The sun was draining and so Tessani took his time coaxing shadows cast from its light onto his skin, creating patterns off ready-to-cast magic, almost literally at his fingertips. He stopped when he felt that little tingle in his flesh that told him he was at his limit, that he could bind nothing more to himself without risking ... something. He was never certain what would happen if he pushed past his boundaries, and with no other shadowbinders in the Guild, no one was able to tell him either. He simply never decided to take the chance. He knew his limits would expand once he had a tyro, so there was no need to take the risk now. A little patience and his power would grow without forcing or chancing anything.
Only when he was ready did he don his cloak and leave the inn to travel out to the town gates.
The squire's eyes stung as sweat poured into them, but he didn't so much as raise a hand to wipe his brow. He could feel his knight's eyes on on him and the number one thing he refused to do was look weak. So he blinked the sweat away as rapidly as he could, took his stance and lunged again.
Once again his thrust was easily parried, but this time, the knight slapped the blade further to the right, slid into close range and smacked the flat of the blade against his stomach. "Hit. Were I an enemy, squire, you would be dead."
"Have you done this before?" Tessani asked, almost hesitantly.
Naj snorted. "Surely you don't think a tyro's life only begins the moment he's bound to a mage. I lived nineteen seasons before I met you. I am not new to this."
you
seduce me with the written word
with the intensity of your gaze
with the green of your eyes
and the depth of your mind
and i
i'll seduce you too
with the brush of my fingers
the shake of my hips
the kiss of my skin
and the music in my soul
are we ready for each other?
"Not fully," the voice reminded him. "And yet that matters not to you. Why?"
Naj's nostrils flared. "Are you so blind to anything beyond what lurks with you in those shadows that you cannot recognize love?"
There was a moment of silence and then a deep chuckle, one that startled Naj more than anything. "No. But you, tyro, are so stubborn and proud that you would not admit such a thing until now."
Tessani crumpled, his eyes shut, his body limp, and his grip on Naj's hand suddenly slack.
Naj finally moved, crouching over Tessani, ear pressed to his chest. He listened for a heartbeat, and slowly settled back onto his kneeling position when he heard the reassuring thump in Tessani's chest. He was still alive, but barely. His skin was cool to the touch, his heart beating half as slow as it had before the shadows claimed him.
But then Naj noticed something that nearly made his own heart stop: Tessani wasn't breathing.
The shadows had taken control. Tessani could no longer keep them at back and with that last hold broken, they swarmed, covering his hands and feet, crawling up over his neck and head, pouring across his face until finally, they seeped into the very whites of his eyes. Tessani screamed, back arching up off the floor as his hand clenched tight, crushing Naj's fingers in his own. Naj bit back the cry of pain that threatened to come, watching as the last bit of deep warm brown in Tessani's eyes was eaten by swirling darkness.
Tessani screamed again, the sound suddenly changing to an echoing howl, a sound that couldn't come from a human throat.
Tessani pressed his hands against his ears, knowing full well it wouldn’t drown out the insidious whispers. The voices, the shadows, they were in his head, in his skin, everywhere; he couldn’t escape them. Tessani let out a choked sound and swallowed it down immediately. Steeling himself, he gathered his will and fixed the roving shadows in place on his skin, the voices he couldn’t muffle entirely, and every day, they grew just a little louder, but for now he could still ignore them. He still had control of his will, his mind, and his body, and for now, he still had work to do.
A cruel laugh cut through the hushed whispers. Poor little shadow mage who bit off more than he could chew and now he’s lost. What will you do, Shadowbinder, when everyone turns their backs on you and all you have left is your shadows? A shadowmage who can no longer control shadows is useless at best. One who hears voices, though, my my whatever would they think of you if they knew?
Tessani sat, his back hunched, his head in his hands, and the shadows on his arms writhing. They moved freely now, only staying still when he willed them to do so.
If you listened to us, you could have your answers. Everything you want, if you accept what we offer.
Tessani pressed his hands against his ears, knowing full well it wouldn’t drown out the insidious whispers. The voices, the shadows, they were in his head, in his skin, everywhere; he couldn’t escape them.
Tessani opened his mouth to say more, but Zara didn't so much as pause before she swept out of the tavern. "I still don't trust her," he commented darkly.
"Me either," Jindra agreed, "and I assume that's why you didn't tell her about the secret passageway. That aside, I don't know that she will be there when I go to meet her tomorrow."
"And what will you do if she isn't?" Tessani asked the question, curious about Jindra's answer.
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.
A slow smile spread across Naj’s face. Soon, he’d be out of this place soon, out of the academy with its thieves, its sneaks and liars, of which he was admittedly one. But he’d also be away from the backstabbers and traitors, the ones who smiled with one side of their faces and told damning lies and rumors with the other. Soon, he’d have a mage to draw from and balance power with and he’d have the strength and means for his revenge.
Soon, everything was going to change.
"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 tavern was loud, but not so noisy as the market place had been. This was the sort of din created by men and women who'd eaten hearty dinners and then forgone dessert for ale and wine instead. A bard towards the back played on a makeshift stage and some out the rowdier patrons sang along in coarse voices. A barmaid moved from table to table, taking orders and tips, her prettiness working very well in her favor, money-wise. Twice before Tessani could head for the bar, he saw someone pull her over to slip a coin into the pockets of her apron, to which she always responded with a quick grin and quicker sidestep to continue her job.
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.
Tessani awoke to the sounds and the warmth of a crackling fire. He slowly came to, disoriented and no longer thirsty. Cautiously, he surveyed the room as best he could without moving more than his eyes, anxious to determine where he was and whether he had company without alerting them to the fact that he was awake. He could see small shadows dancing about, thrown about by the light of the fire. He lay on a pallet placed on a blanket, but beneath him he could feel the packed sand that told him this shelter was still in the desert.
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.
