Sunweaver

by Ryan W. Mueller

  The worst part, though, was his worry for Faina. She didn't like to talk about what she was doing for Andric in the owner's manor. Had he taken advantage of her?

  If he had, could Kadin sit here and let it happen?

  Then again, what could he do? He was Lightless. Useless. Worthless. Everything his father had ever said about him was true. He couldn't change anything, couldn't protect anyone. Least of all Faina.

  The closest Sunlamp went out. Kadin looked up, cursing his luck. He'd hoped that a change in surroundings would bring a change in outcome, but he was cursed.

  Or was he a Suncaster like Tyrine and Marell had suggested?

  The closest overseer—it wasn't Marell today—looked up at the Sunlamp. Kadin kept working without the light. This man was quick to use his whip.

  "We just bought that one," he muttered. "Why'd it go out?"

  Kadin didn't turn, keeping his attention on the crops he was watering. Nearby, Aren and Walin did the same. They'd all been quiet today, fearing the overseer's whip. The man's steps sounded loud, approaching from behind.

  "Go water some different crops," he said. "These ones will die without the Sunlamp." He held his whip ready. "Go on. Move!"

  Kadin hustled over to a different area of crops beneath another Sunlamp. He hadn't wanted to move, fearing that he'd make this Sunlamp die as well. How would he explain two going out so close together? He prayed to Aralea that it wouldn't happen, but he didn't expect anything from the goddess. When had she ever helped him?

  But his prayers appeared to be answered, for he went the rest of the day without making any Sunlamps go out. More importantly, he avoided getting whipped. He hadn't had his first one yet, and he dreaded it. The other slaves talked about whippings in hushed voices.

  At the end of the day, Kadin returned to the stone cabin for dinner. He sat with Aren and Walin at a small stone table. Those two had become his closest friends, along with Faina. Kadin wanted to include Helvin, but Helvin had joined with another group. He still didn't talk much.

  "I wonder why that Sunlamp went out," Walin said, tearing a loaf of bread in half. "That don't usually happen."

  "I think it was my fault," Kadin said. "The same thing always happened around me on my father's farm. I must be cursed."

  Aren separated a strip of stringy bird meat from the bone. "Cursed to make Sunlamps go out? That seems strange."

  "I don't want to talk about it," Kadin said. "It brings back bad memories." He looked down and shoveled food into his mouth without glancing at the others. They began talking on other topics, leaving him alone, which suited him fine.

  He knew he shouldn't hold them at a distance like this, but he'd never had the opportunity for more than loose friendships like he used to have with his friend Damin back home.

  After dinner, there was nothing to do. A few hours remained before they were required to go to sleep. Kadin's mind was racing, so he wasn't tired. At the same time, though, he didn't feel like talking to anyone. He sat in a corner, wondering what would happen if another Sunlamp went out. Would they whip him? Beat him? Even kill him?

  After all, no matter what Marell had said, Kadin didn't trust a Sunweaver like Andric to follow the law where slaves were concerned. Accidents were bound to happen to problem slaves.

  There was a loud knock on the stone door, and Kadin looked up.

  "Who is it?" asked one of the older slaves. Most remained deep in conversation.

  "It's Faina. I'd like to speak to Kadin. Is he here?"

  Kadin hopped to his feet. "Yeah, I'm here. Give me a moment."

  His stomach churned. Faina hadn't come to the cabin to speak to him before, and he thought he'd heard tears in her voice. Had something bad happened to her?

  The other slave opened the door, and Kadin darted through it. Soon he stood outside at Faina's side. The nearby Sunlamps made it seem almost as bright as daytime. He looked into Faina's eyes and saw the tears. Though she tried to hide it, she was trembling.

  He put a tentative hand on her shoulder. "What happened? Are you all right?"

  Her jaw quivered. "Andric made me come to his bed today?"

  "I'm so sorry," Kadin said, not sure how to comfort her. Should he put an arm around her? Let her cry on his shoulder? Stand there awkwardly, looking sympathetic? He'd never dealt with anything like this. Usually, he'd been the one who needed comforting.

  She remained silent, wiping a tear from her cheek.

