"Now that I have your attention," she said, her tone growing serious. "We all know you are suffering, Hakon. Eydis is gone, Herrick is captured, and Gunnar is dying."
As her list continued, the hatred in Hakon's eyes grew. Good, if he was going to feel anything, at least the hate could be directed toward her.
"There was nothing we could do for Eydis. She went into those caverns, knowing the risk. You dishonor her sacrifice by throwing your life and your friends away in your grief. And I know, just as well as you, that she would kick your ass all the way to Valhalla if you gave up now."
Even as she spoke the words, Maude tried to ignore her own raging shame. If she had only gotten to her in time, if her overwhelming emotions wouldn't have failed her…
Liv was silent behind them as she held Hakon by his ankles, forcing him to listen to her. Maude only kept her eyes on the Heir of Rivers.
"We are going to free Herrick," Maude continued, her voice cracking on his name. "I am not going to allow him to stayat the mercy of my father."
For a moment, she ignored the wrongness in that statement, but he was the only father she had ever known.
"But Gunnar is here— he isalive— and you have done nothing but drink yourself into oblivion for weeks," Maude said, her voice hardening again. "It ends now. You don't have to like me, Hakon, but I am not giving up on Herrick or Gunnar right now. We lost, but that doesn't mean we stop fighting."
Silence rang out around them as her words drifted into the Void, the meaning behind them soaking into her fate as she spoke. She could feel the gods listening now, the damned Norns weaving as her thoughts raced.
"Damn it," she whispered. There was no way around it anymore.
Maude released her friend, even if he wouldn't call himself that, cushioning his short fall with her airgalderbefore he could hurt himself. Sinking into a chair, she put her head in her hands, her fingers grasping at the roots of her braided, ruby hair. The sharp pain of her scalp centered her as the shuffling of feet around her scraped against the thundering in her ears. Another cushion sank under someone's weight, followed by Liv's light footsteps coming closer to her.
"Are you sure about this?" Liv asked quietly.
She groaned and lifted her head to meet Liv's gray eyes. "I'm not going to stop fighting for Herrick. I'm not going to stop fighting for our freedom— mine and Ahland's. You're right: Helvig's tyranny has to end and we're the only ones who can stop it. And, gods, do I hate that."
A rough chuckle came from Hakon. Maude and Liv looked at him, surprised he was able to show any other emotion.
"You're also right— about Eydis and my brothers. She would be very angry with me," Hakon said, his hand running through his caramel hair as his face shuttered again from the grief that ravaged him.
Brothers. Yes, they werebothhis brothers.
"We can't let Helvig win," Maude said after a quiet moment, her voice low. "We can't stop fighting."
"I'm relieved to hear you say that," the Shadow King said as he entered the suite, Bryn close behind.
His silver eyes scanned the room, the destruction that Maude and Hakon had caused, before landing on her. Amusement swam in his stare before turning serious, his hand tightening around a slip of paper. Bryn looked as if she had just woken up, her eyes still heavy with sleep as she also took in the room. Her sister snorted and rolled her eyes as she put together the scene before her.
"There is news?" Liv asked, going to Aeric's side.
"Yes," he responded, his voice heavy.
Hakon and Maude exchanged weary glances, worry quickly replacing fear in his piercing blue eyes.
"I've received a missive from one of my spies, and it seems Helvig has declared himself the High King of Ahland," Aeric said, his eyes going to Maude again."As a show of strength and as a sacrifice to the gods—"
The Elven King hesitated. He didn't need to finish the sentence— she already knew what her father would do.
"He's going to execute Herrick in front of the entire city," Maude finished.
The only sounds that drifted through the open windows were of children laughing and Elven talking to each other, filling the silence that radiated between everyone in the room she and Hakon had destroyed only moments earlier. The joy that echoed around them was so at odds with the tense stillness of the room littered with broken furniture that Maude almost laughed before her worry smothered the sensation.
Remaining still for only a moment longer, she let the information settle before she started moving, gathering up her weapons before pivoting for the door.
"When?" was all she asked as she breezed past Aeric into the hall.
"On the new moon," he replied, following her.
She stumbled before righting herself again. The new moon was only days away, and it would take at least two days to ride from the Icewall Mountains to the northern gates of Logi. A haphazard plan started to form in her mind, but Maude could only focus on Herrick. If she didn't make it to him before—
