Or you are seeing her true colors now, the insidious voice whispered into his doubts.And matching her cruelty with justice.
He ignored it as he passed Elven sleeping on rocking hammocks, freed prisoners from Logi speaking softly with each other, two small children chasing each other while their mother watched affectionately; their silver-blonde hair reminded him of Eydis.
Herrick swallowed his regret over her senseless passing— such purity of heart had been wasted on death all while driving a wedge through all of their relationshipwith fate. Did the Norns intend to weave such misery for them all? What was the point of any of it if evil was to prevail in the face of good?
Power is all that matters, Prince.
Shut up, he growled to the voice inhabiting his mind.
Soon, he was on the upper deck, the cold breeze from the mountains banishing the darkness in his mind as they swept through and cleared his mind. He saw that they had left the open water of the ocean and now wound through the narrow fjord between what he suspected were the edges of the Icewall Mountains.
He could feel himself edging closer to losing the tentative grip on himself that he had fought for, but he searched for her anyway. Just when Herrick thought she might have climbed up the mainsail again to get away from everyone, he caught a glimpse of her deep, wine-red hair tossing in the wind. Bryn was just walking away from her sister, her head shaking slightly. When she caught sight of Herrick making his way toward Maude, her hazel eyes narrowed with a malice he had only seen on hiseldrbefore.
Allfather, spare him the wrath of another Helvig daughter, he thought to himself.
She had leaned her forearms on the railing, content to watch the waves crash into the side of the longship. There was a calm silence surrounding her, but Herrick knew better than to think that she had given up. She wasn't the type to go down without a fight— Maude would make him pay for hurting her the way he did. The serenity that surrounded her was off-putting to him, the resolve in it bringing a sense of doom that took root in his gut.
"Maude," Herrick began, but she didn't let him finish.
She walked away from him, shadows swirling around her arms and thickening until she disappeared from his sight. He followed her, the scent of jasmine and cedar guiding him to the bow of the ship. He inched closer to the ball of shadow that concealed her from him, reaching out with one hand until his fingers dipped into the inky, artificial night.
He watched as his fingers disappeared into darkness, mesmerized by the soothing feeling between his fingers. Straightening his spine, Herrick stepped beyond thethreshold until he stood with Maude in the shadows she created, blocking everyone else from view.
The wind that cut through her sphere of night ruffled through her unbound hair, and Herrick had to stop himself from reaching for the wild waves. He tried to find the words that would make this rift between them better, tried to force himself to feel differently than he did. But he couldn't. So instead, they faced each other with arms crossed and hearts guarded.
She stood there, silent as death and as beautiful as the frozen fjord they sailed by. She was baiting him to say something. But Herrick could only watch Maude, and she only watched him. Their silence stretched until a mutual understanding passed between them, challenge flaring in Maude's eyes.
She would not be the first to speak, so neither would Herrick.
Bryn's conversation with Liv had turned to more benign topics when she could no longer ignore how Maude drifted across the deck, a ghost who did not make a single sound as she floated from railing to railing. Silence followed her, drowning the busy sounds of the Elven and men working the sails and completing menial tasks to pass the time until they arrived in Nida.
She exchanged an exasperated look with Liv before they silently agreed to discover what happened in the cabin below deck.
Heading toward her sister, her unease grew into a heavy knot in her stomach. Landing her boots on the deck heavier than she usually would so she announced her arrival to Maude, Bryn leaned her back against the railing that her sister rested her open palms on. They stood together quietly for a handful of moments before Bryn glanced over to where Liv still stood, watching them.
She cleared her throat and asked, "Everything okay? I thought I left you in good handsdown there."
Maude didn't reply, only continued staring down at the water that crashed against the side of the ship. Bryn tried again.
"Gods, what happened?"
Silence.
Bryn glanced at Liv again and gave her a small shrug, her face painted in confusion at her sister's unusual silence. Liv nodded gravely before heading toward the door that would lead to the lower deck.
As soon as the door closed, Maude said, "I'm just going over every decision I've ever made, wondering how I got to this point. I can't decide if the gods are punishing me or if I'm punishing myself."
Her sister placed one hand on her chest, her eyes glazed over as they watched the horizon. As if her chest was caving in. Bryn was familiar with the sensation— she felt like she was walking around with a hole in her chest for weeks.
"What did Kolbeck say to you?" Bryn asked as she gritted her teeth. It was taking everything inside of her not to rush down the stairs and rip the General apart.
But her sister was unnaturally still at her side, not a flicker of emotion across her face even as she responded.
"He didn't say anything; that's the problem. He has pulled himself away from me. He doesn't trust me, and honestly? I can't blame him," Maude said quietly, her fingers digging into the leather vest over her chest. "The one person who hasn't shut me out, who has accepted every rough edge of me, has finally seen what everyone else sees. And he doesn't like it. Just like I knew he wouldn't."
Bryn flinched at her sister's words. She couldn't even argue with her— Brynhadshut her out all those years ago. In her anger and grief, she had abandoned her sister the same way she had felt abandoned the day Maude ran from the palace. Even if she had gotten over herself once she could interfere with her father's attempts to control her sister's free life in the slums of Logi, she hadn't forgiven her for the abandonment.
Maude continued, "I knew this would happen. I spent weeks guarding myself from a heartbreak that never came. I lied and betrayed, but he still followed me. He held strong in his belief in me. Until now."
