Page 112

Perched in the trees of the Lamenting Woods, Maude watched as the lines of soldiers from two kingdoms clashed in the center of the field.

Her vision was shrouded, the edges blurry from shadows that worked to hold her in this imprisonment. Her eyes moved without her control to watch soldiers fall. She felt each death, felt as the Goddess who controlled her body drank in their pain.

She tried to move her body and force herself back into control but found herself shoved into the back of her mind, clamped in irons that Hela had power over.

"See how the Flame Soldiers fall to their deaths, but Odin's precious Valkyries can't touch them ," Hela crooned into her mind, her voice silky and beautiful despite the horrible things she was speaking of.

Maude then saw what Hela was speaking of.

What looked like a gold mist hovered over the battlefield, with the occasional wing peeking through the veil between worlds.

She realized she was seeing what the Goddess of the Underworld could see— the plane belonging to the gods that showed the Valkyries bringing the souls of the dead to Odin.

But only the River Soldiers were being brought to Valhalla.

The Flame Soldiers just lay dead in the mud, their corpses being passed over as if they weren't even there.

This was wrong— enemies or not, each warrior deserved the chance to live forever in Odin's golden halls.

"Vilde Shadowheart is controlling them ," Hela whispered again, her voice slithering into Maude's consciousness and leaving an oily feeling in its place. " She plays with runic galder she does not understand, so her followers must be punished . "

If Vilde is your enemy, perhaps we can come to an agreement , Maude offered, seeing a way back to control of her body.

"No ," Hela whispered, the delight in her voice radiating through Maude's flesh. " I cannot oppose her. But with your body, I can defy her ."

I don't understand , Maude said, exhaustion wearing on her the longer she tried to stay present.

"You don't have to ," the Goddess replied. " You only have to understand what you'll lose if you fight me."

Darkness descended over Maude as she lost her battle to stay conscious.

When she woke again, they were surrounded by earth and shadows. A pinprick of light was visible. Her body stepped forward into shadows that swirled all around her, and as she blinked, they were standing on the threshold of a tunnel with a sandy beach stretched out in front of her.

"This shadow stepping skill of yours is handy ," Hela's voice swirled around her again.

Shadow stepping?

"You do not know your own power. What a disgrace."

And how do you know about my power? Maude asked, irritated at the goddess's cryptic responses.

"I have been watching you for some time now, Daughter of Chaos," Hela whispered as she projected images into her mind that flashed across her mind's eye rapidly.

Maude sitting in her window at the Palace of Wind and Embers, her tired face desolate as it stared east toward the Kingdom of Rivers.

Then it was Maude jumping from roof to roof in Logi, her mother's shawl wrapped around her as she tried to blend with the shadows of the night.

Then, Maude was standing on a rooftop as an empty city burned below her.

In every memory, there was a hound in the background of the chosen moments in her life. The shadow hound she had spied when they had needed to destroy Amsbrook. Fear crept into her heart as she realized just how closely the Goddess of Hel had been to her throughout her life .

" I have seen and heard all over the last twenty six years ," Hela continued. " I know you better than you know yourself. It's how I managed to finally take over control of your body. "

Bullshit. She would gain control over herself, she only needed to find the loophole the Goddess was missing.

Where are we? Maude asked as she tried to push forward. Her body didn't respond to her command.

"Look and see."

Her eyes narrowed as she saw the outlines of people in the water, a longboat rowing toward a fleet of ships.

"See who will be in danger if you continue to fight me," Hela ordered as she brought their eyes to rest on the lone figure standing at the end of the boat, looking back toward the shore.

Herrick. Oh gods, Herrick.

"Yes, the General will die if you get in my way, Daughter of Chaos."

Maude shivered at the title but took a step forward toward him anyway. His face slackened for a moment in recognition as he spied her appearing from the shadows, but the Goddess yanked her control back from her before she could do more than make herself known.

Do not touch him , she growled at the Goddess. I'll do whatever you want; just leave him out of it .

"We have a deal, Maude Vilulf."

