As if one of the monks had used a branding iron on him. She wanted to ask about it, but knew that the memory of that wound would only give him pain.
He nipped at her throat with his teeth and pulled back with a groan. “Would that my body belonged to me this night.” He let out a wistful sigh. “Methinks I should see that horse gelded for his actions.”
She laughed at his words. “There’s always the morrow, Valteri. Take heart. I have no plans to leave.”
And now, neither did he.
Yet even so, she had a bad feeling that something evil was coming for both of them.
CHAPTER13
As days went by, Ariel marveled at the quick recovery Valteri made.
And since the arrival of Thorn and Shadow, Belial had been strangely silent and absent. Pleading illness, he’d seldom come near her. Something that made her ecstatic.
For that alone, she worshiped her two new brothers.
Yet the two of them kept a respectful distance from her that she didn’t quite understand.
Now, she sat outside in the small garden, trying to mend a tear in one of Valteri’s tunics.
How did the others make this look so easy?
Her mind told her that she’d done this a million times, and yet she couldn’t get any of the stitches right.
Not to mention, she’d much prefer being with her husband and listening to his rich, deep voice than the rustling leaves that surrounded her.
But he was a creature forever in motion. She was lucky that he’d given her several days to coddle him. According to Wace, that was a precious gift he’d never allowed another.
Then, two days ago, he’d started pleading with her to allow him to leave his bed and go about his routines.
To her eternal regret, she’d finally judged him well enough.
Provided he didn’t stress himself overmuch.
“Aye, it sounds like an omen.”
Ariel frowned at Brother Edred’s voice drifting through the shrubbery. She started to call out and let him know she could overhear him, when his next words caused her to freeze where she sat.
“The Norman is the devil’s own, without a doubt. Since first I saw him, I’ve wondered at his hair. Never before have I witnessed a Norman wearing hair in such a peculiar fashion. I wonder at what marks he seeks to conceal.”
“The beast’s mark, I’d wager,” Ethbert sneered with a hostile venom that sent a wave of anger through her.
Their voices faded for a moment before the friar spoke up again. “I, too, have seen visions of hell where the very demons bowed down before him, paying homage to their overlord.”
“But what of the lady?”
She stiffened at Ethbert’s question and the evil mischief they brewed.
“Like blessed Mary Magdalene, her heart is pure, but she follows the corrupt path of the flesh. I fear his evil beauty bewitched her so that she cannot see her husband for what he really is. A demon among men.”
A demon, indeed!
Ariel threw the tunic aside, rage burning raw in her throat. What could be more evil than a gossiping tongue?
For these six things doth the Lord hate. Yea, seven are an abomination unto him. A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
Obviously, the friar needed to spend more time reading the Bible and less time sowing discord and lies.
