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Bryn slashed her short sword downward onto the imaginary blade of the invisible opponent in front of her. Unable to go into the city like she usually did because her uncle was watching her movements, Bryn opted to work off her frustration by training.

She had spent the last three hours in the training yard of the soldier’s barracks, feeling the need to move her body.

Executing the various cuts and jabs she could deliver with her sword, she switched to her two-handed battle axe and went through the motions again.

Eventually, her exercise was proving to be boring and unproductive, causing Bryn to slam her axe into the packed red dirt beneath her feet.

“Do you require a sparring partner, sir?” Revna’s light voice came from behind Bryn.

Keeping herself from smiling at her arrival, Bryn turned and gave a terse nod.

The two women faced each other, limbs loose and weapons in hand.

While Bryn always felt the need to be moving, Revna had mastered the art of staying preternaturally still.

Bryn moved first, as she always did, by jabbing her sword forward.

Revna responded in kind by stepping aside and swiping her blade up to redirect Bryn’s blade away from her.

Revna brought down her blade on Bryn, moving faster than most mortals did, but Bryn parried with a flick of her sword. They moved back and forth a few times before Bryn managed to snare Revna into a headlock with her sword under Revna’s delicate chin.

“What have you found out about these rumors?” Bryn asked, voice low to keep others from overhearing.

“I have heard many things, but only one rumor stuck out from the rest,” Revna responded, stomping her foot onto Bryn’s as she slipped her arm between Bryn’s sword and her neck. Catching on the vambrace, Revna shoved Bryn’s blade away and turned to face her.

“Tell me,” Bryn ordered.

For a few moments, only the sound of swords clashing filled the space around them. Sweat was dripping down Bryn’s back, and she could feel the soreness setting into her limbs the longer they sparred, but the ache and exhaustion filled an empty hole inside her. For now, anyway.

“I heard rumors of something called the laevatein ,” Revna huffed, catching her breath for a moment.

Bryn sheathed her sword at her hip and motioned for Revna to do the same as she lifted her fists in front of her face. Revna mirrored her stance, and they quickly began to spar with their fists, allowing them to speak.

“The cunning knife,” Bryn deadpanned. “That just sounds like a trick.”

Revna snorted, then jabbed her fist out, catching Bryn’s jaw on her knuckles. Bryn’s head snapped to the side, and she worked her jaw a bit before she faced Revna again, who had humor sparkling in her dark eyes.

“It gets better,” Revna chuckled. “It’s rumored to be in The Knotted Caverns in the Kingdom of Light. A group went searching for it, and only one came back, raving about the dangers and monsters in the caverns.”

So, Maude truly is looking for the dalkr Hela , Bryn thought to herself.

Bryn called their fight to a stop, walking over to the carafe of water that had been placed on the bench and drinking straight from the spout. She handed it to Revna when she appeared at her side and sat down .

“The people of the city talk about this weapon like it doesn’t exist,” Revna continued.

“They speak of it like the old Elven kingdoms are spoken of. And these aren’t the only ones either.

There have been rumors of an animal that moves like the shadows prowling the borders of Logi that has now disappeared and that there have been Elven sightings in the northern town Finniskali. ”

“If the King truly heard of all of these rumors, they would’ve been shut down already, so either he does not care, or he is so preoccupied with finding this weapon that everything else has fallen to the wayside,” Bryn commented, running her hands over her sweaty face.

Revna did not comment, only nodded her head.

At the sound of footsteps, Bryn looked up to see her uncle making his way toward her and Revna. She shot Revna a sharp look and stood, the mask of the Lieutenant General slipping into place.

“Your report has been noted, soldier,” Bryn said, keeping her eyes on the General. “You are dismissed.”

Revna bowed low, fist over her chest.

“Yes, sir.”

Bryn’s eyes never faltered from her stare, but she noticed how her uncle’s gaze shifted to Revna as she walked back toward the soldier’s barracks, back straight and eyes forward. Rage boiled up inside her at the sight, but she kept her face neutral while she burned from within.

“General,” Bryn said, inclining her head quickly.

“Lieutenant,” he said, turning his attention back to her. “Feeling restless?”

Ulf nodded to the training yard where she had spent the last few hours training.

