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“We never lost you, Princess,” the assassin laughed bitterly. “We were only held up finding a way into this godsforsaken kingdom of heathens.”

They circled each other before the man cut toward her with his hunting knife, the serrated edges glistening in the small light from her fire. Maude parried with her dagger, knocking the assassin off balance for a moment before he righted himself. A drop of thick liquid fell from the edge of his knife, and Maude realized there had to be slain guards from the Kingdom of Rivers somewhere in these hedges.

Immediately, Maude’s thoughts turned to Herrick. He was being pursued by the same killers somewhere in this maze. Only her belief in hisstrength kept her from losing her focus. She had her own threat to deal with.

Maude lunged this time, slicing upwards to make the man drop the blade. Unencumbered by her gown, she thanked the gods that she had stayed true to her nature and designed a dress she couldmovein.

These men may have been trained by her uncle, but so had she.

Maude dropped to the ground as the man retaliated with a swipe of his blade and kicked out her leg to knock him off his feet. The assassin went down, his head landing close to but not in the fire Maude had set.

Shit, she internally cursed.

Maude quickly got to her feet and ran toward the warrior, skirts billowing behind her. Before he could stand, she tackled him, and they rolled a few feet toward the ash tree. She jabbed at his stomach, her fist flaming, causing him to groan, but he delivered an equally brutal hit to her chin. Her teeth smashed together and caused her ears to ring. The assassin's shirt quickly caught flame from the blow Maude had landed on him. She twisted her fingers, trying to make this man a living pyre, but the assassin waved his hand in front of the flames hastily, sucking the oxygen from the fire and effectively smothering it. Angry red blisters lay on the man’s exposed deep brown skin.

They both got to their feet, breathing heavily, before they lunged again.

Maude remembered what Liv had said about watching your opponent to try and predict their next move rather than react to it. The masked man stepped out with the opposite foot of the fist he punched out, giving away his attack. Waiting until she felt sure, Maude timed her hit until she saw him step with his left foot. Maude stepped back with her right foot and started to turn away from him, feeling his fist graze her cheek before she extended her right arm behind her and slammed her elbow into his ear. Asshe righted herself to face him again, she saw blood trickle out from under his hand that covered his ear.

Maude brought her fist up, still holding the dagger. He sheathed his blade before he lunged for her once more, hands empty of weapons. Finding that odd, Maude realized that her opponent had not attempted any killing blows. It was clear he had control over the air; he could have sucked the air from her lungs but did not.

They’re trying to take me back to Logi; they're not here to kill me, she thought.

As the ringing in her ears improved, she heard metal clashing in the distance and knew Herrick was close. Unable to rely on her fire, Maude adjusted the grip on the dagger and waited for the assassin to get closer before she pulled her arm back and threw the dagger forward. It passed harmlessly by his head as he laughed at her. Maude prepared for his tackle, keeping her focus as sharp as her dagger.

The man's shoulder slammed into her chest, knocking the breath from her lungs before they hit the ground. The man wrapped his hands around her throat and squeezed.

Her first thought was of how Herrick had held her by the throat before their secrets were revealed.

Her second thought was that this was not nearly as much fun as when Herrick had done it.

Maude brought fire to her fingertips once more and smashed them into his face, causing him to let go of her throat. Air flooded into her deprived lungs, burning all the way down. Maude rolled him off her and tried to stand, feeling her ankle give out at the last second. Maude’s knees hit the ground as she felt the asshole grab at her ridiculous skirts. Maude kicked out, her foot connecting with his nose, feeling the crunch of the bones breaking beneath her foot.

Able to stand this time, Maude faced the opening to the hedges where her dagger had disappeared in the direction of the sounds of Herrick’s fight and waited. Her would-be kidnapper stood and faced her.

“They told me it wouldn’t be easy to snag you. They said you were feral but calculated,” he said, touching the burns on his face. “I thought they were right until you threw that dagger and missed. Pathetic.”

Maude gave him a sly smile. His eyes became unsure at her reaction. Blood had ruined the silver in her gown, and she could feel her hair standing out from her face. She knew he was seeing the feral creature her uncle had painted her out to be.

“I never miss,” she finally said.

The sound of her dagger whipping through the air came from behind the stranger, and her smile turned predatory. She manipulated the air, propelling her dagger so that it would cut into his back before he noticed. Catching on to what was about to happen, the man withdrew a small blade from his sleeve and whipped it at her chest.

The world slowed for the second time that night.

The sound of her dagger cutting straight through the flesh and bone of the murderers back, embedding in his spine, caused pure satisfaction to roll through her. He fell to the ground as his blade continued to spin toward Maude’s chest. She heard Herrick yell her name, but she could only watch as the knife sliced through the leather of her bodice.

And then Maude watched the blade stop as it got stuck in the thin metal that had been sewn beneath the leather, leaving her skin unmarred.

A strange feeling bubbled up in her throat as she looked down at the small blade sticking out of the bodice of her gown. Herrick ran toward her. She assumed Herrick had successfully followed her dagger through the hedge maze as she directed it with her airgalderbefore turning it around so it would land in her attacker's back as she had planned.

He grabbed her shoulders, looking down at the blade before looking at her face. He was splattered with dirt and gore, a line of his blood trickling slowly from a wound on his forehead. The absolute panic in his eyes caused that bubbling emotion in her throat to escape.

Maude began to laugh. She had not laughed this hysterically in many years, but her eyes watered, and her stomach cramped at the force of it. Herrick only stood in front of her and stared at her, alarm still lining his features. She opened her eyes and saw how he looked at her, causing her to fall into another fit.

“Maude,” Herrick said, bringing his hands up to her face.

His hands were sticky, and she realized that they must’ve been soaked with the blood of the other soldiers who had entered Veter. Maude only laughed harder.