Page 24

Eydis looked to be in her early twenties, with long silver hair that seemed to glow like moonlight. Her round face enhanced the beauty of her youth, but her caramel eyes were empty. What would typically be honey-tinted skin was pale and lined with grief.

Maude made her way over to the young woman, offering her an awkward smile and a travel cloak to throw over her clothes.

Eydis hesitantly took the cloak from her hands and wrapped it around her shoulders, giving Maude a slight nod.

She looked at the scar on Maude’s face briefly before averting her eyes and fussing with her bootlaces.

Maude tried to reign in her flinch, opting to pull her hood up again.

“Are you staying in the town with your siblings?” Maude asked as she began to sort through her pack to make sure her weapons were all still there after the journey.

“My brothers can pass inconspicuously with the family they are staying with. I need to get away from them before I endanger them more,” Eydis replied softly, her voice like a wind chime blowing gently in a breeze.

Maude looked up at the woman, assessing her a bit more closely.

“You were the vitki they were looking for.”

Eydis’s eyes widened a fraction before Maude saw her shut down the panic in its tracks.

Maude nodded her understanding at wanting to leave those she loved out of the line of fire that led to her.

Eydis seemed to want to say something to her, but when she looked over Maude’s shoulder, she visibly relaxed as Hakon appeared, only fierce determination set into his face.

His eyes softened when he found Eydis before he carried on with his preparations.

A faint blush spread across her cheeks as she turned away and went to help Thora finish gathering food.

Well, that’s interesting, Maude thought wryly.

Maude was heading to the front door when it swung open.

Liv stopped short in the entrance. They glared at each other, but Liv stepped around her and grabbed some saddlebags that were ready to be loaded.

Maude wordlessly helped Liv pack the horses, working in a strained silence together until Maude counted the horses. And then counted the horses again.

“There are only four here.”

“This was all they could spare on short notice,” Liv said as she continued loading the horses.

“Looks like we are riding together, minn eldr ,” came Herrick’s voice from the door.

Maude grit her teeth together as Herrick stepped out into the early dawn and continued, “Eydis is going to ride with Hakon and Gunnar and Liv each have too many saddle bags to each have another person with them, so you are stuck with me. I can’t have you slipping from my hands just yet. ”

“How convenient for you,” Maude grumbled under her breath before she made her way to Eydis, withdrawing one of her spare knives and a piece of ripped linen. “Here. Tie this knife to your thigh, whichever your dominant hand can reach the fastest. This way, you are not entirely defenseless.”

Eydis looked as if the dagger might bite her. A shieldmaiden she was not. But she took the dagger, and Maude helped her tie it to her left leg, showing her some basic defensive skills while they waited for the rest of the party to finish their preparation.

The young woman was a quick study; her ability to adapt to a defensive fighting style was impressive .

“What type of galder do you have anyway?” Maude asked, sheathing her dagger.

“Air. I’ve only just been able to start controlling it. I didn’t know I had galder until a few weeks ago in the market. I lost my temper with my little brother, Erik.”

Regret filled her eyes, tears starting to form in the corners.

“I was angry he kept dragging on my skirt, and I dropped our basket of food. I snapped at him and motioned with my hands to stop what he was doing. The force of the wind that blew him back into the wall was too strong to avoid any notice,” she sniffed.

“We thought we would be okay, but then they found us. Papa fought off the soldiers who had turned up at our home so we could run. Then we get here, and I find out Mama didn’t make it out of the city either. ”

Tears were pouring freely down her face now. Maude, unsure of what to say or do, pulled out another strip of linen and handed it to Eydis. Appearing behind her, Hakon turned her as one strong hand tilted Eydis’s face up to his, wiping her tears away with his thumb.

“It wasn’t your fault, elvindr .”

He turned them both to the horse they were to share while Maude watched Hakon tenderly lift Eydis onto the saddle and then hop up behind her. She leaned back against him, and he drew his cloak around her, protecting her from any prying eyes.

“That is an interesting development,” Herrick’s voice came from behind her.

