Chapter Seventeen--Ben Meets His Match
After what seemed to a very long time, Owen's eyes finally dropped to the child in his arms. Very carefully, he set Luke down on the ground before him. He straightened, and gave both Ben and Beru a hard stare before turning his back on them and walking away.
This was so clearly 'a-plague-on-both-your-houses' gesture that even Ben looked daunted. He shut down his lightsaber, and released Beru. She scooped up the child, but as she did so, her eyes searched for Owen. He had disappeared into the trees.
"He appears to have disowned both of us," Ben said, drily. "Maybe we should now debate who deserves it more."
"You get my vote," Beru said hoarsely. Her eyes were burning.
"And you get mine."
Without answering, Beru started after Owen. Ben stopped her before she had gone more than a few feet.
"No, you don't," he said. "We're leaving. Right now."
"You can leave anytime," Beru said, still staring after Owen, "I'm going after Owen."
But Ben had a tight grip on her upper arm, and he wasn't letting go. "Leave him alone, Beru. Haven't you done enough? This ends right here. You and the child are coming with me now; I'll be back for Owen later."
If he's still here by then, Beru thought. She could sense that Ben shared that fear, but she knew him well enough to know that it wouldn't stop him. Not for a minute.
It didn't, either. He relieved Beru of her lightsaber, clipped it on his own belt, and hustled her and Luke back down the path to the shuttle port.
"Let me go home and pack," Beru stuttered. "I don't have any of Luke's things----"
"Not this time," Ben said. "If you need anything, we'll buy it. Let's go."
At the shuttle port, he purchased three tickets to Bakanir, and discovered that the next flight was scheduled for very early morning. Since their disheveled appearance elicited stares, Ben allowed Beru to clean herself up and to purchase some items for Luke. Beru did so numbly. If this had been Owen, I would have planned out five different escape routes already, she thought, so why not now? It occurred to her suddenly that Owen had never suppressed her. Himself, yes; Ben, yes. But not her. Having watched him deal with Ben, she realized that he could have done so at any time. He had chosen not to. She remembered how smug she had been over giving him the slip, and suddenly felt deeply ashamed of herself. And not for the first time on this watch. Probably not for the last, either. Tears choked her throat, but she forced them back. Crying over a man she didn't even love; how much sense did that make?
Ben was careful; she was not allowed to be alone. In the past, his company would have delighted her. Now his presence seemed an intolerable burden. With no Owen in view, and no clue as to where he had gone, Beru felt restless and anxious, and she communicated this to Luke, who started to fuss. The last half hour before the shuttle arrived seemed endless.
It was before dawn, and the shuttle was nearly empty. Ben managed to obtain a small cabin, with a bunk. Beru quickly tucked Luke into it. She did not lie down beside him, however. Though she was exhausted, she knew that she would not be able to sleep. Ben ordered cafs from the shuttle server-droid. Obviously, he didn't intend to sleep either.
He handed her a caf; Beru took it sullenly. She did not drink it.
"There's nothing in it," Ben said drily. "Except what should be there."
"I'm not thirsty," Beru said, putting it down on the fold-out table beside her.
Ben shrugged and sipped his drink. He ignored Beru's hostility.
"Are you just going to leave Owen there?" Beru burst out suddenly. She was certain this was a mistake. Something--the Force?--was sounding alarms bells in her brain.
Ben raised his brows. "Owen's an adult," he said, coolly. "And he made his choice rather clear, don't you think? Besides, I don't much fancy a trip back with the both of you. I might end up outnumbered. Again."
"Hope she was worth it," Beru muttered.
Ben stiffened. "Don't start," he said.
Beru stared at him. "Did you break up my engagement?" she blurted out. She silently cursed herself; it sounded so inane.
To her surprise, Ben looked embarrassed. "Is that what Owen told you?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Well, it's not the whole story, but I'm not surprised you didn't hear it all. Rhys did come to see me and asked about you--and me. He'd had it from a third party. Care to guess who that third party was?"
"Not really."
"Well, I'll tell you anyway. It turns out that my baby brother, you know the one who hates crowds and despises tap-cafes, just happened to be in a crowded tap-cafe, and by a singular coincidence one in which he encountered your fiancee. According to said fiancee, Owen invited Rhys to have a drink with him, if you can imagine it."
Beru, with some difficulty, tried; but failed. Owen was notoriously anti-social, especially with other Knights, and under his gruffness, she had discovered, he was painfully shy.
"After they'd had a few drinks--Owen has very little capacity for alcohol, I grant you--Owen apparently started to gossip. Told Rhys you had a notorious crush on me, and he was second choice. Frankly, I'm not sure that he didn't embellish the story a little--or maybe a lot."
