writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia

At the end of the hallway, there was a door, ordinary and plain from this side. Tessani paused in front of it and listened. He heard voices on the other end, a small collection of them, but it was muffled enough that he couldn't make out a word anyone was saying.

Carefully, he eased the door a crack open and peered at the room beyond.

The first thing he saw was a crest hanging on above the opposite wall. It was the crest of the Sages Guild, the nonmagical guild of intelligence gatherers, historians, academics, and more.

Lord Kadel's bedchambers lead directly to their hall.

"We shouldn't have agreed to this," Jindra muttered as she darted behind the shadow of the outer wall of the manor house, landing beside Tessani before the guard walking the front perimeter saw her pass. "We could be arrested for this. Or worse."

Tessani managed not to roll his eyes at her. "You agreed; we both did. There no sense in complaining about it now, so either we get the job done or we return to Zara and tell her we couldn't even work together enough to get inside. Which would you rather?"

The full light of a gibbous moon hit him and he stared upward, first at the shining near-full disc and then back at the shelter. He turned his gaze back heavenward and briefly sank to one knee. "Lady of Night, if it was by your hand that I was saved, I thank you and promise you that your sparing me shall not be in vain. I will seek out my friend's murderer. I will rid your guild of a true traitor and I will do this in your name."

He remained there for several heartbeats, as if hoping the moon might give him some answer, but none came.

Just like that, it was over: Tessani's sham of a trial, his sentencing, and now, his expulsion. Tessani kept his head high, refusing to look beaten or guilty.

Only once before had Tessani seen someone expelled from the guild for a crime as severe as the one he himself had been convicted of. That man too had been released at dawn, but he'd been unshackled and conscious. Tessani had no reason to believe he'd be treated any different.

That was the last thought he had before the guard on his right slammed the hilt of his sword into Tessani's skull and everything went dark.

A trickle of sweat made its way down the back of Tessani's neck as he turned slowly, his eyes focused on the shadows in the room. Ilossa hid in one of them and she was biding her time, waiting for his guard to go down so she could spring. Tessani closed his eyes and reached out with his senses, coaxing curls of shadows from those cast about to him. He tested their shape and size, weighed them to feel extra density. He paused at one corner, feeling an unnatural depth there, one that might account for a person concealed in shadow. Tessani opened his eyes in time to see a dark shape flit from the corner he'd focused on to another and he grinned.

"Found you," he called, and he twisted both hands, yanking hard on the shadow in that corner as if tugging a blanket off a sleeper to reluctant to wake. It came easily, sliding toward him and revealing...absolutely nothing.

Kalim walked slowly down the steps that lead to the council's platform, around the landing and stopped just in front of Tessani. "Then exile it shall be. You will go you will go at dawn, you will go alone, and you will go as you are, with only the clothes on your back. May the Lady have mercy on you for we will not. Know this: if you return here, if you ever show you face after what you've done, you will be slain on the spot."

Just like that, it was over.

Slowly, with a hint of reluctance in his tone, Kalim continued, "As is our custom, the accused - nay, the guilty - may choose his punishment; a quick and merciful death, or to be expelled from this guild, stripped of his contacts, any possessions given to him a member of this guild, his title and all that comes with it. He may choose to leave with nothing but the clothes on his back and the skills he learned. Should our Lady of Shadows take pity on him, he may survive, though it is most unlikely." Kalim nodded to the guards on either side of Tessani, who hauled him to his feet. "So, how will you choose, Shadowbinder?" Kalim asked, his arms folded into his robe.

The remains of sunset still left sullen bands of orange low in the sky that faded to bleed into the bruise hues of night. The Tenebrous Guild was coming awake now; shadow casters, blood mages, dark summoners, and the least frightening of their numbers, the ice mages, were the people of the night. Tessani wasn't the only shadow caster in the guild, not by far, but he was one of the best, and he was the only shadow binder. He was the only one who could not only call shadows to him, shape and mold them into dark mimicries of light counterparts, but could also bind them to him. He imprinted shadows on his body like tattoos and where he placed them, they stayed until he called them forth to use. It was a rare and coveted talent.

Tessani never thought he'd see such a vicious attack, not from Naj. In fact, maybe he was just seeing things now. It was dark and steadily growing darker. Tessani exhaled, falling back against the wall and slumping downward. His hand was pressed to his side and when he moved it it came away wet and dark, covered in blood. Only then did he understand and by then it was too late. The blooming darkness wasn't made of his blessed shadows; they weren't what was pulling him in.

The last thing he saw before he slipped into unconsciousness was Naj, at the assassin's neck, sharp teeth buried, cutting off the choked sound that was the assassin's last.

"We, my dear," Naj began, his voice just shy of a purr, "need to talk."

Tessani kept his voice low and his tone cool. "And what must we talk about that you come sneaking in while the others rest, while I myself had been sleeping?"

Naj leaned forward, raising up so his face was close, too close, to Tessani's. "Don't pretend, my Shadowbinder. You know full well."