Gideon Nav

Gideon Nav
Gideon Nav from the Gideon the Ninth cover art illustrated by Tommy Arnold
Alias	Gideon the Ninth Kiriona Gaia Corpse Prince Tower Prince Her Most Serene Highness Gideon of the Golden Eyes (by Cytherea) By Harrow: Griddle Shining Star First Flower of My House Disgusting little cuckoo Idiot Dolt Hog Fool Illiterate peon Dreadful human being Nincompoop Yellow-eyed moron Weenie Gideon Version 2 By Ianthe Tridentarius: Goblin Gonad Big-Mouthed Warrior Nunlet Gubbins Hilarious moron
Biography
Age	18
Place of Birth	A shuttle above Ninth House
House	Ninth
Title	Gideon the Ninth Crown Prince Kiriona Gaia First Lieutenant of the Cohort, Emperor's Life Guards, non-auxiliary
Cavalier Stats
Necromancer	Harrowhark Nonagesimus
Main	Double-handed Sword Cavalier's Rapier (for Show)
Off-Hand	Knuckle Knives
Affiliation
Allegiance	Harrowhark Nonagesimus
Family	Awake Remembrance of These Valiant Dead (Mother) The Emperor (Father) Our Lady of the Passion (cousin)
Status
Status	Lyctor
Cause of Body Death	Self-Sacrifice, as part of Harrow's Lyctoral ascension
Place of Body Death	Canaan House, First House
Physical Description
Gender	Female
Eye Color	Golden (Original)
Race	Mixed Māori
General Build	Short red hair, and an athletic build

"The arms kind of looked like swords. I want to fight it."
"You want to fight it."
"Yep."
"Because it looked... a little like swords."
"Yop."

Gideon Nav is the cavalier primary to the heir to the House of the Ninth, Harrowhark Nonagesimus. Falling from the atmosphere in a bio-container as an infant, she was raised in Ninth House as an indentured servant until The Emperor sent for the heirs of the Houses to come to study the path to Lyctorhood.

Biography

Early Life

Gideon's arrival to the Ninth House, illustrated by fawntastic

Gideon Nav arrived on the Ninth House in a small bio-container attached to her brain-dead mother's hazard suit. They tumbled down the ravine at the center of the Ninth Planet despite there being no record of her in the prison above and her having no ability to survive the entry from the atmosphere without a shuttle.

The nun-adepts and necromancers were only able to pull the words "Gideon! Gideon! Gideon!" from her mother's ghost, and so she was named Gideon. At a loss, the Ninth House decided to raise Gideon as an indentured servant, making her property of the House and intending to have her become an oblate to the Locked Tomb.

One year later, Gideon was one of only three children to survive the "creche flu," a supposed virus that swept through an entire nursery of Ninth children. This mass-extinction doomed both the House, having no ability to secure a new generation of necromantic children, and Gideon, who could not be allowed to leave the planet with her knowledge of the state of the Ninth House.

As an indentured servant, Gideon was given into the care of Marshal Crux, who she quickly grew to hate bitterly for his coarse and domineering attitude. As it became apparent that Gideon did not have the skill to become a necromancer nor the temperament to be a nun, she was taken under the wing of Captain Aiglamene, who would later convince the House to train her as a swordswoman.

Gideon spent much of her childhood alone. The Reverend Mother and Father despised her and the Reverend Daughter, Harrowhark Nonagesimus, selected Gideon as the target of her not-inconsiderable rage and grief, further isolating Gideon from the House she did not properly belong to. Ortus Nigenad, Harrow's future cavalier primary and seventeen years Gideon's senior, was pleasant enough but not a confidant or friend.

When she was six years old, Gideon would play a "game" where should select skeleton constructs working the fields and imagine they were her mother to have some sense of family and belonging. At other times, she talked to her mother's burial niche and informed her on the goings-on of Drearburh. Gideon would also pretend that her parents might be someone important and powerful in an attempt to stop Harrow's cruelty, which never succeeded.

When Gideon was eleven, Harrow caught her telling her skeleton-mother that she loved her and the two got into a vicious, bloody fight. Shortly afterward, Harrow was then able to open the Locked Tomb. Eager to prove her worth and earn respect, Gideon ran to the Reverend Mother and Father to inform them of the tomb' opening. An hour later, Priamhark, Pelleamena, and Mortus the Ninth had hanged themselves.

By the time she was eighteen years old, Gideon Nav had attempted to run away eighty-six times. As part of her eighty-seventh attempt, Gideon orders herself a shuttle to take her to the Cohort so she can enlist.

Gideon the Ninth

Act I

Gideon Nav wakes at dawn, slips out of her security cuff, and heads to the shuttle landing field to escape the Ninth House. As she waits, she is found by her guardian, Crux, and her teacher, Aiglamene, who disapprove of the cowardly and underhanded nature of her plans. They attempt to convince her to remain on Ninth, but she refuses. Ultimately, the Reverend Daughter herself, Harrowhark Nonagesimus, appears to end the escape attempt.

Harrow offers Gideon a Cohort commission that would ensure Gideon a good military career, and a challenge—a fair fight. Her terms are as follows: if Gideon wins, she leaves the Ninth with the contract; if Gideon loses, she must attend muster before she can leave, also with the commission. Gideon senses a trick but cannot resist. She quickly discovers that Harrow has buried enough bones around the field to bury her in a construct army.

Gideon is dragged to the church for muster by Crux and left in a pew. Harrow announces that The Emperor has summoned her and her and cavalier primary, Ortus Nigenad, to travel to the First House and compete for the position of Lyctor. Ortus is less than pleased at the news, and he and his mother, Sister Glaurica, cause a scene. Aiglamene lectures Gideon on loyalty before returning her sword and bags to her. When Harrow joins the conversation, Gideon is surprised to find that Harrow intends to answer the summons. Harrow then reveals that Ortus and Sister Glaurica have stolen Gideon's shuttle and that the shuttle then exploded, dashing any chance Gideon had of escaping.

Gideon sulks in her cell for an entire week before Harrow rousts her. They take the lifts into the depths of the catacombs and the Anastasian monument where Aiglamene is rooting through rotted swords and knives. Harrow informs Gideon that because Ortus died while escaped using her shuttle, Gideon is now to serve as cavalier primary to the Ninth House. Gideon tries to reject the offer, but Aiglamene forces her to see reason and ensures her freedom if she serves Harrow well.

Becoming a cavalier primary turns into three months of intensive training. Harrow insists that Gideon uphold the traditional appearance and values of the Ninth House once they arrive on the First House. She explains that Lyctorhood (and God's grace) is the only way that the Ninth House can survive the loss of population. Harrow and Aiglamene give Gideon a crash-course in traditional skull face paint, traditional dress, proper swordplay, and many unsuccessful attempts at an attitude adjustment. On the final week of training, she receives her new sword and knuckles, as well as a trunk of proper Ninth House robes.

The journey by shuttle to the First House takes an hour, and when they arrive Gideon revels in the differences from the Ninth House. She refuses the traditional veil in favor of a signature pair of ancient sunglasses to shield her eyes from the solar system's star, Dominicus. They are greeted by Teacher, who confirms that Gideon has replaced Ortus as cavalier. As they watch the other Houses disembark, Gideon witnesses the Seventh scion, Dulcinea Septimus, faint and rushes to aid her. Dulcinea's cavalier, Protesilaus Ebdoma, draws on her, raising Harrow's ire, but Dulcinea's charm and promise to mind her sword smooth over the awkwardness.

