Page 18

Bryn went over the plan again and again until she could no longer find any faults in it.

Sitting on the roof of Sigurd’s house, she looked over the city sprawling below her, the threatening black walls of her former home towering over the city.

Leaning her forearms on her bent knees, Bryn tried to focus on the plan they had set out but could only return to the memory of Revna strung up at the front gates of the palace.

Her blood had still been warm when Ulf had brought Bryn to her lover. Her body had still been cooling when Bryn had painted her face with death and vowed to bring Ulf’s end. And yet, Bryn had not felt fulfilled when she had removed her uncle’s head from his shoulders.

Light footsteps behind her told Bryn that someone was coming up the stairs.

They were so quiet that one would miss them if they weren’t trained to listen, but Bryn recognized the sound— she had heard them throughout her childhood when they would sneak into her room late at night.

Maude plopped onto the rooftop next to her, her long legs stretching out in front of her before crossing at the ankles.

“What bothers you so much that you have to hide away from us?” her sister asked lightly though there was a note of unease in her voice.

Burning cedar and jasmine drifted from Maude’s freshly scrubbed skin, the scent so familiar to her now.

Ever since her true heritage had been revealed, the floral scent of the night-blooming flowers so prevalent in Nida had become more obvious to Bryn.

How Maude had not been revealed sooner shocked her.

“Just anticipation of the morning,” Bryn responded, her voice low. She never took her focus off the palace.

“Not too long ago, I sat up here alone and brooded when I could have confided in someone about my worries,” Maude said, pulling her dagger from her thigh and running her fingers over the faded red silk tied around the hilt. “It doesn’t have to be that way with you.”

Bryn snorted. “Are you telling me to learn from your mistakes?”

From the corner of her eye, Bryn could see Maude still looking at her dagger as a wide smile spread over her features. “I would never admit to a mistake— what makes you think I’m not here to do the same as you?”

Bryn chuckled, but she could hear the confession and invitation that had been extended.

Unsure of whether it was a good idea or not, she exhaled and turned to her sister.

In the darkest part of the night, her sister looked so much like their mother.

The same deep wine hair shone under the starlight even in the darkness, her green eyes rounded in black that had always been so intense in her memories.

She tried to see the similarities they both shared with their mother. They had the same heart-shaped face and the same tilt to their eyes, but Bryn looked more like her father in her coloring. Her skin was paler, her eyes were lighter, and her hair was wilder—a true Helvig.

Bryn remembered that she had hidden their mother’s journals in this house before things had gotten so out of control; she had wanted to keep them out of her father’s hands.

“Some of Mama's journals are here,” Bryn offered as she looked at Maude. “They’re hidden within the other books in the bookcase. We should bring them with us; there might be something useful in them.”

Maude’s eyes widened slightly before she controlled them again, the dark green growing black at the reminder of their mother.

Bryn knew that her sister had shot the arrow that killed their mother when she had run.

She also knew that her father had shoved Sylvi in its path, knowing it was intended for him.

For years, when Bryn was still a child, she had been furious at Maude for what she had done.

She couldn’t see past the memory of her mother’s knees hitting the ground after the arrow struck her chest as her sister disappeared over the wall, leaving her behind to the mess she had created.

Bryn had forced herself to remain ignorant of the situation that she had only partially witnessed.

But the first time Bryn saw that scar on Maude’s face, she had known it was the work of their father. It forced any residual anger she might have had to drain away— she had already forgiven her sister for the past a long time ago.

The connection they shared was something forged in their blood even if most of their lives had been spent apart. It was Bryn’s faith in the memories of the sister she remembered that compelled her to speak tonight.

“I lost someone,” Bryn whispered, keeping her eyes on the palace where her life had started and crumbled. Maude stilled next to her. “I lost someone very important to me. Someone who brought me back to you, in fact.”

Silence stretched between them, Maude remaining quiet so she could choose whether she wanted to keep talking— a gift extended to her so she could air out the pressing grief that was beginning to swallow her whole.

