The boy thought back to the dreams
he had about the man who whisked his sister away and how happy she seemed. He
guessed that Avelice ran away with the man, because she loved him, but somehow
that did not feel like the answer his father was searching for. Sane shook his
head. “Why did she run away?”
“Your mother and I hid the truth
from you and now I think maybe we were wrong to do that.” Sane’s father
swallowed deeply and his voice was nearly caught in his throat as he forced the
words out, “Avelice was a magician and so was the young man she left with-
Xander was his name. He said that he could feel her drawing on magic power
subconsciously and offered to take her away before the Kenzai discovered her.
“You can imagine what I thought of
his offer. I threw him out of this very shop, but he seemed to take it all in
stride as if he knew that he would win out eventually.
“Avelice heard us arguing and
wished to seek out the man, but I forbid it. I declared him a crook and a
charlatan.” Sane remembered those fights between his parents and his sister.
His father continued, “Eventually Avelice gave in and for a time it seemed like
the whole thing was behind us.
“Then came the day the hunters
arrived. They knocked on our door like any good, decent folk would, but they
were far from decent. Avelice and I were the only ones home at the time. When I
opened the door, a pair of them identified themselves as Kenzai hunters and forced
their way in asking to see your sister. They had Constable Ragnit with them, so
I knew they were telling the truth about who they were. I did not know what to
do. I did not want them to take my little girl.” Sane’s father suppressed his
feelings of sorrow and resentment for fear that he might not be able to
continue. After a long moment, he did, “I yelled for her! ‘Avelice, the hunters
have come for you!’ I shouted. ‘Run, girl!’ They ran past me and kicked in the
door to her room. They knew exactly which room it was too. It did not occur to
me before then that they had been watching her.”
“They took her?” the boy asked
breathlessly.
“No, she was gone. I didn’t know it
then, but the house had been surrounded by the hunters in case she tried to
escape and they knew she was there. Near as I can tell that magician, Xander,
had come for her and they vanished into thin air. We lied to you then, because
we thought the truth would be too painful.”
The boy thought about what his
father told him letting the information slowly sink in. After a long silence he
finally asked, “Then why are you telling me this now? It has something to do
with that man that just left, doesn’t it? He is one of them.”
Sane’s father nodded. “Since your
sister is a magician, he said that there would be a chance that you would be
one too. They have been watching you for signs of magic ever since Avelice
vanished.”
Beef and bread fell from the
dropped sack the boy had been carrying, but he did not care despite his
rumbling hunger. “How could you let them spy on me and say nothing?!” the boy
accused.
“Easy, son,” Sane’s father put his
arms around the boy, “I did not know until just now. That man that came in
here- the hunter wanted to buy you. He said it was to compensate me for the
loss of my apprentice and to encourage me to turn you over without difficulty.”
The boy’s father placed five gold coins in his still too small hands. It was
enough for him to start a new life. “This is the money that the hunter gave me.
He said he would pay half now and half tonight when they retrieved you, but I
am leaving it up to you. You can take the money and run or you can go with them
peacefully to one of the magician cities, but no matter what you decide this
life will be closed off to you.”
The boy looked out the shop’s front
door and saw the flutter of a brown cloak disappear into the shadows about a
half block away on the opposite side of the street. The hunters already had
him. He was in their net. It was just a matter of time until they reeled him
in.
“They are watching even now,” the
boy whispered. He placed the coins back on the counter.