All the Houses make their way inside of Canaan House and are offered tea. Teacher begins the conversation with prayer and handing out iron key rings to the cavaliers of each House. His explanation of the task at hand is short and vague, leaving many questions, but skeleton servants arrive to lead Harrow and Gideon to their rooms. Before Gideon falls asleep, she watches the shuttles tumble off the side of the First House Shuttle Dock and disappear.

Act II

Gideon wakes to find that Harrow has taken her key ring and left several instructional notes, including one informing her to remain silent at all times. She goes to the dining hall and finds Fifth House cavalier, Magnus Quinn, and Fourth House teens, Isaac Tettares and Jeannemary Chatur. Magnus attempts to introduce himself, but Gideon's vow of silence and the teens reluctance to make conversation makes for a short conversation. After eating, she wanders Canaan House and discovers a locked door with a bizarre bone decoration hidden behind a tapestry.

As she leaves, she hears the Third House competitors approaching and hides. Their casual conversation quickly turns into a personal argument. As Naberius Tern and Coronabeth Tridentarius walk away, Ianthe Tridentarius appears to look directly at Gideon and threaten her. Gideon goes to lunch but is met by the Eighth House members in the dining hall. Silas Octakiseron is disgusted and Colum Asht politely asks Gideon to leave. She runs into Dulcinea, who is relaxing on a terrace. Throughout a mostly one-sided conversation, Gideon accidentally breaks her silence. Fearing revealing more secrets, she uses Protesilaus's return to flee back to her rooms where she spends the next few days shut away and working out.

She sees little of Harrow over the nextfew days, except when she returns late at night to sleep. Lonely, Gideon accepts Coronabeth's invitation to join in on recreational sparring matches between the cavaliers. Coronabeth sets Gideon to duel Magnus and, to the astonishment of everyone, Gideon thrashes him. Her skill wins her the notice of Naberius, who claims the next duel. This duel is more evenly matched— Naberius's precision against Gideon's brawler's talents. Naberius disarms her and, unaware that disarming is a winning move, she punches him. Naberius becomes incensed when Marta Dyas's analysis of the fight marks Gideon the "better fighter, if the less able duelist." Limited by her silence, Gideon goes to leave and spots Harrow outside watching the match. They still do not speak.

Over the next several days Gideon meets nearly all of the other guests. She sees Dulcinea frequently, developing a flirtatious and friendly relationship, and returns to the training room with some regularity—seeing the Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth cavaliers (and once, Eighth)—but prefers to do most of her training alone.

Eventually, Gideon notices that Harrow hasn't returned to their rooms for two days. Gideon searches for her, checking all the common spaces of Canaan House with no success. She is near the basement when she is stopped by the Sixth House team—Palamedes Sextus and his cavalier Camilla Hect. Camilla attacks when she sees Gideon lurking on the stairs, proving herself a formidable opponent. Palamedes ends the fight, separating the cavaliers with a necromantic shield, inferring that Gideon is looking for Harrow. He informs her that he last saw Harrow here, at The Facility, and doesn't believe her to have left. Panicking, Gideon tries to get through the locked hatch door and breaks her vow of silence to demand that Palamedes help her.

He leads her to a room called "the sanitiser," where Harrow has created a restorative bone cocoon. Palamedes and Camilla do a brief medical assessment and diagnose Harrow with dehydration and exhaustion before releasing her into Gideon's care. As they are leaving, Palamedes warns Gideon and Harrow that it is too dangerous to continue splitting their forces. Gideon carries Harrow back to their rooms, where she forces Harrow to explain exactly what she has been doing and uses the location of the locked door she found as leverage to get Harrow to include her in her work.

Gideon fighting the bone construct in the Transference/Winnowing lab, illustrated by thegreatesttotoco.

Early the next morning, Gideon and Harrow take their breakfast and head back down to the facility. Harrow explains the Imaging/Response test that she has been stuck on, and puts Gideon outside of the Response room to gather information on the bone construct opponent. Upon her description of the hideous bone construct, Harrow is distraught. Ignoring her, Gideon requests to fight the construct herself because "it's arms kind of look like swords." Harrow denies her and tries her skeletons multiple times before Gideon trips one and sneaks inside. Once Gideon is inside, Harrow understands the test—she must connect to a living spirit and literally see the construct through Gideon's eyes. After this first attempt, Harrow faints.

Gideon bullies her into returning to their rooms for a meal, and Harrow attempts to explain the revolutionary and seemingly impossible theory behind the test. She is interrupted by an invitation to Abigail Pent and Magnus's anniversary dinner, and Gideon convinces her it would be advantageous to attend and get a read on the other competitors. At the party, they are greeted by the hosts and Harrow makes small talk with Teacher. Gideon is seated between Palamedes and Jeannemary, and opposite Dulcinea.

Restricted from speaking, Gideon takes in the conversations around her until Jeannemary interrupts to ask about her biceps. She downs a herculean amount of dessert and finds herself alone in the company of Dulcinea. Dulcinea speaks in a rather melancholic manner about the state of inter-House relations, but is interrupted by Palamedes and then Harrow before she can make her point. Harrow storms out of the party and straight towards the Facility, having discovered both Abigail and Silas know of the laboratory.

They return to the Facility and work at the Imaging/Response room again. It takes a few tries, but finally, Harrow can manage Gideon's living spirit, and peels back the necromantic theorems animating the construct. Once defeated, the construct reveals a black box containing a key. Victorious, and more than a little in awe of the magnitude of the task they had accomplished, they go to leave the Facility. At the foot of the ladder, they discover the murdered bodies of Magnus Quinn and Abigail Pent.

Act III

Gideon observes the necromancers try to raise the ghosts of Abigail and Magnus from an out-of-the-way spot in the corner. Two hours in, when Harrow faints of exhaustion, she removes her. However, as soon as she wakes, Harrow is back in the mix of things, shadowing Palamedes as he works. When at last they've given up, Silas and Colum descend to try their soul-siphoning magic that creates an odd pull on everyone in the room, not unlike the Imaging/Response test. Dulcinea faints under the stress, and Gideon moves to prop her up as Protesilaus attacks Silas.

Called back upstairs by Teacher, Gideon helps Coronabeth hoist the still siphoned and unmoving Colum back up the ladder. She sips her tea and quietly watches the conference that follows, still bound by her fake vow of silence. As the meeting breaks up, Jeannemary comes to her begging for any information Gideon might have. Breaking her silence, Gideon quietly apologizes—either for not having any information, for her loss, or both. Harrow comes to claim Gideon and announces her intention to investigate their new key.

Gideon recognizes the markings on the key to be the same markings from room X-203, and they find that the key fits. Inside, the room is a combination of a laboratory and a living quarters, where a necromancer and their cavalier could have lived and worked in tandem. On the laboratory side, Harrow discovers a preserved record of the entire theorem of transference, which she copies into her notes. On the living quarter's side, Gideon finds several clues and notes about the room's former occupants.

The girls take a moment to discuss Abigail and Magnus, and Harrow concludes that she and Gideon can no longer afford to operate as strangers. Her abrupt shift in demeanor and attempt at emotional connection alarms Gideon, who immediately seeks distance again. Gideon says Harrow can prove her trustworthiness by letting them sleep before they tackle any more testing rooms. On their way back to their rooms, they pass the Fourth House teens but do not interact with them.

