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One Of *THOSE* Days

Ben'sar heart felt as if it was breaking in two as he watched Ellie walk ...
no, run quickly away from him. His cheek still stung where she had hit
him, but his hand made no move to touch it or try to easy the pain. He
knew he deserved it for the things he had said.

He had lost her... even before he ever really had her. For good this
time if
he was any judge of her character. She'd never forgive him for what she
saw as him fooling around. And the girl Lia hadn't helped his cause any
by her remarks. 

The woman must hate all men, he thought angrily as he remembered her
remarks about him nearly attacking her.

He'd done no such thing... but instead of telling Ellie what really
happened... like he had been trying to... she went off with lies to get him
in deeper trouble then he was already in..... And Ellie had believed her.

Women! He swore then kicked out at a tree sitting there innocently next to
the damn bench where he had found trouble in the making.

It **wasn't** his fault!

Damn, couldn't Ellie see that?! Hadn't he proven how much he loved her by
following her here to this place?! By leaving his family and the only home
he'd ever known behind just to be with her!

Women! Who needed them! Hell, who *understood them!

His eye began to hurt and pain he understood. Just what he needed, two
black eyes to start out his life in the new place. Sure do great things
for his reputation. What a sorry sap, a lousy fighter, or a wimp. Was
one woman worth it?

Ellie was.

He took off walking, knowing he'd have to do something about the swelling,
so he went on to the dining hall and entered it, moving right through what
crowd was still there and on to the door leading into the kitchens. As fate
had it, the same woman who had been there the night Leo had decked him
was working and when she saw him she came to him and chuckled.

"Looks to me like you need to learn how to duck, young man," she
quipped, but not unkindly. Neither did she ask how he got it, which he
blessed her for. "Hang on, I'll get you something for that and something
to put inside you as well. Go on out and find yourself a seat and I'll
be right out."

"Thanks," he managed a small if ironic grin for her assistance, and left the
same way he had come. Once entering the main room, he found a table in a
far corner away from the crowd and sat with his back facing the wall to
hopefully put off anyone from joining him.

"Here you go," the woman came up behind him and first placed a full
plate on the table before him, then handed him a piece of frozen meat to place
against the bruise starting to appear under his one good eye. "Now I know
you may not feel like eating anything right now because of whatever
happened... No, I won't ask, but I can see it in your eyes that something
did... But let me remind you that you do have to eat... maybe having some
energy will make it easier for you to duck quicker the next time, young
man... you don't have any more eyes to blacken and those you do have need
time to heal. Now eat!"

She turned and walked away after delivering her words of wisdom, so he
didn't see the knowing grin that appeared on her lips as she walked away
chuckling to herself about the antics of the young. Though she did feel a
bit sorry for the poor young man.

Ben took the meat and leaning against the table on his right elbow, held it
up against the underside of his eye and with his left hand picked up the
fork and began to move around the food on his plate. He really didn't
feel like eating, too upset, but then he remembered he hadn't eaten
anything more than a few pieces of fruit since morning and stabbed his
fork into the offering on the plate and raised the first bite to his
lips when he sat there stewing.

"I figured I^ñd find you chasing after my sister this evening," a familiar
voice said from behind him and Benny didn't even look up as Leo joined him.
"Not sitting here all alone...WOW... who gave you that!?" 

Leo couldn't help notice the frozen piece of meat under the rider^ñs cheek.

"Your sister beat you to it," Ben'sar quipped sardonically.

"I take it she had a reason?" Leo asked and Benny saw the darkening of his
eyes as a wariness crept in. Ever the protective brother... But Ben'sar
wondered if Leo knew Ellie didn't need protecting... It was the other way
around. Others needed to be protected from her.

"She thought so." 

"Maybe you'd better explain that remark," Leo request wasn't so much as a
question, but an order.

"Let's just say that you told me so," the rider said, still frowning. "I
just don't get women. They tell you one thing, do another... And when you
make an *honest mistake* they blow things right out of proportion and
act as if everyone is out to cause them misery. I made an honest mistake
and now she's mad at me and left me this new black eye to remind me of
it... what is it with the people in your family, Leo... does everyone
hit first then ask for explanations? 

"Only when the occasion calls for it," Leonidas replied, only half
joking.  "But Runt's never been one to play those kind of games. 
Suppose you tell me about this *honest mistake*."

"She plays them well enough," he quipped, moving the meat up a bit. "You
taught her well..... We spent the day together and things... started
well... turned a bit rocky but we worked them out and were supposed to
meet for dinner here tonight," he started and saw Leo nod. "Well, I
showed up where we were suppose to meet and saw someone sitting on the
garden bench and thought it was her... Hell, it looked like her so I sat
down next to her and kissed her..... Only it wasn^ñt Ellie you see...
just some girl who looked like her and as soon as I found out my mistake
I stopped kissing her, but Ellie showed up at that point and saw us and
put two and two together and came up with me being a player of some kind
seducing every woman I came across... and the other girl didn^ñt help
things any by playing the victim to the hilt instead of telling Ellie
what really happened.... Acting like a frightened virgin caught in the
act instead.....Hell, Leo... it damn sure was an honest mistake but no
one would believe me... and all I got was another black eye for my troubles."

