Groaning, Liv pulled herself off the couch and left Hakon's chambers, choosing to deal with the Prince tomorrow. She made her way back toward Maude's room to check in with Bryn. The bright-haired woman never left her sister's side, always close enough to hear any change in Maude's breathing.It was something Liv admired the most about her: the unyielding loyalty to her sister even after spending a decade apartfrom each other. That type of love was not something that could ever be faked or recreated.
As Liv turned the corner, she heard the door gently shut. Aeric was turning down the hall when she caught up to him.
"Aeric, how is she?" Liv asked, breathless.
In the time they had been staying at the Midnight Palace, Aeric hadn't once visited his daughter.
"Still in that stasis," he sighed, removing the moonstone crown from his brow so he could run his hand through his dark hair.
Liv hadn't had the chance to speak with Aeric about finding his daughter in his kingdom, let alone how he was dealing with it. Unsure of when would be the right time to bring it up, she had opted to remain silent until her guardian spoke up. They continued their slow pace through the palace until they reached the open courtyard in the center of the building. Vines climbed up the pillars surrounding the courtyard, the dark green vibrant in the moonlight. The air was heavy with gardenia and jasmine, the spicy florals warming Liv's heart in a way that only returning home can evoke.
In the center of the courtyard, carved into the pale stone, was the sigil for the Shadow Elven. The long slopes and harsh corners of the symbol had always fascinated Liv as a child. When she was still new to the kingdom, she had spent many hours tracing the sigil until it burned into the back of her eyes when she closed them. Still reeling from the loss of her family, Liv hadn't spoken to anyone except the seer who helped her escape and Aeric, but she had felt a settled sense of rightness when she arrived in Nida. It was as if the Norns were telling her that she was on the right path for her fate.
It was here that Aeric stopped his quiet trek and looked up toward the quarter moon shining brightly in the dark sky. Ribbons of green and yellow lit up the sky, twisting and billowing on a silent wind.
"She looks just like her mother," Aeric sighed. "When we found her at the city gates, for one moment, I thought—"
His voice broke. Liv remained silent as her guardian for so many years worked through the grief that plagued him when he discovered his great love had died. She had never seen him so distraught before that day, even if she hadn't known at the time that Sylvi had been hishjartpar— he had only spoken of her in terms of their connection.
Though it had been decades since another connection like this had been made, the concept of was one everyone in Ahland knew about: two or three souls so inexplicably tied together that their fates and their hearts would always find each other. They were Norn-chosen to be together, their very beings designed to compliment each other in a way that would make them perfect for each other in every way.
Though the idea ofhjartparanhad grown into love stories passed on from parent to youngling, the Elven still knew the connection was real. In their culture, as Aeric'shjartpar, Sylvi would have been more than a Queen to them all. She would have been his equal in every way, his greatest strength and weakness.
And when she died, Aeric had felt it as keenly as if the arrow had pierced his own flesh.
"I never thought I would meet Maude," he continued softly, his anguish never really leaving his words. "When Sylvi left Nida for the last time, she left a letter for me to tell me she was with child. How she knew so early, I'll never know, but I remember resigning myself to the fact that I would never meet my child."
Aeric lowered his head and looked at Liv, his silver eyes gleaming in the deep night.
"And now she is here. And it terrifies me," he admitted. "I feel as if the fates are punishing me for leaving her to the Kingdom of Flame after Sylvi was killed."
"Or the gods brought her here for a good reason that has yet to show itself," Liv offered, resting her hand on Aeric's shoulder. "I watched her die, Aeric. I watched as a blade sank into her chest. The Valkyries brought her here to you. Take the time that has been gifted to you, I believe we are only just starting to see the Allfather's plan for Maude."
Aeric slowly nodded as he looked at Liv, the fatherly affection shining there as it had so often when she was a youngling. But quickly, anxiety overtook him as he guided them back inside.
"That's what I'm worried about," he finally said as they disappeared down the shadowed hall.
Maude was flying.
The wind rushed around her limp form as heat burned in her gaping chest. She couldn't open her eyes, but the weightless feeling enveloping her was unnerving. Dying shouldn't be this painful, she thought as the temperature plummeted around her. The dry air of the desert disappeared, and the memory of Bryn and Herrick holding her faded with it. Bryn was alive; that's what mattered, even if her heart cracked at the sight of Herrick's horrified face as he tried to hold the wound in her chest closed.
Lulled by the sound of beating wings and crushing water, Maude slipped away into oblivion as her weightlessness ceased and her body settled on ice.
Now, she was sinking. Feather-soft cushions enveloped her, and the heat from her skin radiated through the blankets until she thought she was burning. No matter what she did, Maude couldn't move. She was trapped within her skin. Using the only senses available to her, she tried to deduce where she was.
Exhaustion still pulled at her, but she was able to focus on the air that scented of night-blooming flowers— jasmine, moonflowers, gardenias. The space she was in was otherwise silent, the sound of a bustling city drifting in through what she could only assume was an open window. Footsteps sounded from far away, sharp and frequent like a few people were coming her way. Panic started to rise in Maude. Her father must have found a way to revive her and trap her within herself. She was a prisoner of Helvig.
How had everything gone so horribly wrong?
The doors opened, and Maude was pelted with multiple scents, all familiar but one. First, the clean rushing water of a raging river drifted to her. Then bright, sparkling citrus followed. Finally, the scent of desert lavender came close to her.Brynna.
Her sister grabbed her hand, the salt from her tears fragrant as they fell onto Maude's skin. Unable to focus on anything other than the overwhelming relief that radiated from her baby sister, Maude finally realized that a man's voice she did not recognize was silencing her friends.
"You can't see her runes from her fate telling, can you?" His melodic voice fit into Maude's mind like a missing puzzle piece.
Soon, chanting started in a language she did not recognize, making something inside of her sit up. Gods above, where the Hel was she?
Knives raked across her chest, her fatemark flaring with heat so intense Maude slipped into oblivion once more.
