Page 74

After her shared meal with her father, Aeric had mentioned that he needed to check in with the Elven soldiers he had left outside the gates to Hilgafell to make sure they were well and offer them the respite of the gods' temples if they would like it.

Before he left, he placed a gentle hand on Maude's cheek that she might have leaned into slightly the way she had when her mother had done the same in her childhood.

She was alone for only a handful of moments before Gunnar entered the cabin, sweating with his face flushed from exertion. Maude raised an eyebrow at him before giving them a sly smile.

"What were you up to so early this morning?" Her tone was teasing, but the question was real enough.

Gunnar stuck one middle finger up at her before responding, "I've been sparring with Herrick, hand-to-hand, so that I can build my strength up again. I need to be ready."

Maude could not fault him for that; the similarities in his words to her father's words this morning about training were not lost on her.

"If you feel like having another sparring partner, I'm happy to teach you a few things," Maude said to Gunnar. "But only if you feel like helping me with my earth galder ."

Gunnar's eyes widened slightly before he snorted. "I guess I should have known you'd have control over all the elements now that your true parentage is out."

Maude winced. "Control is a strong word for it, but yes, I can access all the elements. My earth galder is shaky at best. "

"I would be happy to help," Gunnar finally said, causing Maude's shoulders to relax slightly.

They were quiet while her friend finished washing up and headed toward the rest of the porridge that sat over a low burning flame that never seemed to die out. When he held out a bowl for her, she declined it.

"I've already eaten," she replied, even as her thoughts swirled around the man still missing from this breakfast. Unable to hold out any longer, she asked, "Where is Herrick now?"

Gunnar had already started shoveling food into his mouth, but between bites, he managed to say, "I think he said he was going to wash up in the baths the Soothsayer had mentioned, the hot springs in the caves behind the temple."

Maude made a noncommittal sound of interest before standing and heading for the door.

Before she could leave entirely, she said over her shoulder, "You'd better wake Liv, Bryn, and Dahlia before all the food is gone. I wouldn't want to stand between those women and breakfast."

She walked out into the bright day, ignoring the unease about Herrick's avoidance.

As soon as the blinding light skimmed over her skin, her blood lit up with the same sparks she had grown accustomed to over her life.

All around her, the small camps that had been densely packed together throughout the forest of Hilgafell were stirring to life.

Flames sparked in the smoking piles of their previous piles as Maude passed them.

While she slowly made her way up the path to Odin's temple, Maude tried to focus on reaching for her galder .

When she was growing up, her mother coached her through the overwhelming emotion that shifted through her faster than she could identify at the time by having her inhale when she gripped her galder and release it again when she exhaled.

Except, when she became lost to her turbulent feelings, that's when her galder came easier to her even though her entire life had revolved around teaching control.

The exercise had never worked for her, no matter how hard Maude had tried .

The days that her turbulent emotions overpowered her, Helvig was always present to witness her failures.

She would never know if her inability to control her fire that early on stemmed from her skill or from his presence, but after a few punishments at the hand of her uncle, her mother halted the visits to her lessons growing up.

After that, Maude could sum up her worth to Helvig into one phrase: not good enough .

Instead, during this moment of solitude, she tried to identify the different strands that seemed to live within her blood.

During the quieter hours of the night when she couldn't fall asleep, Maude had tried to remember if those threads had been there in her childhood.

Her memories were always tinged in darkness, their hold on her unforgiving despite the large holes she realized were present.

Clearly, her subconscious was trying to protect her from something… but what?

She shook her head, carefully stepping over a twisting branch that cut across the unofficial walkway toward the temple.

Maybe she shouldn't poke at whatever was being hidden from her.

If the block was of her own design, then she wasn't sure she wanted to pull on that thread.

Whatever it unraveled would surely come at a price.

Now, as she walked in the vibrant day, the threads for earth and light seemed easier to reach.

Deep greens and indigo twined further out of her reach than the shadows and flames did, but she was still able to hold on to them easier than she expected to.

