Page 33

In that time, Herrick had been out in the world, learning from their citizens and being taught by the best of the sailors in the Kingdom of Rivers.

They had the same physical training, but Herrick was more at ease with an axe than Hakon was.

They had the same education, but Herrick had been quicker in understanding their people.

Herrick had lived. Hakon had just existed.

"Brother?" Herrick prodded after his prolonged silence.

"Hm?" he said, shaken from his internal spiral.

"What do you think?" Liv asked.

They both stared at him, waiting for a response he did not have. "About what?"

There was a beat of silence before Herrick swooped in with the answer, as he always did.

"Why don't we keep those of the freed prisoners back long enough for them to decide if they want to contribute their skills to the fight until they see what we're up against? Don't take the choice from them, but show them what it means to fight with us."

"I think they'll appreciate the chance to fight, even if they're not ready," Liv agreed, nodding slightly to what Herrick suggested.

Hakon nodded along to whatever they had discussed.

A whistle, sharp and pointed, came from above. One of the Elven had given the previously communicated signal that the ship was near enough for them to start their preparations for an attack.

Hakon never realized how scarcely involved in the planning he had been— he always just went along with what others suggested.

Instead of dwelling on it now, he focused on the sharp edge of his blade and how he honed his fighting skills as a warrior. For now, that was enough. It would have to be.

Maude watched as her friends all strategized the upcoming attack.

A heaviness settled in her stomach as she thought about how easily Herrick tired out now— when they had escaped the palace, he had become winded to easily.

He'd tried to cover it up, but she had noticed how he had worked harder to catch his breath than before.

Now she discovered that he couldn't even use his galder to protect him when his strength failed.

Swallowing the feeling of sand scraping down her throat at how he hadn't thought to mention he couldn't access his galder , Maude tried not to think about how vulnerable he was until that iron came off.

But to ask him not to fight? Herrick was a warrior; he would have the honor of dying in battle before hiding from an enemy.

No, Maude couldn't ask this of him, but that heaviness did not dissipate from her gut. It grew until it inhabited every limb and every thought.

The signal, a sharp burst whistle, threw the ship into chaos. Bryn, who had been focused on the ship's approaching movements, was pulled from her trance when Liv's booted steps grew louder.

"We are going to do an anchor turn once the enemy ship is close enough, but we need you both to manipulate the winds," Liv said as she withdrew her sword from her belt. "We need the speed to do this right."

Maude glanced up at Herrick as he took over the helm from Yuri for the anchor turn. Her unease must have been written on her face because Bryn offered, "Liv, you can help me with this, can't you?"

Liv's eyes flicked over Maude's shoulder to rest on Herrick for a moment before meeting her eye.

"I'll watch his back," Maude confirmed as she nodded slightly, confirming that she was aware of Herrick's lack of galder even if it stung that he hadn't told her himself.

Her friend relaxed, taking up her spot next to Bryn. Before Maude joined Herrick at the helm, she grasped Liv's forearm.

"Till Valhalla, asshole," Maude said, a wide grin spreading across her features.

Liv winked. "Till Valhalla."

As Maude walked away, she realized that while she did not trust many things in this world, she was glad she could trust her friends to stay alive.

The wind had begun to pick up as Maude reached the helm at the stern of the ship.

Liv and Bryn were starting to manipulate the wind currents, so they blew in their favor.

On the horizon, growing larger with every passing moment, black storm clouds heavy with rain grew closer and more ominous despite the cold weather.

Snow had fallen in the darkness of night but as the sun rose, the warmth from its rays melted the chill in the air a bit.

If it were raining, perhaps the fight would end in their favor since the soldiers would have to split fighting with their flames and keeping their ship from becoming slick with ice.

"The rain should be helpful," Maude offered as she went to stand by Herrick. She leaned against the railing at the stern, her elbows propped up and axe hanging from her fingers loosely.

"At least Thor seems to think we can use the help," Herrick bit out, rolling his neck. "I just wish I could contribute."

