It hides from the sun.

  The riddle left to him by that stranger in the night had become a crutch of a kind, a puzzle he turned to when he needed to distract himself from the more pressing complications in his day to day life.

  Hides from the moon and stars, too.

  A short way off was an office and a meeting he did not want to have. He had been summoned to it. He hadn’t even had the time to take breakfast before the time of his appointment, had barely enough time to wash.

  The message was made clear with no need for extrapolation from its carrier. This was to be the beginning of the fight Master Gregor warned him about. At its end was a potential for peace. A chance at a quiet life, free from prying eyes and forced civility. A life in which he was no one to anyone who mattered. He need only see the coming argument through to its end.

  A short walk. A conversation he did not need. A verbal drubbing at the hands of a woman who had been the closest thing to a mother he could have. Then, he could have his freedom. His nerves were on him, and the peculiar puzzle was there to keep his mind away from it. Strange that it should supply some relief when its origin was so imperiled. What gave a man comfort needn’t make sense to anyone but him. It was fitting, then, that the one so plagued by terrors in the night, who had spent his life jumping at shadows, would find resilience in trying to parse out a riddle given to him by a spider.

  He’s at his weakest in darkness. That rules out darkness itself.

  He had arrived.

  He tapped the knocker. Lady Tamalsen’s missive came before he had set it down again.

  “Enter.” She snapped.

  Here we go.

  He pushed the door open, found her seated behind her desk and waiting for him, with all of her various papers set aside. It seemed she intended to give him her full attention.

  She gestured sharply to the chair before her. “Sit.”

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  He obeyed.

  “I want to know why a sitting general on the Council of Liam is recommending you to the Furnaces.” She said. “And please don’t tell me you intend to choose them.”

  “I apologize for any insult I may have caused Lord Aren.” He said. “I will accept whatever punishment you see fit to give me for my indiscretion.”

  “Oh, I have no intention of punishing you.” She sat back in her chair, folded her hands together in her lap. The look she set on him was hawkish.

  “As it happens, all four department heads you staged for have submitted requests to add you to their teams. Lady Therien gave you a glowing recommendation for the Office of the Couriers.”

  “Then…pardon me for saying so, but I’m confused.”

  “That makes two of us. Have you settled on a choice?”

  He hesitated. How to proceed? If I tell her the truth, she’ll be furious. If I lie, she might see through it and be even angrier.

  “I haven’t made a decision, but I know I don’t want to work in the Treasury. I don’t think the kitchens would be a good fit either.”

  “You’re considering the couriers?” she lifted a thin eyebrow. Her hope was palpable. He could almost feel it as a physical force, a low, insistent wind buffeting him.

  “I don’t know. It has its merits, but…” he fidgeted with his hands in his lap.

  The moment’s reassurance evaporated, was replaced by a stony regard.

  He eased back in his seat, an inane bid to put more space between them.

  “Let me place you on a follow up with them.” She reached for a pen, took a fresh sheet of paper from a drawer. “Something a bit more stimulating.

  If it’s down to the couriers or those greasy pigs in the furnaces, well, it should be an easy choice. Lady Therien will be glad for the extra hands.”

  “When should I present myself to her?”

  “Time and date will have to wait until I hear back from Lady Jain. She grinned. “You’ll be on one of the crews handling the Emperor’s reception.”

  His breath caught. Sky Lord’s mercy, how do I reject her after that.

  “Lady Jain’s office is taking helm on everything related to his visit. We haven’t seen an event of this significance since we received Lord Rakhna down from Ash Island four years past.

  “She will assign you to one of the crews on the welcome ceremony, and I will send someone with the details. Does that sound good?”

  Her grin was wide and inviting, but there was a competitive edge in the gaze she set against him. She was confident she would have her way, which would only make matters worse when he tore her narrative to shreds.

  He did not want to hurt her, but for all that he thought he would enjoy this task, and for all that the idea of being in such close proximity to an immortal out of legend—the Shadow Queen, too—it would not sway him. At the end of this tunnel lay a promise not of magical learning, but protection from its ill effects, and he wanted it. Yearned for it.

  He needed it.

  Thank you for reading this chapter of Spirit of Shadow. Feel free to leave a your thoughts in the comments.