Page 114 of Kingdom of Embers and Ruin

One minute, he was fighting off raiders from getting to her as she stood over the one she had fallen onto, and the next minute, he was on another rooftop. Maude had moved him to keep him safe before she exploded, that much he was sure of. Herrick was shifting between anger and panic as easily as he wove through the empty city streets.

The sheer number of raiders had been staggering and unusual for a raider attack. They traveled in small groups, never wanting to share the spoils of an attack with too many people. Herrick had been against killing them all, even if it was the easiest solution because all that death would have been needless.

Life, even if it belonged to lawless raiders, was sacred and shouldn't be thrown away without thought.

He thought Maude had understood that; he thought she knew that there were other routes to their escape. There were other options to consider before complete annihilation…right?

“Herrick!”

His brother's voice rang through the clear night, interrupting his internal crisis over Maude’s decisions. Herrick slowed as he saw Hakon and Liv sprinting toward him.

“What the fuck happened?” Liv asked as she beheld Maude, worry weighing in her words as her eyes traced over the unconscious form in his arms.

“Raiders,” Herrick said shortly. He was furious with Maude, but they didn’t need to know that right now.

“We saw the blast,” Hakon said, eyeing the road behind them for threats. "We came to help you if you were in danger."

Liv ran a hand over Maude’s face to clear it of the soot gathered there. She did not stir at the touch.

“It was her.” Herrick motioned to Maude with his chin. “We need to get her to the temple. I think she bottomed herself out pretty badly.”

“Gods above,” Liv said, eyeing Maude again. “Let’s go.”

They quickly made their way back to the temple, where Gunnar and Eydis met them at the entrance. Maude began to stir in his arms as soon as they crossed the threshold of the temple.

“What’s happened?” Eydis asked, scanning Hakon for any harm before moving her attention to Maude.

“There was a fight; Maude burnt herself out,” he explained briefly through clenched teeth.

The more Herrick had to relive the last hour, the angrier with Maude he became. They talked about this, and she knew this was not the right path, even if it was the easiest. It wasn’t sitting right with Herrick.

“There is a tub in the back,” Eydis motioned to the room behind the altar. “It’s usually used for sacrifices, but I think it suits our needs just fine.”

Herrick nodded to the blonde woman and motioned for her to lead the way. As Eydis walked, the moonlight bounced off her silver hair, giving her an ethereal look as she led them to the back room through the darkness of the temple. Liv followed them in and closed the other men out before lighting the room with the lantern she had brought with her.

Lining each of the walls were empty bookshelves and papers scattered over the floor that looked like they had been torn from books. Being the temple of this city, it was not surprising to find a room such as this, but Herrick found it odd that the large shelves were missing the enormous volumes of sacred texts that were usually bursting with their history.

Pushing his observations aside, he gently placed Maude into the wooden tub and waved his hand to fill the tub with cold water.

Maude took in a deep, shocked breath as her eyes flew open, the cold water starting to steam as soon as it came in contact with her skin. Liv and Eydis jumped. As fast as she opened her eyes, they shut again as she slumped in the water. Herrick kneeled in front of her.

“You stubborn woman,” Herrick said, voice edging toward danger despite his attempts to control his anger. “You killed them all.”

Herrick tried to keep the disgust out of his voice but was unsuccessful. Maude’s eyes cracked open, the dark green ringed by a deeper black than usual. She looked him in the eye, unflinching, and took in what must have been clear on his face. The shadows in the room grew heavy as he stared right back, the world around him falling away as he became absorbed in her stare.

“They were going to kill you,” she whispered, her voice sounding hoarse… as if she had been screaming. “So I destroyed them.”

Surprise shot through him at her words. Before he could ask more, her eyes slid shut, releasing Herrick from her spell.

“You need to get out,” Eydis said, pushing Herrick toward the door. “Get cleaned up; you can get back to being at each other's throats later.”

When Herrick reached the door that Eydis was pushing him toward, he looked over his shoulder to look at Maude. Liv was running water over her head, washing the ash and soot from her hair while Maude lay there semi-unconscious.

They were going to kill you. So I destroyed them.

Herrick turned around and walked out of the room, leaving the woman with burning rage and anger management issues behind. It just so happened that this woman also held his entire heart and soul. Maude hadmade the harder choice and had saved his life today. Conflict bloomed in him as he headed to the front of the temple to take the watch from Gunnar.

If what Maude said was true, the raiders were never going to stop coming at them. She had spoken with one and then snapped. Herrick had a pretty good guess at what was said, but he needed Maude to confirm it. She would only have reacted so violently if it concerned Helvig. His thoughts circled as to why Maude had chosen the way she did. Endless possibilities spiraled through him, but he came to the same conclusion each time.

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