The Locked Tomb, #2
Harrow the Ninth
by Tamsyn Muir
Contents
Chapter 20
Overview
Ortus the First’s campaign against Harrow escalates into a recurring, sanctioned danger: God cannot simply stop him because Ortus is bound by a pact to protect God from perceived threats. In explaining Harrow’s failed Lyctorhood, God reveals that Anastasia also failed the process with Samael and later helped create the Locked Tomb.
The chapter links Harrow’s Ninth House faith directly to God’s buried “monster,” whom Harrow sees as the Body, while God’s recitation of a poem introduces the mysterious initials “A.L.” Harrow ends more isolated and frightened, dependent on the Body’s near-comfort while living under constant threat.
Summary
Harrow reflects that she left no funeral instructions, not from optimism but because a funeral for her feels pathetic. Over the following months at the Mithraeum, Ortus the First, the Saint of Duty, attempts to kill Harrow fourteen times. Harrow survives only through interventions by the other Lyctors, by Ianthe in a humiliating rescue, and once by God himself.
During the attack God interrupts, Ortus has run Harrow through with a scarlet-hilted rapier. God heals Harrow completely on the dining table and rebukes Ortus, telling him Harrow is his responsibility, not his punching bag. Ortus answers that his violence is his pity, and God orders him out, but the attacks do not stop.
When Harrow finally asks God about Ortus, God explains that Ortus made a pact with an authority God cannot overrule, binding Ortus to protect God from all dangers. Someone has convinced Ortus that Harrow is such a danger, so God asks Harrow to keep facing him despite the risk and offers her a rapier. Harrow says she cannot use one because she misunderstood the Lyctoral process, but God disputes that and says only Anastasia truly got it fundamentally wrong with Samael.
The mention of Anastasia unsettles Harrow because Anastasia is a legendary founder and tomb-keeper of the Ninth House. God reveals Anastasia was real and that the rooms Harrow now inhabits were originally intended for her. He says Anastasia overstudied the process, spoke the Eightfold Word, and failed; after the aftermath was cleaned up, Anastasia asked God to kill her, but he refused.
God then says he later asked Anastasia to do a greater and more terrible thing: he had a body and needed a tomb. Harrow recognizes this as the Locked Tomb of the Ninth House and asks whom God buried. God answers that he buried a monster, while the Body, visible to Harrow at the window, turns in the starlight, making Harrow shake.
God deflects into gentleness, urging Harrow to eat biscuits and reciting a poem he says he has carried for more than ten thousand years. That night, after nearly eight weeks in the Mithraeum, the Body nearly embraces Harrow. Harrow remains terrified, carrying the sword she bathes in her own arterial blood, and a later note questions the identity of the poem’s “A.L.”
Who Appears
- Harrowhark NonagesimusEndures repeated murder attempts and learns unsettling truths about Anastasia and the Locked Tomb.
- God / TeacherHeals Harrow, explains Ortus’s pact, and reveals Anastasia’s failed Lyctorhood and tomb-keeping role.
- Ortus the First / Saint of DutyRepeatedly tries to kill Harrow because he believes she endangers God.
- The BodyAppears to Harrow during God’s revelation and nearly embraces her that night.
- AnastasiaNinth House founder revealed as a real Lyctoral candidate who failed with Samael.
- SamaelAnastasia’s partner in the failed Lyctoral process, mentioned as part of God’s warning.
- Ianthe TridentariusOnce saves Harrow from Ortus in a humiliating manner and continues laughing about it.
- Mercy and AugustineOther Lyctors who sometimes intervene to save Harrow from Ortus’s attacks.