The Theft of Sunlight

by Intisar Khanani

  “Rae, please stand to the side here,” Alyrra says, indicating the wall where her remaining attendants stand. “My mother should be in shortly. We will be discussing last night’s events. You are all here merely as witnesses. Even if she speaks to you, don’t answer. Just look to me.”

  “I understand,” I say, glancing once toward the small hexagonal table set next to the sofa where Alyrra sits. My note lies there, unopened. She doesn’t know. “Zayyida—”

  A knock sounds behind me, at the door.

  “Quickly, Rae.”

  I hurry to take up a position beside Mina. Alyrra waits until I am in place, then calls out in a carrying voice.

  The foreign queen sweeps into the room, followed by the noblewoman who attended her from Adania. With a curious glance about the room, she says in almost perfect Menay, “It is rather early for morning visits, don’t you think, child?”

  Alyrra gestures to the couch. “Won’t you sit? We have much to discuss.”

  The queen makes no move to seat herself. “I have not even had breakfast, child. Tell me what it is and let’s be done.”

  Seated by Alyrra, Kestrin goes utterly still, his eyes glittering with fury. But it’s Alyrra’s reaction that makes my blood run cold: she laughs, a gentle chuckle that puts her visitors on edge. The queen may pretend affection for her daughter, but it’s clear she does not truly understand her.

  I glance to Mina beside me, but she remains still, expression neutral. What is it that’s happening here? Attendants by and large aren’t expected to stand attendance, lining the walls like sentinels. Eight of us together provide a gauntlet of witnesses for whatever Alyrra has planned.

  “As you wish,” Alyrra says, the ring of steel in her voice. “I require two things of you. First, my brother shall be removed from the succession and sent into exile. Second, Lord Daerilin shall be stripped of his rank, title, and lands, and also exiled, though not with my brother. As I imagine you will not have the least argument with these demands, you are welcome to go eat your breakfast.”

  The queen stares. “Whatever do you mean by this, child? I am hardly going to exile my own son or my most trusted vassal.”

  Beside her, the Adanian noblewoman’s face has paled almost to gray.

  “You know,” Alyrra says quietly, “that my brother has never respected either my person or my life.”

  The queen sends a poisonous look toward me. I didn’t even realize she’d noticed me. “If this has anything to do with that lamentable incident with that attendant of yours—”

  “It seems my relationship with each of you has been characterized by one lamentable incident after another,” Alyrra interrupts, her voice light and cutting. “Do you know how traitors are punished, Mother?”

  The queen narrows her eyes. “Certainly. You made that clear with what you did to Daerilin’s daughter. Who do you think has betrayed you now?”

  Kestrin’s hand slowly curls into a fist. Just as slowly, he flattens it out once more, but the fury does not leave his eyes. Now that I know he carries a magical talent, I am both frightened by his anger and amazed at his control.

  “Last night, an attempt was made on my life. I will spare you the details, since it is still before breakfast.” There is no mistaking the edge of sarcasm to Alyrra’s voice. “However, we have traced the chain of those involved back to Daerilin, who bribed one of my maids to betray me. Daerilin would not have acted without the explicit approval of my brother, if not yourself. I wonder, do you know anything of what I speak?”

  “Certainly not, child. It sounds like some strange conspiracy you have concocted. You have not even said what was done!”

  “Last night, a venomous snake was placed in my bed while we were at an evening gathering. The snake would have bit me had it not been for the quick thinking of my attendants.”

  “A snake?” the queen demands. “That is hardly an attempt on your life!”

  Alyrra does not turn her head away from her mother as she says, “Kelari Amraeya.”

  I take one limping step forward, my stomach clenched tight.

  Alyrra gestures toward a basket tucked back between two sofas. “Show my mother what that contains.”

  I look to the basket, recognizing its colorful weave, the thick cover strapped down over it.

  As I cross to it, Alyrra says, “This is a saw-scaled viper, Mother. It is the single most deadly snake of the plains.”

