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“Because, my light, we aren’t supposed to be baking in the kitchens. Papa wouldn’t like it,” she said quietly to Maude, settling in the chair next to her.

“Okay, it’s our secret then,” Maude whispered and placed one small finger over her lips.

Mama tapped her on the nose before she gave her a warm smile. She readjusted a now sleeping Bryn on her lap, pulled Maude closer to her, and sighed.

“Why do you sound so sad, Mama?”

“I miss my home sometimes, my light. It’s hard to be away from the people you love for so long. That’s why we're baking this sweet bread. I make it when I am homesick.”

Mama was running her fingers through Maude’s hair. It felt nice, Maude thought.

“What are they called? The buns?” Maude asked after a while when they had sat and eaten the warm pastries together.

“They’re called bullar ,” Mama said.

“My gods, this is a bulle ,” Maude breathed.

Maude’s throat thickened painfully with the emotion that swelled through her, pain striking her in the chest. Unshed tears blurred in her eyes that she quickly blinked away.

She tried to swallow the burning in her throat unsuccessfully.

Liv noticed her change and walked over to her quickly, scanning for any blazes that Maude may have created in her impassioned state.

“Maude, are you well?” Eydis asked, her voice seeming far away.

“She really did have a life here,” Maude choked out.

“Who?” Eydis asked, placing a hand on Maude’s arm .

“My mother,” she responded quietly. “The Queen told me that my mother had lived here, in this kingdom, for most of her life. I don’t think I really believed her until now.”

Liv and Eydis could only stare at her, unsure of what to say.

“We used to make these when I was very young. She told me once that she would bake them when she was homesick…”

Maude trailed off, eyes distant. The Queen’s words echoed through her mind from the night before and began to sink into her psyche.

Her mother had been a spy for the Kingdom of Rivers the entire time. She had married her father to keep the people of this kingdom safe from any attacks he might have been planning. Maude had not known her mother at all.

“Fuck,” Liv said. “You look like you need a drink.”

Eydis and Liv exchanged loaded glances, and each grabbed Maude’s elbows, pulling her forward in her daze.

The story Alva had told her all came crashing down on her, and Maude was forced to accept the truth about her mother.

Her mind was spinning, so she didn’t realize where she was being taken.

By the time they reached the tavern Liv had suggested, the sun was hovering over the horizon.

Time had slipped from Maude's grasp in her shocked state.

She felt herself being guided into a noisy pub, the low, warm lights hanging over each table casting shades of warm orange onto the patrons.

Maude was seated on a stool at the bar and felt a horn of ale being pushed into her hands. The silence in her mind finally broke; she heard the joyful music being played in the corner of the pub and saw a few couples dancing and spinning each other in circles.

Maude turned to Liv to ask where they were, but Liv cut her off. “Drink first, talk later. ”

Maude looked down at the ale in her hands and quickly lifted it to her lips. The bitterness of the alcohol washed through her senses as she chugged the contents of the horn.

As she placed it on the counter, Liv slipped a second horn in her hand.

She downed it just as fast as the first. Her head felt a little dizzy now, but her emotions had been dampened enough after the shock of accepting her mother’s true identity.

Feeling more in control of herself, Maude finally shoved thoughts of her mother’s deceit to the side to ask, “Where the Hel are we?”

“We’re at a pub that me and the brothers often frequent when we need to get away from the palace. It’s called The Broken Axe. I figured it was a good enough place to get you to relax a bit,” Liv said, drinking from her own horn.

Eydis sat on the other side of Maude, sniffing her ale and making a sour face before she sipped it. Seeming surprised, she said, “This is much better than the ale back home.”

She took a bigger sip, face flushing slightly.

“The farmers here grow the best barley with their galder ,” Liv said as she grinned.

Liv and Eydis spoke for a bit while Maude tried to center herself again.

She looked around the room and saw many people from the market settling in after a hard day's work selling goods and services.

Their faces seemed untroubled and joyful compared to the hard faces and attitudes in Logi.

Maude was unused to such revelry; these people seemed relaxed and at peace with their lot in life.

Leaning forward on the bar, Maude found her mind drifting to Herrick.

