Free Breaking the Gloaming by J. B. Simmons Page A

next. This is hardly known in Sunan, and I thought he and I were the only ones in Valemidas who knew it.” He hesitated.
    “What happened to Gavon?” I asked.  
    “He’s gone,” Finniel said, “and I feel certain he is dead. Whoever stole Gavon’s life also stole my sight. We were working in the archives alone, late one night. Gavon sensed a man’s presence and he immediately ordered that I fetch him more ink. When I walked away, a man attacked me. He likely thought I was a mere servant, rather than a partner, thanks to Gavon. The man threw me down. I looked into his cowl but saw only darkness and the whites of his eyes. He must have feared that I saw more, because then he stabbed my vision out. Despite the pain, I kept my mouth shut and pretended to pass out. The man then seized Gavon. I heard him speak a few muffled words, but then he was gone.” Finniel shook with a tearless sob. He breathed deeply and spoke on. “I might recognize the attacker’s scent or his voice if I were near him again, but either way, I believe we lost our great archivist because our research touched too close to this threatening story.”  
    “I am very sorry for your loss,” I said. My mind spun through the possibilities. Who in Valemidas would so fear a story about Sunan that he would stab an elderly man’s eyes out and kidnap the head archivist? I needed to learn more.
    “Apologies, my Prince, but even a man as old as I can be passionate about such things.” Finniel cleared his throat and continued his story. “As I was saying, His Excellency is like a god. Two religious sects compete fiercely over what that means, but all agree on His Excellency having some touch of the divine. But Ilir, the young man who now sits on the throne, he is not from an established line. His father, Nadali, ended a lineage that had endured since Prince Aden’s invasion.”
    “In those ancient days, Aden’s son integrated into Sunan, and he married the daughter of the Sunan king who had led them against Valemidas. Their son became the next king, and so the mingled blood of Valemidas and Sunan began a long reign. Many Sunans abhorred this mingling, including Nadali and a high priest named Malam. Nadali led a rebellion that resulted in the killing of the entire royal family. It was rumored that the reigning king’s son escaped. The Sunan’s last annual message of peace came that year.”
    “When Nadali died in his old age two years ago, his fifteen-year-old son Ilir became the Excellency. The dead king’s brother, Seban, plotted secretly to seize power, but the Sunan religious leaders would not allow another upsetting of order. They have nearly as much power as His Excellency. So Seban and the two religious leaders, Ilias and Malam, agreed upon a truce—they would advise Ilir and rule Sunan as stewards until Ilir reached eighteen. Seban’s young son left Sunan around that time, because he was implicated in an attempted poisoning of Ilir. Malam was also implicated, but he has zealous followers among the people. Ilias agreed to allow Malam to stay on as steward, and in exchange, Malam agreed that he would unite with Ilias to stop Sunan from waging war against Valemidas. Without that pact, it is believed that Malam and Seban would have led Sunan to war already.”
    “Why are the Sunans coming now?” I asked. “Why not a year from now or some other time?”
    “Now that you understand the context, my Prince, you will see the answer is simple. Ilir will turn eighteen this winter, in two months. All signs are that he is like his father but worse, fueled by a desire to justify his father’s coup. No justification would be stronger than to conquer Valemidas and to complete Sunan’s vengeance against the stain of mixed blood. When he has full control, at eighteen, Ilir may do whatever he wishes. Nothing will be able to stop him from setting sail for war.”
    Finniel’s final words were solemn, and his story made sense. I would have liked to have