Page 33 of Kingdom of Embers and Ruin

“Yes, that’s what we thought. The villagers had heard rumors of it from trading merchants that had passed through the Dead Waste. These merchants had reported that the dagger had been lost for centuries until they had heard of it being seen in the Knotted Caverns off the shores of Ljosa. Only one man made it back from the Caverns, and he was bordering on catatonic, so there were no details on what they faced there. We plan to head that way and stop through the rebuilt village of Dagsbrun to resupply before finding a boat and making our way out to the caves.”

“Seems too simple; it feels like you're missing information. It can’t possibly be there after it has been nothing more than a legend for centuries,” Maude interrupted, skepticism furrowing her brow.

The excitement of even the possibility of the weapon being in that cave made Maude want to jump on her horse and race there immediately. She attempted to be more calculated than that, however, so she dosed herself with a healthy amount of doubt before continuing.

“You all are going on the word of a few traveling merchants to find thislaevatein, which sounds like a trick just from the name the villagers gave it. The cunning knife? I don’t believe it exists. I can’t risk exposing myself like that based on only your belief in the truth of these strangers.”

“I know trust is a bit of a foreign thing to you,minn eldr, but most of the world runs on an honor system.”

“It just seems too good to be true,” Maude muttered, continuing to pace around the fire.

“I agree with you on that. I also believe that there must be a way to bring down the cruel King of Flame. He has ruled unchecked for too long and has caused so much imbalance in his kingdom. The people are restless and angry; they need a reason to believe their families will survive,” Herrick said to her as he stood in front of her, forcing her to stop pacing.

“How could you possibly know what the people of Logi are feeling?” Maude asked him, looking up into his golden brown eyes that held firm in their belief of a path to freedom.

“I spent a lot of time with them over the past few years. I’ve spoken to them when we smuggle them out of the city. I see how scared they are and how angry they have become over the injustice of the class system the king enforces. I see that they are tired of hiding theirgalderfrom the world and that it hurts them to be unable to feel the rush of the elements being channeled through them,” Herrick said as he created a sphere of water to envelope them both, blocking out the rest of the world.

“I see how they accept their position in the world with no fight until they are unfairly brutalized in the name of the King. I see them quietly fighting their allotted existence by hiding an oasis from the nobility, by working together in underground rooms to practice theirgalder, and by fighting in pits to make a fair living to provide for their families.”

Herrick touched her cheek with two fingers and ran them down the side of her face. Maude shivered as his touch radiated inward to the very center of her being. Unnerved, she stepped back and willed her fire to the surface. A pulse of her flame pushed through the sphere of water he was still holding around them, steam billowing around them in heavy wisps.

“The people won't rise against Helvig; they don’t have any hope of his defeat,” she said as she stepped away.

“If we find this dagger, they will have hope,” Herrick countered, taking a step closer to her.

“Even if we did find it, Helvig would know as soon as it was in our hands. He has spies everywhere.”

“He doesn’t have spies in the fallen Kingdom of Light. We could still smuggle the dagger into the city.”

“Assuming it actually exists,” Maude argued.

“We will find it,” Herrick said firmly, determination sparking in his golden irises in the evening light of the desert.

Maude looked at Herrick again, studying his earnestness. He truly believed this dagger had appeared out of thin air in this cave and that he would find it. That she would help them.

“Give me a reason to trust that thisdalkr Helais in that cave,” Maude finally said to Herrick.

Gunnar continued to cook the lizards over the fire but was clearly paying close attention to their exchange, while Liv had joined them around the fire but was stone-faced and silent. Hakon and Eydis were still enraptured with each other and theirgalderlesson, the world around them had ceased to exist.

“You don’t have to trust the rumors, but you can trustme, Maude,” Herrick said quietly, looking deep into Maude’s eyes, into her very soul.

She never trusted anyone, never allowed anyone close enough to try, but she felt a profound certainty that Herrick was telling her the truth. Up to now, he had never lied to her and had always been straightforward with her about everything. Somewhere along their journey, Maude had begun to trust this stranger, unfamiliar as the feeling was. She didn’t know how she felt about that.

She opened her mouth to say the words she never thought she would ever say to another person, “Okay, I’ll trust you. We’ll go to the Knotted Caverns and see if these rumors are right. I can’t promise more than that because if these rumors are false, I have to go back to Logi. I can’t remain out here too long.”

Herrick gave her a curious look, opening his mouth to ask her what she meant, but Maude only shook her head. She couldn’t tell him why she needed to go back to Logi, what would happen if she didn’t. She walked away from the fire they were sharing and sat down in a patch of grass in the oasis, facing the setting sun in the west. Maude wondered if the Flame Soldiers were still tracking her, their group, or Hakon after his hasty escape from the city.

She knew they would be leaving this small oasis as soon as the night had fallen, opting to continue their travels in the darkness of the new moon that would rise tonight so they could travel in relative darkness. The temperatures would drop to almost freezing this far into the desert overnight, so she chose to enjoy the last few rays of the warm sun on her skin in solitude before she headed back to the group.

Thoughts of Flame Soldiers tracking them plagued Maude as she closed her eyes, unable to avoid her past replaying in her mind any longer.

The cover of the densely packed city of Logi was a blessing to Maude as she had spent the last ten years on the run and in hiding. The real reason she had never strayed further than the scattered villages surrounding the city was because of the guilt and anger that now hung heavily in her heart.

In the early years after her escape, she had scaled the walls of the city and hidden in the small villages. The people of these towns were so kind to her despite her horrid face and beggar appearance. They had offered her shelter, food, and kind words as she passed from town to town.

It wasn't until she had stayed too long in one town, Brastone, and had gotten too comfortable amongst the people who lived there that she realized how dangerous she was. Maude had stayed there for an entire month before the Flame Soldiers had come to the town and pillaged it.

She had been fighting off the soldiers with the people of the town, but one of the commanders had taken a young boy hostage. He said that they were only looking for her and that the boy would die if she did not lay down her weapons and surrender herself. Maude then understood why the people had such disdain for the rulers of this kingdom, why they hated the soldiers who were supposed to keep them safe.

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