Note: Enchanted iron may be reforged without losing its enchantment.
Iron can also be used as a portaling medium for imps. For more information on creatures from Below, see chapter 14.
Famous enchanted iron artifacts:
The Crown of Angwar - worn by the monarchs of the human kingdom of Angwar. Intended to prevent any non-human from succeeding the throne. It will permanently absorb the powers of any non-human who wears it. Following the invasion and takeover of Angwar by the fae Ryan dynasty, the crown was lost.
The Grey Ward - shield used by the warrior priestess Theodora Vogel in the War of Temples. Capable of absorbing incoming spells, and reflecting them back at attackers. Often credited as the sole reason the Vogels won the Battle of Waycross. The shield resides at the Runesong Monastery.
The Wand of Willard the Mad - iron wand employed by the fae Willard Bloom. Known to be one of the most volatile artifacts in existence, and has never been successfully bent to a user's will. It is unknown whether using the wand drove Bloom insane or whether he was already before he forged it. The wand is on display at the Museum of Curiosities in Matoba.
The Tailor's Sword - imbued with the ancient power of the human Tailor family, this sword was forged to kill immortals by severing their soul from their body. Taken across the mirror when the Tailors fled the Inquisition.
'I hadn't finished reading that,' Rhys said, over my shoulder, and I jumped. I hadn't heard him come in - I must have been pretty intent on the book.
'Then you should have left a bookmark or something,' I said, feeling my face warm.
'What's your interest in iron?' he asked, leaning over the back of the couch to see the contents of the page.
I hadn't told him about the sword. Camille might not want me sharing that information - I got the impression she didn't like him very much.
'Looking for ways to weaken fae?' he said, tone becoming suspicious at my hesitation.
'I think there's an imp at the school,' I said quickly. 'I wanted to know how it's been getting around.'
'Did you lose something to it, too?' he sighed, setting his backpack down on the table. 'I'm about to buy Hayley a new bracelet, just so she'll shut up about the old one.'
The image of him sitting at their table, but looking so apart, came into my mind. 'Why do you hang out with them?' I asked.
'What do you mean?'
'It's been bugging me. I mean I just don't get it. You don't seem to like them at all.'
'I don't,' he said flatly. 'You wouldn't understand.'
'Try me.'
His eyes narrowed at the challenge. 'Being with them requires the least amount of effort. Kei draws enough attention that no one bothers me, and Hayley talks enough I don't have to contribute.'
'I guess you're right,' I said. 'I don't understand. I'd want to hang out with people I like.'
'I don't like people.'
'No kidding?' I said. 'Nothing about you gives that impression.'
He frowned at my sarcasm. 'I don't get you. First you're a frightened mouse at school. Then you're this...' he gestured vaguely at me. 'Other person.'
'Maybe I'm sick of being a mouse,' I said, setting the book aside. 'Do you think I'm better that way?'
'No,' he said, then immediately changed his mind. 'I mean yes. Mice mind their own business.'
'Mice don't find you books on mirrors,' I said, handing him the book I'd mentioned in the lunch line earlier. 'You're welcome, by the way.'
He sourly accepted it and sat down in an armchair on the other side of the table.
'So what's it like?' I asked, suddenly curious. 'Your kingdom.'
'There used to be lots of kingdoms on the other side,' he said, 'but now there's only ours. Most of them joined us of their own volition, wanting a piece of the stability we had. Others started to fear our size, and went to war with us.' He shrugged. 'They lost. This was all a long time ago. Now my father rules the whole continent from Angwar Castle.'
'But what's it like?' I asked. 'Is it as hot there as it is in Havenwood? Are there towers? Dungeons? Tapestries? I bet there's lots of tapestries.'
'I don't know,' he said, voice neutral. 'I've never been there.'
'But I thought - '
'The only way to get there,' he said, expression closed, 'is through a traveling mirror. And there are none of those left.' He glanced down at the book I'd given him. 'Until someone makes more.'
'Oh,' I said. 'So your father - '
'If I can't make a traveling mirror it doesn't matter who my father is,' he snapped. 'He doesn't even think I
I hadn't thought I'd be stepping into a touchy subject. So he was a prince, but only in name as long as he was on this side. I bit my lip. 'My dad's not too confident in my abilities either,' I said, smiling weakly. 'He never even told me what he was working on. Like he thought I'd never amount to anything. And yet here I am,' I looked around, 'in a Tower made of magic helping a fairy prince regain his birthright.'
'Fae,' he corrected. 'Hybrid.' But the corner of his mouth quirked up.
'This library is enormous,' I said. 'And it was built by Mirrormakers, right? There's got to be at least one lousy recipe for a traveling mirror.'
His brow creased. 'Lately,' he admitted, 'I haven't even been able to change the windows in the sanctuary. I don't know what's wrong.'
'You'll figure it out,' I said. 'You're stubborn enough.'
That startled a laugh out of him. Holy crap, he actually knew how to laugh. 'Maybe,' he said, 'but who knows how long it'll take? I don't have an eternity.'
'We'll have to make you immortal then,' I said.
'Excellent. Get on that, minion,' he smirked.
'You do not get to call me your minion,' I objected.
'I do if you don't quit with that 'fairy prince' crap.'
'Oh alright, alright,' I said. I thought of Bea’s warning about the Ender the day before. 'Incidentally, what do you know about immortals?'
“I know that you don’t get in the way of someone who can’t be killed.”
I recalled Meredith peeling away the spike that had impaled her, and was inclined to agree. “Are there a lot of them? Immortals, I mean.”
“There’s a lot of people you don’t get in the way of,” he said, “and there’s people who live long lives, but there are only three people I’ve heard of who are truly immortal. Where is that really old one...”
He shuffled several books aside, and pulled out one with overlarge parchment pages. He sat next to me on the couch, setting the book on the table between us.
“There’s some legend or other that they’re instruments of the gods, but people will come up with anything to explain the unexplainable,” he said, flipping the page to a series of portraits very similar to the ones I’d uncovered. “She’s been hunting monsters for the last hundred years,” he said, pointing at Meredith, “though before she went amnesiac she destroyed enough cities herself. Him - ” he pointed at the one of Gabriel, named here also as Gohei, “he’s the one that used to do the monster hunting. Self-appointed protector of humanity. Was famous for it for ages. Seems to keep to himself now.” He moved on to the green-haired man. “The Thief - he’s serious bad news. He’s assassinated kings, stolen countless priceless artifacts, thrown entire nations into poverty. He and Meredith did a lot of damage on the other side, before she crossed over here. Hemlock hasn’t been seen in a century, though. He’s either hiding or someone finally figured out how to kill him.”
He shrugged, but I was transfixed by the portrait. It was by a different hand, a border drawn around the edge of the page in twisting vines, but it was the same green-eyed man I’d seen in the school lab.
Gabriel, Meredith, and Hemlock.
