Deceive not my love-The prince and his maid II

Getting to know Ben

*Ben*

After I have gotten a room in the best inn and made sure Bella has retired to her room for the night. Posting 2 of my most trusted men as guards in the next room I leave. I have so many thoughts in my head and I need to, go a little pirate so to speak.

I know exactly where to find that: at our old favorite tavern where ale flows freely and the women are willing.

An old friend, Tig, spots me, smiles broadly and extends a tankard towards me. As soon as I take it, he taps his against mine. “I heard you were in town and I knew you couldn't stay away”.

Not tonight. Tonight I need ... I am not certain what I need. I know only that I need to stop thinking so damned much. I empty my tankard in one long deep swallow and call for another.

Tig leans back against the counter, placing his elbows on it and crossing his feet at the ankles. He looks to be a man entirely too comfortable here, but then again, he has always been a man of leisure. I used to be the same, but I have slowed down a lot these past years.

Proper behavior is no way for a man to live, I reflect as I down half the second tankard.

“So what is up with you tonight ?” Tig asks. “You seem in a foul mood”.

I look out over the crowd. This is a place of the less reputable. Pirates and sailors are strutting about, and buxom ladies are doing their best to entice them.

“Remember Faith and Hope… the Charity twins”. I ask. “I ran into them”.

“Oh I remember them… very very well”. He grins. “Hey remember when they Took turns…”.

"They claim I am the father of their kids… both of them”.

Helooks at me, like he is measuring me up. Then he shrugs. “I suspect they are right. I have seen those boys, strapping young lads… looks exactly like you when you boarded your first pirate ship”.

I groan. “It might be a coincidence, right ?”

He just lifts one eyebrow, shaking his head slowly.

“So, I am a father”. I look into my beer. “I guess I’ll survive”.

Tig straightens and lifts his tankard. “Survival is no fun. We want to flourish, have more coins than we'll ever need, so we are men of leisure with no troubles to weigh us down”.

“I've never known you to be weighed down with troubles”.

A grin flashes over Tig’s face before he downs what remains in his tankard and sets it on the counter. “What say we find a couple of willing ladies, whisk them off to my residence, and you can forget your troubles too?”

My companion is on the hunt before I can blink. After having my tankard refilled, I fall into step beside him.

“So I assume we're looking for our usual fare ? Brunettes ?” Tig asks.

I do not answer. The question is moot, for some reason I have always favored brunettes.

“I understand you not having an interest in blondes”. Tig goes on. “But gingers ? They can be as fiery as their hair”.

“I'll leave them to you”. Actually the infamous Charity twins, is the reason I stay clear of blondes. As for the reds, well… I prefer not to talk about that, they just bring back memories.

Tig drifts away when a woman crooks her finger at him. While I do intend to find company for the night, I find myself studying the people who are about. Especially the Young men, wondering how it is to be a father. Will they expect something from me ? And do I want to step up to that ?

Then my thoughts go to Belle, I feel like a… no not a father to her, but an uncle. Yeah a fun uncle. And I feel a small tweak in my chest. I mean I love Will too, like a nephew, but what he did to the poor girl is not fair.

She can be stubborn, and yet there is a softness to her, an innocence, she is still so young, more a girl than a woman. She needs a man who won’t break her, who won’t berate her. Not right now of course, but in a couple of years, when she is ready.

I stagger to a stop as I catch sight of red hair beneath the hood of a cape before the woman turns away.

She is tall, slender ... She can’t be Coral.

“Hello, fancy man. What are you up to tonight ?” A golden-haired vixen strokes my shoulder. I hadn't even realized she was near. I had been so focused on the hooded woman, anyone could have fleeced my pockets.

“Pardon me”. I utter before striding away. Where the deuce is the woman in the cape ? It would be just like Coral to suddenly decide to suddenly come back to pirates bay, like she had never disappeared.

Ah, there she is. I dart around one drunk sailor, then another. I edge around a large woman, moving aside a smaller one. She is walking toward the door. Once she disappears out into the darkness, I will lose her.

I quicken my pace. Grow nearer. Reach out. Clamp my hand on her shoulder, spin her about.., It isn't Coral at all… of course it isn’t. Her eyes are the wrong color, her nose the wrong shape. Her chin is square when it should be round. Her cheeks are not high enough. Her hair ... Her hair is not the correct shade. It is a harsher red. It does not call for a man to comb his fingers through it.

I look into her kohl-lined eyes. No spark, no joy, no laughter resides there. I shake my head. “My apologies. I mistook you for someone else”.

I back up a step, and then another. What the devil am I doing thinking of Coral just because I am here ? She will never come back to this part of the world, she made that quite clear.

I pivot and go in search of Tig. Perhaps I will venture away from brunettes tonight. Someone to take my mind off Coral, a place she should not be at all, now I need to expel her too.

I spot Tig staggering toward me, a blonde on one arm, a dark-haired beauty on the other.

He whispers something to her. She separates herself from him and walks, her hips swaying enticingly, over to me. When she reaches me, she runs her hand up my chest, over my shoulder, and circles it around my neck. “Tig here tells me that you can remove my dress with one hand tied behind your back”.

I grin broadly. “I can do it with both hands tied behind my back”.

“Ah, you're teasing me now”.

I lean toward her. “I have a very talented mouth”.

She laughs, a deep, full-throated one. “I'd like to see that”.

“It will be my pleasure to demonstrate”.

So for tonight, a brunette it will be.