Page 117 of The Iron Dagger
Something was peculiar about this, and with a sinking heart, Gideon wondered if this was another plot of his father’s to drum up hostile feelings between the two countries. But it seemed his father had not counted on the princess and the Steward somehow growing feelings for each other. And if the princess was in love with the Steward of Norwen, then the poor bard in the village—
Gideon groaned. How stupid he had been not to have seen it.
The Steward was an eccentric, according to his father. Of course he would choose to disguise himself as a dirt-poor bard for his tour instead of taking a troupe of servants and wagons filled with comforts. Gideon still did not know why or how the Lenwen princess had come to live with him, but that was neither here nor there.
The war was ended, the city was in shambles, and his father would be dangerous. If he was willing to attack the Lenwen king to cause discord, Gideon did not know what else he was willing to do. And if his father found out that Hara was the cause of the stone’s failure . . .
Above the constant cracks and hisses from the glacier, there came a rumbling from deep within the ice. Gideon and Seith paused, looking towards the river of ice. There was silence, and then anotherboomsounded and shook the very air. Seraphine’s fur was standing on end, and she let out a low yowl. Gideon bent down to stroke her.
“Shh, it’s all right,” he said mindlessly, all the while straining to see in the dusky light if there was any movement. Then the booming grew deafening, and Gideon saw a flare oforange within the ice at the edge of the glacier. As he watched, the ice began to glow red, as though magma was threatening to erupt from it.
The glow faded briefly, and when it reappeared, it burned so brightly that Gideon took a step back, not knowing what force was behind it. He and Seith crouched low behind a nearby boulder. Though they were several hundred paces from the glacier, there was clearly something otherworldly that was forcing its way through.
The wall exploded outward in a shower of ice shards and boiling water. Fire and white hot sparks poured from the opening as though it was the maw of hell. The glacier groaned as the ice shifted, threatening to collapse over the fiery cavern. Gideon and Seith slowly peered over the boulder as the flames died.
Through the smoke and the dripping edges of the melted wall, figures began to emerge. They seemed to be dressed in robes and rags, some standing tall while others clung to each other. There was a woman who stood to the side of the opening, her hands raised as though she were propping up the fragile arch above them.
Gideon stood and stepped around the boulder. There were so many. His body felt weightless as the realization dawned on him.
She had done it. Somehow, she had freed them all.
As the last figures emerged from the opening, the woman with raised hands let them fall, and as she did, the entire tunnel caved in with an earth-shuddering crash. The blocks of ice quickly settled, and soon there was no evidence of their passage ever existing.
And then Gideon saw Hara at the very back of the group. She supported her mother as they walked, and without thinking, he ran. He ran down the slope, scattering rocks and skiddingdown haphazardly. He leapt over chunks of ice and sprinted when the ground leveled out, splashing through the icy glacier runoff.
She saw him, and her eyes seemed to glow. A few of the surrounding sorcerers shied from him, but he did not care. All he could see was her face, and all he wanted was to feel her in his arms.
At last she was there, and he lifted her up, kissing her with an abandon he had never allowed himself before. Her lips were cold, but they quickly warmed under his mouth and she kissed him back, twining her arms around his neck and tilting her head to lock them together. She was safe, and he would never let her go.
Angharad
Hara warned the sorcerers that there were witch hunters stationed throughout the mountains, but there were several who took the chance and left without a backward glance. Many more stayed behind as they became accustomed to a world that was not created by their own minds.
Gideon showed them to the camp he had been living in for the past few weeks, and they quickly settled in. With the help of Roger and other fire mages, they were able to get several more fuel-less fires started. There were some healers within the group and someone was able to multiply the blankets and food that Gideon had stored, and soon everyone was resting in relative comfort.
But Hara knew they could not stay there. They would need to move by the next day at the latest. Gideon told her about the state of the city, and it was as she feared. Already, the effects of her actions were being felt, and soon someone would be sent up to investigate what had happened to the stone.
Seith was there waiting, and Hara burned with cold fury. Her mother froze by her side, clamping her hands around Hara’s arm when she caught sight of him.
Seith’s eyes widened when he saw Desideria, and he made as though to push his way towards them through the crowd. Hara shot him a scathing look and jerked her chin to the side, daring him to come one step closer. She would not let him near her mother again, even if she weren’t injured and disoriented.
Thankfully, he realized that Hara was not above making a scene, and his steps halted. His shoulders drooped, making him look like a lost child, until he turned away with a mournful glance over his shoulder. Wise.
“I can’t believe he would lay his hands on you,” her mother muttered, glaring at him. “He promised me he would never do that.”
“He didn’t. That was only your fear, Mother. The real Seith is far too cowardly to confront me directly,” said Hara.
“The real Seith?” asked her mother, turning confused eyes to Hara.
Hara felt it would only confuse her mother if she tried to explain that the mock-Seith in her realm was not the same as the one who stood among the crowd of sorcerers. It would take time for Desideria to separate the blurred concepts of reality and dreams. At least the mock-Seith’s attack had instilled a hatred in her that the real Seith deserved all along.
Hara watched him with loathing as he clasped hands with his fellow sorcerers, who welcomed the sight of their prince in their ignorance. She knew his secret, and he would never lay hands on her mother again.
She did not trust Seith, but she knew that there were others in the group who could easily demolish him if he didanything untoward. Before she and Gideon made their way down the mountain, she pulled Roger aside.
“Watch him,” she told Roger in an undertone. His laughing face turned sober at once as he followed her gaze toward Seith. “He is a traitor and a coward, and if he tries anything, feel free to scorch him.”
Roger set his hard jaw and nodded once, rubbing his knuckles. “Never liked him. His brother was decent; would have been a good king. But something didn’t seem right about that one.”
