A Red Sun Rises

Jenae could always tell the difference between an individual who'd been born a slave, and an individual who'd been made the slave. And it wasn't just because of facial recognition.

Those born as slaves, herself included, went about slavery as if it were normal. Up at crack of dawn, work until the sun set, after which you were free to try and combat the misery of your existence as you liked. It was the same principles in her homeworld, and the same on Charn. Those made slaves however, always had trouble adjusting. Case in point the sobbing boy further up the cornfield. Older than her, but with smooth hands, a sunburnt face, and an inability to do any worthwhile function.

"Come on kid," she said. "Get over it."

And while it might have been amusing to see one of the slavemasters do his thing, she knew from her life as a slave that when that happened, those around the one who had slacked off usually caught some of the brunt. Especially when magic was used.

"Get over it," he sobbed. "I can't…I want…I…"

"Yeah yeah, want to go home, can never go home, can't understand what's happened." Jenae sighed. "I've heard it all before."

The boy kept sobbing. She was about to ask him where his parents were, but decided that was a question best not brought up. Chances were they were dead – bringing in young slaves was far more preferable to the slavemasters of Charn. A child's mind could be better moulded, as Jenae understood. Better for slaves to breed more slaves, rather than trying to break a free man or woman into the fold.

And she would know. It had worked on her. Somewhere she knew that the only reason she'd accepted her lot in life was because being a slave was her life.

"Where are you from?" she asked. "What's the name of your world?"

The boy stared at her, as if unable to comprehend the concept.

"I came from a place called the Final Empire," Jenae said. "I don't know the world's name itself, but let me tell you, it wasn't pretty. The sun was red, ash fell from the sky, and the mist…Maker himself, the mist…" She stretched her hands, basking in the warmth of Charn's sun. A giant red one that barely illuminated the sky, yet still provided more warmth than what the ash of her world allowed. "I was called a skaa. A fancy word for slave, at the end of the day."

The boy kept staring at her. And kept staring until the tears came back.

Ugh.

She decided to leave him to it. Casting a quick glance around the field, she saw that there were thankfully no slavemasters in sight. Actually, there hadn't been for awhile – as a slave she heard little, but of what little that reached her ears, it was enough to inform her that interesting things were happening in the capital. Some spat between Queen Jadis and her sister. A blood feud like any other as far as she could tell, but enough of an event to get every man and woman of Charn interested in the outcome.

And then there were people like the sad sack beside her. Inhabitants of worlds who likely didn't even understand that other worlds existed. Either by design or chance, worlds that all followed the same basic pattern – same human species, same animal species, same basic physical laws. Oh, the details could change, true, but the essentials remained the same. It was a lesson she'd picked up as a slave – mighty worlds, like Charn, would inevitably dominate others, whether it be through tributes (like herself) or outright conquest.

"They came," the boy whispered.

"Hmm?" She looked down at him.

"They were like giants," he continued. "They…I don't know…magic…" He gazed up at her. The tears were gone, and something else had taken its place. Madness.

"They killed us," he whispered. "Or took us. They killed…took…so many…"

Jenae extended an arm to pat him on the back, only to think better of it. She wasn't sure what to say – certainly nothing along the lines of "I understand how you feel" at least. She was a slave. She'd always been a slave. In a way, she enjoyed being a slave. Because at least here the sun generated some heat. At least here she didn't have to worry about ashfalls. In a way, that the people of Charn were so large was an advantage, that they couldn't even be bothered to lower themselves to their slaves. Far as she understood (again, only through listening), the people of Charn were part djinn, giving them their physical and magical strength. They were giants. Cruel. Callous.

And a damn sight better than the slavemasters she'd endured as a skaa.

"Well, trust me kid, it ain't gonna get better," Jenae said. "Right now there's some royal spat going on, but things will return to normal."

"Normal?" the child asked.

"Oh yes," she said. "Work, work, more work. We've been lucky to even have this conversation. It-"

Boom.

Jenae's head spun to the city of Charn, capital of the empire of Charn, of the world of Charn. The first thing that entered her mind (not for the first time), was that for all the powers the people of Charn wielded, originality wasn't among them. The second was that the fire that had erupted from the city was blue – a sign of magic. And powerful magic at that.

"Like I said," she murmured to her fellow slave. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

He didn't answer. It was as if he finally understood.

Sparing no further glance back at the city, Jenae returned to work. Under the sun, and all the warmth it provided. Even (and she knew it was her imagination), it seemed to be slightly dimmer.

Spats aside, for better or worse, Charn was here to stay.

A/N

I admittedly had to stretch things while writing this (the whole premise of a crossover aside) in that when I wrote it while in New Zealand, my recollection of Charn was that its sun was a main sequence one prior to Jadis's use of the Deplorable Word, and became red at some point afterwards. Checking the wiki when I got back however, the implication is that it was red during Charn's zenith. Still, the Final Empire isn't having much sunlight either (that could change by the end of it, haven't finished the book yet), so, well, go figure.