  I lift the basket as steadily as I can, my wounded arm aching. The viper within rasps its scales together, the distinctive rsss-rsss clearly audible. I turn and set it a few paces from where the queen stands.

  “The cover, Amraeya,” the princess says.

  I kneel beside it to undo the leather ties, my heart thudding. Last night, Mage Hedhrawy set a ward to keep the snake within the basket, but I don’t exactly want to test his work. Still, an order is an order, and clearly Alyrra chose me because I’ve already proven steady around snakes. I take hold of the edges and slowly lift away the cover, careful that it shields my hands.

  The snake hisses, scales rasping and tongue flicking. The queen leans away, only her pride keeping her from a hasty retreat. It lifts its head to keep her in view, and perhaps it is only I who notices how its head stops at a level with the top of the basket, pressed against an invisible barrier there.

  “Would you like to pick it up, Mother? Do you truly trust that it won’t bite you, that its venom can be counteracted in time by the mages who live in their own building separate from the palace?”

  “This is all very dramatic, Alyrra, but there’s no need for it. Come, let us call your brother here and sort things out as family. There is no need for any of this.” She waves a hand to encompass both the snake and the row of attendants beyond it.

  “I think not,” Alyrra says. “That has only ever worked for you, not for me. I am no longer that same daughter you abused, Mother.”

  The queen’s eyes widen. “I never abused you, Alyrra! Everything I have done has been for your best interest.”

  “Was it in my best interest when my brother first pushed me down the stairs of our hall and you laughed? Or was it in my best interest to allow him to beat me when he wished, year upon year? Or perhaps you think it was in my best interest when you sent the one woman most certain to betray me as my companion on my journey here?”

  What sort of monster is this woman, to have allowed all that—to have turned her face from such violence, to have known the impostor was not to be trusted, and still sent her with Alyrra? I glance around and see a range of controlled emotions upon my fellow attendants’ faces, from the disbelief in the widening eyes of the man across from me to the hardening of Jasmine’s jaw in what can only be anger.

  “Alyrra,” the queen says, her voice deepening with warning. She casts a single concerned glance toward Kestrin.

  “Let us not bother with such lies right now, Mother. We both know whom you have protected. Make no mistake, this attempt on my life was an act of war, and this meeting is our parley. You have a choice now: you may exile Daerilin and my brother, or you may refuse. If you refuse, I will request the king’s support in raising what soldiers I require to march on Adania and take the hall from you. Of course, we will insist you remain here in safety until the matter is resolved.”

  I press my hands against my thighs. I have always known that Alyrra is a princess, that she has an immense amount of power at her disposal. But somehow I managed to let that knowledge slip away from me. The reality of the princess’s words shock me. She will change the succession of her homeland’s throne, and she will go to war to do so, if she must.

  “And,” Kestrin says, breaking his silence for the first time, “I guarantee that we will provide everything Zayyida Alyrra requires.”

  Alyrra raises a hand. “To be clear, Adania’s crown will go to cousin Derin, as is his right. I have no interest in ruling over Adania, nor adding it to Menaiya’s lands.”

  “You cannot do this,” the queen says, her voice tight with
outrage.

  “It is your decision how Derin comes to rule,” Alyrra says implacably. “Though it might be best not to involve the Menaiyan armies. What will you choose?”

  A chill crawls up my spine. Alyrra is all princess right now, nothing like the girl who reminded me of my little sisters, the girl whom I thought might need my support.

  The queen lifts her chin haughtily. “You cannot take away your brother’s throne over such a prank as this. The Council of Lords—”

  “I am not concerned with how you deal with your Council of Lords. That is your worry. Let us be clear, Mother. I cannot trust my brother, the crown prince of Adania, to treat servants justly, to respect and protect high-ranked women, to prevent an attempt on my life—I, who am both his sister and a princess in my own right. Nor can I trust him to uphold and honor an alliance to which I have committed my life, and upon which Adania will be greatly dependent. If he cannot be trusted in any of these things, why should he be entrusted with the keeping of all of Adania?”

