by Wil Ogden
CHAPTER FOUR: THE PAINFUL TRUTH
Sheillene opened her door, if just to stop the knocking so she could get back to sleep. Thomas stood in the hall and he wasn’t his usual smiling-at-the-irony-of-life self. He looked serious. He had his blue wide brimmed hat off of his head for the first time since Sheillene had met him. She’d half expected him to be bald, but he wasn’t. Or maybe he was. She looked at him with only one barely opened eye lest she become fully aware and awake.
“Thomas, it’s not noon, yet,” she said. “It’s not natural for a bard to be awake yet. I was onstage until well after midnight and kept my throat wet with enough beer to drown a galleon’s crew. Why are you here?”
“You weren’t always a bard,” Thomas said. “It hasn’t even been a year since I took you as an apprentice.”
“Really?” Sheillene said. “It seems so much longer, half of it since I opened the door. If you’re here to talk about how generous you were to offer me the chance to learn under your wing, could it wait until dinner?”
Thomas’s hands tightened around the rim of the hat he held in front of him. “If that were why I was here, then it could.”
Sheillene sighed; she realized her brief conversation had awakened her brain and a conversation was inevitable. “I’d invite you in, but the room you arranged for me has no chairs and you aren’t going to be in a bed with me, ever. Can we talk downstairs?”
“Not really,” Thomas said. “But, we can take a walk.”
Sheillene considered getting dressed, then looked down to realize she still had her clothes on from the night before, including her boots. Tightening her hair tie, she groaned as she stepped out of her room and down the stairs. There were people in the taproom, but she didn’t look to see who. She just waved good morning as she walked out the Inn’s door and into the streets of Ignea.
The streets were more crowded than she’d ever seen them. People carrying crates or baskets moved briskly through the streets. Everyone seemed to be going somewhere, but no two people seemed to be going the same somewhere. It was high paced chaos.
Thomas caught up with her, his hat once again in its natural place atop his head. She asked, “What’s going on. Why is everyone so rushed? Where are they all going?”
Thomas shook his head and laughed. “It’s called work. These people all have to earn a living or shop for the day’s food. You do understand the concepts of a normal life?”
“I thought so. I’d never seen a city street in the morning, especially not a Human City. We Abvi are never this rushed.” She walked into the alley beside The Hedgehog and turned to face Thomas squarely. “You didn’t bring me out here to teach me about the culture of a people whose lifespans are one tenth of mine. What must we discuss that Tara cannot hear?”
“Kita and Leo,” Thomas said, crossing his arms and leaning back against the inn. Despite his casual lean, his face never looked more serious.
“I’m aware they never came back,” Sheillene said. “I didn’t kill them. You know I didn’t kill them. You took me as an apprentice so you could watch me to make sure I didn’t go after them. You know I didn’t kill them.” She searched his face for a hint that he believed in her innocence.
His expression remained dour and calm as he looked off towards the harbor. “And yet, they should have returned two seasons ago.”
“I don’t know what happened to them,” Sheillene said. She had a good guess that her former partner, Taren, had pursued them and collected the twenty thousand gold bounty on Kita and Leo. When last she saw Taren he was saying how he wouldn’t kill Kita because she was pregnant. But then Taren disappeared from Sheillene’s life. It was shortly after that when Kita and Leo disappeared as well.
“Tara is asking about her parents again,” Thomas said. “I don’t know what to tell her.”
“Yes, you do,” Sheillene said. “You cannot speak anything that is not true. If you cannot say they are alive, they are not. If you say they are dead; they are dead. Your curse can provide all the answers Tara needs.”
“It’s not like I know what I’m going to say,” Thomas said. “The curse only affects what I say, not what I think. I’ve so far just not answered, but Tara is getting pushy and I’m afraid to answer her questions.”
“Then I’ll ask them.” Sheillene hoped that she could bear the guilt of the answer she expected. “Did Taren kill Kita and Leo for the bounty?”
“Yes,” Thomas said. His eyes went wide and instantly started to shed tears. “Oh gods, I didn’t want to know.”
“Now you know that you are justified in avoiding answering Tara,” said Sheillene. “You are no longer in Limbo.”
“No, now I am in Hell,” Thomas said. He covered his face with his hands. He ran his fingers through his hair, dislodging his hat. It fell to the dirt of the alley but Thomas’s eyes didn’t follow its descent.
Sheillene put a hand on each of Thomas shoulders and brought her face close to his. “Thomas, you’re the strongest willed person I know. You’re witty and glib. You can distract Tara from the question for longer than she will live.”
Thomas’s bloodshot eyes met hers and he said, “I’m not cold hearted enough to hold that truth from her.”
“Then tell her,” Sheillene said. “We’ve all suspected it. They kept the wrong Hunter that day. They kept me because I was the one who exhibited violent behavior. Taren is a smooth talker; he might have charmed you, had you been there.”
“It’s moot,” Thomas said. “It cannot be undone.”
No longer able to understand what Thomas wanted her to tell him, Sheillene asked, “So what are the options?”
“I have no options,” Thomas said. “Tell Tara I love her, every chance you get.” Thomas stepped out of the alley and joined the pace of the frantic masses.
Sheillene picked Thomas’s hat off the ground and stepped out after him. She stepped up onto an empty cask to get a better view of the quick moving crowd. For several minutes she tried to focus on every single person moving around on the street, but Thomas’s signature hat was nowhere to be seen. Looking down at her hands, she sighed. Without his hat, she wouldn’t find him.