These days, shadow guards not only have to be good at carrying out assassinations, but they also face the risk of being sent away if they elicit the ire of their master. What Shadow fears most isn't punishment, but being abandoned by his lord. Heart-broken and exhausted, even a stone can fracture under enormous pressure, let alone a human. When Shadow finally learned to let go, the man who once treated him with disdain refuses to give him up.