Wild Knight (Midnight Empire: The Tower #1)(31)

“London Hayes, Knight of Boudica.”

Lucy’s eyes widened. “There’s a knight searching for Maria?”

My stomach tightened. This part never got easier. “I’m afraid Maria has already been found.”

Two shocked faces stared back at me.

“Found?” Lucy echoed. “You mean…?”

I nodded. “I’m sorry.”

Dashiell was the first to recover. “I didn’t know her terribly well, but still. Dreadful news. What happened?”

“That’s still under investigation.” I refrained from telling them about the molten casket.

Dashiell’s brow furrowed. “Why send a knight to tell us? Who would even send you on her behalf?”

“I wasn’t sent to deliver the news. I’m here about a stone that you uncovered at this location.”

The duo exchanged blank looks.

“Could you describe the stone?” Lucy asked. “As you can imagine, we’ve found quite a lot of them here.”

If only. The queen’s description left much to the imagination.

“I have very limited information. It’s the size of a brick, beige coloring, and marked with a symbol.”

“What does the symbol look like?” Lucy asked.

“I wasn’t given any more than that.”

Dashiell regarded me. “Do you know anything about the church that once stood here?”

He reminded me of my mother, eager to impart knowledge at every opportunity. Even if I hadn’t known he was in charge of interns at an excavation site, I would’ve pegged him for a university professor or a teacher.

“St. Paul’s Cathedral,” I said. “It was an Anglican cathedral that served as the head church of the London diocese.”

Respect shone in his eyes. “Very good. You’d be surprised how many people don’t know local human history. Then again, with a name like London, I expect your parents didn’t fall into that category of ignorance.” He swept an arm wide. “Where we now stand was once the highest point in the City of London before the Eternal Night began.”

“It isn’t the highest point anymore?” I asked.

Dashiell shook his head. “Not anymore. That honor now belongs to Tower Hill. The ground shifted many times during the early days of the Great Eruption.”

I glanced around. “I can’t imagine this area being very high.”

Dashiell smiled. “It wasn’t. You must remember the actual City of London was quite small and flat so it was no great feat to be the highest. Greater London, what we now know as Britannia City, would have included areas much higher than this.”

“In that context, Westerham Heights is still the highest point of land.” Lucy beamed with pride, clearly pleased to have added value to the discussion. “I’m writing my thesis on the function of space and rituals in ancient Britannia, you see. Much importance was placed on the right location. Proximity to the heavens was often a crucial factor.”

“You must be highly sought-after on trivia night,” I said.

Her smile intensified. “My team are reigning champions.”

Dashiell sniffed. “Thank you for that informative detour, Lucy.”

Oomph. An academic smackdown.

He turned back to me. “What remained of St. Paul’s was mostly taken to be used for other buildings at the time of its destruction, leaving this an empty lot,” Dashiell continued. “It still took us years to get approval for the excavation though.”

“If most of the building materials were taken years ago, what are you looking for now?” I asked.

“According to research, the church held valuable possessions that were never recovered after its destruction. There’s a chance they were inadvertently taken along with the building materials, but there’s no evidence of the items appearing elsewhere.”

That made sense. Valuable artifacts eventually surfaced one way or another.

“Which means there’s a good chance they’re still buried here,” Lucy added.

“Have you found anything yet?” I didn’t have experience with excavation sites. All I saw was an area that looked dirtier than my flat and that was saying something.

“Not yet. It’s tedious work, as you can imagine.” Dashiell raised his chisel. “Allow me to show you.”

From his vantage point, Barnaby must’ve taken the gesture as a threat because the raven swooped down and knocked the chisel from his hand.

“Stand down, Barnaby,” I commanded. “We’re having a demonstration. That’s all.”

Instead of showing fear, Dashiell appeared enamored. He gazed at the bird with an affectionate smile. “A raven protector. How marvelous.”

“He’s sometimes overzealous.” I glared at Barnaby before turning back to the trio. “I take it Maria didn’t show anyone the stone she found?”

They shook their heads.

“Is that unusual?” I continued.

“Very,” Dashiell said. “We share all our research and findings. We’re partners on this project.” He bowed his head. “At least we were.”

“Can you think of any reason she wouldn’t have shown you the stone?”

“No and, not only that, I can’t fathom why she’d leave the site with the stone without cataloging it. We have a system.” Dashiell wiped his brow, his angst seeming to work up a sweat.