  “You are overblowing—”

  “He will not be king,” Alyrra snarls. “This snake may seem like a small thing, but it is the final act in the making of his downfall. He will not rise again after this. Do you understand? You have failed as queen dowager and regent, and I will not allow your failure to endanger Adania any longer.”

  “I have only ever protected our land!”

  Alyrra’s face pales with fury, the skin of her cheeks blotchy. She takes a slow breath and says coldly, “It seems there is no point in our continuing this conversation. Prince Kestrin has dispatched a pair of quads to take Daerilin and your son into custody. They will each be exiled as I choose. Should you require me to ride to Adania before you to assure Derin of his right to rule, I will do so.”

  The queen goes still, as if she has only just realized she cannot win. “You cannot do this.”

  “It is already done.”

  The queen shoots an uncertain glance toward Kestrin. “The king—”

  Kestrin shakes his head, dismissing this. “My father is not here only at Zayyida Alyrra’s request. Rest assured his support of her is guaranteed. Your companion is present as your witness. You see our royal attendants are present as ours. I am sure you appreciate the delicacy of the situation.”

  The Adanian noblewoman remains silent, her eyes wide. No doubt she will have plenty to say to their Council of Lords, but here, in this moment, she reserves her silence.

  “Alyrra, will you not hear reason?” the queen pleads, and in her voice I hear the first true emotion she has let slip this morning: a rising panic.

  “You had no place for reason when I begged for it, Mother. I’ve heard your reasons half my life. I am done with them. I have no doubt Cousin Derin will make an excellent king, and a kinder ruler than you or my brother could ever be. There will be no further arguing this.”

  The queen closes her eyes, her face ashen. She is only a regent; with the prince exiled, she has lost her throne as well.

  Alyrra rises to offer her mother a small curtsy, hardly that of one peer to another. “I look forward to the coronation.”

  The queen dips her head and departs in a haze, her companion in her wake.

  With shaking fingers, I slip the cover back over the basket and fasten it. Around the room, the attendants shift slightly, as if they had held themselves taut as a wire and only now dare breathe.

  “He isn’t going to go away because you exiled him,” Kestrin says. I glance toward him. He is focused completely on Alyrra. “He will come back, and he will bring trouble with him.”

  She shakes her head. “I have taken his power, his title, and his wealth from him. I will not take his life as well.”

  “And if he returns?”

  “Then we will do what we must,” she says tiredly.

  Kestrin nods and waves his hand once, dismissing all of us attendants. I hesitate as the others file to the door. My letter still sits untouched on the small table. Alyrra needs to know—

  “Go,” Kestrin says, his voice flat. He meets my gaze with all the authority of his position. It is not an order I would dare countermand.

  I dip my head and go.

  Chapter

  46

  Filadon waits in the hall outside the royal suite. I entertain a momentary hope that he is here for Kestrin, that I will be able to escape to the guard room and go with Matsin to Kirrana’s home, but from the way Filadon looks at me, I know he’s here for me.

  “Hallo, Rae,” he says. I have the distinct feeling he is sorry to be here.

  “Verin,” I say slowly, and his eyes flicker shut for a half moment. Yes, whatever his reason, it’s political and not something he’s pleased about.

  “Come,” he says, offering me his arm. “We’re going for a walk.”

  “I can’t just now,” I say, glancing down the hall to where Matsin waits, filling the doorway of the guard room. I should have left with him some time ago; I’m not sure how much longer he’ll wait. “I realize there’s something you need to say to me, but there is something I must do. It’s urgent.”

  “Walking clears the mind,” Filadon says, taking my arm and turning me to the staircase. Matsin nods once to me and steps back. “There’s something we need to discuss. I’m sorry, Rae, but your errand will have to wait.”

  I stop at the top of the stairs and look up at Filadon, catching his gaze. Even if Matsin will wait, Kirrana needs my help. “And if I refuse to come with you just now? Because my errand involves someone’s life?”

