The Orphanage and the Eye -- bonus snippet

“Uncle?”

Ekon set down his hoe and wiped one sleeve across his brow before glancing down at his niece. Her cheeks were just a little hollow, eyes just a little shaded, clothing slightly more tattered than would’ve been acceptable only five or six years ago. All the children’s clothes were, these days. He made a mental note to see if Abebi, whose lack of legs would render her slow or unable to do most of the outdoor chores even after the amputation wounds had healed completely, was good with a sewing needle.

“What is it, little heart?”

“There’s a man who wants to see you.”

Of course there was. Ekon heaved a sigh and headed for the house. He hoped he hadn’t come with another child. He told himself that he hoped that because he didn’t want any more children out there being hurt, needing his help, but it was more than that; there simply wasn’t room. An impulse decision to shelter his niece one night after she’d showed up on his doorstep crying inconsoleably, throat still raw and bleeding from the poisons her parents had forced down her throat, had ballooned into a community of twenty one children, only half of them who were actually cursed, and two cursed adults, plus himself. They’d been able to move into a larger home in a less crowded area thanks to the support of well-wishers, but the children were still sleeping three or four to a bed and the adults had long given up on having a bed at all, and the pigs and flourishing vegetable gardens just weren’t enough to keep so many people fed. Where would he even put another child?

But the man waiting for him under the grim eye of Sade (whose curse was barely visible under the burn marks on her arm and shoulder, but who could still use that arm and shoulder to lift and throw out a full grown man if she had to, despite rapidly approaching the age of a grandmother) was unaccompanied. Ekon felt himself tense automatically. That was probably worse. He might be a well-wisher who wanted to make a personal donation, but in Ekon’s experience, people showing up like this usually had more dangerous intentions.

The visitor’s eyes locked onto Ekon the moment he rounded the corner. “Are you Mr Ekon Obi?” he asked, in a thick accent Ekon didn’t know.

“Who is asking?” Ekon asked cautiously.

“Apologies for my rudeness. I am Jamil Surya. I am here as a representative of the World’s Eye. We need to talk about your children.”

Not promising. Ekon didn’t know that the World’s Eye was, but representatives of anything on his doorstep rarely meant anything good. He exchanged a glance with Sade and she gave the tiniest of nods – she’d keep an eye out. Then he ushered the guest into his home.

The house didn’t have an appropriate space to receive guests. There simply wasn’t room. The two sat on the floor in a spot a bit too near the front door while Sade fetched the visitor a drink of water.

“How can I help you, Mr Surya?”

“The question is how we can help you. I am representing a group of mages looking to take responsibility for the damage that magic has done to the world. We are uniting to form a safe place for magic and its victims. I am here to offer your children sanctuary.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. We are building a facility at the World’s Crown to provide food, shelter, protection and education to curse victims all over the world. I’m here to commend you on your efforts in protecting these vulnerable children and offer you and your children better lives.”

“Twenty four people live in this place, not all of us cursed. Do you understand what you are offering?”

“Yes. We have no wish to break up your family, and we have room for all twenty four. We can offer your children better, safer lives; a full education, with homes and jobs afterward. Our education is rathr focused on the cursed, so I’m not sure how much your uncursed children will get out of it, but we can teach magical safety and control. There would be no reason for the world to fear your children, and no reason for them to fear the world.”

“And where is this place?”

“Quite far away, I’m afraid. But the journey is not long. The mages that I represent have ensured it.”

Ekon accepted a cup of water from Sade and sipped it thoughtfully. It was true that nobody in the house had particularly strong ties to weigh them down. Children came to him because they had nowhere else to go. Ekon himself had little family left, just his brother and his brother’s wife and children, and they were… well.

He looked Jamil Surya up and down, set his water aside, and made his decision.

“Thank you for your concern,” he said firmly, “but I must ask you to leave my house and not come back.”

Jamil nodded, unsurprised. “I understand that you cannot trust me based on nothing,” he said, “and I understand that this is an unusual offer to spring on you out of nowhere. Let me prove to you the sincerity of – ”

“Your offer is not unusual, Mr Surya. I have seen over a dozen people offering to drag my children off to work camps.”

The visitor spluttered. “Work camps? I never – ”

“No? You tell me you want to take my children somewhere far away, to give them an education and jobs. You’re telling me that this isn’t your goal? You are not the first person to walk through this door spouting pretty words, Mr Surya. The last woman to come here wanted them for a work camp, too. She said something about a device being built somewhere far off that can make fabric very quickly, about the great opportunities for the children, but that’s what she wanted. The man before her, who spoke of a much larger home he was willing to give us, with guards to keep everyone safe, he wanted to sell their teeth and hair for making medicines. You are aware, I assume, of the demand for the body parts of witches, to make potions and medicines? We get people like you around every so often, and my answer is no.”

“I assure you, I have no such plans for any of you. We merely want those cursed by magic to be safe.”

“They are safer here.”

“It’s obvious that you have neither the room nor the food to support them here!”

“You are right. We have safety, but not enough resources. If you really want to help my children, we would welcome any gift of resources that you are willing to grant us when you leave.”

The visitor didn’t respond.

“That’s what I thought.”

“Mr Obi, I understand your caution and your protectiveness. You clearly care for these children very much, and common people who fear magic have wronged you. But we mages have only respect for the proper handling of magic, and compassion for its victims. I am willing to do what it takes to prove to you – ”

“Ah, mages have only respect and compassion? Mr Surya, this place would not need to exist if it were not for mages. It was a mage who approached my brother, a man who until then I believed with all my heart to be good and just, and put into him such a fear of my neice endangering his whole family that he traded away half of his property and possessions for mage poisons to try to kill his own daughter! Now his family lives in poverty and his soul is forever stained as an attempted child murderer while his daughter lives here with me. Our latest arrival, little Abebi, was more wilful and less obedient than her brother, so her family thought that something must be wrong with her. A mage convinced them that she was a witch, and charged them their life savings to cure her. She was able to flee before their cures killed her, only to run into medicine makers on the street; she was incredibly lucky to be found and brought to me alive. She’s been checked top to toe, and Abebi carries no sign whatsoever of being cursed, only the bad luck of being the target of a mage’s greed! You tell me that mages are – ”

“Those people are not real mages! Merely con artists who – ”

“Unlike you, coming to my door with these stories to steal my children away? Sir, I have asked you to leave. I have no time for this.” Ekon got to his feet. Sade, please see that Mr Surya finds his way off the property without trouble.”

Sade nodded. Ekon knew that she understood what he was asking: make sure he doesn’t talk to any of the kids. He’d lost kids before, by having these sorts of people tell them stories about better futures or, worse, that they’d been sent by their families, who loved them and wanted to reconcile. If they got the kids to follow them, they’d be sold off somewhere where Ekon couldn’t follow them and nobody else cared to try.

Ekon returned to the garden in somewhat of a huff. His niece looked nervously up at him. “What did he want?”

He gave her a fierce hug. “Nothing that you need to worry about.” And for as long as I’m around to protect you, nothing you ever will.