Maude brought her attention to the iron band.

"Liv said the Shadow King should be able to remove it," Maude said quietly, her anger seething beneath the surface of her skin. "Why didn't you tell me about your galder ?"

Frost covered the banner she leaned against as her outrage manifested as ice. Herrick stiffened, realizing that she was aware of his new weakness.

"You have to learn to redirect your anger now that you seemingly have control of multiple elements," Herrick said, glancing over his shoulder at Maude as she slipped against the icy surface of the railing. "Looks like you'll need lessons in controlling this new, mysterious power of yours."

Maude clenched her teeth. He was purposefully avoiding speaking to her about the galder suppressing iron choking his abilities.

"Are you going to ignore the question?" she asked.

"Yep. Are you going to keep hiding what happened these last few weeks? "

Neither of them spoke again for a handful of moments as their stubbornness became living, breathing entities that warred against each other.

"I'd really rather not talk about it right now," she muttered, averting her eyes.

Reaching for her fire, Maude pulsed once with her flames and melted the ice as if it had never been there, just as the rain started to fall from the heavy, gray clouds pelting her with its frozen downpour.

"I deserve to know what happened. I deserve some answers," Herrick said quietly, the bitterness he had brewing under his skin showing its face in his words.

"I know," Maude replied just as quietly.

Herrick released a grunt of frustration, but before he could turn and demand her to reveal all that had happened, Yuri signaled again that it was time to act.

"I promise to tell you everything, but right now, we have to focus on staying alive," Maude whispered, her words somehow finding him in the chaos of sound that came with the thunderous icy rainstorm.

"I'm holding you to that vow," Herrick growled. He shook the tension from his shoulders before ordering, "Drop the anchor and hold on tight. We're coming about!"

Herrick's orders boomed across the longship, the strength and confidence in his voice resembling the man Maude knew before this nightmare they were living in began.

Before them, the crew broke into frantic movement, the Elven and prisoners alike gripping the edges of the ship with unrelenting fists.

He tossed a wink over his shoulder to Maude before the ship abruptly shifted under her feet, the wood rumbling all the way through her bones and straining under the forced change in trajectory, throwing her into Herrick's side as her head spun from his quick change in demeanor.

His arm wrapped around her waist as she gripped his tunic, the soft linen already enveloped in his rain-soaked scent.

As Maude became ensnared in the fresh smell of Herrick's skin, the sky opened up.

Lightning crashed around them in bright flashes that highlighted every surface in white light for a short eternity.

"I've got you, minn eldr ," Herrick said in her ear, making her shiver .

Maude looked over her shoulder while trying to regain her footing.

The rain pounded into the hardwood boards of the ship sharply as Liv and Bryn wrangled the chaotic winds in their favor.

Hakon and Yuri gathered at the starboard with the other Elven, who still had their glamours on.

The icy rain soaked through her clothes quickly, cooling the flames that lived beneath her flesh.

Finally, the ship righted itself, and Maude's world stopped spinning abruptly.

A few more shouts and the anchor being pulled out of the water before the hard thunk of it landing on the deck drifted up to them but she couldn't hear anything as she was so wrapped up in Herrick's stare as he held her.

The scene below her was an explosion of activity as they all prepared for a fight, but Maude could only focus on how his hands gripped her waist. His hold around her tightened for a moment, his face open and vulnerable as he searched hers.

The longer she felt his scrutiny, the more she could feel herself erecting the walls she was so comfortable with.

The old instinct, the need to hide herself from the world so she could conceal who and what she was, overpowered her control.

She felt herself draw away from him, even as she begged herself to become pliant in his arms.

Herrick's features shuttered as he watched Maude fall back on old habits.

He released his grip on her as she finally found her footing and walked away from her, stopping at the top of the short stairs that would lead to the deck.

Maude sat with the pit that had grown in her stomach with each step he took away from her, the feeling burning through her core until it radiated through her very bones.