The next morning, Dulcinea waits for Harrow and Gideon in the Facility and proposes a trade: she is too weak to perform the task herself but can share the solution with Harrow if Harrow agrees to share the key. Fearing that she will turn to another necromancer, Harrow agrees. Dulcinea explains that the avulsion test is about the necromancer siphoning thalergy from the cavalier to sustain them as they cross a vicious necromantic field. Harrow is uncomfortable with this taboo magic, but Gideon surprises her by accepting easily. They begin immediately. The siphoning is torture to Gideon, and Dulcinea's encouragement is all that stands between her and death. She loses her vision and begins to suffocate, but Harrow manages to return before either of them dies. Harrow is seemingly angry and immediately takes Gideon back to their rooms.

Gideon awakes the next day in considerable pain and with a number of aggressive notes from Harrow, who has disappeared to investigate the new study. Gideon is instructed to wait in their rooms for the Sixth House to come by and examine her. Harrow has also left some stale bread in a drawer for breakfast. Camilla shows up a little while later and performs a thorough examination of Gideon, pronouncing her healthy, and invites her to a proper breakfast.

In the dining hall, they come across Coronabeth attempting to convince Teacher to give her a Facility hatch key. Palamedes offers to escort Coronabeth to the Facility himself and Coronabeth blatantly bribes him to help her win the same keys as her sister. Palamedes reveals that there is only one key per laboratory chamber, causing panic among Gideon and those necromancers who had not yet realized keys were a limited resource. Coronabeth insists that this means the teams are destined to work together. However, Teacher re-iterates his sermon from the first night in Canaan House—"there is no law." The postulants scatter, Coronabeth to find her sister, Judith to inspect the bodies of Magnus and Abigail for keys, and Gideon to her dinner.

When they finish eating, Palamedes leads the cavaliers to the makeshift mortuary. The Second House is just leaving, angry because they have not found anything. Judith asks Palamedes to join her and help put an end to the competition but he rejects her. The conversation nearly ends in a duel, but Judith folds, and they pass. Inside, Palamedes takes Magnus' ring and a section of his pocket to locate his key ring through psychometry. At Gideon's question, he explains that he had been under the assumption the postulants knew about the limited keys, and now he fears that things in Canaan House are going to get ugly. He is part way through an explanation of the Fifth's injuries when they are interrupted by the sound of Fourth House running away.

The next morning, Gideon wakes to find Harrow sleeping and, unable to rouse her, is left to her own devices. Gideon does not make it far before realizing she is being followed by Isaac. Isaac delivers a message that Jeannemary is asking for Gideon and that someone is dead, before taking off to collect Coronabeth (and by extension Naberius, Marta, and Colum, who were with her). Isaac takes them to the incinerator chimney and a burned pile of ashes and bone. The group studies the ashes and argues as to whether it constitutes anything alarming. Colum proclaims the ashes need a bone magician and leaves to prepare for his upcoming duel with Protesilaus, taking his referee, Naberius, with him. Left with Coronabeth and Gideon, Isaac explains he's been seeing things and Jeannemary says she wanted the two of them so they "could get the warning."

After checking on Harrow, Gideon's eating lunch when Camilla finds her and tells her that Protesilaus never showed up for the duel and that neither he nor Dulcinea are in their rooms. Gideon leads her to the garden terrace and they find Dulcinea, who has fallen and is soaked by the rain. She gives a terrible cough and faints. After Dulcinea is brought to a room in the priest's wing, all of the postulants are accounted for and brought to see the ashes found in the incinerator.

The necromantic discussion of the cremains quickly gives way to an argument over keys. Though Gideon has little interest in the other Houses' power plays, as the conversation devolves into dueling she greatly anticipates the chance to watch Camilla fight. After Camilla and Marta duel, Ianthe challenges the Sixth, and Gideon finally reaches her tolerance for necromancer buffoonery. Harrow comes through for her and nominates Gideon to represent Camilla in the second duel. Jeannemary joins in, challenging Naberius after Gideon, and the duel falls apart. The group disperses as enemies, leaving only Fourth, Sixth, and Ninth.   

Palamedes reveals that he and Camilla have completed every test and kept track of every key, leaving only one unaccounted for. He suggests that they find Protesilaus and work out who is in the incinerator. He deduces that Protesilaus may still be in the Facility, but suggests that it would not be wise to leave Dulcinea unguarded. It is decided that they should split up—Palamedes, Camilla, and Harrow to guard Dulcinea, and Gideon, Isaac, and Jeannemary to the Facility. Harrow comes to give Gideon their set of keys and a warning about working with children. Unexpectedly, Gideon picks her up and hugs her, thanking her sincerely for backing her up and allowing her to take the duel with Naberius. Completely overwhelmed, Harrow tells her not to make it weird and hurries to leave.

Gideon leads the skittish teens down to the Facility in silence. At the door to the hatch, Jeannemary worries that without their key they do not have "permission" and that this endangers them. Isaac disagrees with them on account of Magnus and Abigail being killed regardless of their permission. Gideon attempts to soothe them by recounting her own key-less voyage into the Facility and remarking that the teens have already been down the hatch as part of the investigation. She attempts to herd them down the tunnel, but Isaac and Jeannemary press themselves to the wall terrified. Gideon hurries them along, not eager to linger in the Facility any longer than necessary. As they go, Isaac closes and wards each door with his blood and Jeannemary's spit.    

They walk the cubicles of the sanitiser, calling out for Protesilaus until Isaac stops them. He claims it is not a sound, but rather something he is feeling. Finding nothing, they leave. Just as they are connecting back with the main passage, the lights turn off and then back on revealing the message: "Death to the Fourth House." Isaac bursts into a blaze of necrolight and charges the massive construct that has appeared in front of them. Isaac burns brightly, and then dozens of bone teeth spear through him, killing him. Gideon runs through the field of bones and drags Jeannemary away and up the hatch.   

Badly cut and with an armful of sobbing teen necromancer, Gideon makes the executive decision to rest in room X-203. She calms Jeannemary as best she can, and sets her on one of the beds in the room. They talk briefly, but Jeannemary quickly cries herself to sleep. Gideon herself drifts off for a minute and wakes to find huge spears of bone pinning a now-dead Jeannemary to her bed. On the wall was another message: "Sweet Dreams."   

Act IV

Gideon is found in X-203, still grieving with the body of Jeannemary. Jeannemary and Isaac are taken away, presumably by Palamedes and Camilla, and Gideon's wounds are tended to. She finds herself in Dulcinea's room, who gently pries into Gideon's past. She guesses that Gideon had never taken true cavalier's vows, and Gideon admits it freely calling herself the "fakest-ass cavalier who ever faked." Dulcinea disagrees, saying she's worthy of being a Lyctor. Palamedes interrupts to finish tending her wounds, and Gideon storms out. On her way back to her rooms, she bumps into Silas, who calls her Gideon "Nav" and claims to have spoken to Sister Glaurica. He claims she is a victim of Ninth House and invites Gideon to tea, which she refuses.

Gideon, Harrow, Palamedes, and Camilla regroup in the Sixth House rooms and negotiate a trade of information: Harrow will give Palamedes her map of Canaan House and helps him pick the lock to a Lyctor study, and he will let her look at all of his notes. The lock is jammed with regenerating ash and Harrow lacks the power to undo it. At Gideon's offer, she siphons her. It works, but Palamedes rebukes her for unethical necromancy.

Lacking the key, they turn to leave and Palamedes asks Gideon to keep an eye on Dulcinea. In response, Harrow bans Gideon from seeing Dulcinea again. Harrow claims Gideon should stick with her house, while Gideon claims Dulcinea has been more of a friend to her than Harrow ever was. Harrow says that she does not need anyone's help to ascend to Lyctor, but refuses to release Gideon from her service. The two girls part on worse terms than when they were on Ninth House.

