Page 115 of Swords of Soul and Shadow (Gate Chronicles #3)
Jove growled—sniffled—then turned away, hand over his eyes. A gesture of exasperation, perhaps…or a sign he’d been overcome with emotion.
Had she been any kind of betting woman, she would have bet on the latter. Especially when Clara turned aside as well, rubbing her hand soothingly over his back and murmuring in his ear.
Les laid a hand on Kase’s brow. It felt normal. No fever. “Baby, why didn’t you say something sooner?”
“Hadn’t slept that well in a while,” he mumbled, fatigue slurring his words. His muscles quivered with each movement as he dragged himself up a bit on the pillow, groaning as he opened his eyes again. They were glazed, a little confused. He might not even remember what happened to him.
Never one for subtlety, Harlan held up a notebook not unlike the one Kase had been using to write letters. “Do you know what this book is?”
“Father, give him a moment,” Jove snapped.
“If we’re to find whoever did this, we need answers—now.” Harlan’s icy stare didn’t crack. “Do you recognize it?”
Kase squinted up at his father. “I’m not sure what you…” He stared at it for a moment more before his eyes widened. “Is that Hallie’s? Where is she?”
Les detected a hint of desperation in his tone.
The Walkers pressed forward, but Harlan ignored them, flipping to a single page near the front and holding it up. “Do you recognize this?”
On the page was a rough sketch of a sword.
Les squeezed Kase’s wrist. Jove leaned forward, scowl traded for intrigue. “Isn’t that…”
“I don’t care what it is,” Kase choked. “I need to know where Hallie is. Now. Why isn’t she here?”
Blunt. To the point. It broke Les’ heart for the hundredth time.
“She left the ward,” Stowe said, answering the question. “We were hoping you had an answer for us.”
Kase tried to get up, but dropped back on his elbow, panting against the pain. Clara and Les both helped him sit up, but even that much effort poured sweat down his brow, his lungs heaving with every gasp. Maybe Saldr could give him more dust.
“Eravin Gray and General Marcos Correa are in the Catacombs. They’re hunting her. I need to find her.”
The muscle in Harlan’s jaw feathered. “Lady Felyra Besette and Miss Walker were seeking the Gate in another portion of the Catacombs. They discovered and inspected it, and when Lady Besette went to fetch Lord Saldr, they returned to find her missing. Lady Besette believes Miss Walker went through the Gate, leaving behind this notebook. Now, how did she know about this sword?”
Les closed her eyes before opening them once more, this time finding her husband’s hazel gaze. It used to be warm, if hesitant; in the years since Ezekiel’s betrayal, it had frozen to ice.
“I don’t know anything about the blasted sword!” Kase shouted; he doubled over, coughing. Fear stabbed Les’s heart. She made him lie back, and the desperate way he looked up at her didn’t break her heart. It ripped it out completely.
“We need to find her!” he shouted.
Her husband simply looked to Jove. “What about you?”
Les refused to let him keep pushing. She spoke the words so softly, she wasn’t sure if anyone else would hear: “It’s the Shackley sword.”
The very one he had strapped to his hip.
Every eye in the tent glanced toward it.
Harlan pulled it from its sheath for all to see.
The runic pattern on the flat sides of the long blade winked in the lantern light as people moved out of the way.
Les knew more runes lay beneath the worn brown leather wrapping the grip.
Those were copied almost exactly on Hallie Walker’s sketch.
The very end was jagged, as if it had been broken.
The blue sapphire in the pommel twinkled in the light.
It was the same sword Harlan had taken from the Cerl commander all those years ago in Ravenhelm, the one that Carleton had added to the family crest to make Harlan feel more a part of the Shackley legacy.
Harlan sheathed the sword again with quick efficiency.
Kase still did his best to push himself out of the cot, pushing himself even as agony doubled him up. He wasn’t fully healed, and Les held him steady. Kase spat through gritted teeth, “I’m not sure why Hallie would have drawn it. She had no reason to.”
He swayed a little, and Jove caught him on his other side. She slid her arm around Kase’s waist, careful of the bandages.
That was when Saldr peeked in, another parchment in his hand. He held it up. “It’s Xera’s sword. I had one of our scholars confirm it.”
On the parchment, the Shackley sword lay drawn in fading ink.
“I’m unsure what this means,” Les said, trying to comprehend what her husband was getting at.
What did it matter if Hallie had drawn the sword into her own book?
Perhaps she’d seen it in the family crest or from that parchment and thought it would be good to add to her own sketchbook.
Kase had mentioned ages ago that she enjoyed art.
She didn’t understand what the point was here.
And what did they mean, she’d gone through some gate? She hadn’t seen any gates in the Catacombs.
“This sword is the key to the Gate.” Harlan paused, a brief flash of uncertainty in his eyes before it disappeared. “Why she did not reveal this knowledge to us, we are not certain, which is why it is imperative you tell us everything you know, Kase. It might very well save her life.”
Les still didn’t understand, but Kase and Jove both seemed to. Kase turned white as a sheet. He no longer fought to stand. Jove frowned.
It was Zelda Walker who spoke up. “Where is she? What is this Gate?”
But no one was able to answer her, because a messenger interrupted.
He gave a missive to the Stradat Lord Kapitan, who practically tore it open.
He read the message, the line between his brows deepening with each word.
He looked at Kase. “Ben Reiss is awake. He’s requesting to speak with you immediately. ”