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She paced in front of the stairs and tried to be gracious about the generosity Alva had been showing her since her arrival. The new clothes and gowns were too much, Maude felt. Gyda had told her that the Queen had also ordered her a ball gown to wear for Hakon’s Betrothal Ball.

It was too much, she thought, but she couldn’t really refuse her either. When she saw Herrick next, she needed to tell him that she had to leave soon before the Flame Soldiers tracked her down again .

Maude heard someone in boots behind her take a lengthy step.

She turned to see Liv dressed similarly to her, and they both let out a short laugh.

The friendship that Maude had started to notice blooming between them felt tentative on both ends, but she tried to let it feel natural.

Since they had both spoken to each other outside the Lamenting Woods, Maude thought they were more similar than she first realized.

“Do you know which room Eydis is in?” Maude asked Liv.

She nodded and led them down the hallway closest to them. When they reached the wooden door, Maude knocked lightly and called out to Eydis that it was them. She heard quick footsteps, and then the door opened.

Maude’s first thought was that Eydis looked radiant.

Her moonbeam hair had been delicately braided back from her face and spring flowers had been weaved into her braids around her head like a crown.

Eydis had honey-tinted tan skin that cast tones of deep gold, making her hair seem like it was glowing.

Her delicate face was painted with light pink rouge over her cheeks and lips that highlighted her light caramel eyes.

The pale blue dress she wore hugged her curves in an attractive but subtle way, showcasing her feminine figure.

The long sleeves ran to her elbows, and the dress hung off her shoulders, allowing her long hair to brush over them.

She also wore a leather belt around her waist that held the knife Maude had given her, which pleased her.

“Eydis, you look well! We came to see if you wanted to come into the city with us today?” Maude said, giving her an uncertain smile.

Maude was unused to speaking on a regular basis with people, and she tried to put herself at ease as best as she could. It seemed to work because Eydis nodded enthusiastically.

“Let me just grab a cloak,” Eydis said to them .

Once they had set out for the city and were past the palace gates, the women began to speak freely. Eydis told Liv and Maude about her life in Logi and her family.

Liv told them about her adventures before she decided to stick with the Kolbeck brothers and make a home here.

She had traveled from village to village working as a mercenary or guard, depending on who needed what.

In the desert outside of Logi, she had fought and slain a sighogg , a sand dragon that dwelled beneath the sands and attacked travelers.

Eydis had been enraptured by Liv’s stories, while Maude had become slightly envious. Maude had wanted to do so much, and when she ran away, she thought she’d get the chance to do the many things she’d dreamed of. Of course, after Brastone, she never ventured further than Logi.

As the conversation drifted to Maude, Eydis seemed to be unable to refrain from asking Maude about being the Heir of Flame any longer.

At first, Maude had been stiff when speaking about her life, but as she moved away from stories of her training, she began to relax a bit.

She told them of her sister and how she had always been so gentle and funny in her youth; she told them of her favorite place to sit and watch the sunrise over the east and how she always had a burning need to sit and look out toward the unknown kingdom that ruled over oceans and life.

She avoided speaking about her mother, the truth about her that Maude had not yet accepted.

Liv had given her a curious look when she had breezed over the mention of her mother, having been present when the Queen had revealed her identity and her mother's.

Thankfully, she did not push the topic, though.

Maude had spent so long in hiding that she had forgotten what it was like to be herself.

She felt as if she was learning about herself the more she spoke with these women.

Eventually, they reached Veter, and the conversation stopped being about Maude, to her great relief.

Liv had been explaining the layout of the city, but Maude had stopped listening.

Unable to do anything more than take in her surroundings, Maude walked on in silence next to Liv and Eydis, who continued chatting.

The buildings were taller than they looked when she had viewed them from the palace.

The white of the stone was bright in the sunlight, making Maude squint a bit.

The air around them had a spicy floral scent that mixed pleasantly with the smells of the bakeries and shops they passed housing spices, butcher shops, clothing stores, and jewelry stands.

