Page 74 of The Noble Servant

“T-tell me what happened to this mine.”

She placed her hand on his arm. “The copper ran out about five years ago. This mine is very solid, and there are two entrances. One of them is hidden and not everyone knows about it, but my father showed it to me once when I was a little girl. I used to take my sisters out here exploring. I know it well.

“I must say, I have no idea what Lord Hazen might think is valuable here,” she continued. “I have never known of any other kind of mines in this area except copper. Perhaps there is some sort of treasure hidden here that Lord Hazen knows about, but I cannot think why he would not have simply sneaked up here and taken it. Why go to all the trouble of marrying his son to me to acquire it?”

Her voice was calming. His breathing was almost back to normal. He swallowed, ignoring the cold sweat down the middle of his back.

“Tell me about those long bands of gray and red in the wall there.” He pointed to their left.

“I don’t know what that is. Copper ore is sometimes a goldcolor, sometimes green, but that doesn’t look like copper. But it could certainly be something else, some other kind of valuable metal, perhaps.”

Steffan stepped closer to the wall, holding the torch high. He had seen something like this before at the university when they’d studied mining and metals.

“I think you are right. This could be iron ore—the silver bands here—and the red bands in between could be jasper. They are often found together.”

“Oh! Red jasper like my necklace. Are they valuable?” She stepped closer.

“Iron ore is, and if there is iron ore in this mine, that could be what my uncle was searching for. There is a way to melt iron now. With taller furnaces and men operating large bellows, it is possible to heat iron ore hot enough to melt it and get rid of all the impurities. The pure iron will be in high demand.”

Concentrating on the rock was helping to slow down his breathing.

“Is iron ore difficult to find?”

“Yes, that’s what makes it even more valuable.”

They continued on in their descent into the earth. But Steffan concentrated on the walls now as he walked, becoming more and more convinced that Magdalen’s father had not recognized the iron ore in these rocks after their copper ore ran out, and that was exactly what his uncle had found and wanted. Possibly all these abandoned mines contained the sought-after iron ore.

Finally, the floor evened out and they were walking on level ground.

“I know you are uncomfortable.” Magdalen’s voice reverberated off the walls. “Do you want to leave?”

“Not unless you want to.”

“I like it down here. But we have to go out eventually. Shall we turn around?”

They started moving Magdalen’s horse backward so they could turn her around in the narrow cave-like mine. Now that he was thinking about leaving instead of about the minerals in the mine, he started to sweat again and his breaths came in short gasps. He forced himself to focus on getting Magdalen’s horse headed in the opposite direction.

Shouts echoed through the mine. They were coming from the direction of the mouth of the mine.

Magdalen grabbed his arm. “They found us.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Steffan listened to the men’s voices carrying through the long, dark tunnel toward them. Magdalen pressed herself to his side.

“You said there was another entrance. Where is it?”

“Uh.” Magdalen seemed to freeze. Then she pulled on her horse’s reins and turned her back in the direction they had been going. “I’ll show you. Hurry.”

They set off at a brisk pace. They came to a Y in the mine and Magdalen turned to the right. The floor started angling up now. They were climbing a hill of rock.

Behind them a voice called, “You cannot escape.”

“It’s Lord Hazen.”

“He’s here?” Her voice was breathless. She clutched his arm tighter.

He needed to stay calm. Sweat dribbled into his eyebrows and he wiped it with his thumb.