Page 21 of Kingdom of Embers and Ruin

Maude and Herrick crept through the shadows of Logi two hours later, hugging the walls and blending with the darkness around them. When they encountered soldiers patrolling the area, they held still and waited for them to pass, which resulted in slow movement. They had not spoken since they had left Sigurd’s house, and Maude had shownhim just how ugly she was.

She found that even if she yearned for who she was in her youth, she would never be like that naive child again. The promise she made to her mother had kept her alive these ten years, and Maude wasn't sure she could ever change who she was if she tried.

Maude took a step out of the shadows to check for soldiers and immediately had to retreat backward when she saw the orange, red, and white of their uniforms. Unaware that Herrick had followed her, her back slammed into his front, and he instinctively wrapped his hands around her waist. He finished pulling them back into the shadows but didn’t let go as the soldiers had gotten within earshot of them. They remained still as the patrol made its way past them.

Maude could feel Herrick’s heart racing behind her, as close as they were. She was aware of every point of contact where his large hands gripped her, and she felt a shiver run through her like a drop of water rolling down her spine. She arched her back a bit instinctively but stopped when Herrick’s hand squeezed her hip; a low sound was pulled from his throat.

The patrol that had just passed them stopped at the sound, and the leader motioned for one of the soldiers to investigate the source.

“Put your hood down and loosen your hair, then wrap your legs around my waist,” Herrick quietly commanded.

“No way in Hel,” she hissed in return.

“We don't have time,minn eldr. Now follow along,” he replied, just as angrily.

She turned and pulled her hair out of its knot and let her hood down as she backed into the wall, glaring at him.

“I’m not wrapping myself around you, beast. Figure something else out.”

“No time. Please forgive me,” he whispered as he crouched.

Herrick gripped the backs of her thighs and lifted her to wrap her legs around his waist. He pushed her back against the wall to support her so they weren't pressed so tightly together but rather looked like it. She almost yelped when he lifted her, as no one had ever been so physical with her outside of a fighting pit before, even those she had lain with. She thanked the gods that it was dark and that Herrick couldn’t see her burning face.

The soldier had just made it into the alleyway when Herrick pressed his face into Maude’s neck, effectively masking them. She had wrapped her arms around his neck when he had lifted her, so she clung to him like any impassioned lover might, putting the final touch on their deception.

“Oh, p-pardon me, sir, I didn't mean to interrupt,” the soldier stammered.

“Then don’t,” Herrick practically growled over his shoulder at the young soldier. The possessiveness in his voice made her outraged and cracked some deep resolve in her simultaneously.

Telling herself that she was doing this to torture him a bit for putting her in this situation, she ground her hips into his at the tone of his voice, but she did not fake the intake of breath when she discovered the hard length concealed in his pants. Herrick growled again as he had when she had arched against him, and he turned his face back to her neck.

By this point, the young soldier had turned and retreated to his patrol. The group took off down the street, leaving Herrick and herself in this compromising position. He made no move to disentangle them from each other, and Maude should've been upset, but she hadn’t moved either.

At once, they both pulled back and looked at each other. Herrick searched her face in the darkness of the alley while she caught her breath. Her skin was on fire; she could’ve been a burning pyre with how desire was fueling hergalderat this moment. She remembered the last time they hadbeen so close and felt the phantom touch of Herrick’s nose run up her neck like it had the last time they were in darkness like this and shivered again.

Herrick must’ve felt her because his hips twitched further between her thighs and, up against the wall like she was, she felt everything. Maude groaned but quickly cut off the sound. It didn’t matter, Herrick had heard. He leaned in to whisper in her ear.

“If you keep making sounds like that,minn eldr, we’ll never get out of this city.”

Maude shifted her hand beneath Herrick’s hood and behind his head. Wrapping her fingers in his hair, she yanked his head backward, exposing his throat to her.

With a savage smile, she whispered, “Then you’d better let go of me, beast.”

Herrick only let out a low chuckle and released her, letting her drop to the ground. She fixed her shirt that had ridden up in the hastiness of the ruse and internally brushed off how affected she was by him, remembering her promise to her mother.

Love, like the ones in the stories, does not have a place in your reality.

That may be true, but lust, she found, was a heady drug.

“Let’s go. We're almost to the wall,” Maude said to him, pretending like the last few minutes never happened.

“After you,minn eldr,” Herrick chuckled, shaking his head before securing his hair out of his face with a leather band around his forehead. His beard had started growing in, she noticed, so disguising his face wouldn't be too difficult. Her face, on the other hand, would have to remain in the shadows, her scar giving her away too easily.

She turned down the alley and made her way to the wall, Herrick close behind her. As they came upon the towering old red brick of the southern wall, Maude experienced only a second of hesitation before she began toclimb. Herrick was matching her pace as they ascended. It wasn’t until they were almost to the top when she heard the swooshof arrows flying past. She looked down over her shoulder and saw a contingent of soldiers making their way to where they were on the wall. The wind picked up, and she heard their voices carry.

“This is the second group scaling the wall tonight. More arrows, but don’t kill them until we know if they arevitkitoo.”

Herrick must’ve heard them, too, because he exchanged a worried look with Maude and then looked down to the ground. Knowing where his thoughts went, Maude stopped him before he could descend by grabbing his arm.

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