Maude had started to feel comfortable enough amongst the friendly citizens of Veter, so she pulled her hood down, allowing her hair to shine brilliantly in the sunlight.

“Maude, you really should leave your hood down more. You shouldn’t be ashamed over the scar you bear; it shows you have fought for the life you live now,” Eydis said to Maude, surprising her with her words.

“I didn’t have much of an option when I was in Logi, so I guess I’m just used to it now,” Maude said, ignoring the comment about her horrific scar.

“We all bear scars, Maude,” Eydis said as she bent to smell the flowers that a vendor had placed out for purchase. “Some are invisible, and some are shown on the skin, but the history behind them is something we shouldn’t hide. We should embrace every part of us that has made it to this day.”

Maude didn’t know how to answer her optimism.

The scar on her face had been part of the event that had made her finally leave her life behind.

There was too much to unpack at that moment when her life had been changed.

Liv had drifted further ahead of them through the bustling market.

Maude thought about what Liv had told her about her history.

There is freedom in letting go of your guilt and forgiving yourself when you’re ready .

Maude didn’t think she could ever forgive herself for what happened that day. The scar on her face reminded her of that. She didn’t want to forgive herself. She didn’t want to forget.

But instead of saying that, Maude replied, “You’re in a much better emotional state than I have ever been, Eydis.”

Eydis gave her an uncertain smile but dropped the subject as Liv circled back to them, hands filled with buns from the bakery down the road.

They had been twisted into knots with cinnamon, sugar, and cardamom blended into the dough in long stripes and then topped with large granules of sugar pearls.

Liv handed one to both of them and ripped into hers before she could explain what it was. Eydis sniffed at the warm pastry suspiciously before taking a bite. She widened her eyes and motioned for Maude to try hers.

Maude bit into hers and was surprised by how much she enjoyed the bun. The slightly sweet taste of the thick bread instantly tasted like home to her. The mix of the cardamom and sugar teased a long-forgotten memory from her childhood.

“Shhh, girls. We’re not supposed to be here; you need to be quiet,” Mama said to them.

Maude and Bryn had been jittering with excitement ever since Mama had woken them late at night to bake together.

She had tried to be mature about the adventure they were going on since Maude had just had her seventh birthday.

She felt like a grown-up after her father had gifted her her first bow and quiver.

She wanted to start using it immediately, but Papa had told her that she was old enough to begin her training, which meant she needed to be patient until tomorrow.

Now that they were sneaking in the middle of the night, Maude didn’t feel so old anymore and had gotten more excited the longer they crept through the empty halls.

Bryn was five and had been struggling to keep up with Maude’s pace as they walked through the dark halls of their home.

Eventually, Maude bent to pick up Bryn so they could keep up with Mama’s long strides.

In the dark, Mama’s hair was the color of the wine she drank every night at supper.

Their little secret group turned the corner, and they entered the kitchens.

Mama told them to sit at the long table while she lit the burners in the hearth. She blew onto the cold wood, and Maude saw golden embers flow from her breath, lighting the fire. Maude and Bryn looked at her in awe; she wanted to be just like Mama when she grew up.

They watched as Mama busied herself with preparing the ingredients they would need to bake this sweet bread that she had told Maude about. Bryn was starting to doze at the table, but Mama came and picked her up and twirled her around the kitchen a bit to wake her.

They both laughed, and Maude watched them make fools of themselves for a bit before she decided to jump in and dance with them.

After they were all having fits of giggles, they finally moved to the ingredients Mama had laid out.

They worked quickly, sprinkling cinnamon, sugar, and cardamom onto the long sheet of dough they had rolled out together before they rolled it up again, creating the sweet lines in the bread.

They divided the dough into tiny buns and twisted them like the braids they wore in their hair. They placed the sheet holding the buns into the now steady-burning hearth to bake. Mama sat Bryn on her hip and hummed a song as she cleaned up behind them, leaving no trace that they were there.

“Mama, why did we have to come here in the middle of the night?” Maude had asked her.