  "Do you want to walk somewhere?" he asked, avoiding her eyes.

  "Y-yes. Perhaps that would be good."

  Kadin walked with Faina at his side. For a long time, they were both silent, skirting the edges of the plantation, hanging close to the warmth of Sunlamps. He didn't want to touch her after what she'd been through. He didn't think she'd want to be touched by anyone.

  "Did he hurt you?" Kadin asked, not sure if this was the right thing to say.

  She wiped away another tear. "Thankfully, no. But he threatened to hurt me if I resisted."

  "You should have resisted. No one should have the right to do that."

  "Do you really think it's that easy? We're Lightless, Kadin. No one cares about us."

  Kadin could feel her anger radiating like heat from a Sunlamp. He knew it wasn't directed at him, but it still bothered him. "Well, nothing is going to change if we allow ourselves to be controlled. There has to be some way we can change something."

  "It must be nice to hold on to such innocence. Your father might have beaten you, but you weren't beaten down on the streets like I was. When you've seen so many people mistreat people like you, you realize there's nothing you can do."

  "I refuse to be defeated," he said. "Lightless or not, we're still people. Just like them."

  "But we're not." A tear trickled down her cheek. "We're nothing."

  Kadin knew she didn't believe that. She was suffering the aftermath of the rape. He remembered the Faina he'd first met, the girl who'd tried to encourage him. Now their roles had reversed.

  "There has to be some way we can make things better for you," Kadin said. "I don't think it's legal for a Sunweaver to rape the Lightless." He scuffed at the dirt with his shoe. "Maybe we could tell Marell. He seemed sympathetic."

  "He's better than many, but he won't be able to do anything."

  "You knew this would probably happen when we were bought," Kadin said. "But you were able to remain positive then. What happened to the girl I first met?"

  "I got raped! That's what happened."

  "I-I'm sorry," Kadin said. "I guess that wasn't very sensitive. I'm not very good at this."

  "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you. You're trying. That's better than I can say for most. I might have seemed happy to you when we met, or at least as happy as I could be under the circumstances, but I've lived a rough life. Rougher than you can imagine."

  "You can tell me about it," Kadin said, reaching out to touch her shoulder, then thinking better of it. She looked like she might explode with anger at any second.

  "I don't know if I can. There are secrets in my past that I don't want anyone to know."

  "You really were the best thief, weren't you?" he said.

  "Among many things. When you live on the streets, you do what you have to do to survive. I have some particular talents that attracted the attention of crime lords. These aren't your typical street gang leaders. These people are organized. They recruit the best. People like me."

  Kadin checked to make sure no one could hear this conversation. He didn't see any overseers or slaves wandering the plantation.

  "So you did some bad things," he said. "But you had to do them." He met her eyes. "You can't actually think you deserve everything you've gotten."

  "I don't know," she said. "Sometimes I do. You don't know everything about me."

  "Then tell me. You can trust me."

  "I can't trust anyone with this. I'm sorry. I do like you, Kadin." She looked away, as though lost in thought. Thoughts so deep and dark he could ne
ver understand them.

  "I'm going to get you out of here," he said. "I'll find a way." He felt sick, knowing he'd made a promise he couldn't keep. "Then you can tell me whatever this is."

  She looked away again. "All right. If you get me out of here, I'll tell you everything. I don't know why you care so much about me. I don't deserve it."

  "It's because you cared about me when I was feeling terrible. Only my sister ever cared about me. It was surprising to see a complete stranger trying to encourage me."

  Faina stared off into space, more tears streaming down her face. "That's a very nice thing to say, Kadin. I suppose I should be glad you met me at my best."

  "Even your worst isn't that bad," Kadin said.

  She hesitated a long moment, then said, "I think it's almost time to return to our cabins."

  They had plenty of time, but Kadin could understand that she needed to be alone. He walked her back to her cabin, then returned to his own. Before entering, he was surprised to find tears trickling down his own face. He wiped them away and stepped inside.

  "What did she want?" Walin asked. "She didn't look happy."

  Kadin walked over and sank into his hard bed. "I don't want to talk about it. She's having a rough time here. I don't think she wants anyone to know."

