Page 42

After Liv had spoken with Bryn at length about whether Baldr could be the spy for Aeric, ultimately deciding that they could not know for sure until they spoke with the King of Shadows, they broke off to conquer two stubborn fools.

Bryn made her way over to where Maude had taken up residence, leaning up against the rail of the ship, her eyes unfocused as they traced the patterns in the stars that moved over them while Liv went below deck to find the Kolbeck responsible for Maude's sudden silence.

Entering the room without knocking, Liv stopped short when she spied bloody glass on the floor in front of Herrick.

Her friend sat on the edge of the small bed, his head hanging forward as he pinched the bridge of his nose and breathed deeply.

Hakon stood on the other end of the room, his hands in his pockets.

"You know, I don't even want to know what happened," Liv grumbled, leaning against the doorway. "Maude looks like she's about ready to murder someone, so I figured I'd come down and see what happened."

"I just got here a moment before you and found him like this," Hakon said quickly before he put his hands up in surrender before pointing one hand at Herrick.

"I lost my temper," Herrick replied, rolling his eyes. "We argued."

"No shit," Liv said. "Like I said, Maude is downright frightening up there."

"Is she shooting angry looks at everyone, just begging them to come close enough so she can explode?" Hakon snorted derisively as he brushed the shards of glass aside with his boot .

Liv was quiet as she watched Herrick. "No, actually. She is completely blank. Not one hint of emotion is showing on her face right now. Bryn is trying to talk to her, but she won't speak. It's mildly terrifying."

Herrick swallowed hard.

"That is frightening," Hakon grumbled as he shot his brother a look she couldn't identify.

Without another word, Herrick stood and tried to move past her, but Liv stopped him with one hand on his chest.

"You may want to give her some time," Liv suggested, her words light, but the pressure from her hand on his chest kept him still.

Herrick stepped around her and exited the cabin. There were only a few hours left until they reached Nida, but Liv worried that they wouldn't make it there in one piece if Herrick and Maude didn't find some sort of resolution.

Herrick tried to reign in his whirling and constantly changing feelings until he could speak with Maude.

He didn't like how he had handled things with her, especially when it came to his reaction to her flames.

She was hiding too much from him, and it was pushing him past his breaking point, but that was no excuse for him to be cruel either .

Or you are seeing her true colors now , the insidious voice whispered into his doubts. And matching her cruelty with justice.

He ignored it as he passed Elven sleeping on rocking hammocks, freed prisoners from Logi speaking softly with each other, two small children chasing each other while their mother watched affectionately; their silver-blonde hair reminded him of Eydis.

Herrick swallowed his regret over her senseless passing— such purity of heart had been wasted on death all while driving a wedge through all of their relationship with fate.

Did the Norns intend to weave such misery for them all?

What was the point of any of it if evil was to prevail in the face of good?

Power is all that matters, Prince.

Shut up , he growled to the voice inhabiting his mind.

Soon, he was on the upper deck, the cold breeze from the mountains banishing the darkness in his mind as they swept through and cleared his mind.

He saw that they had left the open water of the ocean and now wound through the narrow fjord between what he suspected were the edges of the Icewall Mountains.

He could feel himself edging closer to losing the tentative grip on himself that he had fought for, but he searched for her anyway.

Just when Herrick thought she might have climbed up the mainsail again to get away from everyone, he caught a glimpse of her deep, wine-red hair tossing in the wind.

Bryn was just walking away from her sister, her head shaking slightly.

When she caught sight of Herrick making his way toward Maude, her hazel eyes narrowed with a malice he had only seen on his eldr before.

Allfather, spare him the wrath of another Helvig daughter , he thought to himself.

She had leaned her forearms on the railing, content to watch the waves crash into the side of the longship.

There was a calm silence surrounding her, but Herrick knew better than to think that she had given up.

She wasn't the type to go down without a fight— Maude would make him pay for hurting her the way he did.

The serenity that surrounded her was off-putting to him, the resolve in it bringing a sense of doom that took root in his gut.

"Maude," Herrick began, but she didn't let him finish.

She walked away from him, shadows swirling around her arms and thickening until she disappeared from his sight.

He followed her, the scent of jasmine and cedar guiding him to the bow of the ship.

He inched closer to the ball of shadow that concealed her from him, reaching out with one hand until his fingers dipped into the inky, artificial night.

He watched as his fingers disappeared into darkness, mesmerized by the soothing feeling between his fingers. Straightening his spine, Herrick stepped beyond the threshold until he stood with Maude in the shadows she created, blocking everyone else from view.

The wind that cut through her sphere of night ruffled through her unbound hair, and Herrick had to stop himself from reaching for the wild waves.

He tried to find the words that would make this rift between them better, tried to force himself to feel differently than he did.

But he couldn't. So instead, they faced each other with arms crossed and hearts guarded.

She stood there, silent as death and as beautiful as the frozen fjord they sailed by. She was baiting him to say something. But Herrick could only watch Maude, and she only watched him. Their silence stretched until a mutual understanding passed between them, challenge flaring in Maude's eyes.

She would not be the first to speak, so neither would Herrick.

Bryn's conversation with Liv had turned to more benign topics when she could no longer ignore how Maude drifted across the deck, a ghost who did not make a single sound as she floated from railing to railing.

