The Theft of Sunlight by Intisar Khanani (story reading .TXT) 📕

“But why?”

“Because, as far as they are concerned, the boys owe that man a debt. He gives them food and board, and they work in return. No doubt all of these people have been told that Téran paid for the boys’ travel expenses to come here, and that debt must be paid off as well.”

I shake my head. “But they’re not actually in debt.”

“He bought them from underground slavers,” Bren says, and there is that edge again, razor sharp. “That is the debt he means, and they will never pay it off.”

“Are they orphans?”

“Does it matter?”

“No,” I admit. I glance toward him, then back to the road, thinking about the things he hasn’t said, just how well he understands these boys’ situation. The fact that he is doing this work, never asking for anything from the princess or me. There can only be one reason. “How did you come to be a thief, Bren?”

He casts me a look equal parts appreciative and pained. “You’ve figured it out, have you?”

That the first thing he ever stole was his own freedom? I shake my head.

He laughs, a harsh, empty sound. “Observant. I knew that from the start.”

I keep my eyes on the ground so he won’t see my pity. I’ve always hated the sight of it in other people’s eyes, and I won’t subject him to my own. Instead, I say, “Are there many others like these boys?”

“Oh, a great many. And girls too, though they often end up in brothels.”

I look up, sickened. “But that means . . .”

“That they are raped daily by anywhere from five to eight men who could, if they cared, actually free them? Yes.”

I shake my head, as if I could deny the reality of Bren’s words, the violence of them.

“You understand now why the princess needs a change in laws—laws that will prosecute men like the brickmaker and the brothel owners? And why she needs soldiers who will not turn a blind eye to those boys for the price of a few coins, who won’t instead go in for a few minutes with the girls they’re actually meant to protect? You understand?”

“Are they—are most of the children who disappear still here in Menaiya?” I ask. I cannot quite wrap my mind around the enormity of such a truth. The horror of it.

“Not likely,” Bren says. “I only wanted you to see that it isn’t all away from here. I suspect most of the slaves are trafficked to other lands. The ones here in the city? Their families are likely far out in the country and have no idea where to look for them.”

“There was a girl taken from our town,” I say slowly. “I didn’t think she’d be brought north, but—”

“No, you’re probably right. She’d have been taken to the nearest port. From Sheltershorn, that’s straight east and down the river a bit to Lirelei, isn’t it?”

I glance askance at Bren, but it shouldn’t surprise me that he looked into where I’m from. He clearly pays attention to details. “You think she’s in Lirelei?”

“She’ll be gone by now,” Bren says. “I’m sorry, Rae. I don’t think you can find her.”

I nod. But I’m not giving up on stopping the snatchers, and perhaps, somehow, we’ll still recover her.

The stable is just ahead of us, which means the end of our conversation. Once I have Moonflower, I expect Bren will depart, and with him, any chance of answers for the rest of my questions.

“The boys back there,” I say abruptly. “How do we help them?”

“We don’t,” Bren says coolly. “Talk to your princess; she’ll have to see to it.”

But she can’t. Not yet, though I suppose if I can map out where the brickmaker’s yard is—if I can find my way back, at least—I could lead a contingent of soldiers there when Alyrra’s able to order it. But she isn’t even fully married yet; she only has the soldiers Kestrin has put at her disposal. She can hardly order a raid on a brickyard on the south side, however small and irrelevant it might seem.

On the south side. I look straight at Bren and ask, “Why is it that we came to the south side to see this?”

“Because that’s where the brickyard is?”

That’s not it at all. “You mean there aren’t such places on the west side. Does Red Hawk care as much as you do about slavers?”

“Too clever by far,” Bren murmurs softly. And then, more loudly, “He lets me do as I please when it comes to them. In return, he has my loyalty. Any other questions, or am I free to go?”

I feel myself flushing. “You were always free to go.”

“Then I take my leave of you.” He catches my hand in his and sweeps me a mocking bow. “Just Kelari.”

Halfway back to the palace on Moonflower, I realize my grandmother’s ring is no longer on my little finger. I stare down at my bare pinky finger as if the curved band with its tiny ruby might spontaneously reappear. That’s what comes of asking a thief questions he doesn’t want to answer.

I should have worn my purse instead.

Chapter

23

Upon my return to the palace, I can’t seem to sit still. The memory of the brickyard clings to me, the silent boys with their hollow eyes and thin bodies a reality I can’t leave behind. Nor do I want to. Only there’s nothing I can do about them right now—except pray, as Mama always says. I do say a prayer for them, but I want desperately to do something as well.

Without any requirements on my time before dinner, I stop into my room. Alyrra has just left for lunch, which means I cannot even tell her about what I’ve seen. I go to look for Melly, figuring a cup of tea might help. But she is, apparently, at lunch with the princess.

I stand a moment in the hallway outside her door, rubbing my arms,