Page 11

The city of Nida blurred around her as she followed Liv down the winding streets that led to the circular bay in the city's center.

The bay narrowed into a long river that would carve through the mountains and bring them to the open sea.

The beautiful Elven city went unseen to her and her friends as they sprinted through the streets, their weapons glinting in the bright sunlight of the early morning.

Elven and a few humans would dodge out of the way when they saw their group running.

If they didn't, Liv would shout something in Elven and the space would clear.

With every step, her foot would pound on the stone below her, and her heart would beat another sound into her ears.

Herrick. Herrick. Herrick.

She had left him after letting him past her barricades that night in Dagsbrun. She had run from him because he was her fate. But in the moments before her death, she had realized just how foolish she had been, how she had let him into her heart and been a coward for running from her feelings.

Maude had chosen her revenge over him, and now Herrick was the one suffering at the hands of her father. There was a lot she needed to make up for, but she couldn't start until she freed him.

Now, when she got her revenge, it would be with him at her side. Maude would accept no alternative.

Quicker than she expected, their group arrived at the docks.

Aboard the vessel, a frenzy of motion was taking place.

Elven were preparing the oars, stocking the ship with goods needed to travel, and tying the sails into place for a long voyage.

Hakon and Liv hopped aboard the longship, the former becoming immediately comfortable with the crew and ship as he racked his round shield on the railing with the rest that lined the long edges of the boat.

Bryn lingered at the edge, hesitation coloring her pale features. Maude stopped beside her, her heart furiously pounding from the adrenaline that hadn't left her since Aeric had brought them the news from Logi.

"Why do you stall?" Maude asked, wrapping thin black linen around her wrist and hands the same way she prepared for a pit fight.The wooden oars would tear her palms to shreds if she didn't wrap them, even with her skin calloused from the years of training .

"I grew up in a desert," Bryn said, her voice nearly trembling. "The closest I've come to being submerged in water is a bath or floating in the shallow waters of the coast. I don't know how to swim."

Maude paused at that. Swimming had been almost instinctive to her as a child, but as she recalled the fuzzy memories of her early youth with Bryn, she realized that she had never seen her sister submerged in water deeper than a few feet.

"I won't let you go overboard, I promise," Maude said, bumping her hip against her sisters lightly.

Bryn only rolled her eyes and jumped over the railing into the ship, choosing a spot in the dead center, right next to the mast. Maude followed her sister, joining in to help the Elven finish loading so they could depart swiftly.

Hakon familiarized himself with the Elven longship, but it seemed as though the designs were almost identical to the ones they were used to.

"It's good to see him have a purpose again," Liv said to Maude, her eyes on Hakon. "He's having a hard time accepting who I really am and wonder if I should've told you all who I was from the start. Maybe things would have gone differently, maybe he wouldn't be so angry."

"I don't think it would have made much of a difference, Liv.

You kept your identity secret to protect yourself and everyone else in Nida," Maude huffed, tying some extra rope into place before settling down to sharpen her blades.

"It may piss me off, but I understand it.

Besides, who am I to remain jaded over your secrets when I did the exact same thing?

Hakon might take a while longer to get there, but he'll understand. "

"I think you whipped him out of his fog," Liv laughed, her eyes glittering in the white light reflecting off the Icewall Mountains. "I couldn't do that for him. You saw what he needed and rose to the occasion."

"Well, I do exceed at pissing people off," Maude said as she slashed a grin at Liv.

Liv returned the smile. "That you do, Princess."

Maude elbowed her in the ribs, causing Liv to retaliate with a shove of her own.

The women laughed once more before falling into a comfortable silence.

Bryn inched closer to them, rolling her eyes at the exchange.

Before she could turn away, though, Maude thought she saw a hint of longing in her sister's eyes.

"Pushing off!" Hakon shouted along the longboat, the Elven crew falling into line behind his orders. "Oars!"

Maude and Liv put their weapons down and gripped the oars closest to them, shoving them through the holes to begin pulling the longship along with the crew out of the bay and into the narrow river leading them out of Nida. The rhythmic movement of rowing pulled Maude into a focused state.

It was here that Maude began plotting Herrick's escape. He would be back in her arms in three days, and the gods could either help her or watch as she finally embraced her fate.