The man known as Sun was born to unknown parents and left on the doorstep of a semi-known
Heavens Guild hideout. The poor infant was left to cry his lungs out for hours as those present wondered at his origins and debated what to do with him. Until a werecat assassin named Sky returned from a mission, the scent of blood still wafting off her. She picked up the baby and he immediately calmed. She announced, “I will raise him to be the perfect assassin.” Without listening to any debate, she took the child and left.
In some ways she was true to her word, in some ways she was not.
Sun grew up quickly under her wing, learning all the skills of combat, stealth, and subterfuge that are necessary for a successful assassin. He carried out his first mission at the age of ten, proving he also had the ruthlessness of a perfect assassin.
But there were a few things about him that made homeless than perfect in the eyes of the Heavens Guild; his arrogance and disobedience.
As Sun grew into his teenage years he began to leave signatures at his kills and steal missions from senior Guild members. He listened to no one but Sky. When the leaders of the Guild told Sky to rein him in, she explained to them that he was a teenager, that teenagers were rebellious, and that he would mellow out with time.
Unsatisfied with her answer, they killed her and showed her head to the then 16 year old Sun, to cow him into obedience. For a few years their plan seemed to have worked, Sun acted as their mindlessly obedient agent of death. However, unbeknownst to the leaders of the Heavens Guild, Sun was using his skills to amass wealth and allies under their noses. He took jobs directly from clients and pocketed all the money. He stole from those he murdered and hid much of the money his mother, Sky, had accumulated over her lifetime. He went to those few he and Sky counted as friends and all other were assassins in the Guild. For five years he carefully plotted revenge and freedom for himself and his allies.
On the fifth anniversary of his mother’s death, Sun staged his coup. Together with his allies he killed all those involved in her death and defected from the Guild. He immediately set out on phase two of his plan, realizing his mother’s dream.
She spent many a night telling him about her dream, to have her own land, a space outside of the bitter cold of Sudalan and out from under the thumb of Heavens Guild. A place where she could be free to be herself.
During his five years of plotting revenge, he also picked the perfect place for his mother’s little sanctuary for wayward weres and assassins; Rav Duchy. He had deals with some of the knights of the duchy, enough that assassinating the young Duke was child’s play for Sun and his allies.
With the strength of himself, his allies, and their money backing him, he gave an ultimatum to all living within the duchy; flee of submit. Half left, half stayed.
Amongst those that stayed was a young woman Sun’s age. An apothecary’s apprentice. She stayed behind to care for the old and sick that refused to leave the home they were born and raised in. She came to the Duke’s former manor often to treat Sun’s allies who were injured in their fight against the leaders of Heavens Guild. Her beautiful face, gentle touch, and fearless, intelligent personality captivated him and he was soon smitten with her. He worked on courting her in between protecting his new country from invading armies and bolstering defenses. After nearly two years, the apothecary became his wife, known to all by the codename Moon.
Still, Sun was constantly fighting the armies of Chasorik and Moon was constantly worried about Sun, his friends, and their little sanctuary of a Kingdom. Perhaps it was this worry that made it difficult for her to conceive and that led to her having more than one miscarriage.
Finally, after nearly a decade of marriage, she gave birth to twin boys named Morningsun and Eveningsun. The labor almost killed her, and the babies were born early making the survival of all three uncertain. Sun quickly sent for the best doctors. The men he paid managed to keep his small family alive but warned him that another child might truly steal his beloved Moon’s life.
However, the couple was passionate and, despite attempts to be careful, the two conceived another child. Still feeling the pain of her previous miscarriages, Moon refused to drink a potion to induce one. Sun faced the possibility of losing his wife to something he couldn’t fight. It frustrated and terrified him.
But Sun wasn’t one to listen when he was told there was nothing he could do. If the doctors could not help his wife then he would turn to those gifted with the knowledge of magic and immortality by the faeries… the wizards.
EJ Williams Books 