“She was the best part of me,” Bryn continued, her head dipping to hang between her shoulders as the weight of her grief crashed into her.

“She saw me for who I was and never turned away. In the darkest moments of my life, she had become my light. I was alone for so long, pretending to be a dutiful daughter, a loyal soldier who never questioned orders. I had taken on the burden of so many lies until she came along and helped me carry the weight.”

Bryn’s face heated as a single tear escaped from the corner of her eye.

Until this moment, Bryn had not outwardly grieved Revna's death.

The floodgates burst when the realization settled in her chest, the emotion flowing without restraint.

Her anguish would not be contained a moment longer as she sat on the rooftop of the very place where she had met Revna.

A sob rocked through Bryn’s chest, her heart shattering in the wake of her agony rippling through her that came uncontrolled as her barriers disintegrated before her sister, her closest friend in this horrid life she had been dealt.

Maude wrapped an arm around her waist and laid her head on her shoulder as she cried, the action spurring her on harder.

“I loved her,” Bryn sobbed. “And she died because of it. She’s dead because she was important to me.

Because she was good . And there is nothing I can do to bring her back.

She didn’t have an epic fate that would reincarnate her, and she knew it.

She knew she was going to die. I should’ve stopped it. ”

Bryn thought back to their last embrace and ran the interaction through her mind over and over until she was sure that Revna had been saying goodbye.

She had known that was the last time they would speak but she allowed Bryn to walk out of her arms, to leave her behind because of some bullshit summons her uncle had sent.

As the memories of their last moments pummeled Bryn further into herself, her grief took control.

She spiraled deeper and deeper into her mourning until the only thing that remained was the shell of who she had been.

Only when the sobs stopped shuddering through her chest, and her heart stopped caving into itself did Bryn slowly start to build herself up again into something new. Someone different, someone stronger.

Maude held her through all of it. Eventually, the emotion she had been holding back abated and settled enough for Bryn to speak again.

“She let me walk away from her that day,” Bryn whispered. “And I don’t know if I can forgive her for it.”

Maude was quiet as she lay on Bryn’s shoulder, her hand tight on her ribs from the rage she knew her sister was containing.

Quicker than Bryn thought possible, Maude spun onto her knees and faced her.

When she looked into her sister’s eyes, she saw the fires burning behind the moss green she shared with their mother.

“It was Revna, wasn’t it?” she asked. “The soldier you sent to deliver your message?”

Bryn sucked in a breath at how quickly she had put together the clues. She nodded once.

“I swear to you that we will get our revenge on those who have wronged us,” Maude’s words landed heavily on Bryn’s ears, the weight of them silencing the world around them.

“There are no words that will comfort you right now, and nothing will bring Revna back into your arms, but I swear to the Allfather and all other gods listening that I will not let Revna’s sacrifice be in vain. ”

Bryn held her breath as Maude brushed one of her copper curls behind her ear before she spoke again, her voice thick with emotion, “It’s time our father realized he is not eternal.

We will be his downfall, and whatever is raised in his absence will benefit everyone— nobles, vitki , and the rest of the continent alike. ”

Maude snagged her axe and quickly cut a long gash into her left palm before grabbing Bryn’s hand and repeating the same cut on her right palm.

Her sister slammed their hands together, bronze fingers digging into her skin like a brand.

The world stilled around them, like the Norns needed to hear what Maude was about to say, and Bryn was only able to watch in awe of her older sister.

“I swear this to you, Brynna Helvig, sister of my blood and the other half of my soul,” Maude whispered, her words dropping into Bryn like stones. “We will bring down Harald Helvig, even if we have to raze his palace to the ground. Together.”

Bryn gripped her sister’s hand as the words settled between them.

Maude was apologizing for running all those years ago, but Bryn had already forgiven her the moment their uncle’s blade had pierced her flesh.

Bryn brought her forehead to rest against her sister's, their skin burning with the flames that went unseen.

“Together,” Bryn said quietly. “In this life and the next.”