Item from The Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir
The sealed prison beneath the Ninth House where Alecto — Earth's soul made flesh — has been entombed for ten thousand years, and which gives the entire series its name.
The Locked Tomb is the series' central mystery — the sealed prison of Alecto, the soul of Earth given human form by John Gaius. She was sealed inside at the insistence of the original Lyctors, who feared her. John agreed because he feared losing his disciples more than he feared betraying her. For the Ninth House, the Tomb is a sacred object — the core of their religious observance, tended by fewer than two hundred faithful who have no idea what's actually inside. For Harrow, it is the source of her deepest love, deepest guilt, and deepest power. For the series, it is the thing that ties everything together: the Emperor's cowardice, the Ninth House's purpose, and the truth about what necromancy actually cost.
A tomb sealed beneath Castle Drearburh, locked with necromantic wards of impossible complexity. The door is stone, the seals are ancient, and the body inside lies on a bier in perfect preservation — a woman with dark hair and golden eyes, sleeping in a bed of ice and silence. Young Harrow found a way in and fell in love with what she found.
Also known as: The Tomb, The Locked Tomb, Anastasia's Tomb