Following the argument, Gideon decides to accept Silas's invitation to tea. Colum greets her, ensures that she is alone, and asks her to disarm. Gideon protests, but he swears that she will not be hurt. Inside, Silas explains that he has spoken with the revenant of Sister Glaurica and learned that the Reverend Mother and Father had arranged for the deaths of the two hundred Ninth House children that died in "the creche flu." Gideon is resistant to his information and defends Harrow—thinking him off base—but is confused by the depth of his knowledge on Ninth House affairs.

At the close of the conversation, Silas asks for Gideon's Facility keys. He threatens her, challenging her to a duel and refusing to allow her her weapons. Colum corrects his necromancer, stating that he has given her his word she would not be harmed. Silas insists that the Ninth House is corrupt and oaths with the House do not matter, but Colum refuses and ends up nearly shouting as his uncle. In Silas's stunned silence, Colum shepherds Gideon out of their rooms and returns her weapons to her.

Confused, Gideon takes to wandering Canaan House and stumbles upon Teacher in the Atrium. He is lost in his thoughts, talking about his hatred for water, so she leaves him and continues on to the training room. There, Coronabeth is training with a rapier and knife and mentions that she has always wanted to challenge Gideon. They fight briefly before Naberius appears, terrified, and puts an end to it. The moment turns personal and Gideon drifts away again. She walks herself back to her rooms and finds them empty. Seeking some sort of retribution, Gideon goes to Harrow's wardrobe to cause trouble and unearths the decapitated head of Protesilaus. Horrified, Gideon goes to Palamedes.

Palamedes brings her tea and talks her through her crisis of faith. Gideon explains the story of Harrow opening the Locked Tomb and the subsequent suicide of her Mother, Father, and Mortus the Ninth. Despite the grisly story, Palamedes attempts to convince Gideon that she is not responsible for their deaths. She gives him the scrap of a note she found in X-203, but they are interrupted by a knock at the door. Harrow, in handcuffs, enters, and she and Palamedes have a short conversation that Gideon does not follow and decide to gather everyone, enemies included, in Dulcinea's room.

Palamedes proposes to the group that Protesilaus has been dead the whole time and has been reanimated by flesh magic called the beguiling corpse—which Dulcinea confirms. She claims her house intended to send her with a living Protesilaus, but that he had had an accident and died. The necromancers debate the morality of the beguiling corpse, but Colum interrupts to ask about the bodies in the incinerator. Harrow tries to claim carrion rights over Protesilaus' body, which would allow her to scrutinize the bones without an audience but is denied. Dulcinea's illness flares and Palamedes and Camilla help tend to her and get her comfortable again. Harrow follows Third House out and is in turn followed by Gideon.

Harrow asks Gideon to follow her and leads her down to the pool room. Setting skeletons at the doors and around the pool, she proclaims that it is time to tell Gideon everything. They strip their outer robes and get in the pool, and Harrow tells Gideon the whole truth about Ninth House, the creche flu, her birth, and the Locked Tomb. Gideon apologizes to her, does a ritual drowning of Harrow, and afterward, they affirm their vows of one flesh, one end. Harrow explains her experience in the Locked Tomb and the girl she saw inside. She makes Gideon promise that if she (Harrow) dies, Gideon must return to the Ninth and continue to guard the tomb. They talk all evening and eventually go to bed with Gideon in her proper place on the cavalier's bed.

The next day, Gideon, Harrow, Camilla, and Palamedes go to a Lyctor study that neither of them has the key for and Harrow uses Palamedes psychometric perception of the key to build a copy out of bone. Inside, they find a mess of a room. Harrow goes for the theorem notes, but Palamedes and Camilla take their time examining the other objects in the study. Camilla discovers a binder full of photos, including one of Teacher. Their investigation is cut short by the fire alarm.

They all leave immediately, finding broken skeleton servants slumped in the hall. They check on Dulcinea and find one of the priests who were serving her broken as well. She tells them Teacher went to close a door and hasn't yet returned. They find a pile-up of bones leading into a room that contains Judith Deuteros and the bodies of Teacher and Marta Dyas. She describes a fight with Teacher over access to the communication devices gone wrong but confirms that she sent an S.O.S. to the Emperor. Palamedes informs her that he cannot help her, and she asks to be left where she is with a sword.

The group returns to find Silas and Colum waiting outside Dulcinea's rooms. Silas reports that Third House has defiled the corpse of Abigail. They investigate the body and Palamedes discovers that a key was hidden inside of Abigail, which Third House now has in their possession. Together, Ninth, Sixth, and Eighth House go to find them. They reach the Lyctor study to discover Corona sobbing, Naberius dead, and Ianthe a newly-born Lyctor. She explains that she has reverse-engineered the entire Lyctoral process from the tests in the Facility, killed her cavalier, and consumed his soul to ascend. Silas takes great moral offense to her actions and sentences Ianthe to death.

For much of the fight Gideon (and the others) simply stand back and watch, knowing they are no match for Ianthe. However, when Colum, mid-siphon, is possessed by some creature and kills Silas, Gideon steps in. Up close, she can see Colum's face is a terror—his eyes replaced with teeth and tongues. She attempts to fight him, but his tongue wraps around her neck strangling her. Ianthe appears and kills him, freeing Gideon, before stepping back into a puddle of viscera and disappears. The remaining group leaves Coronabeth with the corpses of Naberius, Silas, and Colum.

In the hall, Camilla realizes they've lost Palamedes. She reveals Palamedes romantic history with Dulcinea and Gideon is crushed with guilt. Gideon asks Harrow to fetch her double-handed sword and Camilla to watch after Harrow, and then runs after him. He makes it all the way to the door of Dulcinea's room before Gideon catches up with him. Before she can say anything, he pins her in place with his necromancy—holding her whole body still and locking her mouth closed.

He confronts Dulcinea wanting the answers to two questions: "Why the Fifth?", and "Where is she?" Gideon does not understand much of the conversation taking place between the necromancers, but it slowly becomes clear that the woman in the room has been impersonating Dulcinea Septimus. When it is revealed that Dulcinea is weeks dead and burned in the incinerator, Palamedes kills himself in a brilliant necromantic explosion to push her illness past the point of equilibrium. Gideon, suddenly released, runs until she collapses in grief.

Dulcinea emerges from the rubble—burned and injured—and introduces herself as Cytherea the First. She launches herself at Gideon, but Camilla appears and fights her back. Cytherea only barely manages the onslaught, before Harrow appears and buries her in bone. Cytherea summons the construct that killed Isaac, and the fight turns necromantic. Gideon and Harrow launch into battle as a team, finally perfectly in sync. Camilla fights around them, darting in and out of sight. Harrow is winding up to attack when Cytherea, now healed, attacks Gideon directly. Gideon fights her back and she disappears again. Harrow directs Gideon's strikes against the construct, and after each attack, she plugs the hole with perpetual bone. Exhausted, Harrow passes out.

Dragging Harrow, Gideon yells warnings to Camilla. Cytherea pins Camilla to the floor with bone spears and nearly kills her before Ianthe reappears. As the Lyctors fight, Gideon carries Harrow over to Camilla and frees her. As the room begins to crumble, the three of them stumble outside. Facing Ianthe, Cytherea's wounds begin to return. Ianthe seems on the precipice of victory when Cytherea grabs at her throat and siphons her, healing herself completely. Cytherea amputates Ianthe's right arm. Camilla throws a knife, spearing Cytherea in a lump on her back but Cytherea simply siphons and heals again. Gideon fights Cytherea but is hopelessly outmatched—even with a direct hit, Gideon can't wound her.

