Forgotten Embers

61. The Message

He had gone to see Adrien primarily, but Avera had caught his ear when he came. She was asking questions about the stories Adrien told and why things happened as they did. Some claimed such things were unknowable, but he knew. He knew as surely as he knew life.

So, Benjamin smiled at her when she asked and said, "Because the world is broken, we see suffering and pain. The heartbreak that we feel is the brokenness of Caldör. The breath that we have is the spirit of our King. Himmel isn't something so fantastic as you think. It is alive within us now, and it reigns above us, drawing us ever upward and closer to our King."

"And who is this King?" she asked him.

"His name? Too wonderful to say, but one day all shall know it." He smiled. "I can tell you, though, he is a good King. He is righteous and benevolent, forgiving and just. Any who will come to him, he will not turn away."

"But, Ben..." she muttered, yearning for acceptance, "I am not like you. I am broken as Caldör and helpless as the dust. I am a hopeless wayfarer without a home, and who would have me?"

Benjamin paused, giving thought to her state. "You've given some thought to this, haven't you?" he asked, searching through depths of her fearful eyes glazed with tears.

Avera nodded. "Every day," she confessed.

Benjamin touched his hand to her cheek, lifting her sorrowful countenance. "Don't you have a place with us?" he asked her.

Avera lifted her eyes to his, and he saw the weight of all her troubles leave her. There was a great fear she had of rejection and past abandonment which had left her drowning in the pits of despair. Her shame, her guilt, her loneliness... all of it faded as her countenance lifted and lightened at his touch, and he knew that she could trust again.

The tears rolled from Avera's mud colored cheeks, and she nodded with a hopeful smile. "What of your King?" she asked him earnestly.

"You, my dear, are specially designed to be with him. We are all as the dust on Caldör, but our wholeness is with him. Whatever it is you want, the freedom and acceptance you seek, the peace and truth that you so desperately long for, the hope that you need... the invitation is there for all who ask, for those willing to receive. You will not be cast aside," he ardently assured her with kind and gentle words of his heart. "None are turned away. The only thing our Lord requires is that you give your life for his."

He searched her soul through her eyes and felt a familiar fire burning within him. There was a precious peace around them, and her countenance glowed with the fresh light of redemption. He was sure that his ghostly friend must be somewhere near them; such things didn't happen when he wasn't, but he had never been so blessed as to see the spectral figure. He only knew when he had come.

So, Benjamin returned from the guest house after having spent much of the day in conversation with Adrien and Avera, also. He hurried back to the Carders' main place of residence, mindful of the time. He knew that Phia and Jordan would have been sorely disappointed if he wasn't back in time for supper and Eliezer would have given him a Delphian speech on manners.

He chortled at the thought.

'How different this all is from last evening...'

He went inside to find Dorcus helping Phia with the place settings.

"Ah, Ben," Dorcus said smiling, "would you kindly inform Eliezer that dinner is nearly done? He's upstairs in the office. He's been preparing a document with Jordan and Gregory. So, please, also invite Mr. McFarland to stay and eat with us. Phia made plenty."

"And I have a setting here for him!" Phia added, accentuating the point, her kind eyes shining as she pointed her finger upwards matter-of-factly.

"Alright," Benjamin laughed with happy amusement. "I'll go and fetch them for you." He put a foot on the stairs and then paused. "The office is... past the bedroom, yes?" he asked them generally.