Page 116 of Kingdom of Embers and Ruin

The swirling pattern of stars that had been painted on the ceiling must have been a nod to the Light Elven’s northern allies, the Shadow Elven. Worshiping all things night and shadow, the Shadow Elven cities were rumored to be just as beautiful as the Kingdom of Light, just colder and darker.

“You need to talk to Maude,” Liv said, her smooth face serious for once. “She told me what happened.”

“Lovely,” Herrick muttered.

“You’re being a brat, Herrick,” Liv sighed. “Don’t push away the people you love because you were too stubborn to resolve something. Maude does that enough for the both of you.”

Herrick stiffened at her words.

“What’s gotten into you lately?” he asked, shifting the focus to his friend abruptly.

“What do you mean?”

“You were so focused on getting us to Ljosa that you barely spoke to anyone or ate anything,” Herrick pointed out.

Liv was quiet for a long time before she answered him.

“Being here just brought up a lot about my past,” Liv said quietly. “I used to come here a lot when I was young. I guess being so close to Ljosa made me remember my childhood.”

“Before you became a nomad?” Herrick asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

Liv cleared her throat. “Yes. This city is just as beautiful now as it was then.”

Herrick glanced at his friend, spying a single tear making its way down her ebony cheek.

“I used to want to live here, you know,” Liv chuckled a bit. “I guess that seems silly now, but I wanted it so badly.”

“It’s not silly,” Herrick murmured quietly.

He turned to look at Liv fully, but she was now staring at the ceiling, her gray eyes glazed over like she was gripped in a memory.

“The last thing I said to my father was that I never wanted to see him again,” Liv whispered. “I told him that I wanted to live here, and he told me it was impossible.”

Silence.

“I guess he was right. But back then, I so badly wanted to be on my own already. I felt like I had grown up and was ready to take on the world. He reminded me that I was, in fact, not more than a child. We fought. I told him I hated him, that I never wanted to see him again, and stormed out.”

Herrick was still, not wanting to break the memory she was seeing play out before her eyes.

“I ran away from my town and didn't come back until the next day, needing the space.” She paused. “I saw the smoke before I saw anything else. I remember how quiet my head got when I saw the black tendrils reaching up to the gods. Then smelled the sickly sweet char of burnt flesh.”

The air seemed to pause and listen to Liv’s tale.

“There were Flame Soldiers still patrolling the area, but I managed to sneak past them. I tried to find my family home, but the smoke was too heavy, so I crawled across the entire town to get to my house. When I finally did, my father was huddled over the rest of my family. My younger siblings, my mother—”

Her voice broke. Thickness settled in Herrick’s throat.

“There was nothing I could do to save them,” Liv said, her voice smaller than he had ever heard from the strong warrior. “They were gone, and the last words they heard from me were words of anger and hate.”

Liv was quiet for so long that Herrick thought she might not speak again. She had never told them the details of how her family died.

“I was pulled from my burning home by the local seer, an old, cranky woman who had always had an opinion on everything from your hair to your choice for supper.” Liv cracked a broken smile. “She had always hated me, said I had too much fire in me. But she got me out of the burning town and told me to make it right. She told me that I would find the right path to avenge my loved ones.”

Liv shook her head and the memories away.

“I took off running north and didn’t stop until snow settled on the ground around me. I moved from town to town after that. Then I found you, Hakon, and Gunnar. I hadn’t thought of that cranky seer once until I saw you all on the bridge.” She paused. “I knew then that you were my path.”

She looked at Herrick now, more serious than she had ever been with him before.

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