“She’s beautiful; why wouldn’t he be interested? They escaped potential imprisonment and traveled through a desert together. Perhaps they found something in each other. ”

Maude shrugged off the loneliness that seared through her before making her way to the chocolate brown mare that would be hers and Herrick’s. She ran a hand over the horse's neck and cooed at her a bit.

“I suppose you’re right. I avoided certain death with your help, and here I am, standing with the woman I cannot stay away from even after she told me she didn’t want me,” Herrick said to her, walking over to pin her between his body and the horse.

“You really are a beast,” Maude snapped at him. “I thought what I said to you yesterday had finally sunk in.”

Herrick only leaned further over her, breathing in her air. His rain-soaked earth scent ensnared her almost immediately, muddling her thoughts.

“You said and did lots of things, minn eldr , but pushing me away was not one of them. If you want to fight, I’ll fight with you.

If you want release, I can help with that, too.

” He winked. “But we need your fire, and I made a promise to tell you all the information I have so you can decide if you want to help me or not. I promised to help you with your galder . I’m not going to be the one that walks away. ”

“A foolish decision, really,” Maude bit out before removing the necklace with the water rune and holding it out for Herrick. “Here, this belongs to you.”

He took the necklace but reached forward, hanging it back around her neck.

She could only focus on the touch of his fingers on the sensitive skin of her neck and his mouth.

All other thoughts emptied from her mind.

When Herrick withdrew his hands, his fingers brushed over her pulse and lingered for a second too long before finally breaking contact.

Maude could feel the absence of his touch like a brand .

“Hold on to it for now,” he said softly. “It’ll remind you that there is a balance to your fire, that you are not as destructive as you believe you are but powerful.”

Maude opened her mouth to say… Well, she didn’t know what she was going to say because Herrick spoke first.

“And when it's late at night, and you’re being kept up with thoughts of me, it can remind you of my touch while you—”

Maude shoved him away from her, baring her teeth at him. Herrick only laughed, the sound skating over her skin.

Their party had all mounted their horses and were briskly heading to the eastern gate of the small town, so Maude pulled herself into the saddle, hoping to force Herrick to sit in front of her for this leg of their journey.

Unfortunately, Herrick was nimbler on his feet than he allowed others to believe so soon after his injury and had settled himself behind Maude before she could even shift backward a little.

He adjusted his legs to fit snugly around her wide hips, securing her position between his thighs. He grabbed the reins and waved to Thora, who smiled at them both before going back into her inn to erase the evidence that they were ever there.

Back stiff, Maude placed her strung bow across her lap, her knuckles white against the dark polished wood, refusing to brace herself against Herrick in any way. Maude looked ahead to their small group, secretly pleased that she didn’t have to share a horse with anyone else.

Not that she would never admit that to anyone, especially Herrick.

The mare they were riding took off at a quick trot, catching up to the group before they got too far ahead. The friction that resulted from the burst of speed had Maude’s backside rubbing against Herrick’s front, and it became clear how much he was enjoying the movement.

“You are disgusting; how does this turn you on? ”

“With you, minn eldr , everything turns me on,” he laughed.

This is going to be a long day , Maude thought to herself as his laugh reverberated through her and down to her core.

Six hours passed before the group felt comfortable enough to stop and rest. Six hours of being enveloped by Herrick’s scent and body, of internal struggle to keep her burning from surfacing and giving away her feelings.

She had tried to sit as stiff as she could, but it caused more friction between them than when she moved with him and the mare.

To Maude, this was almost worse because she could feel how easily they moved with each other and how comfortable she was when her thoughts drifted away from her.

As soon as they had stopped, Maude jumped from the horse and took a few steps away from Herrick to breathe the dry desert air.

Gunnar started to build a small fire while Liv walked the horses a short distance to graze from the oasis nearby.

Hakon was speaking in soft tones to Eydis, clearly sore from the long ride and going through some similar stretches to relieve her muscles.

Herrick jumped down from the horse and watched Maude ignore him while he pulled the saddlebags off the horses.