Page 7 of Kingdom of Embers and Ruin

“You sure can pick ‘em, Herrick,” Liv chuckled.

Herrick had straightened over the barred window and strolled a few paces away, plastering on a bewildered look to match those of the citizens around him.

“We’ll meet at the house; I’ll make sure it’s clear here and see you later.”

Gunnar hesitated for a second, an unconscious Maude over his shoulder, and looked up to Herrick. “You have thirty minutes before Hakon sends me to find you. He’s already pissed that you forced him to stay behind.”

“I’ll deal with Hakon,” Herrick responded quietly so no one around them heard. Gunnar turned and took off down the underground hall, disappearing with the fiery woman who had an irritatingly iron grip on Herrick.

“Thirty minutes,” Liv repeated to Herrick before following Gunnar.

Herrick stepped away from the now empty cell and surveyed the town square. The oval-shaped break in the densely packed red stone buildings of Logi that contained the town square was packed with multicolored tents, narrow walkways filled with pedestrians, and rich scents of spiced meats and sugared almonds that flooded the senses. Following exactly the perimeter of the public square, the cells that housed prisoners and illegalvitkiunderground were open to the busy market through the hole in the ground that served as their window. Some of those imprisoned begged for food, while some sat quietly, hoping no one would notice their presence. With one way in and another way out of the square, it made Herrick uncomfortable to linger, but there was something odd about his surroundings.

The only commotion over the explosion and escape was about who had scattered and lit the explosive to cause the detonation that destroyed the wall of the prison cell Maude had been occupying rather than her actual escape. Herrick quickly inspected the neighboring cells and found that they were empty. Circling the square once the scene had settled and citizens went back to their trading, Herrick worked out that every other current prisoner was on the northern side of the square, and she had been isolated to the southern side. He wondered who Maude was to these soldiers and why they had felt the need to confine her to one side of the square. Were they protecting her from the other prisoners?

A cold finger of dread ran down Herrick’s spine as he thought perhaps the soldiers did not separate Maude from the other prisoners for her protection but for theirs.

For the second time that day, Maude woke to unfamiliar surroundings. She looked around the brightly decorated bedroom; the light yellow of the walls was complimented by wooden furniture that had been painted white. Pushed against the corner was a vanity with a mirror that had a thick coating of dust on it. The bed was soft but small for Maude, and the sheets were made from lightweight linen that kept her cool in the heat that plagued Logi. It was a simple but nicely decorated bedroom, so at odds with the dark stain of her presence.

Head pounding, she took a few minutes to gather the courage to sit up. She was sore before Herrick and his friends freed her from the jail; now she wasn’t sure if she would be able to move without groaning. The wall next to her had exploded right as she had agreed to trust Herrick. It was divine intervention from the gods for trusting him. It had to be.

Two figures, a tall, dark-skinned woman dressed in brown leathers and a man whose long braided hair had blue and green strands weaved into them, had appeared through the new hole in the wall and released her from the chains. She had stood, and that was all she remembered. Maude internally sighed and started to rise from the obscenely soft bed.

“You might want to take it slow. You’re pretty beat up.”

Maude stopped in her tracks, her back to the voice who spoke to her. Low and melodic, the voice spoke again, “I saw you fighting Herrick in that pit last night. You took a battering before you two even faced off, and then you beat each other to a pulp. That’s without finishing the fight. Takea breather before you go back to putting up that wall between you and everyone else.”

Turning to face the voice who spoke so bluntly to her, Maude saw it was the woman from the jail. She looked cleaner now than before, wearing a white tunic that beautifully contrasted with her skin over dark pants and boots that were propped over a chair at the foot of the bed.

One side of her head was shaved and had runes tattooed on it, while the other side had thick, tight braids that met at the crown of her head with the rest of the black hair she had pulled from her face. Its length had been tied back with an old leather band and was hanging over her shoulder. Maude could see gold metal clips on the braids that were tied back with her wavy mane, as well as matching gold hoops that adorned her small and almost tapered ears.

“You don’t have to say anything; I know you're thankful for our help,” the woman chimed in, rising from her chair.

She carried herself like a warrior – she was probably a shieldmaiden then. Maude didn’t reply; she only studied the shieldmaiden and how she moved. She needed to be ready if—

“Don’t antagonize her, Liv. She barely decided to help us and can very well change her mind.” Herrick appeared in the open door. “I can sit with her. Go get something to eat.”

“I don’t need to be watched,” Maude ground out as Liv walked out of the room, looking over her shoulder at Maude.

“Sure you don’t,” Liv replied coolly and walked out.

“Ignore her. She hasn’t eaten today, and much like yourself, Liv isn’t trusting of everyone right away.”

Maude wanted to ignore Herrick. She wanted to scream and riot but couldn’t help but feel grateful that she was out of the Kingdom of Flame’s hands once again.

Crushing that feeling of gratitude into the dirt, Maude instead asked, “Where are we.”

It was more of a demand than a question.

“We are still in Logi, one of the houses in the slums we call the Green House. An earthvitkilived here with his family, but as they were imprisoned for havinggalder, he finds no use for this house anymore. I believe you know him.”

She didn’t know anyone but didn't mention it. Maude waited for him to continue.

“We couldn’t take you out of the city without drawing attention, and we didn’t want you to wake up and slaughter us all for bringing you somewhere outside the city walls, so we chose to remain here another few days. Besides, you need to regain your strength after blowing so much of your control on keeping your emotions in line.”

Maude ground her teeth.

“I brought you some new clothes. Yours are filthy, and your grime is ruining this wonderful bedroom. Once you're washed up, there is food downstairs, and I’ll tell you everything you want to know while we eat.”

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