Thomas opened it. Pantros couldn’t see what was in the box from as far from the stage as he was, but he didn’t have to guess long. Thomas pulled up a ring that matched Tara’s. Pantros had seen that ring on his sister every day for as long as he could remember. He should have recognized it as a wedding ring, but he had no reason to think his sister was married.
“I think that I need to think,” Thomas said. “And I think best while I’m performing. Now, Tara, I assume that’s your name written inside this ring, I think we should talk after the show.”
Tara glared at Thomas a moment then said, “If you try to run again, you won’t get far. I have the best tracker in the world with me.” She pointed to the table where Pantros sat. Sheillene waved at Tara and Thomas.
“I won’t run,” Thomas said. “I am curious as to how this was done.”
“Ready?” Marc asked, handing Thomas his guitar.
Tara left the makeshift stage and made it back to the booth before the next set started. Sheillene slid to the inside, letting Tara sit by the edge.
“Are you as confused as I am?” Tara asked Sheillene. She picked her own ring off the table and after reading the inside again, placed it back on her finger.
“More so.” Sheillene said.
Then the music started again. Pantros fell into the songs and stories coming from the stage. When the hours had passed and the music stopped, Pantros left his sister to talk to her Thomas, and found their guest room. He secured the window and the door and placed brass coins on them so, were either opened, a coin would fall to the floor and alert him.
CHAPTER 8: PANTROS
Pantros woke with his hand draped over his sack of coins and gripping the scabbard of the Abvi sword. He looked to the other bed in the room but it was empty. Neither of his coins had been disturbed. Had his sister opted to sleep in Thomas' bed?
He scrubbed the thought from his head, instead analyzing the bell of the Abvi sword. He knew little of metal work, but couldn't help but be impressed. The intricate silver lace of the bell seemed as delicate as fey silk. He didn't dare touch it to see how strong it actually was. He couldn't see any hint of a tool mark and couldn't find any indication of where the metal had been welded.
Unable to completely force his sister from his mind, he buckled the sword to his belt and grabbed his satchel. He let the coin fall to the ground when he opened the door and left it where it lay. That and the coin from the window could go to whoever made the bed.
In the taproom, he found his sister sitting in a booth talking with Thomas. Sheillene sat alone at another table and waved him towards her. Thomas's large band mate was sleeping on the floor by the fireplace.
'He says he's not half ogre,' Sheillene said as Pan sat across from her. 'I'm not sure I believe him.'
'I don't think he's half anything,' Pantros said. 'He might be three and a half somethings.'
Sheillene laughed. 'I'll have to remember that one.'
'You remember everything,' Pantros said. 'That's what makes you such a fine bard.'
Nodding, Sheillene asked, 'Did you sleep well last night?'
'Well enough,' Pan said. 'You?'
'I got a few hours after the fight with your sister last night.' When Pan looked at her quizzically, Sheillene explained. 'See that blue hat on the table next to Thomas?'
Pantros nodded. It was the hat he'd always seen on Thomas' head. 'His lucky hat, he did have it.'
'No, I had it,' she said. 'Tara was less than happy with me when she learned that I did and that Thomas had left it with me when he ran away.'
'She's upset because he told you he was leaving and never told her.' Pantros understood.
'I left the Hedgehog three days after he did, telling Tara that I would find Thomas for her.' Sheillene said. 'I didn't lie. I looked for him. I didn't tell her that he spoke to me before he left. I didn't tell her why he left. When the hat came out, so did that secret.'
'And that secret caused the fight?' Pantros asked.
'No, that secret ended it.' Sheillene said. She reached across the table and put her hands on Pan's shoulders. 'Thomas cannot speak an untruth. He couldn't stay waiting for the day when he'd have to tell Tara that your parents were dead.'
Pantros had believed they were dead. Tara had told him that they must be dead, else they would have returned. But having it stated like a fact knocked the breath from Pantros.
'You've known this for that many years?' Pantros asked.
'Yes. I'd have told Tara and you, but you knew already. At least you believed already. The day he left, Thomas made me ask him of Kita and Leo's fate. And he told me. It has been ungodly hard not to tell you both earlier, but it always seemed even harder to tell you.' Sheillene let her hands fall to the table. 'This shouldn't be about me now. Pan, are you okay?'
Pantros didn't feel okay. He'd always hoped they were out there somewhere, trying to get back to him. Now those hopes were gone, leaving a large empty place inside him. 'I barely remember them. I hadn't yet reached my tenth summer when they left. All I know is that before I was born they lived in a place called Novarra and had ruled on the council there. They'd left in a time of turmoil and started a life in Ignea. They were only returning to formally renounce their claim to their council seats before their rivals tracked them down.'
'Because their rivals had tracked them down.' Sheillene said. 'Before I was a bard, I was a bounty hunter. I came to meet your sister when my partner and I went to the Hedgehog to claim the bounty on your parents, which specifically preferred them dead. When we found Kita, she had a baby bump and I wouldn't go further with the job. My partner also wouldn't kill your mother while she was pregnant. Your parents fled, hiring the first ship they could from Ignea to Novarra. They should have made it there several weeks before your mother was due to give birth. But they were dead by my partner's hand before they got there. I guess the purse was just too great for him to stand by his morals.'
'You're morals are not as high as I believed them to be,' Pantros said. Sheillene had always been one to speak of heroic acts of charity and kindness. He couldn't imagine her as a killer for hire.
'I've never committed an act I am ashamed of,' Sheillene said.
'You were a bounty hunter.' Pantros leaned back, away from her.
'I still am, Pan.' Sheillene pulled a pendant from under her shirt. 'This marks me as a Master Hunter in the Guild of the Hunt. I didn't give up my life to start another as a bard. I have cut back on the kill bounties, but every kill bounty I have seen has been for one criminal who crossed another. The men I kill very probably deserve it.'
'You would have killed my mother,' Pantros said.
'No, as evidenced by the fact that I didn't.' Sheillene said. 'I am the greatest archer alive. I win every tournament. I can shoot a pea dangling on a thread, twice, at fifty paces. I would have killed a criminal, but I knew as soon as I saw your parents that they were not criminals. They were safe from me. And I never did collect the bounty on you.'
“What bounty on me?” Pantros asked. “No one knows of anything I’ve done.”
“There are several bounties out in Ignea offering gold for information about certain burglaries with large bonuses if we can produce the actual burglar,” Sheillene said. “I know enough of your exploits and your methods to be able to connect you to all nineteen bounties.”
“Well then, that falls more into the morality of the Sheillene I've known for nine years. I can only guess the bounties were not high enough to draw the attention of others from your guild.”
“Few bounties are high enough for a hunter to enter Ignea,” Sheillene said. “In a city where piracy is the main source of trade, there are thousands wanted by the merchants of other cities. Hunters are not welcome in Ignea. So I don’t go out of my way to let anyone know of my other profession. I like the world to believe that I’m just a bard who occasionally shows off my skills at archery.”
Pantros knew of Sheillene's skills with her bow, which was part of the reason she could make the trip
