It took a while to find wood dry enough to use, and to locate the small piece of flint still resting in the aged ashes of the last fire the dilapidated hut had seen. As he set about making a fire in the center of the room, he sensed Ariel’s gaze upon him.
Glancing over his shoulder, he saw her blue eyes open and focused on his movements.
Unable to discern the emotions flickering in her gaze, he continued striking the flint until he had a decent fire started. Winds howled outside, pounding the hut with a force that made him wonder how it continued to stand the abuse without collapsing. But then, he of all men should know how hearty even the frailest of things could be.
Rising from his task, he turned to face her. “How do you feel?”
“Cold,” she said, her teeth chattering.
Valteri crossed the room to stand above her. In spite of the sympathy inside him, his anger mounted over her foolishness. “As well you should. What did you mean leaving on a night such as this?”
“To keep you safe.”
How could he argue that?
Sighing in frustration, Valteri picked her up and carried her closer to the fire. Though she said nothing, he noted the rigidness of her body, as if she wanted him far away from her. Careful to keep the cloaks between her and the filthy floor, he set her beside the saddlebags.
When he reached to lift the hem of her kirtle, she grabbed his hand. “What are you doing?”
His throat tight, Valteri sat back and removed his gloves from his hands. Ignoring her question, he touched her left thigh. She gasped in pain and her entire body jerked.
“I need to check your injuries, Ariel. I heard you wincing as I carried you, and every time your hip touched against my body you trembled.”
“Oh.” She ran her hands over her arms as if to banish a chill. “And it should be noted that the weather was not so bad when I started my journey. How was I to know that it’d turn this ferocious?”
He shook his head at her as he slowly inspected her for injuries. “Still… you should have stayed.”
“And let you die? How could I do that?” Ariel drew a deep breath and met his gaze. “I had no choice.”
“No choice?” he asked with a sharp frown. “You always have choices, milady.”
“And I seek only to protect you.”
He knelt beside her and cupped her chin in his warm hand. Against her will, he forced her to look up at him. “I can protect myself.”
Tears of frustration filled her eyes at his unreasonableness. “How can you ask me to sit by and watch you die in my arms?”
One corner of his mouth lifted into a charming grin. “There’s no other place I’d rather die.”
Outraged by his teasing at something so serious, she glared at him. “How can you be glib? ’Tis no jest.”
“I’ve never been more serious.” His tone said otherwise.
And though she longed to deny it, the sincerity of his gaze told her that he spoke the truth. “I don’t take your life or your soul so lightly, and neither should you. I wish you were more heedful of my warning. This is not a jest, Valteri.”
He sat by her side. The firelight played in his hair, flickering shadows across the handsome planes of his face. “You shouldn’t have fled because you feared for me. Death is what happens to us all, is it not? Was that not your very job before you came here?”
“Aye.” Reaching out, she brushed a strand of hair from his icy, red cheek. “But you, milord, should have an entire lifetime to live. You shouldn’t die so young just because of a curse that has nothing to do with you. Not to mention that if they lay hands to you, they could use your powers to free the Malachai demon onto this world.”
Fire burned in his eyes. It scorched her with its intensity, melting her will. “Curses have followed me the whole of my life. What do I care for one more? And what do I care what happens to a world that has never done me any favors?”
She buried her hand in the top of his braid at the nape of his neck and pulled him close. “Those other curses weren’t for your death.”
“Trust me, they were. Many have cursed me to die. In this life and the next. Eternally, and to be damned to hell and beyond.” He stroked her back, his touch warming her far more than the fire. “Given all that hatred, what do I care if I pass through this life as soon as possible?”
“Icare.”
His grip tightened around her waist. “As an Arel or as my wife?”
