Page 89

A red sun had risen over the water that morning for the second day in a row.

Maude resented the sight of it.

The sun had arced in the sky, its vermillion light a constant reminder, until it reached the western horizon where it rested now. This horrid day was almost over, and their group was nowhere near Dagsbrun.

Time had slowed for Maude. The days that had passed quickly for her in the company of her new friends seemed far away now, grief now the sixth member of their party instead of Eydis.

Sorrow hung over them all as they had practically run from Ljosa that morning, all silently agreeing to head to Dagsbrun.

Packs over their shoulders and weapons in hand, they had all scaled the cliffs that surrounded the Kingdom of Light to escape from the memories that now saturated every surface of the city.

They had retrieved the dalkr Hela, but Maude didn’t find their triumph worth the cost of her friend.

They were all supposed to leave that cave and destroy her father together.

They were to right the wrongs all done to them and the people of Logi together .

Maude would finish this mission not only for herself but for Eydis and her family, who had suffered at her father’s hands much like everyone else in their group had.

The barren earth around her had begun to blur the further out of the dead kingdom they traveled.

Someone from their group had signaled to stop, but the words passed over Maude without being heard.

Movement around her blurred in her periphery as she continued walking toward a small hill they had stopped behind to shield them from prying eyes.

“Maude.”

Her steps faltered for a moment. Herrick .

“You should rest,” he continued, his voice close behind her. “I’ll stand watch first.”

Maude didn’t respond; she couldn't find her voice after a day of silence. Instead, she mutely continued to head to the top of the hill and sit down without acknowledging he had spoken to her. Herrick sighed and turned back to the rest of the group, leaving her in peace.

Maude’s chest tore open at the sound of him turning away, the hollow where her heart should have been pulsing with grief.

Before they had gone into the caverns, she and Herrick had shared a moment that Maude thought was going to build into something else, but after what happened with Eydis…

The slow ebbing pain that washed over her when she thought of her friend had canceled out many of her own needs, including her need for the man who held her entire soul in his strong hands but didn't know it.

The evening sun washed over Maude, the warmth cutting through the hood that had been up since she had crouched over Eydis in the courtyard of the Knotted Caverns. Maude searched the empty horizon for a moment before she closed her eyes and remembered the hasty funeral they executed for Eydis.

Hours before they had begun their trek that day, beneath the cardinal sky, Maude and Hakon had stood side by side on the rocky shore of Ljosa with their friends behind them.

They watched the longboat carrying Eydis’s body burn as it floated past the Caverns that had claimed her life and into the ocean .

Gunnar had grown wildflowers in a small patch of dirt, quickly harvesting them and arranging them around her body in the longboat.

Maude and Liv had laid her down in the center of the vessel with her staff and dagger that she had fiercely fought with, placing them on her stomach, her hands crossed over the handle of her dagger and staff cradled in her arm.

Before she had set the boat aflame, Maude studied her friend's face one last time, realizing that she looked peaceful. Rested.

Hakon had then leaned over and stroked her face a few times, whispering sweet words for her to bring with her to the afterlife.

When he reluctantly stepped back, Maude quickly sparked her hateful fire and watched as her friend’s body caught flame.

They had all launched the longboat into the water, and Herrick had harnessed the currents to push it past the shoreline.

When the longboat disappeared over the horizon, no one moved. Maude had reached out and grasped Hakon’s hand. It had been as stiff and cold as ice.

“We will meet again in Odin’s hall, elvindr,” Hakon’s broken whisper echoed in the silence surrounding them. “I will see you again.”

Maude had closed her eyes at his words, the overwhelming crushing sensation in her chest starting to win the fight against her will to remain neutral. Her eyes had burned with unshed tears threatening to fall, and she had not stopped feeling that way since.

“I’m sorry,” her voice cracked when she finally spoke to Hakon. “I’m sorry she’s gone. I’m sorry we didn’t get there in time. I’m sorry I couldn’t save her.”

Hakon’s hand had tightened around Maude’s. “There was nothing you could have done differently, Maude. Her fate was sealed the moment the draugr bit her . ”

A honeyed lie. She had panicked in her haste to stop the bleeding; her fire didn’t listen to her. Herrick had burnt his hand trying to get her to calm down enough to spark flames.

Of course, when I had to light her funerary pyre, my fire did not fail me , Maude thought bitterly to herself as she sat still as a statue on that hilltop, miles from where they had sent her friend to the gods.

“We have the laevatein ,” Herrick had said from behind his brother. “We will finish what she helped us start and free the Kingdom of Flame.”

Maude noticed from her periphery that Hakon had shed a single tear. It evaporated quickly, leaving no trace of its existence other than the streak on his face.

Hakon had quickly turned away from the water and walked into the abandoned city, not looking back once. Maude followed Hakon without a word, and the rest of their friends fell into step behind her as they left the city— and Eydis— behind.

Anger, ugly and toxic, had taken root inside of Maude the further they got from Ljosa with a vengeance she had never felt before.