She got one last glance at Herrick before the darkness descended again, and she was shoved back into the recesses of her own mind.

She held on to how the planes of his face felt under her fingertips, how his soft mouth seemed to mold against her perfectly, and how his body fit against hers.

As she drifted into the darkest corner of her mind, a prisoner of both will and flesh, Maude remembered how Herrick made her feel.

Powerful. Unstoppable. Beautiful despite her jagged edges.

Will you have me, minn eldr ? All my broken pieces are yours if you'll have me.

You are mine, and I am yours. Broken pieces and all.

" How precious, " Hela crooned as she shoved Maude further into the corner of her mind. " Keep holding on to this because it's all you'll have left of him after I'm done with the both of you. "

NO!

But it was too late. Maude's spirit had been broken, and her soul leashed to the Goddess of the Underworld to do her bidding.

Baldr stood at attention with his spine straight and his chin up as Helvig and Vilde ordered their prisoners to be brought before them.

Four of Helvig's guard ushered in the two captives and shoved them onto their knees before the Flame King. From where he stood behind them on the dais of the Palace of Ocean and Clay's receiving room, he could see the Queen and King of Rivers kneeling before them.

They were still covered in gore, their armor scratched and dented, but their chins were elevated as they looked their death in the face with a bravery that Baldr envied.

He would have to send word to the Kolbecks once he was free from Helvig's oppressive gaze and let them know what was going to happen with the prisoners of war.

They would be shackled and held in the dungeons; perhaps he could help free them along with the families he was already planning to free when the King was distracted.

Vilde stood and glided to where the Queen of Rivers kneeled, running her thin, white fingers up the woman's cheek before grasping the diadem that had been woven into her chestnut-colored braids and ripping it from its place.

The River Queen bit down on her scream as Vilde pulled the diadem off and tossed it to the corner of the tent.

"You won't be needing that anymore," Vilde purred before sitting on her throne again .

The action was petty, degrading in a way that would have bothered a lesser woman, but the Queen of Rivers was unfazed as she swallowed her pain.

Vilde shrunk into the shadows again, but her smile did not waver.

She seemed almost eager to detach herself from whatever was about to happen.

Warning bells rang in Baldr's mind, the sign from the gods clear as the morning sky in Logi, but his attention was immediately brought back to the Queen of Rivers.

"I see you've finally moved on from Sylvi," the Queen said sharply as she ignored Vilde and focused on Helvig.

Helvig chuckled. "I suppose we can stop pretending that we didn't always know what Sylvi was."

"I suppose so."

"This is Vilde," Helvig explained, waving a hand toward the Elven, who only smiled. "She is to be High Queen of Ahland."

"I don't care who she is," Alva replied, bored. "Just get on with whatever reason we're here for."

Baldr had to smother his laughter, but the River Queen saw anyway, her gold eyes flashing to meet his. He froze, smoothing his face back into a bored expression. He expected the Queen to look away, but if anything, her eyes flared in recognition that she instantly covered with a cough.

"Are you so eager to meet your death, Alva?" Helvig asked, his head tipping to the side as he watched her.

Baldr's body went cold. Was he executing them? They were valuable prisoners of war, a Queen and King of a kingdom. Killing them would only turn the people against him further. It was not honorable.

Alva looked to her husband, who nodded to her with a level of calm he didn't understand before speaking.

"Our children are free," Alva whispered, her attention turning back to Helvig as her voice grew stronger. "Both yours and mine. And they will not stop fighting until this land is cleansed of your poison."

Vilde chuckled, but Helvig seemed to burn at her words.

He signaled for his guards to step forward, their blades already being drawn from their sheaths as they placed the cold metal against their necks.

It didn't stop the Queen of Rivers from speaking the final words that would then hang in the air around them even long after her death, as if the gods themselves wanted Helvig to feel the warning in them.

The sword swung, metal cutting through the air toward both her neck and her husband's.

"It only takes one generation to break a cycle. These heirs of fate and war will break you, Harald. And on that day, I know you will burn in Hel for the rest of your days. I'll be waiting for you there."