I Told You So

Writers: AmajoS, Estelle
Date Posted: 6th May 2019

Characters: Benna, A'ten
Description: Arten tells Benna about another side to his father's character
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 10, day 26 of Turn 9
Notes: Mentioned: L'keri

Benna was sitting at the edge of the weyrlake, tossing pebbles into
it. She'd been at this rather pointless activity for a while now, the
shadows were quite a bit longer now than they had been when she
started, but she felt no desire to stop. It was peaceful in this
little corner of the weyrlake at the moment, and the pointless,
repetitive motion of tossing in small pebbles and watching the ripples
was soothing. She felt tired in a way that had nothing to do with any
sort of work or exercise.

She had done nothing but worry over the problems between herself and
L'keri for days and she was tired. It felt good to shut her brain off
for a little while. Even Henerath was quiet, napping on her ledge.

Arten had always thought he'd be glad when he finally got too old for
Harper classes, but as the date approached, he couldn't feel any
enthusiasm about it. He was still in this frozen backwater and his
friends were far away, in the North, and he couldn't see how he was
going to get back unless he asked his father to take him. He wasn't sure
whether to join the Dragonsfall candidate class or not. It would be
better than doing chores all day, and he did want to Stand, more than
anything. But if he Impressed, he'd be stuck here for good.

He trudged around the weyrlake with his hands shoved deep into his
jacket pockets. Up ahead, he saw a young woman whose posture looked as
dejected as he felt. The lake in the evening was a good place to come to
brood.

As he came closer, he recognised her, and felt a sinking in his heart.
As much as he despised his father, there was a small part of him that
hoped L'keri might change, no matter how hard he tried to crush it. But
every time he thought it might be getting better, he was disappointed.
He'd heard the gossip that they'd fought, bitterly and publicly, and it
looked as thought it was true.

He walked over and picked up a large stone, hurling it out into the lake
as hard as he could. When she turned to look at him, he returned her
gaze with a morose stare. "I told you so."

Benna hadn't heard the boy approach, so she startled when the large
stone plopped into the water. "What?" She asked, rather stupidly, but
her mind had been a million miles away.

"My dad. L'keri." Arten kicked another stone towards the water. "He's
let you down, hasn't he? I told you what he was like."

"A bit," Benna replied. But then she sighed and added, "But I think I
let him down too."

"Really?" the boy asked, an edge to his voice. "Did you get drunk and
leave him waiting outside the Weyr in the cold, as well?" He sat down on
a large, flat rock, his boots digging into the sandy gravel at the edge
of the water, and stared out across the lake. "Trust me. My dad is not
worth getting upset about."

She wanted to argue, felt like she should argue, but part of her
thought the boy had a point. Not about L'keri being unworthy, but
perhaps about him being more disappointing. She didn't know if that
was fair or not, but she couldn't help feeling it. Still, she wondered
why his son was so antagonistic, "Did he do something like that with
you too?"

"He's been doing things like that to me ever since I can remember. He
drinks and acts like an idiot and he doesn't even care about what it
means for me and Eluri. That time when he insulted his Wingleader? The
other kids were talking about it for sevendays, and whenever they saw
me, they'd go silent and stare, like I'd got a disease. And it hasn't
stopped," Arten went on, unable to stop himself. "Since he got here,
he's made an enemy of the Weyrlingmaster. What does he think is going to
happen if I Impress?"

He flung another stone into the water, as hard as he could. "You're
lucky. You can just walk away."

Benna frowned, this was certainly a side of L'keri she had never
witnessed. She'd seen him act childishly and brazenly, but this was
sounding like a whole other thing. "Have you spoken with him about
it?"

"No point. He doesn't listen. Even if he's actually around, which isn't
often." The boy's voice cracked slightly. "He'd rather be slurping down
wine with his wingmates than spend time with us."

Despite her anger with him and the many dark truths about his past
that she was coming to find out about, Benna still loved L'keri and
wanted what was best for him. "I think he would be if he thought you
wanted it." She remembered how nervous he was about her meeting his
son. Part of it was his fear it would go badly, but part of it, she
thought, had been his desire for things to go well.

Arten glanced at her, then shook his head. "Maybe he thinks he would,
sometimes. But he always goes back to his old ways. He's done it too
many times for me to believe in him any more." He shrugged. "Eluri still
does, but she's only six. She'll figure it out, soon enough."

Benna didn't know what to say in response to that, so she didn't say
anything. She didn't know how to fix the rift between herself and
L'keri, much less between him and his son. And she wasn't sure she
should try. This story and the ones she'd heard from Orvena made him out
to be a completely different person than the one she knew. Or thought
she knew.

The boy sighed and got to his feet. "I suppose you'll figure it out too,
given enough time." He hoped Benna wouldn't be too badly hurt. She
seemed nice enough.

She watched him go and wondered if he was right.

Last updated on the May 6th 2019

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I Told You So