"Is that an apology,minn eldr?"
Maude's intense relief that he still used his nickname for her gave her the confidence to tease him, knowing he would understand she yearned for their push and pull to return.
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Did I say I was sorry?"
He smirked at her, but the slight tilt of his lips disappeared quickly. Worried she may have said the wrong thing, Maude opened her mouth to speak when Herrick beat her to it.
"There is something you should know," he started slowly. "Liv just confessed that she and all the Elven have been hiding some pretty important information from us."
His voice was bitter as he spoke, but not toward her, she realized. Rather, he was upset about whatever had been revealed. She held her breath as he kept speaking.
"Long story short, it turns out that the Helvig and Kolbeck families had been elected into power before the Elemental War and when it was over, they took their opportunity to solidify their reign permanently. The treaty was written by them and for all intents and purposes, has been void since its creation."
Maude absorbed the information as Herrick kept speaking, explaining howvitkiwere purged from both kingdom's in one fell swoop. Her stomach turned, but rather than feeling her soul fill up with fury, she felt it empty. She had no more fury to give, it seemed. The news was now mixed up with all the other horrendous things that had happened these last few weeks until it all blended together into a shit storm she wasn't sure they would survive anymore.
Aeric knew this history and didn't tell her. It's not like she was owed any explanation, but how could they have a relationship if something this colossal was being hidden from them.
"How glad are you to discover you're the Heir of Shadows and not an Heir of Lies and Deceit?"
She cringed slightly, still unsure of the title despite her weakening barriers against the truth that was so clearly obvious. She swallowed her paralyzed outrage about their continents history so she could discuss the biggest revelation to date— the reason she had been hiding from him.
The title of "Heir" was never something that had settled right with her, both in Logi and now in Nida. She skimmed the surface of the soft sand she sat on with her hand before grabbing a handful and allowing it to trickle from her palm. Maude thought of what she should say, but could only summon the truth.
"I don't really know if I've even accepted that yet," she whispered. "I can sense the truth in the Shadow King's words, can see how he looks at me, but I've spent my entire life harboring this hatred for who I thought was my father. I grew up with Helvig and was raised in his image. How can I just look the other way and welcome this new father who I had no idea even existed until a few weeks ago? Especially after discovering he hid something so pivotal to our continents history that has been wiped away?"
Maude had not meant to say so much, but once the words were out, she could not stop.
"I don't know how to do this, how to be this person who has a father who accepts her and loves her," she continued, the words falling from her mouth like rain in a monsoon. "I look at him and feel that it's right in my heart, but my mind rejects the idea that my entire life was a lie. My mother lied to me and let me grow up with a monster. I could just scream about it all until there is nothing left in this world but me and my rage."
All the thoughts Maude had about this life-altering news burst through her barriers when she spoke with Herrick about it as if she was unable to hide what she felt from him. As soon as her confession was out, Maude realized how hiding the truth of her feelings from everyone had been straining her so much.
Rather than answer her, the soft swishing of sand shifting next to her sounded right before Herrick kneeled in front of her. His muscles rippled with the movement as his calloused fingers grasped her chin, forcing her to look up.
The waving blanket of light in the sky above them, casting beams of green and purple, formed a dark halo that flared around Herrick's shrouded form. The gold in his eyes was luminous, even in the shadows of night.
"It probably doesn't feel like it," he started quietly. "But this is a second chance for you. You don't have to accept it right away, but don't turn your back on it. Rage against the hand the gods dealt you; be angry that so many lied to you for so long, but don't throw this chance away."
"I don't know how to do this," she said again, ignoring the feeling of his fingers on her skin after what felt like an eternity without his touch.
"You'll learn," he said softly before letting her chin go.
The absence of his skin left a gaping hole where she thought her heart should be.
"Why are you being so kind now?" Maude asked as Herrick leaned back on his heels before settling next to her again and stretching out to lay on his back.
"I've always been kind," Herrick said, a smirk lifting his lips. "You have always been the one to reject that kindness, unable to let anyone close enough to prove it."
Well then. It seemed that he was done circling the issue. Maude let the anger in her blood boil to the surface, the sands shifting beneath the intensity of her emotion.
"Only because the world taught me otherwise," she shot back, twisting to face him and crouching like she would pounce on him if provoked.
"Bullshit, you run from anything and anyone who reminds you that you are alive," Herrick snapped, his eyes flaring with his annoyance as he sat up to face her again. "You have had a lot of horrific things happen in your life, Maude, but running isn't always the answer. Sometimes, you have to face what's coming, even if it's with a sword in your hand and the Valkyries at your shoulders, ready to bring you to Valhalla. But you ran from your title, you ran from your fate, and you ran fromme."
Maude shot to her feet, the sand blowing out in a blast that created a crater they now stood in, the high walls of the sands blocking them from any prying eyes. The night air chilled her skin now, her fury heating her flesh beyond the temperature of the small beach enough that she only felt her rage. Herrick kept his eyes fixed on Maude's as he slowly stood, taking in the darkness that was beginning to creep into her vision.
Would they ever be able to have a conversation without fighting? Were they doomed to always be at odds like this?
"Are you calling me a coward, beast? Because a warrior says what he means, no veiled threats or insults," she said quietly, her voice dark in the growing heat of the new pit they stood in so similar to the one in Logi when their journey began.
