Sunlight and Shadow by Cameron Dokey Page A

that case, I really hate to tell you this,” I said. “But I think it’s nearly dawn. The sky is that funny color that isn’t a color. Do you know what I mean?”
    â€œYes,” Mina answered as she turned to look over her shoulder. “I have seen the dawn. There is a moment when the sky goes blank, as if the world is trying to remember what it looks like in the light.”
    â€œThat’s it exactly,” I said as I moved to stand at her side. She turned, and together we stood for a moment, gazing out the window. “You should get dressed,” I went on finally. “The Lord Sarastro will send for you soon.”
    â€œI should be well dressed when I go to be sacrificed? Why should I do anything to please him? Answer me that.”
    â€œThen don’t do it to please him,” I said at once. “Do it to please yourself, and do it for your mother. You speak brave words. Now match it with brave deeds. Show them what the daughter of die Königin der Nacht is made of.”
    At this, to my complete astonishment, she threw back her head and laughed. “Now you’re appealing to my vanity,” she said. “That is well done. All right, show me this finery.”
    â€œThis doesn’t mean we’re friends, you know,” I said as I moved to a wardrobe tucked into an alcoveon the far side of the fireplace and flung it open.
    â€œOf course it doesn’t,” the Lady Mina said, her tone calm. “I think I’m sorry for that. It would be nice to have a friend. I never really had one other than Lapin.”
    â€œLapin?”
    She shook her head, as if sorry that she’d spoken. “Not now,” she said. “Perhaps another time. What do you think of this one?” she asked. And she pulled from the wardrobe exactly the dress I would have chosen had I been in her place, one made of cloth of beaten gold. “If the Lord Sarastro wishes me to make an impression on his subjects, this ought to do the trick.”
    Without thinking, I said, “You’ll be absolutely blinding.”
    She laughed again, but it seemed to me there was sadness in the sound. “My thought precisely,” she said, and she carried the dress over to the bed and laid it out. “Who knows? Perhaps, while they’re hiding their eyes at the mere sight of me, I can make good my escape.”
    I felt the breath back up inside my lungs. “You would do that? You would try to run?”
    She turned her head, then, and those strange eyes looked straight into mine. I’m pretty sure that’s when it happened. A single thought, the same thought, appearing simultaneously in two different minds.
    â€œI would,” the Lady Mina said as she straightenedslowly. “But I could not do it on my own. The dwelling of the Lord Sarastro is large, and I do not know my way through it. Help would most definitely be required.”
    â€œAnd if you had it?” I asked.
    â€œThen I would go and not look back,” the Lady Mina said. “Particularly not at any man with golden hair and bright blue eyes.”
    â€œI will help you,” I said.
    By way of answer, the Lady Mina smiled.
    At the sight of it, I felt my heart skip a beat inside my chest even as my determination strengthened. Statos must never see that smile, I thought. If he did, he would never look at me again, not that he looked at me all that often now.
    â€œBut we must hurry,” I said, and I moved toward her. “The sun is nearly up. The lord will send for you at any moment.”
    To my astonishment, she laughed, as if the danger only added pleasure to the challenge.
    â€œI have an idea to buy us a little more time,” the Lady Mina said. “Give me your cloak, and I will give you mine.” Then she leaned down and swept up the golden dress, holding it against me. “Let us see how well you look in this finery, shall we?”

The Outsider
    I’ll never forget my