Page 129 of Kingdom of Embers and Ruin

“Was it good?” Liv asked, interrupting her thoughts.

“Yes,” Maude said before she could stop herself.

Liv began laughing at her response while Maude turned to look at her friend incredulously for a moment before she started to laugh with her. From the corner of her eye, Maude spied Gunnar’s silver hair, turning the corner and forcing her to be quiet.

Without missing a beat or sitting up to look at what caused her to pause, Liv said, “Go inside; I’ll take over.”

“Thank you,” Maude said quickly, bolting into the temple and leaving behind her plate of half-eaten food.

“You owe me!” Liv called from the front.

Maude made it to her bedroll and sat down, facing the fire. She laid out her weapons in front of her and began to sharpen and oil them, giving her hands something to do.

When the fire began to burn out, she blew her golden embers onto it and reignited the flames. Eydis and Hakon looked awed by her ability to do so and asked where she learned the skill.

“My mother,” she said flatly, keeping her eyes on the dagger in her hand. “She taught me and my sister when we were young.”

“It’s lovely,” Eydis said. “You must miss her.”

Maude didn’t respond, unwilling to speak of her past. Saving her from answering, Gunnar and Herrick entered the temple. She figured Herrick would not bring up their lapse in judgment from last night in front of everyone, but she kept her eyes downcast and her hands busy.

Herrick sat opposite her across the fire and threw some new logs onto it. Straining her ears to listen for anything he might say to her, Maude heard him shifting around in his pack before the trickling of water throughstones filled the space between them. She glanced up and saw Herrick filtering water into their canteens in preparation for tomorrow. Concentrated on his task, he did not notice Maude studying him.

The fire highlighted the lightly tanned skin that had grown a deeper gold with each day he spent in the sun, the shadows dancing across his face the way her fingers had last night. Memories from the night before flooded her mind: his strong hands on her neck and her legs, how his tongue tasted like honey and berries, the way his fingers coaxed the most singular pleasure she had ever known.

Herrick had tied back his hair today with the leather strap he usually kept wrapped around his forearm, exposing his high cheekbones and square jaw. From her left, Maude heard Eydis clear her throat. She dragged her attention to Eydis, who was looking at her expectantly as if she had just asked her a question.

“What?” Maude asked, shaking the memories of Herrick’s lips on her skin from her mind.

“I asked if you got any sleep last night?” Eydis asked again, glancing at Herrick.

“Oh,” Maude said, finding her mouth dry as the desert. “Um, yes, I slept.”

In her periphery, she saw Herrick stiffen for a second before he continued filtering more water. Gunnar coughed to cover up Herrick’s movements.

Great, Gunnar knew then, she thought.

“Good, you were really in bad shape last night,” Eydis continued. Hakon was dozing off with his head in her lap while Eydis ran her fingers through his caramel hair absentmindedly.

Envy, sharp, and poisonous filled Maude at the sight— at how easy it was for others to be able to show their affection to the ones they caredabout. Never had Maude been able to show affection for fear of her father punishing her for weakness. Even Bryn had begun to think Maude hated her.

Rather than allow her father to know how much Maude cared for her sister, she pushed Bryn away and sequestered herself in her room when she wasn't busy training or being paraded in front of the Logi nobles.

As quickly as the emotion sprang up in her, Maude smothered it beneath her mental walls. She was happy that Eydis had found love, she told herself, even if it couldn’t last.

The group continued their conversation while Maude and Herrick remained silent, their tasks suddenly becoming the most interesting thing in the room. Eventually, Gunnar went to take over the watch from Liv, but Maude volunteered.

“I’ve slept enough,” she joked as she passed Gunnar’s spot around the fire.

Once she had relieved Liv from what was her watch, Maude sat on the steps of the temple and looked up at the almost full moon. Tomorrow night, they would go into the Knotted Caverns to find thedalkr Hela,and then finally,finally, they would go back to Logi and finish what Maude had started.

She pushed Herrick from her mind and focused on the one promise she had sworn to herself all those years ago.

The next day passed too quickly, tension heavy in the air as the sun arced through the clear blue sky. Maude had watched a red sunrise as her watch ended, a dangerous omen—one of great change and death.

Planning to make a quick escape once they retrieved thedalkr Hela, their small camp that had housed them inside the temple was quickly torn down and packed away by nightfall, along with all the small moments between friends and lovers that this structure now held forever.

The usual light atmosphere that followed their group, even with Maude’s usual quiet aura, was missing as the anticipation of what they would face in the Caverns hung over them. Eydis had been ceaselessly practicing with her staff throughout the day until Hakon had pleaded with her to rest for a bit so she didn’t wear herself out.

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