Sunlight and Shadow by Cameron Dokey

had trusted him since I was a small child. But there are some things that simply don’t make sense.
    â€œDon’t be ridiculous,” I said. “Of course he needs to know her. How else can he find the proper husband?”
    â€œBy reason,” Statos said simply. “Reason and nothing more. This is why, much as he sometimes mistrustsher, he gave the raising of Mina over to her mother, the Queen of the Night. The Lord Sarastro feared that, if he raised his daughter himself, if he watched her grow as other father’s do …”
    â€œIt might be difficult for him to deny her if her choice was different from his own,” I filled in softly.
    â€œThat is it, precisely,” answered Statos. “He could not afford to run the risk that he would be swayed by his, or the Lady Minas emotions. More than her happiness is at stake in this. There is the fate of the world itself.”
    â€œTo say nothing of the fate of his own power,” I said suddenly, and I think it’s fair to say that I surprised us both. This was as close as I had ever come to criticizing the Lord Sarastro. “The prophecy says only that the Lady Minas parents will each grow weaker and stronger upon her marriage. It doesn’t say in what proportion.”
    Statos nodded, his expression thoughtful. “That is true also. Therefore, the lord reasoned that the best choice for his daughter would be a member of his own order. Someone he knew he could trust absolutely, for he had helped to guide his steps himself.”
    â€œYou,” I said. “His favorite, his chosen apprentice. How well everything works out.”
    â€œThe Lord Sarastro has a reason for everything he does,” Statos said simply. “It is his way, the way of our order.”
    â€œWhy did he choose to raise me, I wonder?”
    Then, even as I posed the question, a reason occurred to me. One my mind informed me just might break what was left of my already-battered heart.
    â€œBut surely you know the answer to that,” Statos said.
    â€œSo that he could know what a young girl was like,” I said, and I thought my own words might suffocate me. “To raise a girl without actually having to raise his own daughter. I am a stand-in. An experiment. A cipher.”
    â€œOf course not,” Statos said at once. He moved to where I stood, turned me to face him, and grasped me by the upper arms. “He honored your parents, especially your father, Gayna. Raising you simply shows his respect.”
    I felt a dreadful impulse to laugh and fought it down.
    â€œRespect,” I said, and I looked up into those blue, blue eyes. “Honor. Those are fine words, Statos. But for all they speak of noble things, they come from the mind and not the heart. So tell me, what of love? Does the Lord Sarastro love me? Do you? Can you even love?”
    I felt his hands flex, involuntarily, upon my arms.
    â€œGayna,” he said. “I-it does no good to ask such questions. They can change nothing.”
    â€œMy lord!” A brisk knock sounded on the chamberdoor. At the sound, Statos started, his grip tightening yet again. “The hour grows late.”
    â€œMerciful heavens!” Statos whispered. “The Lord Sarastro’s audience. How can I tell him that his daughter has run away rather than bend her will to his?”
    â€œLet me tell him,” I said, though the very words brought despair to my heart. “It is I who should bear the brunt of his displeasure, not you, for I showed her the way out.”
    â€œNo,” Statos said at once. And now, at last, he let me go. “I will tell him. I will do my duty.”
    He turned toward the door.
    â€œJust tell me one thing,” I said, and, at the sound of my voice, he stopped, though he did not turn around. “I have no idea what’s going to happen next, but I don’t imagine it’s going to be very pleasant for me. Tell me the truth about this one