Silence followed her, drowning the busy sounds of the Elven and men working the sails and completing menial tasks to pass the time until they arrived in Nida.

She exchanged an exasperated look with Liv before they silently agreed to discover what happened in the cabin below deck.

Heading toward her sister, her unease grew into a heavy knot in her stomach.

Landing her boots on the deck heavier than she usually would so she announced her arrival to Maude, Bryn leaned her back against the railing that her sister rested her open palms on.

They stood together quietly for a handful of moments before Bryn glanced over to where Liv still stood, watching them.

She cleared her throat and asked, "Everything okay? I thought I left you in good hands down there."

Maude didn't reply, only continued staring down at the water that crashed against the side of the ship. Bryn tried again.

"Gods, what happened?"

Silence.

Bryn glanced at Liv again and gave her a small shrug, her face painted in confusion at her sister's unusual silence. Liv nodded gravely before heading toward the door that would lead to the lower deck.

As soon as the door closed, Maude said, "I'm just going over every decision I've ever made, wondering how I got to this point. I can't decide if the gods are punishing me or if I'm punishing myself."

Her sister placed one hand on her chest, her eyes glazed over as they watched the horizon. As if her chest was caving in. Bryn was familiar with the sensation— she felt like she was walking around with a hole in her chest for weeks.

"What did Kolbeck say to you?" Bryn asked as she gritted her teeth. It was taking everything inside of her not to rush down the stairs and rip the General apart.

But her sister was unnaturally still at her side, not a flicker of emotion across her face even as she responded.

"He didn't say anything; that's the problem.

He has pulled himself away from me. He doesn't trust me, and honestly?

I can't blame him," Maude said quietly, her fingers digging into the leather vest over her chest. "The one person who hasn't shut me out, who has accepted every rough edge of me, has finally seen what everyone else sees.

And he doesn't like it. Just like I knew he wouldn't."

Bryn flinched at her sister's words. She couldn't even argue with her— Bryn had shut her out all those years ago.

In her anger and grief, she had abandoned her sister the same way she had felt abandoned the day Maude ran from the palace.

Even if she had gotten over herself once she could interfere with her father's attempts to control her sister's free life in the slums of Logi, she hadn't forgiven her for the abandonment.

Maude continued, "I knew this would happen. I spent weeks guarding myself from a heartbreak that never came. I lied and betrayed, but he still followed me. He held strong in his belief in me. Until now. "

Bryn shifted until her hip rested on the railing. Swallowing her issues, she placed a hand on Maude's forearm. A gentle touch, a sign of comfort. It was unfamiliar territory for Bryn, but at this moment, it felt right to lend her sister strength.

"He's afraid of my fire," Maude whispered, the words so quiet that Bryn wasn't sure she'd heard her correctly. "He won't come out and say it, but I can see it in the wary movements around me."

Based on what Bryn had seen of his scars, she wasn't surprised.

"That stubborn fool is crazy about you," Bryn said quietly. "I've seen it in his face, in the way he moves around you. Whatever is going on with you both is the direct result of Father's interference. Herrick was his prisoner; you were killed and then brought back to life by the Odin himself."

Maude stiffened under her touch but did not pull away.

"Things are different now; we've all been through some shit that would level any ordinary person," Bryn said with a chuckle. "So it's good we're not ordinary. Trauma bonding aside, it feels right to be here with this group. I know you feel that too."

Maude nodded and sniffed once. Bryn reeled in her shock as a single tear dropped onto her sister's cheek. She quickly swiped it away before anyone else noticed.

"If you want to put Herrick through a little Hel first, I'm game. But you should forgive him for whatever he said or didn't say to you," she finished, her words hanging between them. "Eventually."

Maude chuckled, a short and broken sound, but she straightened a bit. Eventually, a comfortable silence settled between them— one that Bryn was reluctant to break. Until the door to the lower deck opened, and Herrick stepped out, searching for Maude.

"That is my cue to leave," Bryn murmured to her sister. "It's about time I returned to the highest point of the ship so I don't lose sight of the horizon and empty my stomach right onto the deck that everyone works so hard to keep clean."

Bryn winked at her sister before stepping away and slipping on her mask of fury, ready to torture Herrick a bit for hurting her sister.

So what if she was protective of Maude after everything she had gone through?

Bryn wasn't prepared to lose another person she loved, and though Maude was strong and could fight her own battles, she still felt responsible for letting Herrick know she was watching him.

As she passed the General of Rivers, Bryn leveled a glare at him that she had frequently used in her position as Lieutenant General. A glare she knew had sent soldiers scurrying into formation lest they end up reprimanded by her for poor attention.

It felt good to see the unease register in his golden eyes as she passed him.

As soon as he could no longer see her face, Bryn let her mouth tip up with the mirth that skated along her bones, hoping no one would notice.

Except Liv did; the Elven saw every moment of the game she and Maude had begun with the second born Kolbeck.

Liv rolled her eyes but tilted her lips up in a way that Bryn found incredibly distracting. It took a few moments for Bryn to remember how to speak because all she could think of was pressing her lips to the Elven's.

Allfather, give me strength to behave normally around this enchanting female , Bryn prayed as she managed to form words again and toss jokes back and forth with the Elven who had somehow wormed her way into whatever remained of her shattered heart.