  "A rough time?" Walin said. "That doesn't sound like the Faina I knew."

  "I have the feeling something changed since you last knew her."

  "It has been a few years," Walin said. "She disappeared one day. I heard she got in with one of the crime lords. Don't know what happened to her after that."

  "What made her such a good thief?" Kadin asked.

  Walin settled down at the edge of the stone bed. "Not sure. She always liked to work alone. She could do things the rest of us couldn't. Steal from heavily protected manors. Rob merchants in the town square in broad daylight. She had talents I never understood."

  "Maybe she'll tell me some day."

  "If she does, let me in on the secret."

  Kadin went to sleep that night with his mind racing. What dark secrets did Faina's past hold? Would he ever have the chance to find out? After all, how in the core was he going to get her away from Andric? She was right. They were Lightless. Powerless.

  He spent the next day waiting for an opportunity to speak to Faina, though he had no idea if she'd want to talk again. The last thing he wanted to do was initiate contact if she didn't want it. She needed time to heal. How much time, he had no idea.

  He continued his work in the fields, talking with Aren and Walin as he inspected each cornstalk. Marell was the overseer today, so they weren't as worried about getting whipped. Still, he gave them sharp looks if they started ignoring their work.

  That afternoon, another Sunlamp went out where Kadin was working. Everyone stopped and looked up at it. Marell glanced at the dead Sunlamp, then at Kadin. Was he going to punish Kadin? Or was he going to look into why this always happened around Kadin?

  "Strange," Marell said, looking up at the Sunlamp. "Two in two days."

  Kadin glanced up at Marell, who gave him a quick nod, as if to say they'd speak later. Should Kadin feel excited about that, or terrified? In truth, he had no idea how to feel about Marell. Kadin felt that way about a lot of things at the moment. He'd considered telling Marell about what had happened to Faina, but he didn't know how the man would react.

  They continued working until Marell called for them to quit. As the others started on the path back toward their cabins, Marell called Kadin over to him.

  "Come with me," Marell said. Kadin followed, struggling to keep up with Marell's quick pace.

  "Where are we going?" Kadin asked. "Please, don't tell Andric about this."

  "You should refer to him as Lord Andric," Marell said. "But I'm not taking you to him." He hesitated a moment. "Not yet at least."

  Kadin's stomach twisted as he followed Marell. At last, they reached a small stone shed toward the edge of the plantation. Marell opened the door and ushered Kadin inside, into a cluttered area full of tools and crates. Small Sunlamps glowed in each corner of the shed.

  Marell gestured at the closest Sunlamp. "Make it go out."

  "How am I supposed to do that?"

  "Well, based on your past and the last two days, I'd say you're a Purple Suncaster. By using Purple light, you have the ability to negate the light of a Sunlamp."

  Kadin looked up at the Sunlamp, feeling like this was a strange dream. "What about the heat? Does that get rid of it, too? I'm sorry, but I don't know much about Suncasting."

  Marell scratched at his dark beard. "Hmm, I hadn't considered that. That could be why this seems so unusual. I've never heard of anyone putting out a Sunlamp by accident. In fact, from what I understand about Suncasting and Sunweaving, it should be impossible for a Suncaster." He shook his head. "You might not be a Suncaster, Kadin."

  "But if I can do this, doesn't that mean I am?"

  "No, it would make you a Sunweaver," Marell said. "Anyone who can cast more than one color of light is a Sunweaver by definition, even if they can't actually weave light." He gestured at the Sunlamp. "Now I want you to think about Green and Purple. Don't think about combining them. Think about using them as they are, directing them at the Sunlamp."

  Did Marell realize how ridiculous this sounded? Wouldn't Kadin have known it if he could use magic? He would try it, though, if only to prove he wasn't making the Sunlamps go out. After all, what were the chances anything would happen now?

  He thought about Green and Purple, about using them to negate the light of the Sunlamp. At first, nothing happened, but after a few moments, the Sunlamp went out.

  Kadin jumped back in shock. "Did I do that?"

  "Perhaps," Marell said. "Try it on the next one."

