the
Sunshine's
Shadow

The sun slipped behind the treeline, and with it went the cozy glow attached to Theo’s stone cottage.

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He grumbled, mentally tallying his evening to-do list as muck squelched beneath his boots and home drew near. Work had been emotionally exhausting, but at least it was a legal funeral. The mourners had paid their tax, and he was open about having cycling magic (and only cycling magic) here in Sorhaven. Still, disintegrating a body was rough, whether he was close with the deceased or not.

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That was probably his own fucking fault for always making services about himself. Not outwardly, of course. He wasn’t a horrible person. But inwardly, he tended to pretend he was there for his parents, faking closure he never got to experience.

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Without warning, the cottage flashed blindingly white—a brief second sun shining on the horizon—before it shifted back to eerily calm.

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Fuck. Leonore.

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Blinking away spots, Theo raced the final yards to his front door. A tendril of crafted shadow curled ahead, slipping inside and lifting the bar before he barreled into the wood.

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A disaster greeted him in the kitchen, but tension left his body in an exhale so strong his shoulders slumped. There was no blood, and Nora was breathing.

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Ghostly, rapidly dimming snakes of light slithered across the wooden planks, and he hopped over one before it vanished. He could’ve nulled it with his shadows, but it wasn’t worth the effort. Her magic was fading out on its own.

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The room was full of green. Gigantic, oversized herbs had taken over, coaxed to the point of absurdity by the thirteen-year-old asleep in the middle of the room. Passed out, more like, because the little shit had drained her well dry—again.

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At least yesterday’s bully on her walk home didn’t get this full show of her power. They’d have been fucked if he had. Forced to move again.

Drawing the door shut behind him, Theo rubbed his temples and squeezed his eyes closed, as if that would fix the mess.

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When he rolled his head back, stretching away the stress, he found a water stain on the ceiling.

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Fuck.

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All he wanted to do was kick back and enjoy a pint, maybe poke through one of his sister’s history books, not deal with her mess before going to serve patrons at the inn for another few hours.

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But if not him, then who?

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Dutifully, Theo prepared a platter of bread and cheese for Nora when she woke, then he turned his attention to the plants. It took some time and several pairs of shadowy shears operating at once, but he pruned them all back, hanging no less than twenty bundles around the kitchen before cycling the scraps down to dirt to sweep up and toss outside. When he was done, lush, reasonably sized greens and vegetables surrounded them, a mark of Nor’s labors that didn’t overshadow their home.

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There was less than an hour before he had to head to his second job.

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“Nora.” Theo tapped her on the forehead with a finger of shadow. “Leonore Alodia. Wake up.”

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She mumbled unintelligibly and tried to snuggle up with his boot like it was a pillow.

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“Nor. No. Leonore, wake up. Your hair’s getting filthy.” He yanked his foot free.

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The thunk when her head hit the wood floor was horrifying—until her eyes shot open and she scowled.

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“What’s all this?”

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“Looks fine to me,” she croaked.

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“You’re welcome for that,” he quipped, but his ire ended there. She was so small on the floor before him; it was like she was three years old again, and he, sixteen. “C’mon. Up you go. You drained your well. Why?”

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They climbed the stairs to her small room, and Theo helped her into the bed before dashing back for the food.

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She was half-awake when he returned, tucked up tight and sniffing the air loudly as he set down her plate.

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“It’s bread and cheese.”

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Her lips pulled into a tentative smile.

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He should’ve left her food downstairs. Now she knew he wasn’t terribly angry. Shit.

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Handing her a large mug of water, he waited for her to drink her fill and glance up. Only then did he spear her with his look, the one that said he was waiting for an explanation.

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She blinked four times, slowly, then let out a massive sigh and grabbed the bread and cheese. “It was a test, I guess. I’m not allowed to use anything except cloaking outside, and I had to try all my abilities together to see what I could do.”

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Theo nodded, tucking her blanket in a little bit tighter. Lightly, he said, “You know what I was thinking about on my walk home from work?”

