Page 163 of Kingdom of Embers and Ruin

“Don’t do this alone,” he pleaded with her, lowering his weapons.

“Ihaveto,” she replied, that despair from earlier leaking into her voice.

“You don’t,” Herrick insisted. “I can’t let you walk away from me again.”

Maude was silent. The clashing of metal and cries of dying men faded into the background as if the gods were listening closely to what she was about to say. Silence rang out around Herrick, his entire focus on the woman he knew he would follow anywhere in this world.

“Get out of my way, Herrick,” Maude said quietly. Her eyes landed on his chest as she raised her short sword and pointed it at him, right over his fatemark. “Or I will make you.”

Acid washed through him, sending waves of burning ice through his body, and his heart shattered before her.

“Maude,” he whispered, unable to do more than say her name like it was a prayer. Like it was a plea.

She stiffened, never taking her eyes off his fatemark.

“I guess we will finally finish what we started in the fighting pits,” she finally said, her eyes becoming black holes, swallowing the woman he loved within them.

“It seems so,” he replied, betrayal slicing through him sharper than any blade could.

Maude wasted no time dancing around their fight as she had before. She launched herself at him, her blade arcing down in a move that Herrick was almost too slow to deflect. Every hit she attempted was not lethal but wore him down rapidly. He only defended himself, never lifting his axe in any other maneuver than to deflect her attacks.

Blow after blow, she tried to wear him down and force him out of her way, but Herrick would not budge. Frustration was building in her the longer they fought, and still, Herrick would not strike against her.

Desperation was carved into her features as she would occasionally glance toward the eastern gates leading to the barracks belonging to Flame Soldiers. Her attacks were getting sloppy and rushed, like her impatience and refusal to harm him were warring with each other. She did not want to hurt him, but he could see that she needed him to let her do this.

Reluctantly, Herrick was beginning to understand her need to do this on her own, even if it felt like a betrayal. Maude would not rest until Helvig was gone; her need for vengeance outweighed everything else to her right now. He still didn’t know what had happened to trigger her like this, but she would tell him when the time was right for her. She would need the chance to talk to him again, and only he could give her that.

Herrick did not stop the next attack on him.

His axe was torn from his grip, and her blade was quickly pressed against his throat.

“You can’t stop me,” she said between her teeth, sweat running down her temple as fire burned in her eyes.

“I know,” he said softly, willing the understanding in his eyes to shine through.

Surprise and fury mixed in her eyes as she heard the truth in his words. Unsure of what to do, she remained still, her blade still against his throat. The noise around them died to a low buzz, the sound of soldiers tryingto fight their way to Maude disappearing as they looked into each other’s eyes. The press of the blade lightened on his skin.

“I don’t know what changed, but I trust you,minn eldr,” he said, reaching out and running his fingers over her flushed cheek. “Tell me what you need.”

He traced over her scar that resembled the sign from the gods once before he withdrew. Maude closed her eyes, pain crossing her features. When she opened them again, her dark green eyes looked past him at the soldiers being held off by their friends. Maude swallowed and looked at him once more, her gaze clear.

“I need time.”

“It’s yours,” he said without hesitation. “Go. I will see you again, whether it will be in the palace or with the gods.”

Maude sucked in a breath quickly before she swayed toward Herrick slightly, their lips hovering closer in the chaos surrounding them. Just when Herrick thought she would move to press her lips to his, she pulled back with a shaky sigh. Gratitude, pain, and love flashed in her eyes for a second before she turned and flew down the stairs, taking off toward the palace.

“Maude!” he called out, unable to let her leave yet.

She paused and looked over her shoulder.

“You are nothing like him,” he reminded her. “You are not a monster. You don’t have to sink to his level to beat him.”

Maude seemed rooted to the stone beneath her for a moment, the look in her eye hard as she finally turned away from him and his words. Ignoring the flare of pain in his chest, Herrick bent to grab his axe. If she needed this more than she needed him, he would just have to withstand it. The thought didn’t settle in him as it should have, his fatemark pulsing with each step she took away from him.

He would follow her into the palace as soon as these soldiers were taken care of. Turning to meet his friends in battle, Herrick slipped into the killing calm that he was familiar with and ignored the feeling that he had just made the wrong decision. He swung his axe, the blade singing a death knell with each blow.

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