharing for the first time the grief of loss.
*************
Next time, Ben has a hard decision to make. Enjoy the journey!