Page 62 of The Iron Dagger
Gideon ran his hands through his hair. Who else would have knowledge about a magical prison? He shut the book in frustration.
“Bad plot?” said an amused voice. Gideon looked up to see his father entering the stuffy office.
He would know.
Gideon needed to be careful about this. In no way could he reveal that his questions had anything to do with Hara. If her mother was some poor hedgewitch, he could ask outright. But seeking the whereabouts of a powerful Seer who belonged to the Ilmarinen circle would put a target on Hara’s back.
“Just refreshing my memory,” said Gideon. “I was giving some Mycan dignitaries a tour of the palace and I had some gaps in my knowledge.”
“Gaps around what?”
“How you and Corvus formed the new Montag,” said Gideon.
“I’m not surprised you don’t remember. You were only a child after all,” said his father, taking a seat in one of the comfortable chairs by the unlit hearth. “What would you like to know?”
It would be suspicious if he asked about magical prisons outright—that wouldn’t come up in a harmless history lesson with newcomers. He needed to bury the lede.
“How were you able to overpower the family members and their court? Weren’t they powerful elementalists?”
His father placed an elbow onto his arm rest and tapped his lip, recollecting events from decades past. “We had our ballistic armaments, of course. Trebuchets with exploding projectiles. We drove them out of the palace like rats fleeing a ship, following a path laid by our inside man. When they emerged at the top of the mountain, they were met with a sprayof ammunition from one of our ballistic machines. They didn’t have time to react.”
“It was that simple,” said Gideon, his flesh turned clammy despite the stuffiness of the office. “But didn’t they have a Seer? Couldn’t they have Seen the attack coming?”
“No,” said his father with a wry grin. “Our inside man was a sorcerer. He had a way of erasing memories.”
“So he erased the memories of all the family and their court?”
“No, that would be too complicated. He simply erased the memory of the Seer. Each time she got a vision of the future, he’d work his power over her. He said it made her quite unhinged after a while.”
It could only be Hara’s mother. According to Hara, she was the most powerful Seer among the Ilmarinen circle, the only one able to receive visions of the future.
“And where is this inside man now?” asked Gideon.
“He had some grand ideas about having a place in the court as the new king, but that was never Corvus’ plan. We offered him a place as a Recruiter, but after a time, he abandoned his position. We have a warrant that has been out for nearly twenty years for his capture. Dead, preferably.”
“Why? He helped you.”
“He was the last living member of the Ilmarinen family.”
“He was . . . he betrayed his own family?” said Gideon, struggling to take in all this new information. He had no idea that the Ilmarinen were betrayed by their own kin and that it was the key to his father’s success.
“Third in line after his brother and nephew. Thought he’d found a way to bypass them,” said his father, smirking at Gideon’s shocked expression. “We weren’t interested in making such a colossal traitor into a king.”
“But then the others at court,” said Gideon, hoping his eagerness was perceived as interest in the topic at hand instead of excitement that he might have found the answer Hara was seeking. “What happened to them?”
“They were taken to a secret hold on Mount Herebore,” said his father, straightening his crisp sleeve. Gideon felt like he could jump up and shout. It was not much to go on, but at least now he knew such a place existed. “Corvus knows the exact location. I have never been there myself,”
“Why is that?” asked Gideon.
“The place is sacred to the fae, and we, ah—are not on friendly terms. Let us say there is a good chance I would not return if I ever made the journey up the mountain.” the Commander said.
Gideon was careful not to reveal his exasperation. His father’s disdain for all magic-kind extended to the fae, too, apparently. There was sure to be a long and storied history of unsavory run-ins with magic-kind that Gideon had never thought to ask about before.
“What is the prison like?” asked Gideon.
“It is a dismal place, I’ve been told, and treacherous to reach. That’s why I appointed Turnswallow; he handles the unsavory work for me.” said his father with a chuckle.
Turnswallow was a dead end. He was away on an assignment to the far north, and his memories were protected. But Corvus knew where it was. A plan was already forming in Gideon’s mind to introduce Hara to Corvus when he realized his father was speaking again.
