The Locked Tomb, #1
Gideon the Ninth
by Tamsyn Muir
Contents
Chapter 3
Overview
Gideon is forced into the Ninth House muster, where Harrowhark publicly reveals an imperial summons calling Harrowhark and her cavalier to attempt Lyctorhood. The chapter confirms the dangerous secret behind Harrowhark’s rule: her parents are dead bodies preserved and puppeted by forbidden necromancy. Gideon’s planned escape collapses when Ortus and his mother steal the shuttle, leaving Gideon stranded and exposing the depth of Harrowhark’s hatred.
Summary
After Harrowhark defeats Gideon, Crux drags Gideon down through Drearburh and into the Ninth House sanctuary. Gideon briefly tries to escape, but Crux kicks Gideon unconscious and dumps Gideon onto a freezing front pew as the bone-prayer service continues around her.
Gideon wakes to the Ninth House gathered for muster: mostly skeletons, aging nuns, a few priests, Aiglamene, Crux, Ortus, Ortus’s mother, Harrowhark’s great-aunts, and Harrowhark’s parents. Gideon observes that Lord Priamhark and Lady Pelleamena are unchanged because they have been dead for years; Harrowhark secretly preserved and puppeted them after finding forbidden necromantic knowledge as a child, with only Gideon, Crux, and Aiglamene knowing the truth.
Harrowhark rises in place of her silent parents and reads a summons from the Emperor. The letter calls the first of the Ninth House and that person’s cavalier to the First House as candidates to become Lyctors, replacing some of the Emperor’s ancient servants. The news stuns the congregation, and one hermit dies of shock, which the faithful treat as sacred good fortune.
Ortus’s mother, Sister Glaurica, panics at the implication that Ortus must accompany Harrowhark as cavalier. Glaurica protests that she already gave the House her husband and cannot give her son, while Ortus admits that he fears death. Crux and Aiglamene condemn their fear, Harrowhark shuts down the uproar with prayer, and Crux escorts Ortus and Glaurica out of the sanctuary.
After muster breaks up, Aiglamene returns Gideon’s sword and suitcase in a rough, wordless gesture of apology, while still lecturing Gideon about duty and loyalty. Harrowhark then approaches and says she intends to answer the Emperor’s summons because it is her chance for intercession. Gideon believes she has discovered Harrowhark’s trick involving Pelleamena’s signature on Gideon’s commission, but Harrowhark reveals the real blow: Ortus and Glaurica stole the shuttle Gideon meant to use.
Gideon runs to the landing field and finds only the marks left by the departed shuttle. Harrowhark explains that she discovered Gideon’s plan only because the Emperor’s summons mentioned the scheduled shuttle, and Harrowhark deliberately waited until Gideon believed escape was possible before taking it away. When Gideon asks why, Harrowhark answers that she did it because she hates Gideon.
Who Appears
- Gideon NavBeaten escapee dragged to muster; loses her shuttle and faces deep disappointment.
- Harrowhark NonagesimusReverend Daughter who reads the Emperor’s summons and deliberately ruins Gideon’s escape.
- CruxMarshal who drags and beats Gideon, then controls disorder in the sanctuary.
- AiglameneCaptain of the guard who lectures Gideon on duty and returns her sword.
- Ortus NigenadNinth cavalier named in the summons; fearful and later flees with his mother.
- Sister GlauricaOrtus’s mother, terrified of losing him, who helps steal Gideon’s shuttle.
- Lady Pelleamena and Lord PriamharkHarrowhark’s dead parents, secretly preserved and puppeted to maintain authority.
- Blessed Sister Lachrimorta and Blessed Sister AisamortaHarrowhark’s blind great-aunts, present at muster and absorbed in bone-prayer.