Page 18 of Kingdom of Embers and Ruin

Despite the dread hanging over her at the thought of leaving Logi and bringing her cursed presence to another small village, Maude was excited at the thought of seeing the Bone Chasm. She had only ever made it as far as a few neighboring villages before she had been forced to turn and go back to Logi. The tall city buildings and dense population were a veil she couldn’t find elsewhere in Ahland, she had discovered.

“And we leave tomorrow? What time?” Maude asked, breaking from horrid memories starting to resurface.

“Got somewhere more important to be?” Liv bit out.

Maude bared her teeth at her, swallowing her growing rage. Instead of falling into her trap, she ignored her and spoke to Gunnar.

“Guards patrol the southern wall during the day because of heavier foot traffic, but at night, the wall goes mostly unguarded because of how frigid the desert gets on the other side. They figure that if anyone were going to make it over the wall, they’d either freeze to death or be eaten alive by the monsters that make the desert their home. I’d hoped you’d know that when you decided to go over the wall at night.”

Silence came from the group. She hadn’t spoken so many words to them at once before. Maude was sure they assumed she was a pit rat who knew no better than to swing without provocation.

“We were going to leave at sundown, just like you were suggesting,” Gunnar said, breaking the silence of the group.

“Great. If that’s all, I’ll take my leave of you."

She mocked a bow and turned without waiting for their response, headed outside, and unsheathed her sword and axe. She was going to need to go through all her physical exercises to calm herself before she went back inside and cut Liv’s beautiful shell open to see if her insides were as ugly as her shit attitude was.

As she stepped into first position, Maude recognized that she was being hypocritical. It wasn’t like she was the portrait of civility and grace on her best day. Maude only remembered being angry at her world and trying to break free from it; her rage and her fire were all she had left now. But Liv had a problem with her, that much was evident. She’d barely spoken ten words to the warrior.

Moving into second position by swiping up with her sword and blocking with her axe, Maude centered herself in her exertion and blocked everything else out. Tomorrow, they would leave, but that meant she had all tonight and tomorrow to train and deal with the forced proximity. Maude steadied herself and retreated to that part of her mind that got her through so many years of her childhood. She didn't stop moving until the sun had nearly set on the horizon.

5

Herrick tried to ignore Maude’s moving form outside throughout the hours of the afternoon unsuccessfully. Gunnar occasionally poked fun at him for it, but otherwise, his friends busied themselves with preparations for their departure tomorrow night. Liv, having sharpened and polished all her weapons during the day, sat idly flipping through a book before she tossed it onto the small table in the center of the living space and huffed.

“What’s your problem?” Herrick asked her. She had been moody and grim all day.

“Nothing. I hate being cooped up like this.”

“Then go spar with Maude outside. I’m sure you both would enjoy the chance to kick the crap out of each other.”

“I’ll have to pass, thanks,” Liv grumbled.

“You don’t have to like her, but you do have to work together. Maybe you should both try not to goad each other all the time. We need her help,” Herrick advised.

“You keep saying that, but you haven’t explained to us why,” Liv pointed out, her frustration clear.

How was Herrick supposed to tell them that he had chosen her not because Sigurd had pointed her out as a firevitkibut because his dreams of fire and the Valkyries that plagued him most nights went quiet when Maude was around? He didn’t understand why, but he trusted his gut.

“We need her fire,” Herrick said, offering her only the smallest piece of the explanation.

Liv didn’t respond; she only stood and went upstairs.

Conversation over, apparently.

Herrick would eventually have to get to the bottom of Liv’s problem with Maude, but he couldn’t force it on her. In his experience, women didn’t get along if you forced them together, so Herrick stayed out of it for now.

Unable to fully escape his thoughts of Maude, he turned his attention to her again now that the sun was almost set. Maude switched from using her sword and axe to utilizing her entire body instead. Quickly launching into a series of jabs and uppercut combinations, she ducked and weaved against her invisible opponent.

Sweat was soaking her shirt, and it clung to her form in a distracting way that made it difficult for Herrick to look away. He wondered what she’d taste like if he ran his tongue up her skin, if her flesh would have that same cedar smoke taste as the scent that clung to her.

An apple smashed into his cheek from the kitchen. Gunnar was laughing at the projectile that Hakon had thrown his way.

“Did you hear me, Herrick? Your mind went elsewhere for a minute,” Hakon laughed, making it aware that he knew where Herrick’s mind had drifted.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, Hakon?” Herrick snapped

“You wear your heart on your sleeve for everyone to see, my friend,” Gunnar said, shaking his head. “Careful that you don’t slip so far away that you forget what we are working for.”

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