Natalie spent her week riding and getting to know Brendan. She found herself growing more and more attracted to him as the days went by. The prince was having similar feelings.
Ben spent his week lying in his bed in the infirmary, watching Natalie wistfully from the window. He wished he could get out of bed! He was going mad not being able to get up and do something, anything.
Tara visited Ben daily, and they spent hours talking.
"Thanks for keeping me company. I don't know what I'd do if I had no one to talk to."
"You're welcome. So when do you get to get out of here? Has the doctor told you yet?"
"He says that I can move out of here tomorrow. It's about time!" Ben sighed. "I think tomorrow is going to take years to come." Finally, eyeing the sword at her belt for the hundredth time, he asked the question that had been on his mind all week. "So, do you know how to use that sword you've got there?"
She grinned. "I've been told that I can better my brother. One day I hope to be as good as my mother. She's a legend. Why do you ask? Can't you use a sword?"
Ben shook his head, embarrassed. "No, I can't. When I'm well enough, would you teach me? I would really rather not have a repeat of this." Ben gestured vaguely in the general area of his ribs.
"I'd be happy to," Tara answered. Then she asked tentatively, "Do you know the men who did this to you?"
Ben stared down at the bed and answered quietly, "I do." He didn't continue.
Tara pressed him, "Who were they?"
Ben looked up into her eyes and said, "They were my brother and his best friend." Seeing the look of horror on her face, he told her quickly, "Oh, Bryan's always been like that. Throwing me against walls, giving me black eyes, that's just how he is. Sometimes he and his friends will go for months without laying a hand on me, but lately they've been having a mean streak."
"That's awful!" Tara exclaimed. "If Brendan ever hit me he'd be in the dungeon for a month!"
Ben started to laugh, then saw her face and the laughter died down into a cough. "Oh, you weren't kidding. I forgot that you have a dungeon here… No, my parents haven't ever seemed to fully realize what's going on. My mom seems to have convinced herself that her little Bryan can't possibly be capable of hurting his brother in such a way." He snorted. "Little does she know…" He trailed off, staring into space.
There was a knock on the door and the king walked into the room. "Good afternoon, Ben. How are you feeling today?"
"I'm feeling great, other than the fact that I'm not allowed out of bed yet."
King Kotaku nodded understandingly. "Ah, yes. That's always the hardest part of being injured." He stood silent for a moment, then seemed to remember why he had come. "I came to ask you what you had planned to do once you where released from the infirmary."
"I honestly have no idea, Your Majesty," Ben answered.
The king waved his hand impatiently. "How many times have I told you just to call me Kotaku?" Ben blushed and nodded. "Anyway, I came to offer you shelter here. You seem to get along well and since you aren't really sure where your home is, you might just like it here. You would be more than welcome to stay."
Ben nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, Your – er – Kotaku, I would."
"Well then. Now that's settled, I shall have someone make up your room. Now I must go, as I have business that I must attend to."
Kotaku gave his daughter's shoulders a brief squeeze and strode from the room.
Later that evening, Natalie went to visit Ben in the infirmary. He told her the news that he was going to stay.
"Oh, me too!" Their friendship had grown greatly in the week that they had spent in Simone. "Brendan asked me this afternoon if I would stay. I said yes."
Ben sighed inwardly in relief. He had been afraid that she would leave and he would be left all alone in this strange world.
"You seem to be spending a lot of time with Brendan," he teased her.
She turned a bright, cherry red. "So what if I am? He's just a friend." So far, she added to herself.
Ben found himself feeling pleased that she said that she and Brendan were just friends, even if he didn't believe it. He was finding himself growing more and more attached to Natalie. He told himself it was only natural. After all, she was the only link he had to their home.
"Oh," Ben said, suddenly remembering, "I asked Tara today and she agreed to teach me to use a sword!"
Natalie grinned. "That's cool! I can so see you beating on Bryan!"
Ben smiled a little more maliciously than he meant to. "My thoughts exactly. Maybe she could teach you as well."
