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Leaving Liv to brood on the precipice of the Kingdom of Light in solitude, Herrick walked over to where Hakon had headed. His brother was now pacing in a small circle, nervous energy moving off him in tidal waves.

“Tell me what’s bothering you, brother,” Herrick said as he sat on a boulder by Hakon.

“You know damn well what’s bothering me,” Hakon replied, avoiding his eyes.

“I’m afraid I don't, so you need to tell me.”

Hakon stopped and shot a finger out toward where Maude stood with Gunnar, laughing at something Eydis said.

“You let her burn Amsbrook to the ground,” Hakon said, seething.

“Excuse me?” Herrick asked, sliding off the boulder to get in his brother's face. “I didn’t let her do anything. Amsbrook would never have been recovered; you didn’t see what we saw on that roof.”

“Then tell me because I seem to be missing all of the important information these days,” Hakon bit out.

“Brother, I don’t want to be the one to tell you that you have been absent recently,” Herrick said, voice strangling the anger that was threatening to boil over. “But if you feel you have missed important conversations, then perhaps it’s because you have .”

Hakon was breathing heavily now, his rage beginning to build. Hakon had always been slow to anger, as steady and forceful as a river flowing. But rivers could grow dangerous, and so could Hakon’s temper.

“The world has not stopped because you have found love,” Herrick said, the last word coming out harsher than he intended. “Our kingdom’s problems have continued, and our mission remains. We do not have the luxury of falling in love like normal people do.”

Hakon began to pace again, hands flexing.

“I am glad that you have found happiness, Hakon, but your responsibilities did not go away with that happiness. The entire town of Amsbrook was a message from the gods to us , brother.”

Hakon stopped pacing at that and turned to face Herrick.

“What does that mean?”

“It means that the townspeople were laid out in a repeating rune, ansuz ,” Herrick said wearily.

The color drained from Hakon’s face. Even the shine in his caramel hair was dulled .

“They were a sacrifice by the gods to warn us that we have strayed from their path.”

Unable to stand any longer, Hakon moved to sit on the same boulder Herrick had been on. Herrick joined his brother, and they sat in silence for a time.

“I failed them,” Hakon whispered. “I’m supposed to be their future King, and I keep failing them.”

Herrick put a hand on his brother's shoulder and squeezed.

“There was nothing you could have done, Hakon. It wasn’t your fault,” Herrick said, repeating the same words Maude had said to him.

“Why did Maude burn them down?” Hakon asked, that earlier anger slipping through. “We could have rebuilt the town.”

“No,” Herrick said gently. “The town was lost, brother. The lands were dead, and the gods' presence in the town would have been too much for anyone to live under.”

Hakon hung his head, deflating.

“Maude gave them a path to the afterlife,” Herrick continued. “She gave them peace in death.”

“She gave them what we could not,” Hakon finished for Herrick.

The brothers sat in silence for a few moments before Hakon pointed to the dusty ground and flicked his fingers up once.

From between the cracks of the packed dirt, a bright red carnation bloomed.

It sat there for a moment before it dried up and crumbled away, the land surrounding it unable to support new growth.

“I’m not really angry with Maude; how could I be?” Hakon mumbled. “I ran from my title, my responsibilities. She makes it seem so easy just to walk away from it all.”

“I don't think it has been easy for her at all,” Herrick said slowly. “I think it was hard for her to walk away from her kingdom. There is more to that story that we don't know yet.”

“I don't know what to do, Herrick,” his brother said quietly. “How do I choose between my kingdom and my heart?”

The pain ebbed through Herrick’s chest at his brother's words, the sorrow laced in them.

“Hopefully, you won’t have to.”

“Not in this world, Herrick. In this world, I must choose,” Hakon said as he slid off the boulder and walked back to their group.

Herrick followed quickly and matched Hakon’s pace back to their friends. As they got closer, Herrick saw that Maude was kneeling in front of Gunnar now, snapping her fingers in front of his eyes. The brothers looked at each other before increasing their pace until they were near running.

“Gunnar!” Maude said loudly as she snapped her fingers close to Gunnar’s eyes.

Gunnar did not flinch once, eyes glazed over and staring forward. As Herrick and Hakon got closer, Maude reached out to Gunnar’s shoulders and shook him hard. Finally, after a few long seconds, Gunnar jerked awake from whatever trance he had been in.