Harrow comes to and sends skeletons after Cytherea, who in turn summons the construct. Harrow builds a shield of bone around the three of them, but she can't hold it. Gideon begs her to siphon, but after Colum's monstrous death she refuses. Harrow begins making a plan, but Gideon refuses outright as it would result in Harrow's death. They share a tender moment, and Gideon makes her decision. She turns and falls on the spikes of the fence, killing herself and offering her soul to make Harrow a Lyctor capable of defeating Cytherea.

Harrow the Ninth

Nine Months and Twenty-Nine Days Before the Emperor's Murder

"Living inside you—if I start I'll never stop, so we have to move on—was like living in a well, and every time I bobbed to the surface I kind of got clotheslined back down to the bottom."

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, with the help of Ianthe Tridentarius, performs brain surgery on herself to remove her ability to conceive of Gideon and halt the absorption and incorporation of her soul as part of the Lyctoral process. Her surgery, though experimental and brutal, works and effectively compartmentalizes Gideon's soul within Harrow's body. Deep in Harrow's brain, Gideon lives undetected—similarly to the cavalier Pyrrha Dve and Gideon the First.

Two Months Before the Emperor's Murder

As Harrowhark and Palamedes Sextus fight off the invasive soul of Commander Wake in Palamedes's "bubble" in the River, they knock heads and Palamedes gets a glimpse of Gideon within her mind.

The Night Before the Emperor's Murder

After being stabbed through abdomen with her own rapier, Harrowhark sinks full into the River and Gideon comes awake in her body. She stands up and pushes the rapier backwards out of Harrow's body. Finally able to access the Lyctoral healing process, Harrow's body heals instantly. Gideon picks up Harrow's rapier and takes stock of the world around her. The halls of Mithraeum are dark and hot, with the alarm blaring. A Herald of the Seventh Resurrection Beast stumbles into the hall and Gideon struggles to get used to her new, weakened body as she fights it. Using the vague knowledge garnered from living inside Harrow's brain, she stumbles through the Mithraeum and finally kills the Herald. Gideon spots herself in a mirror and notices her eyes and expression on Harrow's face. She attempts to call Harrow back to her body with a number of insulting statements, but is interrupted by more Heralds.

Gideon continues to struggle fight in Harrow's body as she is limited by her physical weakness and lack of muscle. The Heralds rip at her—stinging her through the side, biting off her thumb, and fracturing her skull—but Harrow's new Lyctor healing holds up. Defeating the current hoard, Gideon heads out into the corridor to find the source of nearby screaming and finds Mercymorn dispatching a Herald. When Mercy turns, she looks at Gideon in horror. She mistakes Gideon for someone else, and then realizes what has happened. She starts speaking "incoherent spew" admitting to being the one to murder Harrow and talking about Gideon's corpse, the commander, "the Ninth House operation," and Gideon the First before stopping and changing tone. She claims that Gideon is proof the Emperor lied and that "Cytherea would have known as soon as she looked at [Gideon]."

Mercymorn attempts to kill Gideon, slicing her open with her rapier, but Harrow's body heals. They fight, but Mercy easily overtakes Gideon who is still unused to Harrow's body. She trips Gideon with her net and is preparing to finish her when Cytherea comes into the room and shoots her, exploding Mercymorns chest. Before Gideon can decide on what to say, Cytherea walks out again. Gideon runs into the hall to follow her, but can't see where she's gone. She follows a trail of dead and dying Heralds down the hall to the kitchen where she meets Ianthe.

Furious at Ianthe's treatment of Harrow, Gideon immediately challenges her. Refusing to fight her, Ianthe fills Gideon in on the fight she's missed and Gideon likewise explains that Mercymorn was the one to kill Harrow. Interrupted by the sound of more Heralds, they run out to the hall to see that Augustine has already taken care of the issue. Augustine starts to give instructions before noticing Harrow's new eyes and running out of the room. Ianthe takes Gideon back to her room and gives her Harrow's letter.

Raw and angry from the Harrow's refusal to accept her sacrifice, Gideon again challenges Ianthe's claim on Harrow. Ianthe tries to claim that Harrow could never have loved her because she erased, and Gideon quickly corrects her. She explains that she has always known Harrow couldn't love her because she was already in love with the corpse in the Locked Tomb. Gideon warns Ianthe to stay away from Harrow, but Ianthe insists that as Lyctors "the centuries will entangle [them] whether she wants them to or not." Ianthe ends the conversation and makes to take Gideon to the Emperor.

Thirty Minutes Before the Emperor's Murder

Ianthe and Gideon approach the Emperor's chambers and find the doors open. Sneaking into the foyer and hiding behind a coat rack, they spy through the next door into the main room. There they see the corpse of Cytherea, who now calls herself Commander Awake Remembrance of These Valiant Dead Kia Hua Ko Te Pai Snap Back to Reality Oops There Goes Gravity, attempting to interrogate the Emperor and charge him with "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the human race." The Emperor interrogates her in return, demanding to know her mission and her business on Ninth House. They argue about necromancy and talk of dead children and bombs before Mercymorn and Augustine stride in.

Mercymorn and Augustine both appeal to the Emperor to come clean, saying "It's over, John. It's all come out ... it took ten thousand years, but it's all come out." The Emperor asks if he is in trouble, and then directs their attention to Cytherea's body and introduces his Lyctors to Commander Wake. Mercymorn and Augustine draw their rapiers and the Emperor, puzzled that they have met, asks for clarification. Wake claims that Mercymorn and Augustine were working for her, which the Lyctors deny. The Lyctors and Wake argue over the details of the plan and whatever went wrong, but no one speaking clearly enough what Gideon or the Emperor to understand exactly what they are talking about.

The Emperor silences them with a burst of necromancy. He again asks what Wake was doing on Ninth House and she explains that she was going to break into the Locked Tomb. Wake explains that she came armed with a baby that she had birthed herself, much to Augustine's horror, after Mercymorn's dummies and ova had died. The Emperor is explain exactly how the plan would not have succeeded when Gideon the First walks into the foyer, steals Gideon Nav's sunglasses, and walks into the Emperor's rooms. Gideon the First walks up to Wake and shoots her in the head. The Emperor protests, but her ghost is already gone. At Augustine's question, he shares that the Number Seven has fled.

The Emperor sits, and asks Gideon if he was aware that Wake was pregnant. He confirms he was and explains, to the horror of everyone, that he thought that it was his child. The Emperor insists that the plan would still not work, and Augustine and Mercymorn fill him in on Dios apate, major—their plan to steal his genetic material and create a child capable of opening the Locked Tomb. The Emperor asks if Wake and baby died on entry, and Gideon walks into the room and announces herself.

With Gideon in the flesh, the Emperor understands why his Lyctors are so upset. They argue over Alecto and how monstrous she was, and Mercymorn presses for the truth of what happened to her and how she was killed. The Emperor admits that he did not kill her, just "switched her off." Mercymorn and Augustine explain that what united them years ago was the realization that The Emperor had not killed Alecto, and what Gideon has caused them to realize that is that she was his cavalier and perfect Lyctorhood was possible. Ianthe decides to join them in the room, but says nothing.

As Mercymorn presses for any sign of regret for having killed all of their cavaliers, Augustine asks about Anastasia's failed attempt at Lyctorhood. The Emperor admits that she had nearly cracked it, but claims she had still made a mistake. Augustine asks the Emperor to put an end to his mission, but he refuses. Mercymorn promises that she will forgive him if he will do one thing: look her in the eyes and tell her he loved Cristabel, her cavalier. As he does so, she reaches inside of him and rends him into dust with her necromancy.

