Sir Bentley and Holbrook Court Read Free Page B

orange colors dancing off the evening clouds were brighter than ever, and the beauty drew him once again to thoughts loftier than romance.
    “What's all of this for?” he asked his mother.
    “All of what for?”
    “This.” He motioned to the manor behind him, then to Chessington, the Great Sea, and beyond. “Am I here simply to be a Noble Knight, chase radical peasants about, marry some maiden, accumulate wealth, and die an old man in Chessington? Is that really what life is all about?”
    Deonne was silent. Bentley didn't often express such thoughts out loud, but recently he had seemed overwhelmed with them.
    “I'm sorry, Mother.” Bentley turned to face her. “You and Father have given me everything a young man could ever hope for, and I am so grateful to you both. It just feels like there's something bigger out there. Something… purposeful. And I—”
    “Here you two are.” Barrington strode out to join them on the terrace. “I should have known my two dreamers would be on the terrace with the sunset.”
    “You're just in time, darling.” Deonne walked to her husband and gave him a quick kiss. “I think our son has some questions for you. Ineed to see to the servants.” She smiled sweetly over her shoulder as she exited the terrace.
    Barrington walked to Bentley and looked out over the stunning scenery. “Magnificent!”
    Bentley just nodded.
    Barrington sat beside him on the rail. “What's on your mind, son?”
    Bentley looked at his father. “Tell me about the Stranger, Father.”
    Barrington gazed at his son and then out to the Great Sea in the distance.
    “We have never really spoken of Him, and yet my whole mission now as a Noble Knight is to eliminate His Followers. I need to know, Father. You have taught me to be a man of honor, yet I am being asked to imprison and possibly kill men and women for reasons I don't know or understand. The closer I come in contact with these Followers, the more difficult I find it to carry out my mission.”
    Barrington gazed at his son, and his countenance of grave concern troubled Bentley further.
    “I've heard Kifus and York speak of the great danger these people pose to the kingdom. But for the life of me, I cannot see it. They never attack us, just defend themselves against us. I've never seen them steal, nor rob, nor treat anyone unjustly, and they seem to do good works among the sick and the poor.”
    Barrington sighed. “It's complicated, son. There are many perspectives to consider.”
    “But what of Sir Gavin, Sir Demus, and the others?” Bentley could not restrain the intensity with which he spoke. “What of you, Father?”
    Barrington's eyes widened in surprise.
    Bentley wondered if he had offended the older man, but there was no turning back now. He spoke quietly but intently through the falling darkness. “I have seen the doubt in my own heart also in the eyes of my father, a man who has taught me to seek the truth.” Barrington wincedas his son continued. “I cannot silence the voice that keeps calling my name. I believe it to be the voice of truth.”
    Barrington could take no more. He stood and paced to the opposite side of the terrace. After a long silence he turned toward Bentley. “I watched them question the Stranger,” he said quietly. “I watched as they executed Him and felt my soul tear in two. I watched men greater than I sacrifice everything to follow Him.” Barrington's eyes glistened.
    “I remember. I was just a boy and you tried to keep me from it all, but my friends told me of it. And I saw that it changed you.”
    “It did,” Barrington said solemnly.
    “I didn't know what to believe then, and I still don't.”
    Barrington gazed deep into his son's eyes. “Nor do I, son.”
    Bentley looked out to where the last edge of the setting sun hovered on the watery horizon. “These Followers have a passion beyond what I see in the Noble Knights, and I can hardly bring myself to fight them.”
    Barrington stared hard at