"Gunnar is still recovering, and Liv knows Sigurd as well as any of you. With them, we can assemble our armies and sail to Veter to aid the Kingdom of Rivers. But the rest of you need to get there sooner than later to warn them of the fight to come. You will sail with the Elven soldiers that traveled here with us."
No one could argue with the sound logic. Their group hated to split up; it had never ended well for them. But what choice did they have now?
All at once, they began to move. Liv and Bryn shared a long look, neither woman speaking what was so clearly written on their faces. Maude tried to hide her shock when Bryn was the one to break their stand-off, reaching up to place a soft kiss on Liv's cheek before putting her forehead against Liv's.
Be brave, Brynna, she had told her sister. It looks like she was finally listening.
Hakon and Dahlia excused themselves to pack up their belongings while Aeric bartered with Hildr for one of her longships. Finally, Herrick met her stare again. The worry on his face echoed in hers.
"We'll get there in time, beast."
"We need to," he sighed before pulling back. "I'll grab your things while you say goodbye to your father."
When Maude turned to find Aeric, he was already waiting for her. He pulled her into a hug before she could protest. At first, she didn't know what to do. Then, like aswitch had gone off in her brain, she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him back.
"I'll see you soon,minn måne. We will have that time to get to know each other more. In the meantime, don't forget how loved you are already," her father whispered as he placed a kiss on the top of her head. She tried to swallow but found her throat too thick to do so. "Til Valhalla, Maude."
He pulled back just enough for her to look up and meet his stare
"Til Valhalla… Father," Maude said slowly, the words feeling surprisingly comfortable as she uttered them into the world.
Aeric gave her a broad smile, his eyes watering slightly before he turned away and left.
Alone with just the Soothsayer, Maude lingered in the room, though she didn't know why. Just as she was about to follow Herrick out of the small cabin, a small but strong hand grabbed her elbow and forced her to turn.
Standing behind her, with both of Hela's weapons wrapped in fur, was Hildr. She extended the bundle of weapons to Maude, the otherwordly presence of the two blades together palpable in the small space between them. Uneasy, she reached for the blades. As soon as her hands wrapped around the bundle, Hildr pulled her close enough that whatever she would say would go unheard by the others.
"Your fate has been written, the interference already showing itself. War will follow you. Justice will always find you. Take this weapon, Daughter of Chaos, and know that youwillfind light within the shadows when it is time."
42
Maude remembered the last time they traveled to Veter: she had felt as if she was breathing water because of the humidity in the Lamenting Woods. An invisible barrier had been crossed between the dry desert air and the humid jungle, coating her skin and her lungs with moisture.
Being on a longship when they crossed that territory line felt no different this time, except the air was saltier than before. The humidity was starting to make her hair more unruly as the ocean air settled into it, thickening the already hefty waves. A frustrated shriek escaped her lips as she tried to wrangle the denser locks of hair into a tight braid. It wasn't until Bryn came to help her, smothering a grin, that she was finally able to wrestle her hair into a braid that her sister pinned behind her head.
They had sailed from Hlidestad the night before and had already made it to the eastern seas that border Veter. Hakon explained that there was a way for them to sneak into the palace in time to warn their parents— they only needed to sneak across a forgotten northern bridge. The pathway had slipped into history over the years as fewer and fewer people ventured to the north. Maude was just relieved to see the Heir of Rivers with a purpose for once— he had not touched a drink since Midsommar's Eve. Instead, he had thrown himself into helping Herrick sail to their home in time to save it.
She knew that Herrick was grateful that his brother had been more focused than before. Bryn seemed more distracted the further she got from Liv, her eyes always glancing back over her shoulder like she hoped someone would come up behind her. That first night, when they sailed into the early morning hours, Maude had takena break from reading her mother's journals to ask what had been going on between the two women.
"Nothing," Bryn started to mumble, but when she shot her sister a I'm Not Stupid look, she sighed and relented. "You know I still haven't recovered from losing Revna. Sometimes it feels like I never will."
Maude nodded slowly but remained quiet, allowing her sister to choose how much she wanted to reveal.
"I found a letter from Revna in my chambers the day we rescued Herrick," her sister confessed. "I still haven't read it. On our first night in Hilgafell, Liv told me that if I wasn't ready to say goodbye, then it wasn't time. Except, I do feel as though it is time."
"Did you tell Liv that?" Maude asked as they rocked back and forth on the choppy ocean. Bryn was so lost in her story that she didn't even notice her seasickness.
"We were already in a hurry to leave for Veter by the time I realized it, so I couldn't," she whispered. "I was too much of a coward to tell her. The truth is that while I still mourn Revna, and probably always will, I am furious that she died the way she did. All Revna tried to do was help people. She helped me, and I couldn't protect her."
Maude stiffened. "What happened to her was not your fault, Brynna."
"Ulf killed her because of who she was to me! How is that not my fault?"
"Because Ulf was as sadistic as our father could be," Maude said quickly. "It's not your fault what happened to her, and I think if you read her letter, you would know that."
When her sister didn't respond, Maude looked over and saw a single tear escape the corner of her eye and drop onto the hardwood beneath them. Realization dawned on her.
"But you know that already. You just want to hold on to this guilt so you can't move on and be happy with Liv," she bit out.