Mercymorn and Augustine explain that with the Emperor dead the Nine Houses will be dead and gone within three hours with no hope to save their inhabitants. Mercymorn expresses the desire to commit suicide, but Augustine refuses her saying that they have to go after the remaining Resurrection Beasts, sue for peace with Blood of Eden, and find a place for the remaining inhabitants of the Empire. Augustine asks Gideon the First if he will make any move against them, but Gideon the First does not have time to fully respond before the Emperor reforms and murders Mercymorn.

The Emperor asks each of his Lyctors if they will be loyal to him. Gideon the First and Ianthe answer in the affirmative and are spared. Gideon Nav is spared from answering due to the extenuating circumstances of being his daughter and being in Harrow's body, but tossed across the room and bound by his necromancy. Augustine answers in the negative, but before he can be killed Augustine drops the Mithraeum into the barathron River. The Emperor, Augustine, and Ianthe dive in while Gideon the First takes Gideon Nav into his arms and pulls her back into the corridors of the Mithraeum.

The two Gideons watch as Augustine and the Emperor battle as they sink into the River, followed at a distance by Ianthe. Gideon Nav asks if Gideon the First is going to do something, and Gideon the First reveals herself to be Pyrrha Dve, Gideon's cavalier. She tells Gideon Nav how Gideon the First died fighting Number Seven with Matthias Nonius, Ortus Nigenad, Protesilaus Ebdoma, and Marta Dyas (though she does not know their names). They watch as Augustine pushes The Emperor towards the stoma. As they fight, the Mithraeum slips into the current and begins being dragged down to the stoma as well.

Gideon breaks a plex window with her sword, sweeping her and Pyrrha out into the River. They watch as Ianthe darts down and frees the Emperor, dooming Augustine to the stoma and whatever lies beyond. The pressure of the River crushes Gideon and as she dies again, she see the figure of the Body come toward her and someone begins to give her chest compressions.

As Yet Unsent

"The corpse has still failed to rot."

When Blood of Eden captures the three survivors (Judith Deuteros, Camilla Hect, and Coronabeth Tridentarius) at Canaan House, Camilla convinces them to take the corpse of Gideon Nav as well. Judith writes that Camilla never fully explained herself for this action, only vaguely mentioning a note. Five months into their captivity, the corpse remains unchanged. When questioned about this by BOE, Judith confirms that she cannot detect any necromantic means for the preservation of the corpse. BOE conducts experiments on the corpse, including dropping it in rivers, exposing it to various fluctuating temperatures, and encouraging scavengers to feed on the body. Camilla reports to Judith that the animals refuse to touch it.

The corpse is visited by an unnamed Lyctor. This is likely Mercymorn, who later tells Gideon (in Harrow’s body): “When they showed me your corpse I didn’t think to check the eyes.” After the Lyctor's visit, BOE ends the experiments on the corpse, and Judith sees the corpse brought back from the forest and placed atop a plex table in an unzipped canvas bag. Judith does not know what will become of the body. It is still in pristine condition, and she notes that the corpse has become an object of weird superstition amongst the Edenites.

Nona the Ninth

Before Day One

“We lost people. Ships. Something very important.”

The Emperor orders an attack on Blood of Eden, during which the Cohort retrieves Gideon’s body. John reanimates Gideon’s corpse and brings her back as a revenant. He instates her as his heir, promotes her to First Lieutenant in the Cohort, and renames her Kiriona Gaia.

During her time with the Emperor, Kiriona builds a friendly, if tenuous, relationship with Ianthe Tridentarius. Together they are discharged to fight the infestation of devils on Antioch, a planet in the Emperor’s stewardship.

Meanwhile, Harrow’s body, inhabited by an amnesiac soul named Nona, is left in the care of Camilla Hect, Pyrrha Dve, and Palamedes Sextus. Nona’s caretakers speculate that her soul might belong to either Gideon or Harrow (or some combination of the two).

Day Three (Three Days Until the Tomb Opens)

The Nine Houses government announces a broadcast in the city where Nona lives. The broadcast marks the first contact with New Rho since Varun, the Seventh Resurrection Beast, appeared in the sky and the Cohort pulled its troops out of the barracks. At the start of the broadcast, Prince Ianthe Naberius (Ianthe the First occupying the corpse of Naberius Tern) outlines the terms and conditions of the Emperor’s revised agreement with the people of New Rho. Following this recitation, Ianthe indicates for the camera to zoom out, revealing another person. This second person is lifeless, expressionless, uninterested, and has red hair and waxy, pallid skin. Nona notes that the girl doesn’t seem to be breathing, and she doesn’t move or speak in any way. Ianthe introduces her as “Her Most Serene Highness, Crown Prince Kiriona Gaia, heir to the First House, the Emperor’s only daughter.” Nona recognizes her as the girl from her dreams, whom we now know is Gideon Nav.

Day Five (Twenty-Four Hours Until the Tomb Opens)

When Blood of Eden (BOE) sends in Crown to negotiate with Prince Ianthe, Pyrrha Dve uses codewords to communicate with Camilla and Nona. By using the words “deadweight” and “fishhook,” Pyrrha tells them to fall in and help her retrieve an important resource. With this knowledge, Palamedes negotiates with the BOE leader, We Suffer, for the location of the Sixth House Oversight Body, in exchange for Gideon Nav’s body, which Pyrrha claims only Nona can retrieve.

After Camilla Hect fights Ianthe in a physical duel and Palamedes Sextus defeats Ianthe in a mental duel, Palamedes takes control of Naberius’s corpse and uses necromancy to locate Gideon’s corpse. The body is hidden behind a blood ward, so Pyrrha uses Nona’s regeneration ability to wear down the ward and break through. While Pyrrha works on deactivating any other wards, Nona finds the room where Gideon’s body is being kept. Upon seeing the corpse on the bed, Nona tries to touch her, but the corpse opens her golden eyes. Nona kisses the corpse on the mouth, though the body is mostly unresponsive.

When Pyrrha enters the room, the corpse has gone still and her eyes are shut. Pyrrha carries the corpse back upstairs to Camilla and Palamedes. When Palamedes attempts to necromantically examine the body, he is put off by the Emperor’s aggressive necromantic energy, which is active in the corpse. Palamedes wards the body to prevent Ianthe from transferring into it, but when he attempts to draw blood from the corpse, Gideon moves suddenly to stop him and begins speaking, in true Gideon style. She confirms that her father, John Gais, brought her back as a revenant and renamed her Kiriona, but she is more used to being called 'Gideon'.

Kiriona/Gideon claims that she’s been playing dead and that God made her body impenetrable and indestructible. When she had appeared on the broadcast, Ianthe had used necromancy to keep her immobile so Kiriona wouldn't interrupt. She claims to have snuck aboard Ianthe’s ship to New Rho, mostly because she was bored, and demands to be included in the trip to the Ninth House because she feels like she has "unfinished business".

Nona, with her uncanny ability to read people’s body language, exposes Kiriona/Gideon as hiding her true intentions, noting that she has “never seen anyone so sad in her whole short life.”

When the group leaves the Cohort barracks to return to BOE, Kiriona plays dead again. Commander We Suffer is uneasy about the corpses of the Tower Princes, and demands Gideon’s body to be transported in a different truck than Nona. Camilla agrees to separate from the group and ride with Kiriona, while BOE operative Pash is put off by the corpse and opts to ride in Nona’s truck instead. While the trucks are en route to the location where the Sixth House is being held, Varun the Resurrection Beast begins sending heralds onto the planet. Nona fights with Varun (manifesting in the body of Judith Deuteros) and passes out from the effort. When she wakes up, she panics until Kiriona calms her down. They are alone in the back of a stationary truck in a deep tunnel. After looking at Nona for a long time, Kiriona asks “Where is she?” Nona can’t answer, and Kiriona continues to push but is interrupted by Pyrrha who came to collect Nona. After Palamedes and Camilla convey their intention to become a Lyctor, Pyrrha and Nona return to the truck and Kiriona, and the three of them watch as Camilla's body erupts into flames. After the fire dies, the Lyctor that emerges from the flames is neither Camilla nor Palamedes, but a new person named Paul. Kiriona moves to help them, but restrains herself.

