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Maude tensed at the gentle touch.

“I’m fine,” Maude bit out before she turned to face Eydis. “What are you doing out here? It’s late.”

Eydis’s cheeks flushed a bit before she said, “I was returning to my room when I saw you here. I called out, but you didn’t respond, so I came to make sure you were okay.”

The moon hung high in the sky. Maude knew she had to have been meeting Hakon somewhere, but she did not mention it.

“Were you leaving?” Eydis asked, eyeing her belongings.

“Yes. No,” Maude bit out. “I don’t know.”

Eydis gave her a knowing look, the moonlight lighting her hair up, making it look iridescent. Maude shook her head and turned to head toward Veter when Eydis called out again.

“We don’t get to choose who we love, but we do get to choose how we handle it. Don’t run away, Maude. We leave after the ball; I know Gunnartold you this.”

“What does love have anything to do with this conversation?” Maude said, quickly turning to Eydis.

Eydis rolled her eyes at Maude’s defensive tone, surprising her. The young woman turned back toward the palace. “Like I said, you get to choose how you handle it, but running away is not the answer. You’re not the coward you think you are. Love comes in many forms, not just romantic, and running away from it will destroy any chance you can have of happiness. Goodnight, Maude.”

Eydis disappeared into the darkness of the palace gardens, leaving Maude with an uneasy feeling pressing in on her chest. She lifted a hand to rest over her heart, trying to smother the feeling that ached there.

It can’t be love. No one could love a monster.

Maude stood in the moonlight for a long time before she sighed and returned to her room.

16

The morning of Hakon’s Betrothal Ball arrived quickly, to the brothers’ great dismay. Herrick had spent the entire full day before with his mother, assisting her with the last-minute plans. The Royal Seamstress had been thankfully absent as she already had his and Hakon’s measurements. Herrick’s thoughts drifted to Maude, predictably and often. He wondered how well she had weathered the tedious chore of being measured by the Royal Seamstress.

Standing from the cot he had been sleeping on in his office, Herrick stretched his long limbs and shook the remaining drowsiness from his bones. No longer able to avoid the palace, Herrick made his way to his room to bathe and then find Hakon to get him ready for his ball. Hakon had been frequently hiding away somewhere with Eydis the last two days, so Herrick was sure they were holed up together in some forgotten room in the palace. Herrick could not begrudge his brother for seeking the company of the woman he had fallen for, but they each had roles to play tonight.

Herrick made it to the hall that led to his room, quickly walking past the hall that would lead to Maude’s room. He had avoided his chambers ever since his last encounter with Maude outside her room. They had been staying so close to each other that Herrick knew if he had stayed in his bed, the last grip on his restraint would have snapped. He had been holed up in his office ever since.

Finally walking into his room, Herrick barely spared the room a glance before he headed straight into the washroom. When he was finished scrubbing his skin raw, Herrick dried himself off and walked into the bedroom to see that one of the staff had laid out his formal wear for the ball. His mother would expect him and Hakon to be dressed and ready before anyone else, so Herrick moved quickly. The long black pants and boots were standard wear for their family, but instead of the usual deep navy Herrick preferred, his tunic was white with black and silver detailing around the collar, the sleeves, and down the front of it.

Herrick swung his customary cloak with his family rune symbol stitched on the back in silver around himself, the silver fur lining his shoulders brutally and elegantly. He strapped his new hatchet to his belt around his waist, which had more runes carved into the leather, and placed a small knife into his boot.

Leaving his curling hair still damp and messy, he left his room without checking himself over and headed towards Hakon’s on the other side of the palace. Gunnar, dressed in his formal wear consisting of all-black leather with a similar fur-lined cloak, spotted him in the hall and joined him.

“Do you think he’s ready?” Gunnar asked, eyes searching for eavesdroppers in the alcoves that lined the halls.

“I don’t think he really has a choice but to be ready,” Herrick responded quietly.

The two men said no more until they crossed the threshold into the Heir Apparent’s bed chambers. His room was empty, but Herrick half expected this. Resisting the urge to run his hands through his hair in frustration, Herrick walked to the open balcony that looked out over the ocean.

“He’s going to have to choose someone tonight, and that someone cannot be Eydis. Mother won’t allow it,” Herrick said, defeat dripping into each word.

"She won't be there," Gunnar said from behind him. "Technically speaking, Eydis doesn't know about this ball."

Gunnar sat in one of the empty chairs and propped his feet up on the table, his blonde hair shining in the afternoon light and bringing out the blue and green threads he wove into his braids. Herrick looked at his friend and noticed how tired he was, his normally trimmed and neat beard wild.

“You look like shit,” Herrick said to Gunnar.

“I’ve been up late most nights, waiting to see if Maude tries to leave us or not,” he responded, head hanging over the back of the chair.

Herrick kept his face neutral and waited for Gunnar to continue.

“She only left once,” Gunnar finally said, as if he knew Herrick had been waiting. “But she came back inside quickly. She hasn’t left her chambers since.”