Page 91 of The Iron Dagger
Gideon nodded fervently. “There is a glacier on the eastern face of Mount Herebore. It all fits.”
“If we climb the mountain, we will find a deep pit in the glacier. There is something inside the cave—I couldn’t get a good look at it, but it seemed to shimmer. I think it . . . it might be a deposit of sorbite.”
Gideon’s brow furrowed. “But I don’t understand. Is the prison built within the cave?”
Hara shook her head. “I think the prison is the sorbite itself. The piece I saw was massive.”
“Shit,” said Gideon, collapsing onto the window seat. “There could be an untold amount of people in there. I do not imagine the spirit realm is limited in size.”
“Now that we know where it is, we still have a problem,” said Hara. “We aren’t certain if my mother is there. I haven’t found a record of her anywhere. For all we know, she was killed.”
“There is one place we haven’t looked,” said Gideon, but he looked uneasy. “My father’s study. The place I brought you when we first arrived. He was the one who formed the Recruiter group all those years ago, so it stands to reason he kept some record of those early days.”
“Could you go in there and look?”
“My father has wards set up around his office. He had them placed by a Recruiter; I forget the fellow’s name. If I ask him for the records, I’m afraid it would arouse too much suspicion.”
“I can get past them,” said Hara, suddenly remembering. “I gave my fingerprints and my breath when I joined, so I can bypass any wards in the palace.”
Gideon stared at her in awe, then a look of determination crossed his face as he stood from the window seat and began to pace. “I could keep him occupied for an hour or so while you look.”
“The guards?”
“Leave it to me,” he said, and they began to devise a plan.
Hara adjusted the strap of the reticule at her waist. She wore her full Recruiter garb today, complete with her blood-red cloak and crest. The aim was to look as official as possible.
Hara pulled back her shoulders and set her hand on one of her bone knives. The gilded hallway mirror across from her reflected an imposing figure. She took a deep breath and rounded the corner into the hall.
The two guards stood by the doors, and Hara kept her jaw held high and her mouth set.
“I have a report to deliver to the Commander,” she said to the guards. They glanced at each other, and Hara held her breath. Gideon was supposed to tell Cauldwell that she had information about a rogue witch that was for the Commander’s ears only. Cauldwell would then let the guards know to expect her.
One of the guards said, “The Commander is not here. We are not expecting any meetings until four.”
“Could I not wait in the receiving room? The courts dismissed early today, and it is only an hour’s difference.”
The guards muttered to each other, then one turned back to her. “Weren’t you with Lord Gideon a few weeks ago?”
“Yes. I met the Commander that night.”
This seemed to solidify their decision, because they finally opened the doors. She wasn’t sure if they trusted Gideon or if they were afraid of testing his wrath, but she was relieved all the same. She trained her face to remain stoic as she walked into the receiving chamber of the Commander’s rooms.
As soon as the doors were shut, she sprinted across the room and down the halls, deeper into the suite of rooms to find his office. She whispered the directions Gideon had given her, hoping in her haste and fear that she would not forget where it was.
Then she found it, the plain wooden door as unremarkable as a closet. She tested the door, and the handle made a soft click as it opened.
What if the guards were lying and he was inside? A cold terror descended on her as she imagined opening the door and finding him sitting at his desk.
But Gideon’s preparations had been thorough so far, and she had precious little time. She opened the door and slipped inside, bracing herself to feel the bead buzzing behind her ear as she tripped the wards.
The office was mercifully empty, and the bead remained inert. Hara exhaled and tried to decide where to look first.
Tall shelves surrounded the desk, and Hara quickly scanned her eyes over the spines. Ledgers, maps, output yields from various factories and mines. Nothing that looked promising. Then she spied a trunk to the side of the desk fastened with a heavy lock.
After some consideration, she grasped the lock and felt the pins and needles tingle through her fingertips as the metal began to transform. When she was finished, she tugged at the lock, pulling with all her might. The heavy steel had transformed into aluminum, and the soft metal warped and snapped open after only a moment’s efforts.
She lifted the lid. The trunk contained some folders of loose paper that looked like reports of some kind, and a number of small, tattered books. After opening the cover of one, Hara realized that they were journals. Were they written by the Commander himself?
