Page 145 of Kingdom of Embers and Ruin

Liv had no reply for him; she only held tight to him and allowed her anguish to overcome her. Herrick stroked her back and let his friend take what comfort she needed. When Liv stopped shaking, Herrick let her go and took a step back. Liv scrubbed her hands over her face quickly, brushing away any evidence of her breakdown, and looked to Herrick. She gave him a sad smile.

“Thank you,” she said, turning away quickly.

“Any time, my friend,” Herrick said, putting a hand on her shoulder when he caught up to her.

“Gunnar was a mess when he harvested the flowers for Eydis’s funeral,” Liv said to him, eyeing him from her periphery. “Don’t let him fool you into thinking he’s handling this any better than the rest of us.”

Herrick chuckled.

“I wasn’t fooled. That man had the biggest soft spot for Eydis; they were friends before any of us, and he’s never been one to hide his emotion,” Herrick laughed. “He said he’s too old to waste time on hiding how he felt all the time and that life was too short.”

Liv had murmured her agreement as they finished their hunt and returned to the group.

The next day finally brought Herrick and his friends to Dagsbrun. As their group passed through the gates to the town, Herrick recalled the conversation he had with Liv about what Gunnar had said to Herrick once.

Life was too short.

If Eydis’s death showed him anything, it was that Gunnar was right. He knew Maude was grieving, and he intended to give her space, but he couldn’t wait any longer to tell her how he felt about her. It was time she knew that this wasn’t just him being a scoundrel. Even if it meant she rejected him.

Maude settled into a brisk pace next to Herrick as they crossed into Dagsbrun. The small, gray town was surrounded by a 60-foot-high stone wall with only one entrance in and out. Being so close to the Dead Waste, Maude was sure the high walls were necessary for the town's safety, but she felt suffocated by them.

The town was laid out in a circle; the houses and buildings on the outskirts of the town center were almost as tall as the wall, while the buildings closer to the center were shorter. It seemed odd to build the structures this way. If the taller buildings were in the center, the vantage point would be the best for spotting intruders. The further into the town they got, the more Maude realized each street was laid out like a ring.

The buildings looked rather new as well, the stone shining in the dying light of the day. Maude studied the layout of the buildings when she remembered that her mother had lived there before. She had been the reason the town burnt down and caught the attention of the Flame Soldiers. Theyhad probably rebuilt the city in the style of Logi’s buildings so the fire couldn’t burn the town to cinders again.

“The wealthy live in the shorter buildings closer to the center of town, so they are protected if there is trouble,” Herrick whispered to her as he noticed her studying the layout intently.

Disgust was heavy in his voice, mirroring Maude’s feelings on the topic. Their group arrived at a small inn located in the middle ring of the town, close to the gated entrance—the Gray Goblet.

How appropriate, Maude thought, as she glanced around her and saw varying tones of gray in the town.

As they entered the inn, Hakon headed straight toward the bar in the center of the first floor. The evening crowd had already arrived, leaving table space limited. Herrick and Gunnar gathered everyone’s packs and made their way toward the innkeeper, a burly man with a large belly who was having a hard time standing on his two feet while speaking with her friends.

Liv touched Maude’s arm to get her attention before nodding toward a table that had been recently vacated. Maude nodded and followed the tall warrior as she cut through the crowds of people, investing their hard-earned coin in the watery ale that was being served.

She snagged the table before a drunken couple could sit while Liv grabbed Hakon and the bottle of whiskey he was currently guzzling from to lead him to their table.

Hakon sat next to Maude without breaking the seal of his lips on the bottle, which Maude found mildly impressive. Liv returned with two more bottles of the brown liquor and a few hazy glasses. She sat on the other side of Hakon so he wouldn’t fall onto the floor once he was too drunk to stayupright.

Once Herrick and Gunnar joined them again, Maude poured out four glasses of whiskey. Hakon had come up for air from the liquor bottle for the second time, the bottle almost empty now, as Maude held up her glass slightly. When she finally opened her mouth to speak, her voice failed.

“To Eydis,” Herrick said quietly, his voice low and despondent as he looked into Maude’s eyes.

“Who was the best of us,” she whispered as she sank into his golden brown gaze.

Everyone drank deeply, but Maude and Herrick did not take their eyes off each other. When Herrick finally brought the rim of the glass to his lips, Maude watched as they wrapped around the glass. Unable to look away, she continued to watch the long column of his throat as he swallowed the liquor. When he was done, Maude noticed his eyes sparkle slightly.

Finally able to pull her eyes away, she downed her whiskey in one drink and promptly poured herself another glass before tossing it back in one motion. Herrick watched her from across the table, that same knowing look in his eyes that told her that he saw right through her. Every cell in her body hummed when he looked at her like that. It stripped her bare, and he knew it.

Liv and Gunnar spoke about Eydis as they drank. Hakon offered his own slurred anecdote about her now and then, but mostly, he just listened to their stories. Maude and Herrick didn’t speak much, but she was keenly aware of how his gaze always came back to her, no matter who was talking.

Maude’s skin began to heat. The space around them started to close in around her as Herrick became the only other person in the room. The whiskey entered her bloodstream, sparking a fire deep in her belly as she eyed him from across the table.

His dark hair was loose around his face, the curls falling forward over his face a bit as he laughed at something Gunnar had said. Maude’s fingers twitched at the sight.

His jaw was beginning to darken with coarse hair from the last few days of travel, but his golden sun-kissed skin was vibrant in the low lighting of the inn. Herrick smiled at something Liv said, his soft mouth curling up in the corner and forcing that god's damned dimple to the surface. Maude knew if she got close to him, she would smell his rain-soaked earth scent that enveloped her senses whenever he was near, and she would drown in him.

A kick came from under the table, shaking Maude from her stupor. She turned to see Liv giving her a bemused look. Hakon, who had been sitting between them, was snoring softly with his head against the back of the booth they sat in.

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