“There is always room to improve,” she bit out .

“Indeed,” the General replied, circling her. “No more outings into Logi, I see.”

“I have combed the streets and found no suitable recruits, sir,” she replied, hands loose at her sides and stance wide.

Her uncle stopped behind her. Bryn tried not to tense up.

“None of my Flame Assassins have returned from Veter, and it seems that the Heir was spotted in a longboat, heading toward the Kingdom of Light,” he said, surprising her with the information.

“The King had mentioned that should my soldiers fail, you were to send out soldiers to find her and bring her in.”

Bryn did not respond.

“I have not told the King of my Flame Assassin's disappearance,” he said lightly. “Should he find out sooner than I plan to reveal it to him, I’ll make sure that each of your shieldmaidens is drawn and quartered in the town square.”

Bryn swallowed but betrayed no more emotion to her uncle as he spoke.

“Is this understood?”

Bryn nodded sharply. Her uncle turned to walk to his office when she finally called back to him.

“Remember, General, that my father does not like to be lied to.”

Bryn turned to see his ears go red.

“Best you tell him soon,” Bryn said, that half smile on her face that promised his downfall.

Without waiting for a response, Bryn headed toward her chambers.

Time was running out for her. Finding more information about this weapon so she could keep it from her father’s clutches became the most important task for her to complete, and the only way she could discover more was by reading her mother’s journals.

Perhaps they would provide better insight into what the King plans to do with this weapon .

When Bryn entered her room, she folded up the coded message she’d written for Revna instructing her to come to her room and opened her window. Manipulating the breeze, Bryn watched as her message floated gently down the tower she was in and disappeared behind the barracks.

As she waited, Bryn paced around her room, unable to let go of the threat her uncle had laid out in front of her. Inviting Revna to her chambers was a risk, but she needed to speak with her again to finish learning about what she had discovered and to warn her about the General’s threats.

A knock came at her door, and Bryn quickly opened it, grabbing Revna by the arm to pull her through the door and shut it again.

“What’s going on, Bryn?” Revna asked, bewildered by the quick movements.

“The General has threatened me with your life and the life of every other shieldmaiden under my command, and I needed to warn you,” Bryn blurted out.

Revna only stared at her.

“My apologies, I didn't intend to just dump that on you,” Bryn grimaced.

“I’m glad you told me, but where is this threat coming from?” Revna asked, placing her shield on the floor and moving to sit on Bryn’s bed.

“There are some things I have not told you, minn raven,” Bryn said, moving to sit next to Revna.

Revna only remained silent, allowing Bryn to continue speaking.

“I’m not a soldier who was picked from the ranks to become Lieutenant General,” Bryn started slowly. “I am the second-born child to the King, so it is my birthright, but he has not publicly claimed me ever since the Heir ran away ten years ago. ”

Waiting for the shock to radiate from Revna, Bryn paused. When she felt no such reaction from her, Bryn turned to look at her lover.

“I know,” Revna said, a sad smile on her face. “I’ve seen you with the King before; you look exactly alike. It's a wonder no one else has noticed.”

Bryn just gaped at her.

“I’m sure no one wants to say the words, but I’m not the only one who knows you are a Helvig.”

“Then why do you stay with me?” Bryn couldn’t help but ask.

“Because you are different, Bryn,” Revna said, placing a gentle hand on Bryn’s cheek. “You may be his daughter, but you are not like him. You care about this kingdom and its people; you work every day to make things better for them when it can get you killed.”

Tears burned in Bryn’s eyes, but she refused to shed them. She placed her hand over the hand that Revna still held to her face and closed her eyes for a moment.

“Thank you,” Bryn whispered.

“No thanks are needed,” Revna said quietly, stroking her thumb over Bryn’s temple. “Now, tell me more.”

Bryn relaxed and told Revna about how her mother had died, how Maude had escaped, and how the King had burnt all their belongings except the journals Bryn had managed to smuggle away from her mother’s chambers.

She spoke about how she missed her sister and how she was still angry with her.

Revna listened to everything Bryn had kept secret for years, patiently absorbing all the information.

When Bryn was finished, she told Revna about how she had kept the King and General off Maude’s trail for years, but now it was known that Maude was searching for the weapon he had become obsessed with.