The Mask of Mercy, Shien's choice

The cleric guiding the way walked ahead, carrying a lantern that gave off a faint white glow.

Shien followed in a deep black coat without any heraldry, wearing only the badge of a Long Night Lord at his collar.

As the cleric pushed open the door at the end, the space before them suddenly opened up.

This was the Tear Knight Sacred Flame Tribunal Hall.

The hall's vaulted ceiling vanished into darkness, and a hundred or so ever-burning silver lamps were set into the black stone walls on either side.

Every lamp still burning represented a fief on the Tear Knight Defense Line that had yet to go dark.

An enormous Holy Emblem of the Tear Knight Defense Line hung on the wall: the silhouette of a weeping mother.

The only sounds in the hall were the faint sway of iron chains and the occasional crackle of candle flames.

A row of people stood solemnly on each side of the passage leading to the black stone steps.

On the left were elite Holy Knights clad in heavy holy silver armor; on the right, clerics holding staffs.

Both ranks stood motionless, but every gaze rested on the newcomer.

The herald stood below the steps and announced in an indifferent voice, "Sheen Greenwood, Lord of Blackpine in the Graymist Defense Zone, seeks an audience with His Excellency Governor Yasol."

Shien approached the Sacred Flame Lantern with steady steps. Seven paces from the black stone stairs, he stopped and performed the formal oathkeeper's salute.

Yasol sat upright in a high-backed black iron chair beside the Sacred Flame Lantern's stand.

He had changed out of his old leather clothes and now wore the purple-and-gold Sacred Flame robes befitting his station, with a short mantle adorned with silver teardrops over them.

Most striking of all