"Me?" Natalie laughed. "No way! I'd end up accidentally or maybe not so accidentally, chopping someone in half or something. I have a very short fuse, you know."
Ben grinned and chuckled. "You know, I can actually kind of see that happening."
Natalie laughed and smacked him gently on the arm.
He headed straight to the stables, where he knew Natalie would be. The doctor had released Ben only a few moments prior, warning him that he still wasn't completely healed.
Once he entered the stable, though, he had no idea where to go. It branched out into four different directions, and from there expanded further. As Ben walked, he looked into each stall. Passing one, he stopped suddenly and did a double-take. Standing behind a fiery bay stallion were Natalie and the prince. As Ben watched, Brendan leaned in close to Natalie and kissed her.
Ben felt anger begin to boil in his blood. Without saying a word, he stormed out of the stable. Once outside, he paced for a while then left in search of Tara. He found her in one of the smaller courtyards adjacent to the one in which the stable was located.
Mara was talking to a big man with graying hair. He had kind, blue eyes and laugh lines around his mouth and eyes. With him was a boy who looked to be about seventeen. The boy looked very like the man beside whom he was standing – well, all except the boy's flaming red hair – and so Ben guessed that he must be the man's son.
Tara looked around as Brian approached her. "Oh! You've been let out from your prison at last, have you?"
Ben grinned and nodded.
Tara turned to the big man. "This is Ben. He's the boy I told you about. Ben," she gestured to the man, "this is Orrin. He's a close friend of the family."
"Pleased to meet you." Turning to the boy beside him, Orrin said, "This is my son, Gabriel. How old are you, Ben?"
"I'm seventeen, sir."
"Good. Gabriel here will be seventeen in a few weeks. The two of you ought to be friends. Why don't you two go riding or something. Get to know each other better."
Gabriel shrugged. "Alright." He gestured for Ben to follow him. "Come on."
As he followed Gabriel toward the stables, Ben told him, "I have a confession to make. I can't ride."
Gabriel stopped and stared at him. "You have got to be kidding, right?"
"No, I'm not. I can't ride."
Gabriel turned and kept walking, shaking his head as he went.
"Where are we going?" Ben asked as he trotted after him.
"To the stables," Gabriel answered. "If you can't ride, it's about time you learned."
As they entered the stables and walked past the stall containing the fiery bay stallion, Ben glanced inside and saw Natalie helping Brendan to groom the big horse. His anger was rekindled as he saw the arm that Brendan had placed around Natalie's waist.
Gabriel stopped outside the stall and said, "Hey Brendan and…"
"Natalie," she told him. She flicked a strand of her long brown hair out of her face and Ben felt his heart constrict.
"Nice to meet you, Natalie. Both of you, this is,"
Natalie interrupted him. "Hi, Ben. So the doctor finally decided to release you?"
"Yeah, finally," he replied.
"Okay, so I see you already know each other. Brendan, do you know that he can't ride?"
Brendan stared at Ben. "You can't ride?"
Ben shook his head. "No, I can't."
Brendan said, "Well, that can be easily remedied." He gave the bay stallion a pat and opened the stall door. As Brendan and Natalie walked out of the stall, Gabriel noted with interest that the two were holding hands.
Before Ben knew what was happening, the three of them had a horse saddled and ready for him. He was shown how to mount and dismount, then told to try it. He placed his foot in the stirrup and hauled himself onto the fat grey pony's back. Once there, Natalie showed him how to hold the reins while Gabriel fixed his leg position.
As Ben fell into bed that night, he was sure that someone had taken a hammer and beaten him thoroughly with it. His muscles were sore from the day of unaccustomed exercise. He had learned to tell the horse to walk and to halt. Even that elementary lesson had sapped his energy. The doctor had, of course, been right. Ben was not completely healed.
Ben lay awake for a while thinking of the day behind him and of the days ahead. Tara had told him that she would begin teaching him the use of a sword the next day. Ben wondered what it would be like. He was sure that he would be far sorer the next night than he was now