The effervescent glow of light within her was hardest for her to grasp; it was as slippery as her shadows but more elusive in the way that most light could be blocked with the slightest obstacle.

A ray of sunshine on her skin felt physical until she reached for it, blocking its path until her skin grew cooler under her own shadow.

How in Odin's name did the Elven control such opposites? Maude thought as she slowed to a stop at the stairs before the temple. This is impossible.

"If you concentrate any harder, your mind might start to leak out of your ears," a gruff voice came from behind her.

Maude pivoted to her side, reaching for the weapon she did not have strapped to her thigh, only to find Hildr standing a few feet behind her.

She had not noticed the Soothsayer when she had trekked up to the temple, nor had she heard anyone following her.

Like she just appeared between the rough shadows of the birch trees that towered over them.

"Did you finally pluck up the courage to seek me out, Daughter of Shadows?" Hildr continued, her absolute stillness eerie in the lively forest that was waking around them.

"Why do you call me that?" Maude asked, her eyes narrowing on the seer.

Hildr just snorted and walked past her, skirting around the side of the temple on an unmarked path with such ease that it surprised Maude. Unsure of what the seer's goal was, she hesitated where she stood until the old woman spoke over her shoulder.

"If you want your chance to speak with me alone, it better be now. Come."

Her eyes widened. How…?

Hildr disappeared around the corner, leaving Maude to decide if she was brave enough to get the answers she needed. Swallowing a deep breath, she followed the Grand Soothsayer out of sight in hopes that her path forward might be clearer.

Maude silently followed Hildr behind the temple and into the cozy residence they had sat in the night before. Already, the overwhelming incense burned her nose, but she swallowed her discomfort quickly as she shut the rustic door behind her.

The seer sat at the head of the fire pit that kept her home warm, her spine straight with her gnarled hands resting on her knees.

If she hadn't followed her into the space, she would have thought Hildr was a statue, considering how still she was.

Unsure of how to start, Maude opened her mouth a few times but found no words to utter into the dim living space.

Hildr saved her from coming up with something to say.

"Why don't we start by you bringing me the dagger you snuck beyond the walls of this holy place?"

She started, the air in her lungs freezing before radiating out to her limbs in frantic waves of ice.

"What— "

"The dagger, the one in your bodice. We don't have all day, girl," Hildr said impatiently, her hand snapping out in front of her, palm up.

It was another moment of hesitation before the ice in her veins cracked, and she could move again.

Maude crouched in front of the seer and handed over her weapon.

Somehow, Hildr had known all along that she'd had it.

Sitting a few inches from her, tense and weary, Maude watched as the Grand Soothsayer twisted the dagger over and over in her ancient hands.

Blind fingers ran over the matte blade that always seemed to absorb light rather than reflect it before it traced the old runes etched into the blade.

She had never made any sense of them before, Maude had just accepted that the old blade had to have belonged to someone whose runes were still engraved in the metal.

Finally, Hildr ran her fingers over the soft, faded silk she had torn from Helvig the day she escaped from her life as the Heir of Flames.

The seer scoffed gently before releasing the fabric again and handing the dagger back to Maude, handle first.

"Who gave this to you?" the seer asked roughly.

Maude swallowed thickly before answering, keeping her eyes downcast as she gripped the dagger blade in her hand. Somehow, she was sure Hildr could see her, even with her stitched eyes.

"My mother. She instructed me to meet her later that evening to discuss something, but that was the day I ran from the Palace of Wind and Embers," she explained quickly, her voice cracking when she spoke of her mother.

Hildr nodded. "Good. We'll need it tomorrow night."

"Tomorr—"

"What else did you wish to speak to me about?" Hildr went on, ignoring anything Maude was trying to say.

"That's really annoying," she growled in response, her irritation crashing over her like a harsh wave of heat. "If you gave me a moment—"

"You don't have any more moments to spare, Daughter of Shadows. You've spent the last decade running, and it was all in vain, for here you are anyway. Speak. Ask me what you came here to ask me. "

"Stop calling me that," she said through clenched teeth.