Robert Charrette - Arthur 03 - A Knight Among Knaves Read Online Free PDF

his head regretfully and said, "I can see that you do not truly comprehend your situation."
    "I comprehend that there is no reason why I should trust you."
    "I am your father, Jack."
    "So you say." But this time John couldn't put much conviction into his sarcastic response. He had come to believe that Bennett wasn't lying on that point, but he didn't like it. He really didn't like it at all.
    "Do not judge me by human standards," Bennett warned.
    "How else am I supposed to judge you?" John blurted. "I was raised by humans. I grew up in a human world. Humans are the only people I know. Theirs are the only standards I know. Those standards can't be so poor. After all, humans didn't abandon me when I was inconvenient."
    "Neither did I," Bennett said earnestly. "The situation was more than just inconvenient."
    "So you say."
    "That is a tiresome response."
    Hah! A hit! "Sorry if I bore you."
    "Your remorse is unconvincing, but I will let it pass. Things move apace. It is imperative that you return to the otherworld with me."
    Imperative? Were they getting to the real reason for Bennett's visit? John knew Bennett wouldn't have come simply for John's benefit. Time for Bennett to squirm some more. "No, I don't think so. I don't think I need to go anywhere."
    Bennett's face darkened. "Do not be willful."
    "Why not? Does it make me too much like my father?"
    Eyes narrowing, Bennett said, "When you wanted my help to save your friends, you gave me your word that you would aid me, or have you forgotten?"
    Why bring that up? "I haven't forgotten."
    "If l must, I will call upon that promise to ensure that you in accompany me. Will you come with me?"
    Bennett had grown so earnest that John couldn't resist nicking him again. "Maybe you should just club me over the head and have Gorshin drag me back for you."
    "1 do not consider that an option. I ask again, will you come with me?"
    "I don't want to," John said honestly.
    "You will come with me to the otherworld. There is a matter in which I require your aid," said Bennett. The effort seemed to pain him.
    Which was fine by John. Bennett's discomfort was just a liny payback. Maybe there was room for a little more. "Why can't I help you here? This is the world in which you abandoned me, after all."
    "I did not say that this world was uninvolved in this matter."
    "Just for the record, I'd like to point out that you didn't say anything about 'this matter.' "
    "Your oath put no constraints on the matter for which I required your aid. Are you finding this a convenient time to go back on your word? What sort of honor is Artos teaching you?"
    Teaching? Bear was leaving. But like so much else, the affair was none of Bennett's business. "Leave Bear out of this."
    "As will be. But now I ask a third time, will you come with me and aid me as you swore?"
    John remembered the promise. He hadn't thought much of it at the time; his mind had been on other things. Despite Bennett's disparaging tone, Bear had taught John something about honor and about how a man kept his promises, no matter to whom he had given them. Would Bennett take his own promises as seriously as he was taking John's?
    "Answer me," Bennett demanded.
    "Is it that important?"
    "You will regret it if you do not comply."
    Appeals to self-interest, then demands on honor, now threats. Whatever was motivating Bennett had him spinning hard. John was intrigued. Bennett hadn't really told him anything about what was going on, but John found that he just had to know. "Will you answer my questions?"
    "This is not a bargaining session."
    "Will you at least have the disguise spell removed?"
    Bennett dismissed the question with a wave of his hand. "A nothing. That is not a problem worth worry."
    Maybe not to him, but John disliked living behind a false face. Was it really nothing to want to look in a mirror and see his true face? Bennett implied that the end of the disguise spell would be forthcoming if John went with him. If that was all John got out of