Free Breaking the Gloaming by J. B. Simmons

would not allow anyone to get in the way of that mission.”
    “One last detail,” she said. “Jonas would never have sent a woman to the Gloaming. He loved women and treated them gently. A terror in battle, a delight in bed. That was what women close to him said.” A touch of pink showed on her cheeks.
    “My Prince, do you have time to hear more?” Guthrie asked as soon as Page finished.  
    I gestured for him to continue. He touched the shoulder of the older man to his left. The man wore a strip of white cloth over his eyes.  
    “This is Finniel. We sometimes call him Grandfather Sunan. He has researched here a hundred years.” The group of researchers laughed but grew solemn as Guthrie raised his hand. “Finniel served my predecessor, Gavon, who disappeared a few months ago. The two of them together knew every word that has been written on the Sunans. They were working on a treatise about it. I fear someone did not want Gavon writing the last section of the book, about what is happening now in the foreign nation. Finniel will tell you why.”
    “Yes, my Prince,” he said with a bow and a light foreign accent. He looked twice as old as Guthrie, and his blind gaze looked above my shoulder. “You have probably noticed by now that I can no longer see. I assure you that this recent impediment has not slowed my work. In fact, it may have served to save me for you. No one suspects an old, blind man, but Gavon and I worked together for many years. I serve Valemidas by lending insight into my people’s history, their culture and politics. I know more about Sunan than anyone on this continent.”  
    His voice was precise and confident as he addressed me. “But you have a specific question: why would Sunan invade Valemidas now? I believe there are three factors.”
    He paused, as if waiting for me. “I would hear these factors, Finniel. Please go on.” I closed my eyes to listen, thinking it might help me better understand his words, his mind.
    “First,” he began, “the invasion has for several generations been inevitable, just a matter of time. Bitterness has been passed down through generations against Valemidas. The Sunans view Prince Aden’s invasion as a bigoted and barbaric evil. You will recall that one of Prince Aden’s reasons for the invasion—maybe not a true reason, but a stated one—was to convert the Sunans to believe in the god of Valemidas, and to recover an ancient relic of Valemidas buried in Sunan. This is the sword, Zarathus. Aden succeeded in acquiring the sword, but lost almost everything else—he lost the war, he failed to convert the Sunans, and he traded his son for the seed of a tree. The Sunans have not forgotten. They are a devoted and disciplined people, and the freedom and success of Valemidas draws more of their ire.
    “Second, Valemidas owes Sunan more gold than it could ever pay. The debt began generations ago, but the past four princes have compounded the borrowing. Prince Polin paid dearly for his luxuries. He was not known as Golden Polin for nothing. Polin’s successor, and your predecessor, ruled forty long years. As you know, he was known for doing little, and what little he did was rarely consistent. He did not inspire confidence and trade languished. There was no more borrowing from Sunan, but also no debt was paid off. The amount of interest owed became crippling. You inherited the debt and had shipped off a first payment just before we lost you. Tryst spent hugely to build up the Lycurgus, his permanent army, and now you are paying more than you have to Tryst’s victims, seeking to restore things. The Sunans will be aware of all this. They believe that we will never pay. They want the gold that is rightfully theirs.
    “Third, and what really stokes these long-burning coals, is the new Sunan ruler, a boy named Ilir. The Sunans call him His Excellency and regard him as a god.” The old man’s expression grew sad. “Gavon was preparing to write what I will say