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“Damn it, beast!”

Maude jumped up and attempted to rekindle the wood with little success, the water in the ruined wood sizzling under her fingers.

“Just wash out your damn hair, Maude, before I soak you head to toe and do it myself,” Herrick said to her, the threat more than real as mischief sparkled in his golden brown eyes.

Maude grabbed her pack with the clean clothes she had with her and stormed toward the small lake. The area was surrounded by small bushes, and the lake dipped below a small hill, so it was private enough for someone to bathe in it unnoticed.

She dropped her pack, still grumbling about Herrick being an ass, and stripped to her bare skin. Diving in, her hair billowed around her, the charcoal seeping from it in long, delicate ribbons like ink that had been dipped in still water.

Maude floated underwater for a few seconds, enjoying the feel of the soft currents around her. Then, she broke the surface of the lake, grinning as she felt the cool beads of water running over her skin, her mood lifting instantly.

Swimming was the only thing that cooled her temper and made her feel like she couldn’t hurt anyone. Living in a desert for her entire life, there were few opportunities for her to swim, so she savored the short amount of time she had in this lake.

She dove once more and scrubbed the rest of the charcoal from her hair, revealing her coloring to the world for the first time in years.

Maude’s ruby-colored hair billowed around her as she floated on the surface for a few minutes. Lifting her head, hair heavy with water, she twisted it into a small bun atop her head and admired her color in the reflection of the lake; the scarlet tresses were brighter in the morning sunlight than when she was indoors, and her hair took on the color of red wine.

Maude loved few things about herself, but she had always adored her hair. She had worn it black through most of her adult life to hide the vibrant color from the Flame Soldiers, but here, completely alone in this small lake, she reveled in it. She dove under once more to feel the currents of the lake rushing around her before she came up for air and swam to the edge, dressing quickly.

Running her clean hair through the inside of her travel cloak, she dried her long locks and quickly braided it to pin it behind her head before wrapping Mama’s shawl around her and pulling the hood over her hair, concealing its truth once more. She stopped to pull a few strands of hair forward to frame her face. If pressed, Maude would never reveal the true reason for styling her hair when she usually cared little for her appearance.

Feeling lighter than she had in years, Maude made her way back to their camp. She passed Hakon and Eydis, now working on funneling air into a small whirlwind, and Liv, who was going through the motions of her exercises to test how far she could move her injured arm. Maude gave Eydis a small smile at her efforts that the small woman reciprocated, her straight teeth gleaming in the sunlight as she grinned.

Herrick was speaking with Gunnar about which way they would cross the Dead Waste but had sent her more than a few curious looks, trying to see if she had washed the charcoal out. About to open her mouth to tell him to fuck off, Maude spied a dark line on the western horizon.

She slowed, dropping her pack near the mare she shared with Herrick, running a hand down her neck while keeping her eyes on the moving shadows a few leagues away. When she squinted her eyes at the dark line again, she made out the flashes of spears and shields painted in the colors for the Kingdom of Flame's sigil.

Every muscle in Maude’s body stiffened for a moment before moving past Herrick and Gunnar, who were giving her an odd look, to get a better look at the advancing threat. She saw the red uniforms of the Kingdom of Flame’s soldiers stand out against the brown landscape, marching toward them. Maude’s greatest fear was playing out right in front of her as the gods laughed; they had found her.

“Herrick,” Maude croaked, trying to clear the dryness in her throat.

He looked at her, registering the panic in her eyes as she pointed behind him. “Flame Soldiers.”

The world stopped; birds stopped chirping, the wind stopped blowing, and Maude’s heart stopped beating. They had followed her out into the desert and to the Bone Chasm. They tracked her across all that distance, and now they were going to be dragged back to Logi. There was movement around her that she did not register until she felt a hand on her cheek, turning her face to look at Herrick’s.

“Maude, we have to move. Can you ride?” Herrick asked, voice serious.

“Of course,” she replied, her voice coming out a whisper instead of harsh like she had wanted it to.

Herrick nodded and looked over at Hakon, his handnever leaving her face.

“We go to Veter, we can lose them in the Lamenting Woods. We don’t stop until we reach the bridge,” Herrick spoke quickly as their group raced to gather their supplies and load the horses. “They cannot follow us that far without declaring war on the Kingdom of Rivers.”

“I can’t go to Veter, Herrick. I told you this,” Maude said quickly as she ripped herself from his grip.

“Minn eldr, you don’t have another choice. If we split up, they will catch you, and I have no intentions of leaving you alone in that fight. If you fight them, I will fight with you,” Herrick declared, grabbing onto her hand, his grip unrelenting.

He would not let her go alone, she realized.

“Herrick, Ican’t,” she pleaded with him, hating how weak she had sounded in her plea. “You have to understand.”

“Maude, they are looking for me. I was identified in the city without a permit, and that is why they are tracking us,” Hakon offered to her, clearly seeing her distress.

“They’re not here for you. They’re always looking for me; there is a reason I stay in Logi,” Maude said to Hakon, watching the guilt she felt in her soul mirror in his eyes. “I won’t bring them to Veter. They will never give up.”

“Maude, it’s possible they don’t even know you’re with us,” Eydis offered, her wind-chime voice delicate in the face of this new threat. “We all have a reason to be running from them. It’ll be okay.”

Maude studied the young woman and her optimism in the face of danger. A hint of admiration broke through her panic as she took in Eydis’s words. Eydis’s caramel eyes softened as she nodded encouragingly.