Paul readies the Sixth House Oversight Body to travel to the Ninth House in a BOE megatruck. After Pash and the Messenger invite themselves onboard as well, Paul, Pyrrha, and Nona walk to the cockpit, where Kiriona is waiting. She is unresponsive to Pyrrha’s greeting, and Nona notes that she has been particularly withdrawn since Paul’s ascension. The group, now including Crown and Judith Deuteros, receives final orders from Commander We Suffer, then Paul directs the megatruck into the River. After a rough ride through the River, they arrive at the Ninth House.

Kiriona disembarks into the arctic air of the Ninth and says “Home, sweet home.” After informing the group that they’ve made it to the shuttle field on the top tier, Kiriona hears something suspicious, then walks into the shadows of the Ninth House, ordering the others to keep up. Paul decides to leave the Sixth House Oversight Body in the megatruck with Aim, Pash, Crown, and Judith. Pyrrha—carrying Nona’s failing body—and Paul quickly follow Kiriona. When they catch up, they find Kiriona with her sword drawn and bloody, surrounded by several bodies and an injured Marshal Crux. Paul attempts to help Crux, but Kiriona tells them it’s no use and reveals the face of one of the bodies. According to Kiriona, the bodies and Crux have been irreversibly infected with what the Emperor has labeled devils. The corpse prince panics a bit at their presence and wants to hunt down the rest of them, but Pyrrha reminds her that they need to get to the Tomb.

The group takes the elevator down to a lower level, Crux and Kiriona exchanging insults the whole while. Crux briefs them on the dire situation in the Ninth, and Kiriona tries and fails to hide her attachment to the place, saying incredulously, “If you’re using Sister Canance as a last line of defence, how bad off are w—you?” Kiriona leads them to the Anastasian monument, where she convinces Aiglamene to let them in. Her reunion with Aiglamene is stilted, but Aiglamene clearly blames Harrow for Gideon’s death. Kiriona stops her from accusing Nona of anything, saying “It’s not her Captain—it’s only her body.”

After Paul attempts to decelerate Nona’s rapid deterioration, the group, now including Aiglamene and Crux, walk to the entrance of the Tomb, where Ianthe is waiting for them. Ianthe traps their feet in a mixture of adipose fat and mucus membrane, rendering them immobile. Kiriona is dismayed that Ianthe arrived before them, but quickly informs Ianthe that she brought Coronabeth with them. With this show of camaraderie, Nona realizes that Ianthe and Kiriona are wearing matching friendship bracelets. Ianthe pulls Kiriona out of the muck. After some friendly jibes, Kiriona turns on Ianthe, draws her sword, and announces that it’s time to open the Tomb. Ianthe argues, but Kiriona claims to be acting on the Emperor’s orders to kill Alecto. Ianthe yells that Kiriona will be unable to kill her, and Alecto will reunite with John, which is a disagreeable outcome. Ianthe’s admission that “John loves Alecto” dissolves the last barrier in Nona’s head between her current self and her soul—Alecto’s soul. With this realization, Nona’s body begins to fall apart. Kiriona rushes to her side, ordering Harrow to keep it together, wherever she is. Pyrrha disables Ianthe with a Herald bullet, then she and Kiriona carry Nona into the antechamber of the Tomb. To get past the blood ward at the entrance of the Tomb, they need Gideon’s blood and a thanergy burst. Kiriona urgently offers her blood, then volunteers to die for the thanergy burst. But since she’d already died, her death wouldn’t open the Tomb. Pyrrha, Aiglamene, and Crux all volunteer to be the sacrifice, and Kiriona offers to kill Crux, snarling “I’ve wanted to do this for years.” Kiriona takes a moment to tell Crux that every time he mistreated her, he was mistreating the Emperor’s child. Crux remains unrepentant, and Kiriona kills him, opening the Tomb. In the wake of Crux’s death, Kiriona begins to hysterically repeat the phrase “It didn’t feel good. Why didn’t it feel good?”

When Nona reaches The Body, Harrow and Alecto’s souls revert to their original bodies. Alecto wakes and breaks her chains. Remembering her vows to Anastasia, Alecto offers her service to Harrowhark. From across the saltwater moat, Alecto hears Gideon yell, “Get in line, thou big slut.”

Appearance and Personality

Appearance

"Gideon's eyes, as they always did, startled her: their deep, chromatic amber, the startling hot gold of freshly-brewed tea."

Gideon is muscular with short red hair. She has a decided chin, a wide flat nose, and a big crooked mouth with a dimple. Her gold eyes are particularly distinctive. At certain points, Cytherea and Mercymorn both comment on the genetics behind Gideon's eye color, saying that Gideon's eyes are "lipochrome... recessive". Gideon's hands are calloused from her work with her longsword and rapier. Her attire as the Ninth House cavalier includes a big, black, hooded robe and black and white face paint resembling a skeleton. She carries a black rapier.

When Gideon becomes Kiriona Gaia, she has the same features as her live body, but her warm brown skin is described as waxy and pallid, with discoloration around her nostrils and mouth. Kiriona’s Tower Prince uniform includes spotlessly white trousers, a matching jacket with silver frogging and toggles, and brown boots. In her hair, she wears a wreath of fingerbones and white blossoms. She carries her sword in a jeweled scabbard, and wears a colorful friendship bracelet on her wrist. At her neck, she wears a blue neckerchief which hides a gaping wound in her neck. There’s also a big purple bloodless puncture wound in her chest. It is lined with little white teeth. When asked why the Emperor did not heal her fatal wounds, Kiriona only replies, “Those are my speed holes. They help me go fast.”

Personality

Gideon is hard-headed and witty, and cares deeply about people although she usually tries not to show it. She often makes dirty jokes and laughs at them when one one else finds them funny.

Powers & Abilities

• Physical Strength: As a result of regular, extensive training, Gideon is unusually strong—even for a cavalier.
• Swordsman: Training for a decade under Aiglamene, Gideon is an excellent swordsman. Her talent (and preference) lies with her two-handed sword, however she is also proficient with the rapier and knuckle knives.
• Revenant Abilities: As Kiriona Gaia, Gideon had a number of supernatural abilities.
  • Superhuman Durability: Kiriona described herself as having "bones stronger than titanium plex" and skin that could turn away bullets. A needle that intended to take some of her blood snapped upon touching her.
  • Superhuman Speed: Kiriona is significantly faster than she was as Gideon (mainly due to her "speed holes") and was able to use this ability in tandem with her significant strength to quickly and easily defeat enemies.
  • Ashen Blood: Kiriona's blood quickly turned to ash when separated from her body.
  • Dead Physiology: Kiriona did not need to breathe and appeared to be nothing but a corpse when not moving.