She picked at her bread, trying to look disinterested, and refusing to reply.

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“I was thinking that yesterday, you definitely would’ve kicked that scrawny little fucker from here to Hauburg if I hadn’t stopped you from using your crafting ability.”

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Nora pressed her lips into a thin line.

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“Honestly, if you’d pulled out cycling? Good gods, he’d have walked away with an extra arm!”

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That softened her up. “You know it doesn’t work like that. Maybe a couple of ugly moles?”

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“Good enough.” Theo chuckled. “You’d have sent him home with two black eyes and a backside full of warts.”

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Leonore burst into laughter, finally gracing him with a smile.

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That was better. “You’ll get there. You don’t have anything to prove to anyone. You’re already stronger than many grown mages. My crafted items didn’t have solid mass until I was older than you are now, closer to seventeen. And I still can’t cycle life away the way you can make it grow.”

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“If I’m not allowed to practice all of my abilities, except for stupid cloaking, how will I ever get better?”

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“You are getting better, and you can practice everything at home,” he reminded her, tacking on, “within reason.”

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She knew damn well why she needed to keep her vast abilities under wraps, same as he. But, like any thirteen-year-old, Nora loved needling her caregiver.

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“Be more careful, all right? You’re lucky no one else was around to see the house light up. We don’t want to move again.” And he couldn’t afford it, but that was beside the point. They liked it here—enough—and that was what mattered.

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They’d come east for a few reasons: One, Leonore wanted to see a faerie; supposedly some had been spotted in eastern Gramenia. And two, they’d needed to move on from living as farmers in Kukvatten, because Nora accidentally let it slip that she had cloaking abilities along with the cycling abilities they were open about.

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Before that, it had been his fault. Theo helped a family bury their father when they couldn’t afford the principality’s steep funerary fees. He’d been caught.

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Still, they’d somehow made it ten long years without anyone of import recognizing their full gamut of powers or their faces… or their names.

The last part was the easiest to conceal. But they were slowly working their way back to using their true names. Here, he was Theo, and she was Leo. She was mad at him, though, perpetually, for using a name he liked while she was stuck with one she hated.

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Groaning, Theo pushed up from squatting and peeked into his sister’s hazy mirror.

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“Listen, I’ve got to get to the inn. Eat. Rest. I’ll be back before midnight. You think you’ll be all right without me?”

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“Of course.”

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He chewed his inner cheek, wishing he didn’t have to abandon her; wishing she was a few years older, and they could share the load equally; wishing he hadn’t had that last thought because it made him feel like shit. “I’ll try to bring you some of those potato dumplings, as long as there’s extra. If you wake up while I’m gone, the laundry’s backed up again. Start the worst of it soaking, and I’ll love you forever?”

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She mumbled a yes through her bite.

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“Love you, Nora.”

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“Love you, Theo.”

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He trudged down to his dark bedroom and lifted the shade from his dresser lamp, scaring away the gloom as he readied for work at the Djemirian. His dark hair was looking wild, but a few snips with shadow-scissors freshened it into something presentable.

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Artfully styled. Perfect.

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Work was best when he looked his best: the flirting flowed freely, and his tips were larger. It wasn’t like he had any real time for the former, but he could usually squeeze in a few teasing comments with patrons at the inn, which filled a little bit of that void in his chest.

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Dressed in a clean tunic and trousers in Nagland’s style, Theo departed for the Djemirian. On a good night, with the right customers, it could be practically fun. On a dull night, he ended up bored, light in the pocket, and worse for the wear. But he’d keep up with two jobs for a few more years if it meant Leonore could continue her schooling until she came of age. They might not have much, but she needed an education. That was imperative.

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Pausing on the road, Theo shook out his cramping shins and yawned. The building cloud cover yawned back, a few tenacious stars winking through the haze.

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Gods, he was tired; burnt to a nub and in dire need of a long night’s sleep. But it was worth it, for Nor. Always.

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Hopefully this would be a good night.