Page 15 of Kingdom of Embers and Ruin

“It's never been an easy existence, as I’m sure you know, to be avitkiliving in a city that doesn’t accept you, but I met my wife here and had a family here. They were taken from our home after my daughter had an incident when she was playing with the other children on the block. In her anger, she forced vines to shoot out from the ground and trip a boy who had been teasing her. Flame soldiers came and took them all away in the night when I was in the fighting pits; I had no idea…”

Sigurd trailed off and was quiet for a moment before he turned back to look at Maude.

“I searched the city prison for them, but no one would help me find them. I had been afraid to do more than brush my daughter’s outburstunder the rug, thinking it would resolve itself. Clearly, I was wrong, and they suffered for my cowardice.”

Sigurd’s pale blue eyes, which had been glassy, filled with shame.

“So you ask how I can stand to remain in this house? I can’t stand it, but this was our home, and foolish as it may be, I still hold onto hope that I’ll be reunited with my family. Until that hope fades, I’ll stay in Logi.”

Maude’s throat thickened as she heard the veiled optimism in his voice.

“I stay next door in the pub now, but lending this space to the people who want to make a difference in this kingdom feels like the right thing to do. I bring them food and offer them sanctuary when they need to avoid capture.”

Sigurd took a deep breath, his face stony in a way she had never seen before. He continued, “The people upstairs from the Kingdom of Rivers? They will smugglevitkiout from under the nose of Helvig to smaller towns where they can hide. I do what I can now because when it mattered, I didn’t do enough.”

His words struck something profound in Maude’s soul that she didn’t want to examine too closely. She didn’t know what to say, so she remained silent, stuck in her selfish thoughts as they spiraled with guilt.

“I have to get to the pub to set up. Tell the others I brought them food and will stop in again tomorrow with more for your journey,” Sigurd said as he walked to the front door.

“You’re opening the pits again so soon?”

“Not yet, but some are showing up for instruction, so I need to open the pub above ground to give them a safe space to hide.”

Maude opened her mouth to offer her help but remembered how he had looked when she had apologized, so she said nothing as he walked out. It was better that he still thought of her as the selfish, difficult woman who was always looking for a fight.

She had been exhausted since her fights the other night, but the discovery of who this house belonged to and its tragic past caused Maude to feel its crushing weight becoming unbearable. She thought about the bright yellow room she was destroying with her presence, knowing it probably belonged to one of his children who was now imprisoned or most likely dead at the hands of the king.

Nausea swelled in her empty stomach. She couldn’t sleep there anymore, couldn’t sully the room any longer.

Maude swiftly removed her belongings from the room and made her way to the roof again. She managed to erect a tent out of her ruined shirt and pants that she had ripped the seams out of with her teeth, some heavy bricks, and two long sticks she’d seen up there the night before. She had built makeshift shelters plenty of times before she’d had enough money to rent a room in local inns, so it was quick work.

Settling against the low wall separating her from the stairs to the roof, she closed her eyes to the early morning sun and spent the next hour trying to calm her racing thoughts. The last thing she thought of before she finally drifted was what Sigurd had said to her.

I do what I can now because when it mattered, I didn’t do enough.

Herrick had slipped into his shared room with Hakon before the first rays of dawn had slipped over the horizon and finally found sleep. His dreams were of deep green eyes, flashing fires, and Valkyries scouring over a smoking battlefield. When he woke, the sun was at its highest, so he rose and shook off the strange feeling of dread from his dreams. He quickly dressed in a simple white tunic and black pants before heading down to the kitchen to see if Sigurd had dropped off more food like he had promised.

Gunnar had splayed out on one of the chairs by the bookcase and was snoring loudly while Liv sat at the table sharpening her axe. Hakon was outside by the oasis, cycling through his sword exercises, sweat soaking his shirt from the midday heat. Daydreaming of green forests and running water, Herrick walked out to the stretch of desert grass with his two-handed battle axe, where his brother completed first through fifth position with unflinching focus. He looked out to the rest of the oasis and saw no sign of Maude.

“She’s not out here,” Hakon offered, never taking his eyes off his imaginary opponent.

“I don’t know who you’re talking about. Want a partner?”

Hakon only shrugged and readjusted his footing to face Herrick. Both faced each other with loosely bent knees and waited, watching each other. They started circling each other, this dance a familiar one between them.

“Care to talk about what’s gotten under your skin, brother?” Hakon taunted him.

Herrick tightened his hands on his axe, but Hakon was waiting for him to tense before he shot out and swung his sword in a perfect arc down. Herrick brought his weapon up in a block.

“Or should I saywhohas gotten under your skin?”

“No,” Herrick bit out.

He lifted the blade of the axe to the left to throw off his brother's sword. Using his momentum, Herrick pivoted backward on his right foot and sliced his axe down to Hakon’s belly while he was off balance. Hakon grabbed his own axe from his side and redirected his swing. They went back and forth for twenty uninterrupted minutes, neither gaining a foothold on each other until they both tired out. They had trained and sparred with each other for twenty-eight years— they knew each other well.

“I yield!” Hakon huffed to him as they both collapsed next to each other. “We are getting too old for this shit.”

Herrick laughed, a little breathless, as he put a hand on his brother's shoulder.

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