She nodded, her throat too tight for her to speak. With a heavy heart, she watched him strap his sword to his hips.
Never had she hated a sword and what it stood for more.
Ariel followed him through the hall and out into the yard. He swung up onto his saddle, and she admired the handsome form he made there as he placed his helm on his head.
She’d never see him again. That thought ravaged her heart, her soul.
I have to do this.
There’s no choice.
And this time there was no coming back.
For his sake.
So, she committed every line of his body and face to her memory. That memory would be her only comfort in years to come. That and the knowledge that he was safe from her curse.
Safe from Kadar’s slavery.
It didn’t matter to her that she’d spend hollow, empty years wishing for a man she knew she could never have. Aching for a love she’d once known. She couldn’t risk causing him harm. Not over this.
It was the right thing to do.
Yet it was so hard.
Lifting the reins, Valteri gave her one last, tender look.
Ariel waved at him and forced herself to smile.I’m no better than Edred and all the other hypocrites.
The heated look in his eyes stole her breath as he kicked his horse and sped out the gate.
Damn me for hurting him, too.
She clenched her hand into a fist and lowered it to her side. “Take care, my precious Norman,” she whispered.
Closing her eyes, Ariel wished the rota had fallen on her. At least then her misery would be over.
Her heart weary and pained, she turned around and saw Ethbert standing with his brothers.
She approached them with a determined stride, knowing this must be done.
“Have you changed your mind, lady?”
No. The last thing she wanted was to leave.
But sometimes fate forces us to do things we don’t want to do. Life takes us down paths we don’t want to walk.
Not for ourselves, but for those we love.
To protect them.
For the first time, she understood what love really meant. Why Thorn and Shadow were so bitter.
How odd that she’d once judged them over something she thought she knew and yet she’d had no idea what it really meant.
Sacrifice wasn’t just a word. It was an emotion so strong that it ached to the very core of her soul.
It meant choosing to do what was better for someone else than what was better for yourself. Choosing their life and happiness over your own.
