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Herrick felt like cotton had been stuffed into his ears by the time the sun rose on the new day. Perhaps he should've put something in his ears to block the screams from deafening him, but it was too late for that now.

Throughout the night, Herrick remained in the grotto with the sergeant they had captured until he revealed some of Helvig's plans.

He wasn't sure how he knew, but the man was holding back important information.

He'd been left alone to interrogate him after Hakon had gone around two in the morning, his face pale despite how he tried to hide how disturbed he was.

It hadn't bothered Herrick to stay all night, repeatedly questioning him.

It hadn't bothered him when he untied him from the post and instead hung him from his ankles from vines he'd conjured up from thin air.

It hadn't bothered him when he'd made the sergeant choke on dirt and then water in quick succession until it had thickened into a sludge that Herrick had needed to remove before the sergeant succumbed to his injuries.

None of it had bothered him. Not even the fact that he remained untroubled remembering all he'd done.

Maybe it should have, but the only thing keeping him going was the continued reminder that he was protecting his city. He was protecting his brother. He was protecting Maude .

That, it seemed, was enough for Herrick.

So he continued in his questioning until the man's screams echoed off the walls with ear-splitting frequency .

Sometime after the sun had crested over the highest point in the sky, he heard footsteps coming from down the hall. Herrick conjured up water in the empty pitcher he'd brought with him and took a long drink from the spout as Maude joined him in the cave, a cloak pulled over her head.

The sergeant was unconscious as he hung from the ceiling, but it did not take long for Maude to notice him. Her moss green eyes were raised to the vines that held him over the water.

Her face was unreadable as she brought her gaze to him. She took in his appearance: the rumpled clothing, the tunic sleeves rolled up to his forearms, the sweat that beaded on his brow.

"You've been here all night."

Always a statement, never a question with her.

"Yes," he said simply.

She nodded as she brought her focus back to the man. "Has he told you anything?"

"A bit," he replied, putting the pitcher down and wiping his face on his tunic. "I know how many soldiers Helvig has marched with, and I know he doesn't plan to attack until dawn tomorrow."

Maude nodded absently, her eyes glazing over. Something was bothering her.

"I just spoke with Hakon," she offered, wrapping her arms around her chest. "They did a roll call this morning to make sure our numbers were the same as before Helvig arrived."

Our numbers , he thought. He liked how it sounded when she said it.

"It seems some of the families from the outskirts are missing this morning," she went on. "Some of them had young children. They all seemed to have vanished overnight."

That got his attention. Children?

"Any pattern to these missing families?" he asked, his focus zeroing in on what was making her anxious.

She nodded again. "All the children had shown signs of galder already. "

Her eyes flashed to his, and he could see the rage that burned there now behind the green— children who disappeared with their families all gifted with galder right when the Kingdom of Flame stood on their doorstep.

It couldn't be a coincidence. Ice, frigid and unforgiving, spread from his chest to the rest of his body the more he thought about it.

That family from the people's court with the young boy who developed fire galder popped into Herrick's mind.

"That's why I came here," she said, pulling him from his memories. "To see if this pathetic excuse of a warrior knew anything about it."

A dark chuckle came from the man Herrick was holding prisoner, the sound unsettling as it raked across his skin. He could see Maude's jaw clench from where he stood and could feel the air grow hotter by the second.

"May I?" she asked, keeping her focus on the man still chuckling.

Herrick inclined his head, letting Maude take the reins.

Maude tried to swallow the fury that was building in her chest at the laughter that this soldier threw at them. Children were missing, entire families vanished with no clue as to what happened, and this man was laughing .

"Is something funny?" she asked darkly, her voice nearly unrecognizable even to her. "I like to laugh; fill me in."

Just as she spoke, Bryn, Dahlia, and Hakon all entered the grotto, looking more exhausted than ever. She pushed them to the back of her mind, bringing her entire focus to the man still chuckling in front of her even as his face turned a deeper shade of purple from all the blood rushing to his head.

