Page 21 of Heart of the Hunter (Band of Bastards #3)
Frode let out a soft sigh. “It was like a secret shared between us. After she died, I could not bring myself to make them anymore.” He touched a finger to the pendant Anora still held out on the stretched leather thong.
“You have the last remaining pendant. At least, the last in my possession after the theft.” He lifted his milky eyes to her face.
“Where are the pendants from Madam Ruby?”
“I hid them in my room,” Anora admitted.
“Why did you not bring them to me directly?”
“I know I should have told you, Papa,” Anora said sheepishly, “but I wanted to bring you more evidence than just two pendants and Madam Ruby’s word she got them from Baron Payne.
I thought if I could find the other stolen pieces, then there would be enough evidence to prove…
to prove Edmund had knowledge of the theft. ”
Anora hated to bring this information to her father about Edmund.
She’d hoped to have solid proof of the baron’s involvement when they had this discussion.
For her father to accept that Edmund Payne had any involvement in the theft that left his wife dead would be devastating considering the history he shared with Edmund’s father.
“Fetch the pendants, Anora.” Her father’s voice was quiet and stiff with anger.
Anora did as her father asked and put them in his hand when she returned. She watched as he rubbed his fingers over the pendants. “Hunter, do you know the story of how my wife died?”
“I do not,” Hunter said respectfully.
“Mama was killed by thief,” Anora said when her father couldn’t seem to find the words to recount the events of that horrible day.
“Papa and I went to the market in Ellesmere that day, and Baldwin had stayed behind with Mama to mind the shop. Baldwin was in the front of the shop and Mama was polishing and packing two fine pieces commissioned by the old Baron Payne—Eustace—for the newly appointed abbot to Shrewsbury at the time.” She stopped, as a wave of grief hit her harder than it had in a very long time.
Her eyes watered and it felt like someone was pushing their thumbs into them as the pressure of her tears built.
Hunter had the grace to look away from her in that moment, and her father picked up where she left off, his voice cold and clipped.
“Sapphira or Baldwin must have let the intruder in through the back door, and since they unbarred it to let the person enter, it was likely someone familiar to them. Baldwin was hit with a stone on the side of his head and knocked unconscious. From the state of the room, it seems Sapphira tried to fight off the intruder. When we arrived, she was lying next to the fireplace with a gash in her head. I think she was pushed backwards and hit her head on the stones as she fell. She lingered for nearly a fortnight, but never again awakened.”
“I am sorry,” Hunter murmured with a nod of deference. He looked truly mournful, and Anora wondered about his mother. He’d never mentioned any family, but there was a haunted look to him that suggested he’d suffered his share of painful losses.
“The thief took the chalice and platter commissioned by the old baron,” Anora continued, “these pendants, and he took an emerald ring my father had made especially for her.”
“She didn’t typically wear it when working in the shop,” her father said, “but she had brought it down, along with these pendants, from our private chambers earlier in the day to show to Lord Godfrey of Whitchurch. He wanted to commission a gift to give his bride on the day of their wedding and Sapphira thought he might like to commission something similar for his new wife. When I left for Ellesmere, she had put the ring on her finger and planned to return it and the pendants to the locked chest in our chamber after she gave them a good polishing along with the pieces for the abbot.”
“Did Baldwin not get a look at the intruder?” Hunter asked.
“He recovered quickly and fully from the blow to the head with the exception of his memory,” Anora explained.
“He recalled nothing of that day, not even from the morning hours before the intruder hit him. He had no recollection of anyone entering the shop, or even that he was in the shop with our mother that day.”
“Lord Godfrey?” Hunter pressed, “I assume you suspected he might be involved and investigated him.”
Frode nodded. “Lord Godfrey commissions pieces frequently and has for more than twenty years. There was nothing to indicate he had anything to do with the robbery.”
“There are rumors that Baron Payne is overspent,” Hunter said, “and evidence is mounting that he is making alliances that would displease the king.”
“Baldwin always harbored suspicions about Edmund,” Anora said carefully.
It felt like a betrayal to her father to speak unfavorably about the only son of his esteemed friend.
Her brother had brought up his concerns about Edmund once after the robbery, but Frode had refused to believe he could do something so heartless and cruel to a woman who’d known him since he was an infant.
“He is not his father’s son in any way that matters.
Eustace was a man of integrity, but I’ve heard the reports, of Edmund’s shortcoming since taking his father’s place,” Frode murmured with a sad shake of his head.
“I’ve given up hoping that Edmund would become a baron worthy of his father’s name. ”
“You’ve always believed that if we found the pendants, then we’d have found Mama’s killer.” She’d yet to say the words aloud, but now that she had, she was even more determined to prove Edmund’s guilt.
“It is a dangerous endeavor to accuse of nobleman of theft,” Sumayl said, “and worse yet to accuse him of murder.”
“Did you tell Madam Ruby you recognized the pendants?” Hunter asked.
Anora shook her head. “I commented on the lovely design and asked if she knew where they came from. She said Baron Payne used them as payment for services at her establishment.”
“And you are certain they are the stolen pendants?”
“This one has four flowers,” Frode said, holding up one of the pendants. Then as he lifted the other. “And five on this one.”
“Is there a significance to that?” Hunter asked.
“I gave my wife a pendant every summer to mark our years together, adding a flower for each year.” Frode’s voice grew thick as he spoke.
“For our tenth year, I made her the pendant Anora is wearing, and an emerald ring with vines engraved on the band. The pendants got larger each year. The last one I made had sixteen gems encrusted flowers on it.”
“If the commissioned items were the target, then logic would say the thief knew the baron’s business,” Hunter said. His eyes were narrowed to slits and his mouth was pursed in concentration.
“Aye, that is exactly what Baldwin thought as well,” Anora said. “But why would Edmund steal pieces commissioned by his own father? And why would he want to embarrass his father by leaving him empty handed for the welcome of the abbot?”
“He wouldn’t be the first son of a wealthy lord to spend more than his father allotted to him monthly,” Hunter said.
“It’s not uncommon for young nobles to accumulate debt in anticipation of the incomes they will earn and the inheritances they will receive.
If their fathers are unaware, or unwilling to finance the excesses, they can find themselves in a dangerous bind. ”
Frode set the pendants on the table and lifted his milky eyes to Anora, and asked in a shaky voice, “You went to Castle Whyte looking for the other pieces?”
“Yes, Papa,” Anora said quietly.
Her father’s face paled. “If he were the thief, then he is also the killer, and he could have killed you had you been discovered.”
Anora nodded. “It was risky, but I wanted to find the proof and show Edmund that we are not as helpless as he thinks us to be. Otherwise, he will continue to torment us.”
“But you are not the one to do that,” Frode said angrily. “I will not let him take you from me, as well. It is better that you stay out of his sight and let us deal with this. If he thinks you are a threat to him, then he will become a threat to you.”
“He is already a threat to me.”
“What do you mean?” Her father was nearly shouting at her now. “Has something happened?”
“That is the other part of this story that I have not told you yet.” Anora braced herself for the repercussions that would come from her next confession.
“We were robbed again during the Lammas Day festival. “The brooch I made for the merchant’s daughter in Shrewsbury was taken, but nothing else. And just days prior, Baron Payne found me at the market and propositioned me to be his mistress again. He insinuated that if I refused, I would come to regret it.”
“What?” her father and Sumayl bellowed in unison. Sumayl pushed to his feet so suddenly that his bench toppled backwards onto the floor.
Hunter was silent after her confession, but when Anora looked at his face, she could see the muscles clenching in his jaw. When he spoke, it sounded like a feral growl and sent chills down Anora’s spine.
“I am going to kill him.”