With a nod of his head, Belial left him.
Valteri waited until Belial had vanished into the storm and was gone for a few minutes.
Once he was certain Belial couldn’t see him through the bitter snowstorm, he mounted his destrier, his saddle tilting slightly as he adjusted himself and his sword.
“I know, boy.” He stroked his horse’s mane, feeling guilty that he asked this of his old friend. “We’ve been through worse, you and I, and I need you to do this for me. I promise, I wouldn’t take you out there if it wasn’t important.”
His horse snorted and pawed as if he was still resentful. Not that he blamed him.
Drawing his cowl over his head, he looked back at the keep to ensure that there was no sign of Belial or anyone else.
“You better not have caused this, demon.” Because if he’d put her in harm’s way, and if she were harmed over it, there’d be true hell to pay.
Valteri would rip his insidious form to pieces. His lady had best be hale and hearty when he found her.
Kicking his horse into a run, he sped across the bailey and out the gate.
Damn, it was a cold, miserable night. Valteri double-cursed the weather that forced him to slow his horse’s gait lest it harm Ganille. Ganille’s hooves slid on the frozen soil until he feared both of them would fall, and the last thing he wanted was to risk an injury to the only real friend he’d ever known.
“It’s all right,” he assured his horse. “Take your time. Be careful.”
Worse than the ice, swirling flakes continued to obscure his vision.
His cheeks burning from the cold, Valteri ground his teeth in aggravation.
How far could Ariel have gone in this?
When had she started out?
Because it was so thick, the snow would have obscured her tracks in a matter of minutes.
“How can I ever find you?”
You do have powers.…
Ariel’s voice from earlier that night whispered to him. Instinctively, he placed his hand to the scar where he’d been branded.
While he couldn’t remember that one, he remembered the brand that was hidden beneath his hair. Even now, he could see the old monk’s twisted, hate-filled countenance as he’d snarled the Latin words at him that he hadn’t understood.
“Let Saint Benedict bind this demon’s powers! Keep them inside him so that he cannot harm another!”Then more words had followed, only they hadn’t sounded like Latin to him. They’d seemed to be from another language.
But the pain of the brand on his skull had been such that Valteri couldn’t really comprehend any of it.
Only the sound of laughter ringing in his ears had overridden his pain and the smell of his burning flesh.
He couldn’t even remember now what he’d done to cause them to attack him so. Why they’d felt the need to drag him to the altar and assault him.
Of course, back then, those attacks had been so commonplace that they ran together in his memory. One huge amalgamate nightmare.
Had it been a similar moment when his so-called powers had been bound?
He looked up at the sky and blinked as tears froze against his eyelashes. Lost, and terrified of losing the only good thing he’d ever had, he did what he’d never done before.
Valteri prayed. “If that’s true… please, God, give me what I need to find her. Please, don’t let her die because of this.” He choked on his fear. “Because of me. Let me have what was unfairly taken.”
Ganille shifted.
And nothing changed.
