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"I want my freedom," Maude said quietly, her words a whisper that only the Grand Soothsayer would hear.

"It just so happens that the path to my freedom is also the path to freedom for the people of Ahland.

Helvig's downfall, and the downfall of his partner Vilde, would be beneficial to all in Ahland. "

Hildr nodded, her reaction to Maude's confession giving nothing away about what she truly thought.

The fire in the hearth was starting to burn low, the embers glowing and dimming with the hunger to spark.

But they were unable to do so until they were fed with the fuel needed to burn.

Their potential stood on a precipice that depended on an outside source to kindle, much like Maude and her friends stood on the edge of what could be a turning point in their fight against Helvig.

As Hildr spoke, the seer threw a dusting of herbs over the dying fire.

Plumes of smoke heavy with the smothering scents of incense filled the room and obscured Maude's senses as the low voice of the Soothsayer rang out around them.

Like the seer who had granted them access to Hilgafell, the Soothsayer's voice rang omnisciently in the smoke that surrounded them.

Her voice was both wise and naive, ancient and vernal.

"In two days' time, the summer solstice moon will cross over Hilgafell, bringing abundance and clarity to those who seek it," Hildr chanted as she brought a rosemary smudge stick from within her robes, igniting the end of it until a solid ribbon of smoke emanated from the fragrant bundle.

"Only when the sun sets on the longest day of the year will I be able to aid the healer in removing the restraint from the General of Rivers' throat.

While Dahlia is exceptionally skilled, she does not have the power to remove the iron alone.

We must call on the gods for their assistance. "

Herrick stiffened at her side. Her father must have already told Hildr of the difficulty involved in removing the iron. But how could the gods possibly help?

"On the Midsommar moonrise, I will be able to aid you in the next steps of your journey. The gods have heard your pleas through my ears and will need time to respond," the Grand Soothsayer finished.

Hildr then stood with her smudge stick and traced protective runes with the smoke in front of each member of their group, as well as a few specific runes chosen for the person she stood before.

Some were for healing; some were for clarity.

When the Soothsayer stopped before Maude, the only rune she carved was ansuz .

Her scar burned with every slash of the smudge stick like it was aware of the smoke mirroring the sign from the gods.

"There is a cabin set aside for visitors of importance; it will suit your needs for your stay.

It is stocked with provisions, but there is wild game for hunting in the forests as well.

Wash up in the hot springs that lay inside the caves behind Hilgafell, if you like.

Follow the stream from behind the temple until you find the cave opening," Hildr said, turning her back on everyone and heading for the back of the cabin that had been curtained off from visitors.

The seer disappeared behind the heavy woven tapestry that hung in the doorway without another word, leaving Maude and her group alone in the cabin.

"Follow me," Aeric said as he stood, leaving his drinking horn on the floor where he sat. "I know where this cabin is. "

When Maude breathed in the clean air outside of Hildr's cabin, her head finally started to clear.

Ahead of her, Herrick followed her father down a hidden path that led behind the numerous camps that had been set up.

The rest followed them, except Bryn, leaving her and her sister behind a bit as Maude dragged her feet.

She expected the weight of her confession to multiply when the words left her mouth, but she felt lighter.

That couldn't be a good thing.

"We haven't really had a chance to speak, " Bryn said, the vulnerability from when she had silently opened up to Hakon now gone.

In its place was the formality that she and her sister had opted for in the absence of the sisterly affection that had started to bloom when Maude first woke from stasis.

The divide had reappeared shortly after the dinner Aeric had thrown, the news of what Helvig had been doing all these years a swift blow to their egos, but now the distance felt similar to the chasm she had created when she was an adolescent living with a trauma she could not have begun to understand.

They weren't children anymore, but Maude still felt herself pulling away from those around her who wanted good for this world.

Bryn never hesitated to help the people of Logi while Maude had been wrapped up in her own problems. Liv had traveled all across Ahland in search of the people who were going to bring peace to their lands, never backing down from a threat to that peace in her long fight against this division of kingdoms. The Kolbeck brothers and Gunnar lived every day for their citizens and for those they didn't hold any jurisdiction over.

Maude hid from the world— from her problems— letting them fester in her soul until she could no longer contain them. She pushed everyone away. She acted in anger. She was the product of her upbringing.

But somehow, her sister— her little shieldmaiden— had managed to break from the mold and fight back. She had lived and loved and lost while Maude had hidden from everything and everyone, including herself.

"I have been reading mother's journals as often as I can," Maude said, excusing the real reason for her self-induced banishment from the love her sister was offering her. "I've also been working with Dahlia to see if I have the gift of healing. "

The last part of her excuses was as real as the journals she had been reading.

On the ship, Maude had approached Dahlia when they were only a few hours from arriving in Hlidestad and asked if they could begin their lessons in healing.

Though a part of her fumed at the apologies the Elven healer had made for Baldr and what he had done to Herrick, Maude recognized that she was the best teacher for this subject.

Maude would always be a warrior; that much would never change.

But perhaps, if she had the skill to heal her friends with more than bandages and suture thread, they wouldn't have to wait and suffer in pain after a fight.

In the battles to come, Maude thought it would be useful for her to be able to help her friends and heal them if they were injured.

Their first few lessons were short, and all involved Maude reaching for the water in her blood.

Every attempt failed as soon as it had begun when her flames turned the water to steam before she could fully grasp it.

Dahlia then pivoted her lessons to focusing on how to channel each element until she could isolate the individual threads of her galder from each other.

When she mastered this, Maude would move on to working with just her water galder so she could find out if she had any ability for healing.

Silence stretched between Maude and her sister as she continued to spiral into herself.

The pain in her chest from cutting herself off from her sister— her other half— was beginning to steal the air from her lungs.

The wind picked up, the ends of their hair flickering in the violent gusts, but Maude only looked at her little sister as the rest of the world fell away with the pull of the breeze.

When she had first laid eyes on her in the palace, their uncle's knife poised to cut her throat, Maude thought Bryn had grown into the vision of war that she had been trained to be.

Her eyes held the same anger as Maude's, and her posture and stance were so similar to hers because she had been on the defensive in a room full of enemies.

Then, Bryn seemed to have grown into the woman Maude always knew she would be.

Before her now, in the dense forests that hid Hilgafell from all but the gods, Bryn seemed to have softened into the girl she had known growing up.

Her body still held the strength of a warrior trained to wield a sword and axe in battle.

Her mind was still sharpened to plan battles and execute strategy.

But her eyes were that of the little girl who had sought affection and guidance from her older sister. Her stance was that of a vulnerable woman, afraid to ask for what she needed from the only person she should be able to count on.

Maude did not deserve that vulnerability from her sister.

She had left Bryn behind in the search for her freedom, and too much had happened between them.

But here she was, wanting to ask Maude for advice on whatever plagued her.

So Maude leaned into the unknown, letting her selfishness fall to the wayside long enough to be that source of guidance for the only person that mattered to her more than her own life.

They continued to stroll down the path leading to the cabin, the structure looming ahead of them as their friends disappeared inside.

Camps passed them as they continued their slow trek, the occupants getting drunker by the minute as the fires burned high and the mead flowed freely.

Maude could smell pipe smoke drifting from the circles of Elven and humans who sat together like the history of the last two hundred years had never happened.

Instead, their minds drifted to the heavens with the fires that crackled in front of them as they sucked on the potent smoke that was popular in the temples as the visions from the herb and mushroom combination played out before their eyes.

"What's bothering you?" Maude finally asked as she kept her eyes on the unmarked path they were following.