Page 127 of The Iron Dagger
“This place is dangerous. I don’t even like cherries,” he said.
“We’ll be gone from here soon enough,” said Hara.
“Here, I got this back for you and I cleaned it,” said Gideon, surreptitiously showing her the dagger before he slipped it back into the holster at her hip. He did not say anything more, but his eyes flicked to hers uncertainly.
“I didn’t cause the knife to fly, Gideon,” she said softly.
“I did,” said a low voice behind them, and they turned to see Odessa. Her arms were crossed and her mouth was set. She did not look the least bit contrite for assassinating the fae ruler. “She was never going to cooperate, and the woman we came with said she had Rexina blood. Besides, it’s thanks to the dead one that we were put in that stone.”
Hara and Gideon stared at her with open mouths. Then Gideon turned to Hara.
“Is this what it feels like to have moral superiority?”
Odessa shrugged. “I have morals, but I don’t have patience. Missing twenty years from my life has erased that virtue.”
And with that, she took her place in line behind another witch to step into the tapestry.
The grasses waved in the wind like a green sea, and the sea itself was steely and gray. Hara and Gideon stood on the surface while below their feet, the fae court was unfurling, becoming reacquainted with the grottoes and coral caves of their new home. Many were old enough to remember the last time the fae had held court here, but for many more, it was a new world.
The ocean stronghold smelled of salt and damp, and the walls were crusted over with barnacles. Rexina attendants moved through the corridors with enchanted spindles, winding up the spidersilk that stretched thickly over the passages. Hara wondered if they would use it to fashion a new gown for Adira, who they were now calling the Iron Rexina. The name sent an uncomfortable chill coursing over Hara’s skin.
The sorcerers had been shown to rooms that resembled a series of interconnected grottos, with light from the enchanted water above shifting and waving across the sandy floors. The rooms were sparse but comfortable and, Hara couldn’t help but notice, sequestered from the fae’s living quarters.
“I’m sure you’ll understand,” Caelon had said. “We must be mindful of the comfort of our people.”
Hara had mused over this as she’d watched the healer witches claim beds and exclaim over the softly undulating anemones that jutted in clusters from the walls. The sorcererswere here to support the fae, but until the killer was identified, she could understand their precautions.
Adira and Caelon joined Hara and Gideon on the grassy surface, emerging from an invisible seam in the earth that served as the entrance to the fae realm.
“Will you be safe here? The tapestry is still in your Perule stronghold,” said Hara.
“Corvus and his men do not know how to use them, and if they bring the witch hunters, they will have to search twenty locations before they find us. We have other wards here that we did not have there. This is the safest of the courts,” said Adira.
“And now, we have help and plenty of warning,” said Caelon. “We will kill any who happen to find their way here.”
Hara nodded, the tension in her shoulders easing.
“If you need to contact us, use this,” said Adira, and she passed a rolled-up piece of cloth to Hara. Hara lifted the corner; it was a tapestry with a simple meadow pattern. “When you step inside of it, say our names, and a path will appear that will bring you directly to us.”
“Thank you,” said Hara, clutching the bundle close. She understood now what Caelon had meant when he said knowing their names would open new connections of magic between them.
“Where will you go now?” asked Adira.
“My mother said something to me before we left,” said Hara. “We need to warn the princess and the Steward in the south that the war may not be over yet.”
Gideon glanced at her, but said nothing.
“If the fae can help in any way, you have only to call upon us,” said Adira. With a solemn wave of their long hands, they turned and walked into the waving grasses. The green ocean seemed to swallow them up, their blueish skin and white hair melding seamlessly into the landscape.
“Your mother saw us in the south? Both of us?” asked Gideon.
“I don’t know.” Hara sighed. “She still has the ability to see into the future; perhaps a vision slipped through. But I trust that it is the right thing to do regardless.”
Gideon nodded slowly, staring out at the sea.
“The weapon my father is creating worries me,” he said. “He spoke of selling it, but now that the war is over, who would he sell it to?”
“Would he use it himself?” Hara asked.
