Night settled over the Imperial Capital with the particular completeness that belongs to cities that have fully committed to sleeping.
The academy's lights had gone out in their sequence — the common rooms first, then the training halls, then the dormitory windows one by one until only the night watch lanterns remained, casting the kind of light that illuminates without revealing. Most of Skygate Academy slept with the uncomplicated depth of people who had used their days well.
A single shadow moved over the western wall without disturbing the night watch's routine.