Beru stared at him blankly.
"Rhys was upset. Not unnaturally, I suppose. Charged over to me and asked me if it was true. I denied most of it, but I'm afraid he didn't believe me."
I just wonder just how much of it you actually denied, Beru thought suspiciously, but she said nothing.
"I'm sorry about that, Beru, and I mean it. I didn't want to mention it to you. I doubted you would have understood."
"So you knew all the time?" Beru asked dully.
"Um, yes. If you mean about the crush."
"I suppose you found it very amusing," Beru said, her voice trembling.
"Not at all," Ben said, smiling at her. "I took it as a compliment."
It was a very conscious exercising of his very considerable charm. It had always worked on her before, of course. Last year, I'd have been thrilled by that comment, Beru thought sourly. Now she felt a sudden surge of anger. He thinks he can control me that way. Still. But not this time. Not ever again.
She seized the caf from the table beside her and dashed it into Ben's face. She used his confusion to seize her light-saber from his belt. But Ben recovered from his surprise faster than she had anticipated; he knocked her off her feet before she could light her saber. The saber itself clattered to the floor. Beru was both shorter and lighter than Ben, but sheer fury lent her strength. She scrambled to her knees, and recovered the saber. Ben kicked her wrist, which made her drop it, yelping in pain. He then grabbed her by the injured wrist, and hauled her to her feet.
"Enough!" he said, angrily. "Since you refuse to behave voluntarily, I'll have to force you."
Beru slumped to the bunk where Luke watched them wide-eyed. She knew what this meant. Ben could control her through the Force. He was both stronger in the Force than she was, and more skilled at mind manipulation. It was an expedient much frowned upon among the Knights, except in emergencies. She supposed she should be flattered that she now fell under that category for him.
The rest of the trip was a nightmare. Ben's mind manipulation made Beru see everything from a great distance. Her head, her limbs felt horribly heavy. She could not speak. When they finally arrived on Bakanir, Ben picked up Luke and disembarked with him in his arms, leaving her to follow as best she could. This obvious disregard infuriated her, but even her anger was now in slow motion.
Beru's feet felt weighted, and she could barely trudge along in Ben's wake. She could detect Luke's confusion, but as long as she was close, he was quiet. Ben carried him rather awkwardly, trying at the same time to produce the necessary paperwork for the officials at the inspection station.
Ben was handing over their passports. Trust him to have taken care of that.
"--and this is my wife. I have both our passports---" Ben was saying smoothly to the official.
My wife, Beru thought bitterly. That phrase would have thrilled her not so long ago. Times had changed, indeed. Now it seemed like a dreadful mockery of her hopes and dreams. Why hadn't she used her saber on him? It had been within her ability to save the day, and she had bungled it. She didn't blame Owen for disowning her.
"Your wife?" a voice said.
Surely she knew that voice? It wasn't Owen, though. She wished she could raise her head to view the speaker, but it felt too heavy.
"Yes," Ben said, coolly. "We've been married five years."
"That's strange," the disembodied voice said. "Because I know this lady. I presided at her wedding, three months ago. And as I recall, you weren't the groom."
It was Captain Rijdan. With a fierce effort, Beru forced her head up. The Captain was staring at her. He had several underlings behind him. They were all armed, Beru noted with sudden hope.
Ben smiled easily. "You're mistaken, I think." But he was using all his ability in the Force to control Beru and keep Luke quiet. He could not spare any to manipulate the Captain's mind.
"Oh no, I'm not," Captain Rijdan said, giving Ben a distinctly jaundiced look. He came forward and took Beru's hand. He kissed it, with typical Bakaniri gallantry.
"Are you all right, Ma'am?" he asked her gently. Beru could not answer. He looked puzzled.
Beru received a mental instruction from Ben: nod your head, along with a push through the Force to enforce his will.
She resisted it. She would not--she would not--
Ben pushed through the Force once again--harder this time.
Very slowly, Beru moved. It felt as though she was shifting the biggest boulder in the galaxy with her nose, but she managed it--she shook her head.
"She doesn't seem agree with you, sir," Captain Rijdan said, icily. His glance took in her swollen eyes, the gash on her forehead, and the bruise developing by her mouth--a legacy of her fight with Ben on the shuttle.
Ben came quickly to Beru's side. Beru managed to shy away from his grip and clutch the Captain's tunic. Her eyes pleaded with him. Fuel to a Bakaniri fire. As one, the Captain and his men drew their blasters.