Page 126 of Kingdom of Embers and Ruin

Reading through the next entry, Bryn felt like she had been transported to that white sandy island they stood on in front of the Grand Soothsayer. She was unfamiliar with the ritual performed for the fate telling, but Bryn was fascinated.

Her mother had written:

The Grand Soothsayer sliced through the flesh of the sacrificial goat like soft butter, the ritual knife's sharp edge flashing in front of my eyes. We were supposed to come alone with Maude, but Harald insisted on bringingan entire contingency of soldiers with us. If the Grand Soothsayer had any qualms about it, they did not mention it to us.

The chanting of the other seers moved through me and heightened my senses. It felt as if the gods were standing among us as she began searching through the bowl containing the runes mixed with the sacrificial blood.

I had held my breath when she finally stopped and lifted the first rune, the sticky blood dripping down her fingers.

‘Uruz’, she had said.

Harald was pleased. Maude would become a force of nature. She would be strong. My own heart was overjoyed at the news. She would need to be strong to weather her father.

‘Hagalaz’ was next. Wrath and destruction. Harald had shouted with joy, his soldiers cheering with him. I was not so excited. I needed Maude to be strong, but I didn’t want rage to drive her. I hoped that her last rune would balance out the first two.

Bryn continued to read, trying to ignore the feeling of betrayal by reading about her sister's fate. The runes drawn for Maude had not been terribly surprising. Bryn had always known that Maude had a temper that could decimate a small village.

Revna occasionally stopped Bryn to ask for an opinion on the letter she was drafting for the King, and when she was finished, Revna had Bryn read the entire letter.

“I’m almost done with this entry. The reading is almost done, but I don’t think I’ve found anything useful here,” Bryn had begun to say but trailed off as she read about the last rune drawn for her sister.

I am to keep it secret from Harald and Maude. Even if the Grand Soothsayer had not warned me against this, I would have kept it from them anyway. I will not lose my daughter in the pursuit of his downfall.

Bryn’s heart threatened to beat out of her chest. She felt numb, her body becoming foreign to her.

“Bryn?”

“I need paper,” Bryn choked out, her throat suddenly as dry and unforgiving as the desert they lived in. “Now.”

Revna rushed to grab more paper while Bryn worked on steadying her hand enough to write. Bryn looked at the blank paper in front of her, mind racing.

“What did you find out? Bryn?” Revna asked, picking up the journal.

“She doesn’t know the whole truth,” she said quickly, ignoring Revna’s question. “She needs to know the whole truth. Our mother hid this from her, and I know Maude well enough to know she needs this information. It changes everything.”

Bryn began to write the letter to her sister.

23

Herrick brought his axe down with unnecessary force, splintering the wood.

“Fuck,” he growled.

“A gentler touch would do the trick,” Gunnar said from where he was fitting together the last of the pieces needed to create the longboat.

Herrick ignored him and picked up a new block of wood to split, bringing his axe down with slightly less force. He chucked the last few blocks of wood into a separate pile to bring back to the temple for their fires and sat next to Gunnar, taking a long drink of the last of their water. He would have to filter more for them later tonight before they left for the Caverns tomorrow.

“Feel better?” Gunnar asked as he moved to sand down the side of the longboat.

It was almost completed now; only the last details needed to get them safely across the water were left. Herrick was grateful that Gunnar had opted to join Herrick today on the shore of Ljosa to finish putting together the longboat that would carry them all to the Knotted Caverns. Having two earth wielders made the task much easier.

“No,” Herrick grumbled.

When he woke up this morning, he found Liv and Maude gone. Hakon mentioned that they had gone to hunt some more for when they would leave for Logi, but Herrick knew that Maude was hiding from him again.

Last night had begun to feel like a fever dream the more he thought about it. Maude had let him in, finally allowed her barriers to fall, and shown him how she felt. He couldn't make up what he had seen in her the night before, perhaps only in his dreams. The only reason he was sure it had happened was because her taste was still on his lips when he woke.

Maude was everything he had ever dreamed of and more. Her skin was softer than down feathers and warmer than the sun on his skin. The way she panted beneath his touch and the sounds she made just for him had plagued him in his dreams. He could still feel how she moved beneath him, how his tongue had made her scream.

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