He had been concerned for her last night after their supper with Alva.

He saw how she had rejected this information about her mother and recognized she wasn't dealing with it well. He had tried to help her work through her anguish, and rather than allow him to pry any more on a subject so close to her heart, she’d lashed out again.

A heavy feeling settled in her chest that she recognized as regret.

Maude took another long draw from her horn and set it down empty. She waved to the cheery barmaid for another one and resorted to getting stupid drunk rather than allow her thoughts to continue to stray to Herrick.

At her thought of him, she felt an awareness at her back that caused a cold shiver to run up her hot skin. Maude knew who she’d find when she turned.

“Liv!” A voice called out from behind her.

Hakon. Maude’s eyes shot toward Eydis, whose already flushing face seemed to darken further under the low lighting. Liv turned to the sound of her name, and surprise colored her features. Maude kept facing the bar, drinking from her horn once more.

“Eydis, I’m so glad you’re here,” Hakon said as he arrived at their spot at the bar, his dark azure eyes only on the fair young woman.

Hakon lifted Eydis from around her waist and pulled her up into his arms, spinning them both.

Eydis’s wind-chime laugh sang in Maude’s ear.

He put her back on the ground, and she turned in his embrace, smiling brightly at him.

Liv cleared her throat, and they separated from each other, realizing that they were in public.

“Maude, it’s nice to see you looking more like yourself again,” Hakon joked, referring to their last run-in.

Maude finally turned and gave him a half smile.

“Yes, I never really was one to wear a gown and not end up ruining it somehow. Leggings and tunics suit me much better,” she replied .

“Ah, well, that’s not to say you weren’t lovely last night. It’s just that you seem much more comfortable now,” Hakon said as he motioned for the barmaid. "A round of mead!"

“What are you doing here? I thought you’d be busy at the palace today,” Liv asked, scanning the room for him .

“We decided to skip the party planning, seeing as we’re not interested,” Hakon said quickly, avoiding Eydis’s eye.

“There’s going to be a party?” Eydis asked.

“Yes, a ball in three nights,” Hakon said before he quickly changed the subject. “Where is Gunnar?”

“He’s running interference so we could get away,” Maude said, placing her third empty tankard down and grabbing the mead that had been placed in front of her.

Her body felt light and bubbly when Maude realized she had only eaten the bulle at the market today.

This cannot possibly end well for me if Herrick is here , she thought.

Her tongue loosened remarkably with alcohol, and with Herrick asking questions the way he did, she knew she would tell him anything if he asked her. Already, she was bargaining with herself that she could let down her guard with him. Her rational self was already muddled into silence.

As if her thoughts had summoned him, Herrick appeared beside his brother.

Memories of how she had pleasured herself to thoughts of his touch flooded her mind when she saw him.

She was able to hide her flush quickly as she turned to order some bread.

When she turned back, they made eye contact, but he quickly looked away.

Disappointment flared in Maude, much to her surprise.

“We have a table in the back. Would you ladies like to join us?” Hakon said to them all.

Liv and Maude both snorted at the reference .

“We are not gentle ladies ,” Liv said with a snort. “We are warriors.”

“You boys would do well to remember that,” Maude laughed with her, tapping her horn against Liv's.

"How could we ever forget?" Hakon jested, wrapping an arm around Eydis's waist. "Try the mead, it's much sweeter."

Eydis joyfully chuckled as they all made their way to the table the brothers had been occupying.

Maude and Herrick had been left in the back of the small group, awkwardly avoiding each other's glances.

As Herrick stepped back to allow Maude to walk through the crowd first, her hand brushed his hand slightly.

Maybe it was the alcohol, or perhaps it was the stress of the day, but his touch shot arrows of ice up her arms that felt divine in her inflamed state. She shivered a bit before she kept walking, feeling his presence behind her.

Maude sat next to Liv at the round table, Hakon and Eydis next to each other, and Herrick opposite Maude.

After some time passed and the conversation ebbed and flowed at the table, Maude noticed that Herrick had not spoken directly to her once.

She must have finally pushed him away after her actions last night.

Good , she thought, but as soon as she thought the words, misery settled in her instead.