“What the He are you doing?” Gunnar asked, bewildered at the sight of his friends all staring at him.

He looked at Maude kneeling in front of him and then sharply looked at Herrick.

“What are you doing?” Maude almost screamed. “You scared the Hel out of me!”

“What are you talking about? You were just throwing in a few more stitches to stop the bleeding,” Gunnar looked at her, confusion in his eyes .

“Gunnar, that was some time ago. We asked you if you were having any pain as we covered your wound again, and you didn’t respond,” Eydis said quietly, uncertainty leaking into her voice as Hakon wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “We’ve been trying to wake you up.”

“What’s going on, Gunnar?” Herrick asked his oldest friend.

“Nothing, I’m fine,” Gunnar pushed everyone off him before standing.

Maude stood as well and stormed off to where Liv still stood, looking out over the edge. Herrick watched her walk away for a second before turning back to his friend. Eydis was handing Gunnar his pack’s back and some jerky to eat while Hakon continued to scrutinize him.

“Maybe we should camp here for the night,” Herrick began to suggest, but Gunnar stopped him.

“No, we will continue until we find a stable structure to camp near Ljosa’s center,” Gunnar said, waving Herrick off. “That was always the plan.”

Hakon nodded, also impatient to get on with the rest of this journey. Sighing, Herrick grabbed Maude’s packs and walked over to where she stood with Liv.

“We need to keep moving,” Herrick said as he handed Maude her belongings.

Liv said nothing and only walked down to the beginning of the outcropping of natural stairs leading down to the ground, eyes forward as if she was captured in a trance. Maude looked over the edge at Liv’s quick movements.

“What’s her problem?” she asked as she shouldered her pack.

“I’m not sure; she hasn't said much since we got off the river,” Herrick shrugged. “Are you well?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Maude responded, not looking at him.

“You just stormed off from Gunnar, and I thought you might’ve been worried about him,” Herrick said carefully as they followed Liv.

“I’m not,” Maude brushed off.

They were silent for a time as they navigated the narrow stairs that would lead them down into Ljosa.

The hot sun was beaming down onto Herrick’s neck, the skin there beginning to radiate the same heat that wore them all down.

Ahead of him, Maude maneuvered the natural stairs with a light step.

Her graceful movements made Herrick feel like he was the blundering beast she always called him.

As the afternoon stretched into evening and the sun finally disappeared behind the rocks, Herrick found his friends spread out along the wall of the cliffside in broken groups.

Liv charged ahead, her focus on the city limits of Ljosa unwavering, while Maude and Herrick were close behind her. Hakon and Eydis had paused for a time to catch their breath behind him while Gunnar had trailed behind them all, pausing for more breaks than he usually would have needed.

“So, what is your grand plan?” Maude asked him as they paused to drink from the canteen Herrick had on him.

“Grand plan?” Herrick asked, gasping slightly as he came up for air after a long drink.

He handed the canteen to Maude, who only looked at him expectantly.

“To find the dalkr Hela ,” Maude said as she rolled her eyes and brought the canteen to her lips.

Herrick watched her movements, unable to look away from her mouth as it wrapped around the opening of the canteen.

He shifted slightly on his feet before clearing his throat. “The full moon is in two nights and should provide the protection we need to get into the Caverns, but there isn't a lot of information to go on about what to expect inside.”

Maude nodded as she wiped her mouth with the back of her wrist, handing the canteen back to Herrick.

“In other words, you have no real plan,” she said flatly.

Before he could respond, Maude turned away and made her way down the last hundred steps. Liv had reached the bottom a few minutes before and was currently tapping her foot on the hard ground impatiently.

“Once we settle somewhere in Ljosa, you and I will go to the shoreline and try to gather as much information as we can about the Knotted Caverns,” Herrick replied, catching up to Maude.

She scoffed. “Go with Gunnar.”

“But I want to go with you,” Herrick insisted, plastering on his wide smile that he knew brought out his dimple. “You have a talent for sneaking around places you aren't supposed to be.”

Maude shot him an innocent look that only made Herrick grin wider.

“Don’t pretend like I don’t know that you snooped through the Palace of Ocean and Clay in Veter,” Herrick said as they both stepped off the last step onto solid ground. “You were very good. You never made your presence known, but I always knew when you were close, minn eldr. ”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Maude replied, brushing him off.