A Little Knowledge (The Split Worlds #4) - Emma Newman Page 0,133

do…you know…magic?”

“If properly trained. But they are ignorant now. The Sorcerers saw to that.” There was a curl to her lip as she said that.

“They wanted the Court to forget what it was.”

“Of course. Less of a threat, that way. The language of sorcery doesn’t require the Court’s cooperation.”

“But your Sorcerer wants me to make something for him. Why not use sorcery to make these chains?”

She tilted her head at him, studying each of his features in turn. “Iron needs something of you in it, to be at its most powerful. No matter what the Sorcerers said, iron forged by its Elemental Lord has a quality unlike any other. The Fae feel it.”

“And copper?”

“Less so, but yes.”

“So, what have you been up to?” Sam said, indicating the mud on her dress with his empty tea mug. “Getting the lay of the land?”

“I’ve been warding your property against intruders. If I am going to stay here, it needs to be secure.”

Sam was surprised, briefly, before remembering that she worked for a Sorcerer. She must have picked up some stuff along the way. Maybe she was an apprentice. Somehow, he didn’t think she would welcome a question about it. “I’ve got security and cameras covering the perimeter.”

“They may be sufficient for the mundane threats that approach, but not all of the threats out there.” She reflected his frown. “You don’t know about the ones coming to kill you?”

“What?”

“You have many enemies, Lord Iron. They want you to die.”

“What? Seriously?” When she nodded, he paled. “Um…look, I’ve got some stuff going on with Copper at the moment, but killing me? That’s just crazy.”

“Intention does not always manifest in action; perhaps you are correct.” She looked past him into the forge, disinterested. “That is a place of great power. Do you feel it when you work there?”

He thought of the way to Exilium he’d found beneath the anvil and how the iron road had stretched away from it impossibly. “Yeah, I know it’s a special place.”

“There are stories of Lord Iron’s forges. Seven places of power, seven keys to his potential.”

“Oh.” He thought of the slab at the heart of the house, of the seven markers showing the other forges, and probably the other points that joined Exilium to Mundanus via those twisting iron and copper roads.

“Do you know where they are?”

“I have a fair idea.” He scratched the back of his head, uncomfortable with the way she stared at him. “So…this ‘old way’ you mentioned before, for the pure iron chains. Could you teach me?”

She nodded. “Yes. You’re strong and more attuned than you realise. Do you have a knife?”

“No. What for?”

She looked at him as if he were a stupid child. “To cut you. We’ll need your blood, Lord Iron. Purity always has a cost.”

24

Of all the times Tom could have chosen to whisk Cathy away, why did it have to be last night? Even now, after a restless night’s sleep, Will was still angry. Angry that Tom didn’t run it by him first, angry that Cathy had dropped everything to go and then decided to stay at the Tower, angry that she still wasn’t back.

He’d sworn when he received her note telling him she wouldn’t be home that night.

Will, Tom is going to exile Natasha. I’m devastated. He gave us a few hours together at least. Don’t wait up; I’m going to stay here. I’m exhausted. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow.

C xx

Tom must have found out Natasha was helping Cathy with her feminist agenda. He understood why she wanted to stay, and she’d hardly be in the mood for his affections in the state she was in, but it still angered him. But as he lay there, his breakfast tray getting cold, he knew the real reason for the anger.

He’d just wanted to get it over and done with. This morning she was supposed to wake in his arms, their child forming within her. Lord Iris would be pleased. She would be safe. Dame Iris would be, too, satisfied that her plan had secured the family and removed the pressure on her as well as him.

“You will stay for lunch, of course,” she’d said to him after Lord Iris had released them all from Exilium. He’d been surprised that she asked, thinking that after so long apart she and her husband would only want to be with each other. But Sir Iris had things to do, as did she, and the most pressing issue for Eleanor was how to