By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars
Novelette 8,468 words Recommended by 4 award/anthology sources
Read at Strange Horizons ↗ ♪ Listen
"When her bell sounded at midnight, Firion the wizard grasped her stoutest staff (crowned, for non-magical reasons, with a razor-sharp chunk of amethyst) and put her lips to the doorjamb. “Who goes there?” Nothing but the slap of rain against stone, like thrown gravel. But was that a voice she could discern between the droplets?"
Quasar links out; the story lives on Strange Horizons, where the author gets the click.