5. Maddy
Chapter 5
Maddy
T he mood in the feasting hall is tense, a strange buzz in the air as I enter. All the Valkyrie, including Kain, are in the hall, although the fire-fae has a large space around him that no one dares enter. His fuck off aura is clearly intact this morning.
Why don't I feel like I should avoid him, like everyone else? The second my eyes land on him, I want to go to him.
I force my eyes and feet on, looking around at the rooks and doing a fast mental roll call. I have to swallow when I confirm that Merit is missing. But so are Inga, Orgid, and their new buddies who attacked me yesterday. Not one of them is in the hall yet.
It looks like everybody else is, though, and a lot of them are throwing furtive glances my way. I sit with Eldith when I've got myself a bowl of oats.
"Well," she says firmly.
I frown. "Well what?" I ask.
"Well, this should be good."
"Good? That seems a little insensitive, doesn't it? Given that we just lost Merit?"
She stares at me without blinking. "Merit's remembrance service was last night."
"Oh, I missed it." It must have been when I was in the vault with Kain. I visited the Temple afterward and there was nobody there then.
Eldith nods. "Yeah, you and Inga and Orgid's crowd all missed it. Nobody could find you, but Harald found the others and asked them where you'd all been—and why most of them were injured."
I swallow. Where is she going with this? "And?" I ask hesitantly.
"And Ulrika cracked like an egg. She told him, in front of most of the other rooks, that they organized an ambush on you."
I swallow again, but the hard knot is still in my throat.
Are they going to punish Kain and me for hurting them? That wouldn't be fair. Frustration wells within me. I don't want any of this attention.
"I never asked for any of this," I say quietly.
Eldith nods. "I know. And they received their punishment last night."
"Received their punishment?" I repeat, snapping my eyes to hers. Being thrashed by Kain and Thyrvi wasn't enough?
"For cowardice."
A ripple of satisfaction rolls through me. "Huh."
"I thought you would look like you'd been in a fight too," Eldith says, peering at me, eyes roving over my body.
"One of Inga's arrows came alarmingly close, but"—I catch myself before saying Thyrvi's name—"my bear showed up, and then nobody got near me."
"Well, the others didn't do so well. It looks like Orgid's leg is broken."
My eyebrows rise. "Erik healed him, right?"
A grim smile takes Eldith's lips. "Nope. Said he deserved it. He didn't heal any of them."
This time my satisfaction feels smug, and I'm not proud of it. But Orgid does deserves the pain. I know he does.
They would have seen me in as much pain as I could take, or even dead. They want to humiliate me as well as hurt me. Why should Erik heal his wounds? He brought them upon himself. He deserves to live with them.
"How were they punished?" I ask.
"They had to stand all night tied to posts in the Battleyard."
I tilt my head. I've seen Kain punished like that before, so it's clearly the Valkyrie way. Before I can ask her anything else, Erik stands up with Harald, and Harald pounds on his breastplate. Everybody falls silent and looks at him.
"Rooks, most of you are aware that a small group of cowardly fae organized an ambush on another rook. Featherblade is a training hall where we learn to be the best versions of ourselves, and all of the ways we can work as a team to overcome the gods' enemies. Killing one another is not only abhorrent, but killing with trickery and ambush is cowardice, and we do not stand for cowardice in Yggdrasil ."
There are some cheers and banging of feet in response, and I can feel almost every eye in the room flickering on and off me as he speaks. My face heats.
I never asked for this. The words go round and round in my head.
"The culprits' physical punishment is complete, and they will rejoin training today, but first they must have a reminder of how appalling cowardice is," Brynhild says. "Everyone to the Battleyard. Now."
There's a scramble as people shovel the rest of their food into their mouths, myself included, and then awkward silence amongst the group as we all traipse after the Valkyrie to the Battleyard.
Kain falls into step beside me, and Eldith melts away. His close proximity immediately causes a flashback to the image I saw of him plunging the dagger into Freydis' chest, and my breathing shortens.
"Princess," he growls.
"I haven't looked for any ship names yet," I say quickly.
He gives me a long sideways look, then, without a word, stalks away.
We reach the Battleyard, and I see all the rooks who jumped me in the glade tied to their posts. They look tired. Orgid has white gauze wrapped around his leg and appears to be struggling to take his weight on it, his body sagging down the post, his other leg bent awkwardly. All of them have black eyes and bruises and cuts across their shoulders and exposed skin, except Inga.
An instinctive twinge of sympathy tries to take me, but defiance forces it out.
They didn't have to attack me. That arrow was meant to kill. They deserve this. The whole of Featherblade can see that this punishment is justified.
Brynhild steps up, and all of them lift their heads. The shame is clear on Ulrika's face. She isn't looking anyone in the eye, and her pale skin is flushed red.
All I see on Inga's face, though, is fury. Unhindered hatred.
"If any of you perform any more acts of cowardice, you will be expelled from Featherblade. And this is so that you do not forget that this is not the Valkyrie way," Brynhild says loudly and clearly. She lifts her staff, and five shimmering runes appear in the air. It's the ancient rune for "coward."
She claps her hands, and the runes fly toward each of them, searing themselves into the top of their arms. Everybody flinches, but nobody cries out. The runes glow bright blue for a moment and then settle as small, dark marks, each an inch high.
Brynhild starts to speak again, but something happens around Inga. She is staring down at her shoulder, at the mark that denotes her a coward, and flames are licking around the base of the post that she's tied to.
Memories of Branka losing control fill my mind—and apparently the mind of every other rook—as we all inch away. Kain's beside me again, somehow, as I move slowly back.
A collective gasp freezes my steps.
A bear has flashed into existence beside Inga.
As tall as Thyrvi, with charcoal-colored fur, and flames licking around its entire body, it gives a terrifying snarl. Inga's eyes are alight with fire and magic, and she stares out at the crowd, her gaze finding mine.
Brynhild steps forward. "Enough!" she shouts. Inga looks at her, then at the bear, which gives another roar and then vanishes. "You have found your val-tivar ," Brynhild says tightly. "Under times of strife, this can often happen. You and Madivia will move into the Bear Wing with Harald immediately."
"What?" The exclamation leaves my lips at the same time as Inga's.
" Immediately! " Brynhild snaps. Harald, standing nearby, has a look of mild confusion on his face, as if he too is trying to imagine how this could possibly work. "Now, enough of this."
Erik moves to the posts to untie everybody. Inga's post is still smoking, the wood charred where her bear manifested. Harald walks over to me, his expression grave, and Kain melts away. "After training today, come to the Bear Wing," Harald says.
"I can't see the Bear Wing," I answer tightly, watching Inga from the corner of my eye. She's rubbing her wrists where the ropes were, the coward's rune stark against her skin.
He glances over at Inga and then back at me. "You two are potentially the most powerful fae here right now, and whether or not you can see the Bear Wing yet, there are things you need to know about controlling a bear. I know you dislike each other, but this is the way it is."
The finality in his voice leaves no room for argument. I look at Inga again to find her already staring at me, her gaze promising that sharing living space will be as horrific as I'm imagining. Her bear might be gone, but I can still feel heat radiating from her in waves.
As the crowd disperses, I notice Kain watching the scene with an unreadable expression. He of all people must understand the volatility of this situation—fire-fae and ice-fae and two fierce creatures bubbling with rage and power, all under one roof. His eyes meet mine for a moment, and I see something there that might be concern.