Benjamin confronts the church

More from the Circle book.  Benjamin is starting down a dark path which will ultimately spell his doom and get him a thousand years of demon crazy.

"I'm afraid that what you are asking is out of the question."

"You do understand that your position will make things… difficult for you in the eyes of the council"

Benjamin stared intently into the eyes of the cardinal.

"Do not dare to threaten me in my own house, I'm well aware that I am in the minority.  But last I checked, we were here to do God's work, not the work of some woman we hardly even know."

"Look," cardinal Salisan sighed, "I know where you are coming from, believe me."  Running his finger across a tapestry, "and you know I respect you.   You should really have one of the servants clean this-"

"Respect?"  Scoffed Benjamin. "You can't hold my gaze.   You refuse my summons to meet with me."

"We're meeting now."

"Are we?  Or is this simply your new duty as Lucretia's lapdog?"   Gazing into the far corner of the chamber, Benjamin twisted back to face Salisan, "You haven't even the spine to meet me alone."

Salisan hesitated and looked back into the same corner.  A slight guesture with his chin brought motion.   A dark hooded figure moved forward from the shadows.  "He's my assistant, that's all.  A mute, but a fine—"

"You insult the both of us."

"Fine." Salisan sighed.  "Leave us."  Salisan waved at the figure.   The visitor nodded and silently exited the room.

"Ok, we are alone now."  Salisan returned to Benjamin.   "Please reconsider."  A look of worry overcame the cardinal, "You are a good man, and no one doubts your integrity.  But things are changing, and if we want to survive, we have to learn to adapt."

Benjamin laughed, "Oh, my old friend, I will be around long after you have departed our fold.   You are intoxicated with the thrill of secrecy, but so bored with the responsibility of loyalty.  I am ten years your senior, and I have seen change in the wind.   But this woman is a fleeting element in the equation.  Her promise of a new church is nothing more than the segregation of good people.  You and I once saw alike on this.  The church and I once saw alike."

"Is that why you left?"  Salisan dropped his stance, showing real compassion for the first time in a while.

"I never left.  I simply could not perform duties so contrary to my beliefs.   Besides, from my position here, I can do more good for the people than I ever could under service of the holy church."  Benjamin recognized the change in tone and put his hands on his friends shoulders.   "I love you and yours, Salisan, and if I could do anything for them, you know that I would.  But what you are involved with is wrong."

Salisan gave a bleak smile, "I may be in too deep, my friend."  But as suddenly as the light shone through his face, it disappeared.   He knocked Benjamin's hands from their position, "You have to realize my position.  The council will have heard what has transpired here."

Benjamin walked over to a window and peered out across the town.  "Do as you must, but do it of your own will."   He looked back over his shoulder, "You promised to serve these people too."

"I – I'm sorry Benjamin.  I wish things could be different."   He bowed low and retreated from the room.

Alone in the chamber, Benjamin relaxed his shoulders, exhaling.  He had been speaking against the council for quite some time.   Ever since this woman came into town, though, he felt that he was losing a lot of the support on which he depended.  He walked out of the room, taking a moment to blow each candle out.   From far away, he thought he heard children.

"Sire, I believe the last of the ministers has left the hall.  Shall I bolt the door?"

Benjamin looked across the Great Hall to see his squire.  "Of course, Antonius."   He smiled warmly to his trusting pupil, with whom the last seven years had been a refreshing test of his devotion to instruction.  He approached Antonius, who had just put the locks in place, and with a fatherly guesture, put his hand across the boy's shoulders.

"You are growing to be a fine man.  Let not the drudgery of politics nor the acumen of religion change that."

"Sire?"

Benjamin rubbed his cheek.  "Son, I have a task for you.   Accompany me."

"Yes, Sire."

Benjamin reached into his sleeve and produced a worn parchment, flaked and browned with age.

"Find the rest of this book."

"I – I'm afraid I don't understand sire.  How will I know where to look?"

The pair rounded the hall, ascending the stairs.

"You won't have to look far.  From the writing on this paper I hold, I gather its owner will divine my theft and soon come to retrieve it.   But she will not find it, will she?"

Antonius stopped and shook his head, confused.  "She?"

"When I am discovered, you will know the owner and you will follow her.  The library from whence this treasure comes is ancient, and, I am certain, well secluded."

Resting a finger on Antonius, Benjamin spoke in hushed tones, "you will find the nature of this library, and from it retrieve to me this book.   I do not know the reaches to which my one-time peers conspire, but at its heart lies a dangerous deception, one intent on corrupting the minds of the learned and the strong."

They continued walking.

"You fear Salisan's mind has been won over?"  Questioned Antonius.

Benjamin closed his eyes and looked upwards as he paced.  "I no longer fear that which I have long since known."

"Then why do you permit him access to your solitude, my Liege?"

"I would not, except that I knew he held this."  Benjamin cupped the parchment with his hands, and with a slight motion, spread apart his fingers.   The note had disappeared.  With a sly grin, Benjamin reproduced the note from the folds of his accoutrements.

Antonius smiled back as he opened a wooden door, "Were you not so good to me, I would turn you in for witchcraft."

"That which frees a man from the power of men is considered witchcraft."

Antonius looked suddenly serious.  "You believe Lucretia to be a part of this."

Benjamin grasped Antonius by the back of the neck, "You would be wise not to mention her name aloud.   I fear her spies are everywhere.  Her power is great and, I am certain, derives from an authority far beyond that of the church in which she nests."

As the two entered the chamber, Benjamin stopped and began to whisper.

Antonius fell backwards as he saw smoke flow from his master's lips.

"Fear not, Antonius, for I am incorruptible and devoted to the Father."  Benjamin traced imaginary figures in the air and spit words in a harsh dialect.   From the air, Benjamin seemed to snatch something.  Turning up his palm, he showed Antonius a black stone.  "I have a few tricks up my sleeve for this group, this circle."

Around the stone, Benjamin wrapped the parchment.  "Do not leave this stone behind, lest you be found and all of my risks amount to nothing."

Antonius was visibly shaking.  "Master, have you gone evil?"

Benjamin smiled.  "Antonius, it is of great consequence that I studied the scripts of mine enemies, knowing that to destroy them, I had to learn from them.   But in the end, I will not be turned to evil.  I simply use the fire of my enemies to burn them."