Page 19 of Kingdom of Embers and Ruin

“What did you say before?” Herrick ignored his friend's comment. He could never forget his duty.

“I said we have everything we need for tomorrow night. We just need a few more provisions from Sigurd before we’re entirely prepared.” Hakon became serious. “We should have enough to get to Engate, at the very least. Being on foot will be a problem, but we can purchase some horses when we get to the town.”

Herrick only nodded. They had made this journey a few times now, and he felt confident that they would be able to make it to the town unscathed, barring anything unusual. Gunnar began rattling off the things they would need when Herrick felt Maude enter the house again; the air grew hotter and more volatile, like her temper, but in her wake, the cool safety of shadows lingered. His keen awareness of her reminded him that he barely knew this woman.

She was wiping the sweat from her face with her shirt, showing off her soft stomach for a second before she dropped her shirt again and dunked her hands in the water to clean the dirt from them. He was about to respond to Hakon when the bookcase opened from the inside of the passageway.

They all turned, hands going to their weapons, to see Sigurd emerge from the walkway with an alarmed look on his face. He quickly scanned the room and saw Herrick’s group before exhaling a bit and turning to shuffle a group of five people— two women and three children— wearing traveling clothes into the house. Gunnar took a weary step forward, eyeing the new group, before speaking.

“Tell us what’s happened.”

“They arevitkifrom the western side of the city who were discovered by the soldiers. The woman’s husband fought off the soldiers long enough for them to get out of the house and make it to my pub. They don’t know if they were followed, but they need to get out of Logi. Tonight.”

The words came out in a rush. Sigurd was already moving, gathering some supplies hidden beneath the floorboards for the family as he spoke. Liv had come down the stairs to see what the disturbance was and quickly retreated to grab her cloak hanging from her temporary bedroom door.

He turned to Hakon and Gunnar, who had gone quiet in a way that told Herrick they were waiting for his plan. As easy as breathing, Herrick fell back on his training, his mind becoming calculating and calm. Maude stood on the outskirts of the tension and watched them all closely.

“Right,” Herrick said as he began rattling off his quickly forming plan. “Gunnar and Liv, you will take the group to the wall and escort them to Engate. Go to the lowest part of the wall; you know the spot I’m speaking of. Hakon, you’ll stay with me and Maude. We’ll clear things up here and follow. Maude, I need you to save your arguments for later when we have time for it.”

Sigurd, Gunnar, and Liv all nodded and started packing supplies and speaking with the family, while Maude rolled her eyes but said nothing. The older woman – the mother, he assumed – was holding the youngest child to her chest and speaking in quick, tense tones with Liv. The young woman, who must’ve been an older sister to the children, was kneeling and speaking in a softer voice to the two boys who looked to be about eight and ten years old, their silver-blonde hair all the same bright hue. There was only resignation and sorrow on all their faces. Hakon stepped in front of Herrick.

“There are too many of them for just Gunnar and Liv to go alone. The wall is too high for the women to carry all the children and scale the wall. I’ll go with them; that way, we can each carry a child to safety.”

Herrick considered his older brother. Maude, who had been quietly observing the group as they had jumped into action, made her way to his side and spoke softly to Herrick.

“He’s right. The children are too young to climb on their own, and they have a better chance of getting out and staying alive if he goes with them.” She looked at Hakon now, an air of command leaking into her voice. “If you all travel together, it’ll attract too much attention. Split up into smaller groups, you’ll be less conspicuous to the soldiers on patrol if you look like families that are out for an evening walk. Once you’re clear of the patrols, scale the wall at different locations so you won’t be tracked.”

Hakon gave her an odd look before nodding in agreement and then turned back to Herrick. They clasped forearms and embraced for a second before Herrick thumped his brother on the back and said, “I’ll see you in Engate or with Odin in Valhalla, brother.”

Hakon only squeezed him tighter before turning away without another word. Herrick turned to Maude and saw she had a hint of sadness and longing in her eyes.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked her.

She only nodded. Maude blinked, and the longing he saw in her eyes turned to steely resolve. Herrick watched her walk to the back door to close it before slipping back into her weapons belt. Her hair hadn’t been braided back before she trained for hours on end, so she took the time to pull it back into a knot and tie it behind her head before pulling the hood forward.

Herrick was tracking her hands through the fluid movements and was unaware of Sigurd standing beside him, watching Maude prepare to leave.

“She’s nothing like you said she would be,” Herrick said to the oldervitkiwhen he finally noticed him.

“No, she’s exactly as I described her. She’s just different with you.” He put a hand on Herrick’s shoulder. “That girl has been building a wall around herself for ten years. It will take time to break them down and see what’s behind them. I’m sure she’ll keep on surprising us.”

With that, Sigurd said goodbye to them all and wished the fleeing family good luck. He looked to Maude, who only nodded at him, her eyes averted and tanned skin slightly ashen. Without another word, he headed back toward The Broken Bones Pub. Herrick closed the bookcase and went to finish helping Gunnar pack up. As he worked, he tried not to think about the dangers his family would face or the long journey he had ahead of him, alone with Maude.

Maude was truly impressed to see Herrick and his friends move into action. Years of friendship and trust between them were evident in their movements. Gunnar, Liv, the mother, and the two young children left first, and then Hakon with the eldest daughter carrying the infant, followed, taking a different path into the night.

Maude stood awkwardly by the stairs when they all said their goodbyes, feeling like she was intruding on a pure moment between friends. She had opted to go to the bedrooms on the top floor and make sure they looked unruffled and clean again in case someone searched the house after they left. She erased all signs of their stay as she passed through the rooms.

She wasn’t sure if her new loneliness stemmed from being exposed to Herrick and his friends or if she was finally growing tired of her solitude. She lived a life of fighting, drinking, and chaos before they found her and showed her their dysfunctional family. Her self-hatred took a backseat when she was watching them interact. Seeing them all jump to help strangers in need awoke Maude's forgotten feelings that had taken a backseat during this past decade of survival.

Herrick was by the front door when she turned the corner of the stairs. She paused, giving him a moment to notice she was there before she broke the silence.

“I know you don’t need to hear this from me, but they’ll be ok.”

He nodded and looked her over before he turned away to strap his two-handed battle axe to his back. Maude noticed that while Herrick spoke and carried himself like a noble, the fatemark on his chest confirming that fact, he fought like any other commoner. The battle axe on his back was the weapon of a soldier, a lowborn. The nobility used swords as they were more expensive and harder to make. Herrick did not carry any other blade but the battle axe and a few daggers. She found these observations at odds with each other.

She didn’t speak again until they were ready to walk out of Sigurd’s house. Her heart ached at the realization that she was doomed to be alone, but her fate cast from the Allfather had guaranteed as much. This decade had broken down the girl who had escaped from her former life and the path she was destined for. She had been running from many people these years, but mostly, she was running from her fate. Now, she saw an opportunity to end it all.

Running had made her into the creature she was, and it was this creature, fueled by revenge and spite, that spoke.

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