Harrowed Heir by Sarah E Burr

Author:Sarah E Burr [Burr, Sarah E]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-06-15T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

“Ashcroft said he’d come find us once he checked in with his men.” George held open the door to the archives as Jax and Carriena crossed the threshold.

Carriena’s lilac gaze flickered down to George’s hand. “I cannot believe Ashie gave you his spare key. I must say, he’s quite besotted with you,” she teased. “I haven’t seen him so happy in ages.”

George rolled his eyes. “He’s just excited to have some competition in the sparring ring once again.”

“Are you planning on joining him?” Jax grinned, picturing Ashcroft and George engaged in fencing each other.

George reached for the back of his neck. “If the circumstances were different, I might. But I’m not as carefree as I was when you attended class here.”

Carriena chortled. “When have you ever been carefree, Captain Solomon?”

Ignoring her, George surveyed the sprawling archives, his hands on his hips. “Do you think the documents are still somewhere in here? That the culprit stashed them nearby?”

Jax shrugged. “It’s highly unlikely. No thief would want to return to the scene of a crime unless absolutely necessary. Ashcroft is right; the providence documents could be anywhere in the fortress at this point.” She led the way through the stacks. “I want to take another look at the processing room and see if there’s anything we missed. Perhaps our culprit dropped something.”

“Ziri didn’t look too pleased to be missing out on this little excursion.” Carriena followed closely behind her. “What’s the point of having a famed Knight of Grace in your service if you aren’t going to use her talents?”

Regret bubbled inside Jax. She had asked Ziri to watch over their rooms whilst she, George, and Carriena investigated the archives. Even her unruffled demeanor hadn’t entirely concealed Ziri’s disappointment at not being able to explore the archives with the others.

George matched Jax’s quick strides. “Ziri understands Saphire’s best interests must be placed above her own.” His calm, thoughtful remark managed to assuage her guilt.

She gave him a secret smile. He never fails to come to my rescue.

The processing room looked relatively untouched from when she and George had last been there. If the Praesidio had searched the room in the hour that had passed since the incident, they hadn’t disturbed much. A dried pool of Gautherd’s blood on the floor was the only evidence there had been a struggle.

“We found Master Gautherd lying face down here.” Jax pointed toward the blood, orienting Carriena with the room.

George knelt on the stone floor, pressing his head to the ground.

“Hoping the slate will speak to you?” Jax mused.

George shuffled his body closer to the front of the worktable. “No,” came his muffled response. “Trying to see if anything might have rolled underneath the table.”

Carriena glanced around the floor as well. “Did you find whatever hit Master Gautherd on the back of the head?”

George sat back on his heels. “No. I believe the culprit fled with both the documents and whatever they used as a weapon.”

Jax sighed. “I was hoping we might find some torn scrap of fabric or a fallen clasp.

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