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Maude raced toward the open door to Gunnar's room where her birth father and his personal guard were gathered.

She hadn't had the chance to tell him yet, her stubbornness had bound her tongue in knots out of refusal to bend.

There was no bigger fool than her, the gods knew that.

Every excuse she had given herself for hiding her heritage now seemed ridiculous in the face of how easy it was to admit the Shadow King was her father.

Herrick was too observant of her to not see the truth— he was only waiting for her to say the words.

And now that chance was ripped from her fingertips as Aeric unknowingly dropped the information into his hands.

He couldn't find out this way. But it was too late.

When Maude came to a halt behind the Shadow King, they were both turning to face her, and she could see the truth play out on Herrick's face.

His eyebrows knit together, and his body stiffened.

Realization dawned as he went over their time together, his thoughts playing out on his chiseled features for once as his jaw seemed to slacken for a split second before pressing his lips together in a thin line.

Her shoulders thrown back, Maude weathered his acceptance of the obvious truth she still could not utter, waiting for a response.

Seeing his golden eyes finally make their way to her moss green, Maude allowed a little bit of her apology to shine through.

She was going to tell him when their stupid standoff was over.

Foolish of her to have waited so long, especially when the confessions seemed so simple now.

Aeric was speaking again, his deep voice muffled as she and Herrick continued being absorbed by their bubble of tension.

"I heard of your return to Nida and that you were successful in your mission.

I wanted to invite you all to a celebratory supper tonight so we can discuss what happened when you returned to the Kingdom of Flame.

An extra room has been set aside for you, General, near to this one and stocked with all the amenities. "

Herrick nodded once at the Shadow King without looking away from her stare. "We thank you for your hospitality, Your Majesty."

"I will leave you now, but look forward to speaking with you all tonight," he went on, unaware or purposely ignoring their contest.

With that, her father turned on his heel and exited the room.

When he passed by Maude, he paused and ran his knuckles over her cheek affectionately, if not a little hesitantly, before continuing down the hall and around the corner.

He was kind to ignore that she flinched at the gentle touch, unfamiliar with what his action was going to be at that moment.

Lots of feelings slammed into Maude at his outward attempt at fatherly affection.

Her breathing staggered with the pressure of them, the uncertainty and bewilderment of the tender gesture warring with the swelling of warmth she felt in her hollow chest. For one moment, she remembered what it felt like to be loved by a parent.

Faded memories, hazy around the edges from the dampening of time, coursed through her mind with every pounding beat of her heart.

Mama brushing her hair when she was young.

Maude handing Mama a small bouquet of summer flowers she had picked from the palace gardens, her warm hand running gently down the side of her face as she smiled down at her.

Mama placing a crown of dandelions on her head during the spring fire festivals and picking Maude up to twirl with her in the dancing light of the fire's reaching toward the gods.

The pain of a new welt forming on her knee from when she tripped sending waves of fire up her legs while Mama washed away the dirt and placed a soothing kiss on the maroon scrape.

Tears blurred her eyes as each memory reminded her that she had been loved as a child but had never had the love of a father to guide her as well.

She continued to look at the spot at the corner where her father disappeared around, her eyes blurring further before she managed to blink away the rise in her emotion .

Shadows eased into the air around her fingers and palms, their soft swirling similar to a cat's movements as they rubbed against her skin. They moved as if they tried to ease her pain, sensing her discomfort.

Activity from inside Gunnar's room broke her from her distracted state, sending the shadows scattering back to the dark corners of the hall .

Gunnar was heading back toward his bed slowly with Liv's help while Herrick entered the hallway.

He still hadn't taken his eyes off her since the reveal of her true parentage.

Before any of this happened, she had just gotten done speaking with Bryn about the note from the Shadow King she had found in her bedroom, asking them to meet him for dinner that night.

When she had left the Kolbecks with Gunnar to find Liv, she had slumped against the wall outside of Gunnar's room, the relief coursing through her in bursts of adrenaline battling with the cloying heaviness of her sorrow.

Once she could find her feet again, Maude found Liv speaking with Bryn outside of her room next to Maude's. She had observed the two women interacting for a handful of moments before she interrupted.

Liv's inner light radiated when she was speaking to Bryn, the galder in her blood seemingly reacting to the sight of her little sister.

Bryn also lit up, more in her hazel eyes than her skin like Liv did.

But now and then, Maude would see that Bryn's gaze would shutter, as if she was remembering something— or someone— that etched the grief back into her features.

Eventually, Maude called out to Liv and made herself known to them both. When she heard Gunnar was awake, she took off with barely an uttered goodbye. Bryn seemed pleased at the news; her face flushed a bit, but she headed into her bedroom before Maude could ask anything else.

After settling most of her weapons on the long table that had been set up against a far wall and washing up from the long journey, Maude had tried to breathe normally for a few moments before she spied a small slip of paper on her pillow.

The writing was neat and elegant, addressing her as the Heir of Shadows.

She cringed before she picked it up, finding the invitation to dinner from Aeric.

After Maude had knocked on Bryn's door and discussed the note with her, Dahlia called for her from down the hall.

Once she caught up to Maude and Bryn, she told them that she had inspected the band on Herrick's neck and, after speaking with Aeric, concluded that they should be able to find a way to remove it.

Maude had stopped listening, though, because Dahlia had also said that Aeric was on his way to find Herrick himself. She took off at run, trying to find her way back to Gunnar's room before her birth father could arrive, but when she turned the corner, she found she was too late.

Now, Herrick only looked at her with a guarded stare as he passed her.

His gaze lifting from her felt like a weight had been withdrawn from her shoulders but soon left her bereft of his affection.

Refusing to chase after him, Maude stalked past the open door toward the large spiral staircase that was housed in the center of the Midnight Palace.

She didn't know where she was going, but she knew she couldn't be around people right now.

More than ever, she wished for her isolation in Logi when she was just a pit fighter.

It wasn't until Maude left the safety of the palace walls that she had any idea of where she was headed.

Winding through the narrow streets of Nida and between the moonstone buildings, Elven were enjoying a late lunch and some end-of-day shopping in the dying sunlight that only lasted a few hours this far north.

She didn't see any of this, however, since Maude's focus was only on getting to the sandy shores of the inlet that lay beyond the docks.

Liv had mentioned the secluded shores when they were leaving for Logi, but Maude had been so focused on Herrick that she didn't remember the location until now.

She craved the silence of the isolated shoreline that only a few knew about— it was the only thing that would drown out the ringing in her ears that reminded her of the look on Herrick's face when her lies had been uncovered.

Maude couldn't blame him; she had not taken to the news so well, either.

The heavy sound of her boots on the dock tore Maude from the memory of Herrick's reaction, the dawning that played out on his face, followed by the shock.

She had been the cause of so much anguish in his life already, and she didn't know how Herrick could stand to be in the space as her anymore.

Shouts from sailors unloading their cargo canceled out the ringing in her ears, the lyrical Elven language sounding comical on the rough tongues of the workers.

She wove between the stacks of cargo, losing her train of thought as the sun started to set behind the mountains.

It wasn't until the rocking of the unsteady dock beneath her turned to sloped hills of soft, black sand that Maude finally slowed her pace. The sky had turned a dark purple during her trek toward the lonely beach, the bright stars starting to shine down on the city that worshipped the night.

When Maude finally reached the line in the sand the black water crept toward with each pull from the moon, she kicked off her boots and settled her toes in the cold, soft shore as she sat close enough that the waves would eventually reach her.

The damp chill of the small beach crept through her clothing until it began to cool her scorching flesh, her galder trying to find its way to the surface again now that she was alone.