Brynna,
By the time you read this, I will already have joined the gods in Valhalla. I suspect your sister will have to force you even to read this letter to begin with.
You always were incredibly stubborn.
I'm not going to say the usual things like "I want you to be happy" and "Don't grieve me forever" because I know you already know this.
It wasn't your fault. I made a choice—maybe it was the wrong one— but it was mine to make. It was my time, Bryn, and Iwasn't going to drag you to your death out of selfishness.
So instead, I'll say that it's okay to miss me, but don't let that stop you from loving again. There is someone out there whose fate is meant to entwine with yours— you will know when you meet her. You were the greatest part of my story, but I was only a chapter in yours. Know that leaving you that day was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but it was worth every moment if it meant you would be free of your father. The people of Logi need you more than I do. The people of Ahland need you more than I do.
Ravens mate for life, but you have never been a raven, my love. You are fire and wind and power. You are the pulse that keeps Logi's citizens alive, even if they don't know it yet.
I love you, Brynna Helvig. I'll be saving you a seat in Odin's hall because I know we will meet again one day.
Your raven.
Tears streamed down Bryn's face in a torrential pour. From the first line, she had welled up at the sight of Revna's familiar handwriting.
For weeks, Bryn had been feeling her raven around her: in the breeze that smelled of juniper, in the sunshine that warmed her skin, in the ravens that flew in the forests of Hilgafell. Revna was everywhere. Until shewasn't.
Bryn stopped feeling her presence, stopped feeling that sense of calm that Revna seemed to radiate. Her raven had found peace and moved on, letting go of her mortal life so she could join Odin in his gilded halls. That was when she knew it was time to say goodbye.
So, as Bryn finished the letter, she carved out a piece of her heart that would always belong to Revna before burning her lover's last words and floating the ashes into the late morning sky on a swift breeze. She thought she would be more heartbroken than she already was, but the action left her with a sense of profound peace.
Maude told her to be brave when it came to the Elven shieldmaiden. But Liv scared the Hel out of her— the idea of falling for someone else just to lose them again terrified her. Saying goodbye to her, even knowing she would be sailing for Veter with the rest of Aeric's soldiers, was harder than she expected.
Bryn didn't know what to make of that, but she knew with absolute certainty that when she saw Liv again, she would make her feelings clear.
Maude rolled her neck a few times to loosen the muscles there.
"Again, but this time, try to slow your heart rate until it matches mine. When you get in touch with another's rhythm, it's easier to dive into your water until you detect what they need," Dahlia explained quickly, her face stern as she instructed her on how to tap into healinggalder.
If she was even able to do it. Not everyone had the ability, or so the Elven healer had explained.
They were standing in the lower deck, hammocks swaying to either side of them as they made their way to Veter. She had left Bryn in the sunshine to read Revna's letter and opted not to broadcast her fantastic failures to everyone aboard the longship. This was her fifth lesson with Dahlia since leaving Nida, and she had made zero progress.
Closing her eyes, Maude placed her hand on the center of Dahlia's chest and felt her heartbeat. Seconds passed as she tried to align her rate with Dahlia's. It was one of the harder things she's ever had to do— so much of her skill withgalderhad been instinctive.
"This isn't going to work," Maude muttered under her breath.
"It will, just give it time," the healer instructed.
Maude sighed, annoyed at her lack of skill so far. Falling into a meditative state had never been easy for her; she always either fell asleep or grew bored and gave up. But she had asked for these lessons, had found the value in being able to heal someone on short notice. So she kept trying.
The Kolbeck brothers were at the helm of the ship, pouring over navigational charts of the waters surrounding Veter. They wanted to beach the ship a little further north of the palace and enter through the Lamenting Woods on foot. They suspected that Helvig wouldn't try to take the Kingdom of Rivers without his navy guarding the ocean border of their capital city.
Maude had listened to all of five minutes before she left them to it.
As her mind drifted to Herrick, she could feel hergaldersurge in her soul. The different colored threads pulsed in her mind's eye, the dark blue and purple strands for water just within her reach.
"That's it," Dahlia said, her voice sounding far away. "I can feel our hearts matching rhythm; now grab onto yourgalderand let it pull you into its flow."
She tried to surrender to her water, tried to make herself let go. The thread was slippery, just out of her reach, like she was trying to grasp at a steady stream of water trickling in front of her. Just when she was about to give up, she felt a cool touch trace up her spine until two thumbs started to massage the tension out of her neck.
"You're doing so well,minn eldr," Herrick cooed softly in her ear. "Let the current pull you in. The best way to get swept into the tide of water in your blood is to let go of control."
Behind closed eyes, Maude imagined she was floating on the rough shores of Logi's coast. The sun was warm on her skin, its embrace radiating over her as the cool waters held her up, the ebbing of the current beneath her gentle as it pulledher deeper into the dark waters. The cool trickle of her watergaldersnuck up on her. In slow pushes, the waves of her power broke over the beach of her conscious mind until it begged to be used. She grasped onto that sensation, sinking into the command as it rushed to surround her.
