Deceive not my love-The prince and his maid II

Smell the Faith and Hope Charity

*Mirabella*

I am holding my breath as my eyes take in the colours, the people and the sounds of pirate bay. It is like everywhere I look there are new interesting things to see.

When I am forced to breathe in deeply, my senses are assaulted with a new dimension… smells. There is spices, and baked goods, mixed with rum, dirty people and waste.

“Everything is so exotic”. I breathe, unable to take it all in.

“Imagine, Will said exactly those words when we arrived the first time”. Ben grins.

My heart instantly sinks. “So Will was here too ?”

“Yes he was… and no I am not gonna tell you every detail about what he did and what he said”. He says, shaking his head.

“I wasn’t going to ask”. I mumble, but of course now my mind starts spinning stories. Why does Ben not want to tell me anything ? Had Will acted like his father used to ?

He chuckles. “Yes, you were, it was written on your forehead”.

“Okay, yes I was”. I am still mumbling. “It’s hard not to… wonder”.

“Sweetheart I am sorry what happened”. His eyes tell me he is honest. “And even more sorry that I failed to stop it… you deserved better and honestly so did he. But this is how it is now, and you need to not hang onto things that won’t change, that is why I won’t tell you any details of the trip, neither our stop here nor anywhere else, it won’t help you”.

I bite my lip, nodding. He is right. This might hurt and it might not be my dreams coming through, but I need to move on and I need to make my own life. Too bad my life for the foreseeable future will be boring as hell.

Or well, it will soon be. This stop is my chance to have a little adventure first.

Knowing my head is whipping back and forth, probably giving away my inexperience. I don't really care, there is just too much going on.

“Ben, ohh Ben”. A kinda weird voice sound, making him groan deeply beside me.

When I turn my head I realise the voice is weird because it is two voices, belonging to two busty blonde women, who look to be my mom’s age or a little older.

I look at Ben. “Someone you know ?”

“Oh Benny, we did not know you were in town”. They say. To be honest I find it rather unsettling the way they speak at the same time.

“I literally just arrived and it’s a very short stop”. He says, looking like he wants to run back to the ship.

The women c***s their heads, looking at me. “Who’s she ?”

“Faith, Hope… This is Mirabella, she is the daughter of a friend”. He says with an almost inaudible sigh. “Bella, this is Faith and Hope… Old… old friends of mine”.

“Nice to meet you ladies”. I say, with a small curtsy.

Both women clap their hands and half squeal, making me take a step back. “Oh Benny, she is adorable”.

Then one adds, I think it is Faith. “She needs to meet my son Benji”.

“No, she needs to meet my son, Benja”. The other one, Hope I assume, says.

I can’t stop myself. “You have a son named Benji and you have a son called Benja ?”

“Yes”. Both women say. “Such good boys, soon to turn seventeen they are… you should meet..”.

“Sorry ladies”. Ben grabs my arm. “We have places to be, things to do… very busy, very very busy… nice to see you”.

As he drags me off I hear the woman call out, sounding disappointed. “But Benny …”.

I pull my arm loose and stop. After a couple of steps Ben stops too and turns to look at me. I cross my arms on my chest. “Why are we running Benny boy ?”

“We are not running”. He half groans. “Those two are just… we have better things to do”.

“Like visiting your sons ?” I c**k one eyebrow. Does he assume I am dumb or something ?

He goes pale and shakes his head. “I have no idea what you are talking about”.

“So you were not assuming I am dumb, it’s you being dumb all on your own ?” Seriously ? “Ben, would you have happened to visit like a little over 16 years ago ?”

“I visited a lot of times”. He grumbles. “But yeah, when we were fetching Isolde, we had a broken mast and stopped here… you know that”.

I nod. “I know… and a far out guess, you happened to… visit Faith and Hope on that layover, right ?”

“Bella, I am not sure we should talk about things like this”. He walks toward a tavern.

“For the sake of everything holy, Ben”. I groan. “They have sons my age, my mom got pregnant just about that time.. and they named their sons Ben-ji and Ben-ja… wake up and smell the fatherhood”.

He opens the door to the inn. “I need a rum, a big one”.

“Ben, you can’t ignore this”. I follow him inside.

“Dammit girl, let me have a drink, okay ?” He groans.

After getting his drink he sits down at a table, and I sit down opposite him. “So, what are you gonna do ?”

“Bella, sweetie… let me tell you something about the Charity twins…”. Ben starts.

“Are you f*****g me”. It just flies out and I fear Ben’s eyes will pop out at my choice of words. “They are named Faith and Hope Charity ?”

He half rolls his eyes. “Yeah… and believe me, they are very charitable, especially towards men and especially when they were younger, most likely those boys have like five fathers each”.

“Not claiming to be an expert, but I am pretty sure that isn’t how it works Ben”. I shake my head.

“What do you want me to do ? How can I know if they are mine ?” He looks at me, like he actually hopes I can tell him a certain answer.

I bite my lip, thinking. “Well… Maybe the first step is meeting them… am I right if I say you never met them ?”

You are right”. He mumbles, then he rolls his eyes. “Okay, just let me have another rum first, to strengthen myself”.

“I think I will have one as well”. I say, looking at the bartender. “Two rum, my good man”.

The bartender looks at Ben who sighs. “Two rum”. Then he looks at me. “But you are only having one”.

“And then we go meet your sons”. I smile at him.

“Bartender, make it three rum”. Ben quickly calls, then he mumbles. “Gonna need my strength”.