Her life had been driven by spite and rage toward her past, but this new feeling sinking into her gut was lethal.

Maude had only felt this way once in her life, and she would never forget the constant buzzing she felt in her soul that never let her rest.

Flexing her fingers and rolling her neck to work off some of that buzzing, Maude unsheathed her dagger and flipped it in her hands a few times. The motion reminded her of when she had practiced with Eydis before they had entered the Lamenting Woods and discovered who Herrick and Hakon really were.

She’d had gone through simple maneuvers with a dagger for Eydis to practice so she wasn't completely defenseless. They had shared a few stories, and Maude remembered wanting to laugh with Eydis .

Another day, after they had already arrived at the Palace of Ocean and Clay, Herrick was hiding from Maude after they had all spent the night in The Broken Axe, and Maude had taken to roaming the palace alone.

She had found an odd sense of peace in finding small hiding places in the shadowed nooks and large sitting rooms of the palace in Veter.

The act had felt like when she was young— before the disdain for her father and position had settled in— when she and Bryn would find similar hiding spots in the Palace of Wind and Embers.

Maude had found the library when evading discovery by Hakon, who had been leaving his mother’s private offices in a rush.

After taking only a few steps into the large space, the towering bookshelves packed to the brim making her feel tiny, she spotted Eydis sitting in one of the plush leather chairs in front of a raging fireplace.

The memory of Eydis, her bright silver hair, and small stature curled up on the comically large chair sent pangs of sorrow through Maude.

Four chairs were surrounding the fireplace on a large carpet that was designed with swirling repeating patterns popular to the Kingdom of Rivers with a small table in the center.

It had piles of books on it, probably all chosen by Eydis.

Unsure if she was going to sit with her or not, Maude had hesitated in the doorway long enough that Eydis noticed her presence and invited her over.

Maude had cautiously sat and then consequently sunk into the worn leather chair across from Eydis, which they had both laughed about when Maude had to fight her way back out of the depths of the cushions later.

They spent the day reading and discussing similar interests in books. After accepting a few books Eydis had recommended to her, Maude had gone back to her room with a calm mind and joy in her heart from an afternoon well spent amongst books and a friend .

Memory after memory of Eydis slammed into Maude’s mind. She quickly realized how unkind she had been when she first started traveling with this group. She had closed herself off for so long to others that when she had finally been exposed to good people, she didn't know what to do with them.

It shamed Maude that she had taken so long to relax in their presence and feel more like herself than she had in years. She’d spent so much time fighting the idea of companionship that she had wasted most of her time with Eydis being alone and moody.

The breeze that drifted across Maude’s skin was cool and light, bringing her back to the present. She opened her eyes to find the sun had finally set on that first day without Eydis, the moon high in the sky, and the camp behind her quiet.

Pulling her hood back, Maude tipped her head up to the sky. The soft yellow light surrounding the moon reminded Maude of her friend's hair, its brilliant shine that could only ever be captured in the darkness.

Maude wrapped her arms around her legs, head still looking up at the moon, when she felt energy shifting around her.

For one moment, so fast Maude thought she imagined it, the sound of a woman’s laugh, delicate as wind chimes, drifted through the air around her and through the small camp where her friends slept. Hakon tossed restlessly on his bedroll.

The breeze picked up again, causing the loose strands of Maude’s hair to lift around her face.

The ever-present tears that had burned in Maude’s eyes since she stood on the shore of Ljosa finally fell, trailing down her cheeks and forever staining her face with grief.

Never taking her eyes off the moon that shone with the same vibrancy of Eydis’s hair, Maude allowed her tears to flow freely as the soft wind hugged her.

“Hello, my friend,” Maude whispered, more emotion than she thought possible causing her vision to blur .

The energy around her pulsed once, the breeze becoming warm as it wrapped itself around Maude once more and drifted toward the camp, picking up strands of Hakon’s caramel hair.

His face relaxed into a peaceful sleep, and his body stopped stirring. Before she could blink, the spiritual being that had joined them in their camp that night disappeared, the sound of wind chimes echoing in its wake.

While the grief and anger were still present, Maude felt a small kernel of calm settle into her heart. Not bothering to wipe the tears from her face, she continued her watch over her friends as they slept.

When the long hours of the night came to an end, the group began to stir from their sleep.

Maude stood from her spot on top of that hill and watched the sun rise on a new day.

She vowed to herself that she would not waste another moment with her new friends in anger, that she would try to be the version of herself that she knew she could be with them by her side.

Maude peered over her shoulder to see Herrick sitting up in his bedroll, rubbing the sleep from his eyes with the heel of his hands.

The sun gilded the dark strands of his hair, bringing out a dark chocolate color to it that prompted her to want to run her fingers through them.

Feeling her eyes on him, Herrick looked up to where she stood and studied her face.

He gave her a soft smile at whatever he found there that Maude returned briefly.

For Eydis— and herself— she could try to live without anger in her heart. Once her father was destroyed and their mission was complete, Maude would stay with them all. With Herrick, Gunnar, Liv, and Hakon. Her family.