"What's funny is how you all think you've got some leg up on the High King," he laughed. "Things that are happening now have been put in motion years ago. There is nothing you can do that will surprise him anymore."

"Oh, I can think of a few things," she said, pulling her hood down and exposing her features to him.

He quickly stopped laughing as he recognized her. "You're the Heir."

"I was," she agreed.

"But you're dead."

Maude patted her hands down the front of her body before looking back up to him. "I don't feel dead."

Fear clouded the man's eyes as he took her in.

"It seems the gods aren't quite done with me yet," she finished as a crack of thunder shook the walls around them.

The weather outside the grotto had taken a turn for the worst based on how Bryn looked like a drowned rat. Already, Maude could feel the tides shifting in the water the soldier hung over like the gods were angry with the disappearance of the children and this soldier's humored response to the news.

Like the water was swirling in her bloodstream, her galder awakened at the strength of the sea.

She could feel more than see the rough current that would drag someone under the surface and out to the deepest depths of the ocean.

The furthest wall had a small gap between the water surface and the black depths beyond, confirming Maude's suspicion.

Since Herrick had taken over the questioning, the man's clothing had been stripped until only his skin was exposed, small gashes that bled slowly from each one exposed to the salt in the air.

What made Maude's stomach turn was the man's arms, which ended in bloodied stumps now rather than his two hands.

She quickly glanced around the room but found no evidence of the mutilated limbs.

Maude imagined that the swirling vortex of currents had long since swallowed his hands.

Blood dripped slowly and steadily from the sergeant's wrists until the black water below him greedily lapped up the viscous fluid that drained the life from him.

Payment to whatever drowned god that lived in this forsaken place .

Had Herrick done all this? The man who just escaped his own torture?

And people thought she could be ruthless.

"Is Helvig responsible for the disappearance of those missing families?" she asked, her voice as sharp as the leifr Hela blade on her hip.

The smile that carved through the soldier's mangled face was crazed. "Yes."

This time, Bryn spoke.

"How is he getting to them?" she barked.

The sergeant only continued to smile. "He is all-powerful."

"Kidnapping families from beyond the borders of another kingdom is punishable by death," Hakon offered, his teeth grit together as he stood at Herrick's side.

When they were angry like this, they looked more like brothers than ever before.

"It is all his kingdom," the sergeant replied, his tone near reverent. "Everything is his to take."

"He's delusional," Dahlia offered quietly, her clinical gaze focused on the man who spoke about Helvig like he was a god amongst men.

Finally, Maude asked the question she wasn't sure she wanted the answer to.

"What does he want with them?"

Everyone seemed to hold their breath as they waited to see if the deranged man would answer.

He had been pushed so far beyond what the human body was capable of handling, and there was no reason for him to tell them anything.

But clarity gleamed in the man's eyes as he focused on Maude, a shiver running down her spine.

"The vitki are a plague on this continent, stealing the galder for themselves and their brats," he seethed. "The High King is doing to them what should have been done the moment galder appeared in non-noble bloodlines: exterminating them and taking the galder back for those who deserve it."

The sergeant's hatred permeated the cave they stood in, the vitriol that spewed from his mouth an unending stream of loathing that threatened to consume them all.

These were the words of a madman.

"He is bringing balance back to Ahland. His vision for the future of his people is one where all would benefit, even those who oppose him. And it all starts with those monsters and their spawn who need to be brought back down to their knees."

Fire burned in her palms as he continued his hate speech, but her attention caught on one of the last things he said before she shut him out entirely.

"—just like he did with your precious General. "

He kept shouting his prejudiced thoughts, his hateful insides tainting the air they breathed the longer he went on; Maude didn't hear another word of it as the ringing in her ears had built from an all-consuming wrath that held her within its grasp.

The man's eyes widened slightly, but he had no time to react before Maude stepped over the water, her air galder creating a shield that protected her from the rippling currents below, and put her hands on either side of his head.

Before anyone could stop her, she reached for her galder , the water that flowed in her blood just as surely as her fire cracked and burned there, and extended her will into the man's mind.