  Kadin did the same thing he'd done before, looking at the next Sunlamp. To his astonishment, this one went out as well. That was too close together to be a coincidence.

  "Congratulations, Kadin," Marell said with a smile. "You're a Sunweaver. That means you're free."

  Kadin stood frozen as the meaning of those words hit him. All his life, his father had claimed he was useless, but he wasn't. No. He was more useful than his father could ever hope to be. What would happen in his life now that he was a Sunweaver?

  "I don't know what to say," Kadin said. "How could this happen to me? My mother and father are Lightless." He held back a laugh. "Well, I guess I'm not my father's son."

  "Yes, your mother must have slept with a Sunweaver. It doesn't happen all that often, but sometimes Sunweavers seek out pleasure with the Lightless."

  "I had another question," Kadin said, stomach churning. "I've always had this strange sense, like I can feel the sun in a way other people don't. Is that something that Sunweavers experience?"

  Marell's eyes were wide. "What do you mean when you say you can feel the sun?"

  "I can tell that it's getting weaker more quickly than it used to. I can feel it getting a little stronger around midday every day. Isn't that when the Sunlord works to keep it alive?"

  "Yes, it is," Marell whispered. "That's simply astonishing."

  "What do you mean?"

  Marell hesitated a few long moments. "Kadin, I don't think you're a Suncaster or a Sunweaver. I think you're a Sunlord."

  Chapter 17: The New Sunlord

  "You've got to be joking," Kadin said, staring at Marell with wide eyes. "What in the core would give you the idea I'm a Sunlord?"

  "I'm not joking. The way you described feeling the sun, only a Sunlord can do that. I might not know everything about Sunweaving, but I know that much." He frowned. "I simply can't understand how a Sunlord grew up Lightless."

  Kadin's legs trembled. This was the most insane thing he'd ever heard, but it made sense. "All right," he said. "Maybe I am a Sunlord. Does that mean my real father was a Sunlord?"

  "Not necessarily. Sunlords can be born to any Sunweaver. It's rare, but it does happen. On the other hand, Sunlords almost always produce Sunlord children."


  "So I could be related to the Sunlord."

  "Probably not," Marell said, pacing around the small shed. "While he would be more likely to produce Sunlord children, he is only one man. Not to mention, he has thus far failed to produce Sunlord children. No. It's more likely you're the son of some Sunweaver." He ran a hand through his dark beard. "You do realize what this means? You're about to go from a slave to one of the most important and beloved people in all of Tarileth."

  How could that happen? How could Kadin go on to such great things? If he was so talented, why couldn't he have done something about his father?

  And what about Faina?

  "I can't leave the plantation," Kadin said. "Not yet."

  "And why in the core can't you leave?" Marell demanded. "Don't you understand? You don't belong here anymore. You can't be a slave. It's against the law."

  "I have to get Faina out of here. Andric's been raping her."

  "You can do that once you're safe in the Temple of Aralea," Marell said. "Being a Sunlord gives you certain privileges. The world needs you."

  His expression darkened, and he looked away, shaking his head.

  "What is it?" Kadin asked.

  Marell hesitated. "You might not want to hear this, but your powers put you in a dangerous position. Over the last decade, every potential Sunlord has died under mysterious circumstances. Only Sunlord Zaren has escaped this fate."

  "So you're saying someone might kill me because of this?"

  "Yes, I hadn't thought of that at first. I was so caught up in how surprising this is." Marell continued pacing. "We'll have to approach this carefully. You might be a Sunweaver, but you're young, and because of your background, you've never developed your abilities."

  Kadin felt chilled as he realized what that meant. "So I won't be able to defend myself."

  "Exactly."

  "But what about the Sun Guard? Don't they protect people like me?"

  "Yes," Marell said. "But these previous Sunlords who died, they were protected by the Sun Guard as well. These are skilled assassins we're talking about, probably Fireweavers."

  "Fireweavers? I thought they all lived in the Frozen Lands."

  "Not all of them," Marell said. "No matter what the Sun Guard tells you, they live among us, and they might be killing our Sunlords. The Sun Guard is aware of this. They just try to keep it hidden from the people."