  I have never seen him look so grim. “This one involves yours. And it shouldn’t take long.”

  “Filadon—”

  “Yours and your family’s.”

  I go still staring at him, thinking of Kestrin’s secret that I discovered just last night. Filadon looks away, then tugs me forward. I let him lead me down the stairs, descending gingerly as each step with my left foot presses into burst blisters. We proceed into a small salon with wide windows that look out onto a mosaic-tiled courtyard, the fountains at its center familiar. I must have been past it before.

  “This particular room,” he says as he shuts the door, “is protected from listening ears. Much like the royal suites.”

  “So what is it we need to discuss that requires such privacy?”

  “I think you know.”

  I’m not admitting anything, just in case this is a test. “I think you need to say it out loud.”

  Filadon nods. “The prince has a secret that only a select few know: his father, his wife, me, the captain of his bodyguard, and one of his attendants.”

  “And now me.”

  “And now you.”

  I consider Filadon silently. Kestrin may have thanked me for keeping his secret in confidence . . . but he’s no fool. The secret I carry could easily be turned against him, and in such a way that I could both reap the benefit and escape the repercussions. Perhaps Filadon is Kestrin’s closest friend precisely because he can be trusted with such a secret. But I’m not Kestrin’s friend, and I’ve only served Alyrra a short time now. What will Kestrin demand of me to ensure his secret?

  There is only one thing I can think of that would ease his concern, and there is no way I am telling him of Niya’s talent. It might be a secret of equal weight, one that will assure mutual silence, but it will also put Niya in the prince’s power. And princes use the tools at their disposal. Maybe not immediately, but no doubt eventually, Niya would get pulled in to do his bidding.

  I’m not giving Niya up, and I won’t let Filadon do so either. Because this is what he meant—not my family’s lives, but Niya’s. Unless it’s already too late. “You haven’t told him about Niya, have you?” I demand abruptly.

  “I have been trying to come up with some leverage to give the prince. I can think of nothing else.”

  “No.”

  Filadon sighs. “Rae, he will not move against your sister because then you would move against him. It’s a perfect balance.”

  “I said,
no. What hold does he have on you? Why does he trust you?”

  “We’ve known each other since childhood. When I promised my silence, he believed it. And he needed me. I was useful to him.” Filadon shrugs philosophically. “Still am. Also, it helps, I think, that I look for neither reward nor an increase in rank from him.”

  “I don’t want those things either,” I say sharply. “I’m useful to Alyrra, and I’m your kin. Surely he can trust in that?”

  “You’re Ramella’s kin.”

  “I see. You mean for everything else, that’s enough. But for this, it isn’t.”

  “Rae, this is—perhaps you don’t realize what could happen if it were known.”

  “Oh, I realize,” I say, looking out at the fountains again: three pools, each nested within the other, so that they overflow from the smallest to the next to the largest, a small movement leading to greater and greater repercussions. I have the sudden nearly uncontrollable urge to dash past Filadon, gather my things, and leave all of this behind. Only some things can’t be left behind. And I cannot leave while Kirrana is missing.

  “There’s no need to look so hunted, Rae. We’ll find a way to keep the balance.”

  I stare at him. “Do you know what I watched transpire this morning? I saw a man be removed from a royal succession and his throne given to a spare heir in a quiet conversation that played out before breakfast, without him even being present. Do you have any idea what our prince and princess are capable of?”

  “You’re afraid of them.”

  “Only a fool wouldn’t be! I respect Alyrra—and Kestrin. I will be loyal to them, but for God’s sake, Filadon, that whole family is terrifying.”

  And then there are the mages, who are meant to stand for our protection, and yet are connected to the snatchers. And I’ve been so busy between them and Berenworth, I haven’t even looked to see if the Speakers might be involved. There is literally no one left to trust except myself and a thief. At this rate, Bren likely has some terrible secret he’s hiding, since everyone else seems to.