Possessions

• Two-Handed Sword: Gideon's sword, a 6' steel two-handed sword, was given to her by Ninth House at the request of Aiglamene. Since her death, Harrow has kept the sword washed in arterial blood and covered in a sheath of bone.
• Cavalier's Rapier: Reforged from Ortus Nigenad's great-great grandmother's sword, Gideon's rapier is plain black metal with an equally plain black guard and hilt.
• Knuckle Knives: Gideon's knuckles are obsidian and steel, with three fixed blades protruding from the back.
• Sunglasses: Gideon's sunglasses are mirrored, smoked glass lenses in thin black frames. Originally used to protect her eyes on First House, which receives significantly more sun than Ninth House, they have become her signature look. Harrow inherited them and kept them safe after her death.
• Security Cuff: Throughout her time as serf to the Ninth House, Gideon was required to wear a security cuff on her ankle. It was removed before her departure to First House.

Relationships

Harrowhark Nonagesimus

“They set elaborate traps, sieges, and assaults, and grew up in each other’s pockets, even if it was generally while trying to grievously injure the other one.”

As the only two children on the Ninth House, Gideon and Harrow constantly vie for each other’s attention. Despite her hatred of the House she is indentured to, young Gideon is “hungry for the Reverend Daughter’s preoccupation.” By the time Gideon is an adult, she is still in the grips of this rivalry. Her dreams of winning glory as a soldier in the Cohort are inseparable from her fantasies that Harrow might be impressed with Gideon’s heroics. With this motivating factor, Gideon makes eighty-six escape attempts, the majority of which Harrowhark is instrumental in foiling, often violently. On her eighty-seven attempt, Gideon gambles for one last morsel of Harrow’s attention by accepting Harrow’s offer of a duel. She loses, becoming Harrow’s cavalier instead, and Harrow returns to being a symbol of every ounce of stifling control that the Ninth House has held over Gideon’s head.

“Gideon the Ninth, who would have paid cash to be called absolutely anything else, rose as her mistress rose. They exchanged glances that even through one layer of veiling and one layer of tinted glasses were violently hostile, but there was too much going on to stand and pull go-to-hell faces at each other.”

At Canaan House, Gideon chafes against Harrow’s commands, but dutifully complies with them, painting her face, speaking to no one, and generally maintaining the Ninth’s reputation. Harrow disappears into the maze of Canaan House for long periods of time, and the pair only communicate through notes. Though she is loath to admit it, Gideon is lonely, considering it a “stinging slap in the face that she [doesn’t] even have Harrow.” Perhaps this is why, when Harrowhark does not return to their quarters for two nights in a row, Gideon goes looking for her. Her search swings between anger and exasperation up until the moment Palamedes suggests Harrow may actually be in real danger. Gideon instinctively moves to help Harrow, nearly breaking her wrists trying to open the Facility hatch, and breaking her false vow of silence to demand the Sixth’s help.

“I am your creature, gloom mistress. I serve you with fidelity as big as a mountain, penumbral lady.”

After retrieving Harrowhark’s unconscious body from the Facility and carrying her back to the Ninth quarters, Gideon demands to be included in Harrow's life and confidence, refusing to be set aside. Harrow agrees, and despite maintaining the charade of strangers and enemies, the two begin to build trust in the face of an impossible and dangerous task. After their success in the winnowing challenge and the horror of the Fifth’s deaths, Gideon comes to the horrifying realization that she and Harrow are becoming friends.

"Why?"
"Probably because you asked."
“That’s all it takes, Griddle? That’s all you demand? This is the complex mystery that lies in the pit of your psyche?”
“That’s all I ever demanded.”

Again and again, Gideon willingly submits herself to misery at Harrow’s request. Even after the siphoning challenge nearly kills her, Gideon remains devoted to Harrow. She agrees readily when Harrow sends her on the ill-fated journey into the Facility with the Fourth, then offers herself up to more misery by allowing Harrow to siphon her again. Then, Harrow—deeply suspicious of the other Houses and paranoid about the mounting death toll—stops asking, and returns to her habit of ordering Gideon around without explanation. In one fell swoop, Gideon learns of all of Harrow’s other betrayals: the Reverend Mother and Father’s complicity in the Ninth House creche flu massacre, the bombing of the escape shuttle intended for Gideon, and, most disturbing, the head of Protesilaus the Seventh.

“In the end her job was surprisingly easy: she wrapped her arms around Harrowhark Nonagesimus and held her long and hard, like a scream. They both went into the water, and the world went dark and salty.”

Despite Gideon’s murderous intentions for her traitorous adept, she obeys when Harrow asks her to get into the training pool. As Harrow explains her family’s tradition of disclosing secrets only in the safety of saltwater, Gideon realizes that Harrow is finally putting all of her trust in Gideon. Harrowhark explains everything: her suspicions of the Seventh, her failed attempt to protect Gideon and the Fourth House kids by sending them away, her reluctance to disturb the fragile friendship blooming between her and Gideon, and the horrible truth of her birth. The Ninth House genocide from which Harrowhark and Gideon both unnaturally emerged. She confesses her suicidal intention in opening the Tomb and absolves Gideon of her parents’ deaths. Once Gideon has heard all of her necromancer’s saltwater confessions—once she realizes the horrors of Harrowhark’s childhood—she apologizes. Where Harrow expects disgust, Gideon offers her only forgiveness and tenderness. She embraces Harrow, and pledges herself once more to her necromancer. Harrowhark asks one more thing of her—to promise to protect the Locked Tomb in the event of Harrow’s demise. They emerge from the saltwater changed—less inhibited, but more careful of each other. They are finally the bonded cavalier-necromancer pair that they have been pretending to be.

“Harrow, I can’t keep my promise, because the entire point of me is you. You get that, right? That’s what cavaliers sign up for. There is no me without you. One flesh, one end.”

As the events at Canaan House come to a head—Ianthe becoming a Lyctor and Cytherea launching her full attack—Gideon and Harrowhark act as one. As they fight Cytherea’s monster construct, they move in harmony, each intimately aware of the other’s blind spots and weaknesses. Yet despite their best efforts, Cytherea overpowers them. Desperate to save her necromancer, Gideon, who has already given Harrow her whole life, gives Harrow her death as well, sacrificing herself for Harrow’s lyctoral ascension.

Aiglamene

Gideon describes her relationship with Aiglamene as:

"Nobody had ever loved her in the House of the Ninth, and certainly Aiglamene did not love her and would have laughed herself to her overdue death at the idea: but in her had been a measure of tolerance, a willingness to loosen the leash and see what Gideon could do with free rein. Gideon loved free rein."

The two have a simple mentorship, but Aiglamene is the closest thing to family that Gideon has within the Ninth House. However limited Aiglamene's support may be in actuality, she is the only person in Gideon's corner on the Ninth Planet, and for many years that was enough to win her Gideon's respect. Aiglamene attempts to teach Gideon a number of lessons on obedience and respect that Gideon will only truly come to understand when she leaves home.

Cytherea the First

Gideon falls hard and fast for Cytherea the First, who is pretending to be Dulcinea Septimus. Beautiful, delicate, and full of lively mischief, Cytherea makes Gideon feel wanted and needed in a way she has never felt on the Ninth. In Cytherea, she finds a necromancer she could willingly serve-- she is simply unaware that is all under false pretenses.

"This was all so far over Gideon's head that it sat somewhere out in space, but there was something soothing about it anyway. Gideon had only ever been clotheslined this way with Harrowhark, who explained herself seldom and as you would only to a very stupid child. Dulcinea had the dreamy, confiding manner of someone who, despite spouting grade-A horseshit, was confident you would understand everything she was saying. Also, as she talked she smiled widely and prettily, and moved her lashes up and down."

Trivia

• Gideon Nav is named, in part, after "the warlike prophet of God who really messed up the Midianites."
• In a Reddit AMA, Tamsyn Muir confirms that Gideon's sunglasses are borrowed from Homestuck's Dave Strider.