Leo couldn^ñt quite suppress a chuckle.  "Boy, when you screw up, you do
it up brown, don^ñt you?"  The bard stopped to think. "If the girl looked
just like Runt, it had to be Lia, right?" At Ben^ñs sullen nod, Leo went
on.  "Now, I don^ñt know the girl that well, but from what I can tell....
Uh, Ben, she wasn^ñt ACTING like a frightened virgin...."  Leo shrugged
apologetically.  

"So you know the girl?" Ben asked and saw Leo nod his head again. "Well,
if she keeps acting the way she is I don^ñt give her a chance in hell of
changing her virginal status any time soon.... But then she^ñs not my
problem... Ellie is.... How in the hell am I going to get her to listen
to reason? Can you tell me that? How am I going to get her to see I made
a mistake and didn^ñt set out to hurt her?"

"She^ñll calm down eventually." Leo looked at the miserable young man
sitting next to him and felt a wave of pity for him.  He really wasn^ñt a
bad kid, and as much as Leo hated to admit it, the boy DID love his
sister. "Take heart, chap. She never loses her temper with anyone but
family." He paused in thought for a moment.  "But I would be prepared
for some SERIOUS groveling if I were you."

"Right now I^ñm willing to do just about anything to get her to listen to
me. I know once she does and thinks about it she^ñll see it really was a
mistake on my part. But how do I get her to listen with out having to
duck another punch?"

"Shout from across the room?" Leo laughed outright at the dirty look
this comment won him. "Seriously, when she^ñs this mad, just stay out of
her way for a bit. She^ñll calm down enough to feel guilty for hitting
you before too long and then she^ñll be her sweet, reasonable self
again...though I can^ñt say as she^ñs shown much reason where you^ñre concerned."

"So your advice is that I should just ignore her until she calms down
and pretend she doesn^ñt exist until she becomes sweet again? Am I going
to have to go through this every time she gets mad at me?"

"Well, most of the time, she^ñs not so ...violent, but...yeah, every
time. Luckily, she doesn^ñt get mad that often.  I wouldn^ñt quite ignore
her...just give her some space.  Let her come to you - she will, y^ñknow."

"I can only hope I live that long," Benny stated as he got up from the
table. "See ya around. I^ñm going home to lick my wounds in private for a while."

He had only taken three steps when the angry sounds of the dragons
keening sent an alert through out the Warren. Leo was by his side
instantly as the two of them made their way out of the hall, followed by
others to see what was happening.

"He^ñs been murdered!" Came the cries around them.

Leo grabbed the arm of a passing rider and asked who.

"Lord Kanen," the rider stated grimily. "There^ñs going to be hell to pay
when his sons find out about it."

Then Leo let go of the rider^ñs arm and turned to Benny. 

"Who^ñs Lord Kanen?" the former Telnor rider asked.

"Kanler^ñs father... you^ñve met Kanler already haven^ñt you? "Ben’sar
nodded his head.

"This morning along with his mate... the Alpha Wingsecond. Why would
anyone want to murder his father?"

"He^ñs one of the good guys," Leo said cryptically and took off to see if
he could help out any in his guise as a bard. Something was going on
that he didn^ñt know about and wanted to. He^ñd heard something of the
troubles the Warren had been facing before he came here and wondered if
it had anything to do with that.

Ben'sar listen as Leo gave him the shorten version of what had happened
dealing with the Cult and the aftermath. He listen as the man explained
that... "Kanen had been one of the Lords who had helped bring the cult down
and now it looked like someone who had escaped justice had taken his or her
revenge on the good Lord for his troubles."

"Oh gees....." Ben'sar sighed, and then was quite as they came upon the
scene of the crime. He saw his sister Abby coming out of the crowd and
stepped up to meet her.

"How bad is it?" he asked.

"Bad enough from what I gather," she sighed and looked back for a second.
"His family is in with him now." They're not to happy... from what I hear
they may know who did it and if they decide to go after him... It could mean
more trouble for the Warren. The oldest son is a dragonrider held in some
respect here around the Warren."

Ben'sar nodded. "Kanler... I've met him, but don't think he's the kind to go
off half cocked."

"I hope you're right," Abby sighed. "I hope you're right."

============ 

Nrpg: Much thanks goes out to KK who helped with Leo's words of wisdom.
Thanks KK :)

****submitted by: *****

Ben'sar & Killeen
Whiteriver Warren

Aka
Barbara