"Even it was for himself rather than you, the point remains - you wouldn't be in Paris, at this very moment, without that."
He sipped his water and watched Varner for a moment.
"When you were 15, your father had a reasonable expectation that you would obey him. That doesn't excuse his actions - there is no excuse, ever, for beating a child - but it perhaps explains them." He sighed, propping his head on his hand and gesturing with the other. "But now... now, you're a grown man, your father be damned. If you don't want to be in the military anymore, don't be. Resign. It's your life, and your father has no claim to it anymore."