8. Innocence
"Grandpa Halt?"
Halt looked down at his 'grandson', who was beaming up at him. In a tiny version of a Ranger cloak.
"Where on earth did you get that?"
Benny pulled the hood up. "Papa got it for me."
Ah. This was Gilan's idea of a joke. Halt knelt so that he was eye to eye with the four-year-old.
"Any why would he do that?"
"Because I wanna be just like you."
Halt felt pride and sorrow flash in his heart. He knew (guessed, really) that Gilan had told his son about his legendary mentor, exaggerating details to make everything sound more grand, but he probably missed (conveniently) the more gory details of why Halt was a legend. Benny knew that Ranger's were protectors of Arulen, but he didn't know, exactly, how his homeland was kept safe sometimes.
Halt sighed and smiled at the child. He was only four, and, with luck, he'd keep his innocence for a long while longer. He stood and took Benny's hand.
"Come. If you want to be like me, you have to learn to ride Abelard."
"Kay. Grandpa Halt?"
"Yes?"
"Can I have some coffee?"
Inwardly, Halt started laughing, devising an imaginary plot to give Benny as much caffeine as he could just before Gil came back to get him.
New character! Ladies and gentlemen, meet Gil's son, Benedick. He's four in this story, and he has pale, peachy orange hair (I'm not sure if you guys can imagine that), and blue eyes. His mother died during childbirth, and she gave him that hair. I may write a story about that. Hm.
