Page 57 of The Iron Dagger
Hara slipped her hands under his robe and felt along the hard muscles of his back. His skin was almost feverishly hot, and she broke from his lips to place open-mouthed kisses along the column of his neck.
He ground out a deep moan, and the sound made Hara recall her senses. The tapestry paths were not soundproof, and if they made too much noise, someone in one of the bedchambers was sure to notice. It would be very odd indeed if panting and moaning were coming from one of the tapestries.
With a last brush of her mouth against his, Hara broke away. They were both breathless, and Gideon’s lips were shiny from the kiss. He pressed his forehead against hers as he caught his breath.
“There. I am absolved,” he said.
Hara smiled, and his answering grin matched hers. A curious fluttering sensation entered her chest—he was uncommonly beautiful when he smiled.
“You’re very good at that when your lip isn’t bleeding.” she said.
“Don’t get used to it. People do like to punch me in the face lately; it’s bound to happen again.”
“You’ve been abducting and brawling and robbing people in the short time that I’ve known you, let alone the time before. Perhaps that’s why,” she said, chastisement making its way into her tone.
Instead of looking abashed, Gideon groaned.
“The scolding. I’m throbbing.”
He was impossible. Hara stepped away from his embrace to continue along the path, and as she did, he reached out and caught her hand. Heat rose to fill her cheeks. It shouldn’t have affected her so, but such an innocent gesture from him felt rare and achingly tender.
They walked to her room, and Gideon held her hand as she lowered herself on the chair that still stood beneath the path.
“Are you sure you can find your way back?” she asked him.
He smiled warmly. “I’m sure. No turns until I come upon the bent sapling.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow evening,” she said.
“Goodnight, Angharad,” he said softly, and her skin prickled in pleasure as he used her full name. “I promise I won’t use the tapestry to watch you undress for bed.”
She whipped around just in time to see his devilish grin disappear between the trees.
Sooner than she would have expected, Hara fell into a routine at the court.
Her days were spent in the records room poring over anything that might point her in the direction of the whereabouts of her mother and avoiding the neverending presence of Geremy Flints.
The record-keeper hovered, always noting which texts she was looking at and striking up conversation. At first she tried to be polite and indulge the old man, but she found that even if she remained silent he would carry on the conversation by himself. She wondered if he was simply lonely, and felt a bit guilty for her unkind thoughts.
Sometimes he would point out that she was in an entirely wrong area that had nothing to do with elemental magic, though she’d not asked for his help. After a few days of his company, Hara decided that she would have to come during the few hours he was away from the room if she wanted uninterrupted time with the records.
The black bead would come alive at predictable times throughout the day with the Recruiters at their outposts giving a report each morning. Hara still did not know exactly where they were located, as they used names like “Region Ninety-Six” that only Turnswallow seemed to understand. Hara was relieved that most days, there was little activity to report.
Most days.
One evening the bead crackled in her ear, “Region Forty. Suspicious activity in the Harth mountain tribe. There is talk of tribe members augmenting their senses to better hunt game by way of a potion.”
Turnswallow had departed to deal with the potion-maker. Thankfully Hara was not summoned to go with him, but she couldn’t escape the worry that at any moment she would be forced to help capture a witch. Hara laid awake that night, imagining Turnswallow making the journey into the deep north, and wondering if the witch making the potions knew that they were being hunted.
Hara was surprised to find that most of the Recruiters’ work seemed to consist of the odd jobs a curse breaker, an animal linguist, and a Seer might be needed for.
She spent many long days in the Hall of Justice, helping determine innocence or guilt for thieves and arsonists. Despite the initial grumblings and suspicious glares from the lawmen, she quickly became sought after when they realized that her Sight saved them a great deal of time and trouble. Though they were not exactly friendly, they called upon her often to give accurate accounts of crimes and to sift through truth and lies.
What they did not know was that Hara acted as judge before the accused was even put to trial.
If she saw that they had stolen bread and milk, medicine, or any other necessities for themselves or their children, she would tell the lawmen that the accused was innocent. In a smallway, she felt that she was saving her mother with each person she lied for. She only told the truth about the most dangerous and depraved offenders.
Hara needed to get closer to Turnswallow, and each day that he was absent from court her impatience grew. The stronger their association became, the clearer the details of his past would become available to her.
