Slender fingers wrapped a single copper curl around the radiant skin belonging to the female who had befriended her in the last few weeks. Something in Bryn's belly tightened as Liv pulled the delicate lock tight before releasing it and watching it bounce back into form.
"Beautiful," Liv whispered, her citrus breath skating across Bryn's heated cheeks.
"I've always found it unruly," she said as she shook off whatever had surged through her at the Elven's mesmerized touch.
"You should leave it down more," Liv offered, scooting back to lean against the mainsail, her booted foot propped up in front of her— the picture of ease.
"It gets in the way," Bryn muttered, her hands already raking through the unruly twists of her hair to control them.
"I can help with that," Liv said, jumping to her feet and standing behind Bryn before she had a chance to protest.
Those long fingers began combing over Bryn's scalp, short nails scraping gently against her skin. Liv's skilled hands expertly began twisting and plaiting Bryn's hair into three neat braids that ran from her hairline to the crown of her head. Once Liv positioned them in a way that she was satisfied with, she removed a few silver clips from her braids and fastened them to Bryn's hair, keeping the braids in place. After wrapping a long strand of hair from the back of Bryn's head around the three braids, Liv combed out the rest of her wild curlsbehind her so they hung loosely.
When Liv released her heavy hair to rest on its own at the crown of her skull, Bryn expected the weight of her tresses that hung to mid back to pull on her scalp, but the tension never came. Liv had managed to off-weight her hair in a way that wouldn't force her head to ache with the pressure to keep her hair managed.
"Gods above, I can't feel the weight anymore," Bryn marveled, holding her axe in front of her so she could try to catch her reflection on the surface. Liv gave a small laugh at her reaction.
"Not many know how to style textured hair appropriately," she responded, taking up her spot in front of Bryn again and flicking her own thick, black braids over her shoulder. "I've had years of practice."
Bryn beamed at Liv; she could definitely fight with her hair styled this way. Quickly, embarrassment flooded her. How long had it been since someone other than her mother had braided her hair? Her mother had been an expert at it but had never been given the opportunity to show Bryn how to style her hair before she had died.She had been too young to be able to wrangle her thick hair with her small hands.
The clouds parted the moment the thought entered her mind like the gods were trying to erase the heaviness of the memory to replace it with a new, brighter one. Liv smiled widely at her from her spot across from her while Maude gave a short whistled approval.
She looked up at the blue sky just as a black raven flew over her, its feathers a deep onyx and shining. A familiar feeling settled deep in Bryn's chest just as a breeze kicked up and wrapped itself around her fresh braids, the scent of juniper heavy.
Bryn closed her eyes as she identified the feeling creeping up on her.
Safety. Revna.
Rather than allow her grief to overwhelm her, Bryn opted to find peace as she rocked with the waves on the open sea while she and Liv talked and laughed, a tentative friendship that had been blooming suddenly flaring with the bright sunlight above them. The agony would always be there, but maybe the rawness of her loss would smooth with time.
Maude watched as the most delicate shade of pink bloomed on her sister's cheeks while Liv braided her hair, her shock still evident on her face. Turning away to give them some privacy, Maude realized that she hadn't really known her sister since she had grown into adulthood. Something as simple as Bryn's favorite color evaded her. Did she have interests? Did she have friends that had been left behind in Logi?
Fuzzy memories from their early childhood grew fainter each year, but their residual affection for each other remained from those times. They had been close, like one mind— one soul. Bryn had been her dearest friend and fiercest admirer. Somewhere along the line, Maude had withdrawn herself, pulling away from those she loved until she was desperately lonely. She had closed the door on those she loved and left them with no way back in. Nothing but freedom would have pulled her out of the hole she had dug for herself.
Maude remembered wanting to bring Brynna with her and had hoped that her sister would still have the habit of tending to their mother's gardens in the evenings. But when the garden was empty except for Flame Soldiers, who were trying to capture her, she fled alone.
The words to bridge their relationship burned on the tip of Maude's tongue as she brought her focus back to her sister.
Forgive me for being so selfish. I want to know you and be as we once were. I miss you every day.
But the courage to speak those words evaporated as Bryn let out a loud laugh at something Liv was saying, the sound hearty and deep like she felt joy in her very soul. She observed the pair and how easily their friendship had developed during her stasis. Maude was glad that even if Bryn didn't want to be as close as they had once been, she had someone to lighten her troubles.
Forcing her attention to return to the iron arrows in her hands, Maude tried to plan Herrick's rescue.
The sun arced through the blue sky as the hours passed. Maude took no notice of those around her, their movements and actions taking a backseat to the plan she wasfocusing on. Eventually, she laid down her arrows and stretched out on the bench beneath her.
The longship was the largest vessel she had ever been aboard: it had a large deck that could fit three adults laying head to toe across with three mainsails that towered over them. The sides of the ship had holes for the oars to settle in when they needed them but also allowed for them to be withdrawn when sailing on the rough ocean. The lower deck was the same length and width as the top deck, just hollowed out for a rough, shared sleeping quarter.
The bench she currently occupied lay across the narrowest width at the bow and was long enough to allow Maude to fully stretch her tall form as she stared into the darkening sky.
It had taken her longer than it should've to realize that at her head, Hakon had also stretched out on his back, his booted feet propped up on the side of the boat. The comfortable silence that could only extend between friends hovered around them— remnants of the friendship they had started to build before Dagsbrun. Only the sound of the rushing water and wind in the sails tickled Maude's ears until Hakon's deep voice vibrated the wood beneath her.
"So what did you come up with?" he asked, his tone deceptively neutral.
"Absolutely nothing," Maude huffed, closing her eyes.
For a moment, there was only the rocking of the ship.
