A lesson she, a creature of light, had learned from those born in darkness.
“Aye.” She was amazed by the steadiness of her tone.Don’t do this. Her heart and soul begged her to stay.
But that would be selfish.
She couldn’t ask Valteri to pay for her love.
Only her absence could keep him safe.
“I shall go with you.”
CHAPTER23
Valteri entered the hall and breathed a weary sigh. After spending the entire afternoon at the castle’s construction site and listening to the builders instruct him on how many more men they’d need come spring… and all the different supplies he’d need to order by then, Valteri wanted nothing more than to find his wife and enjoy a quiet evening in solitude.
Preferably naked.
God help Wace if he disturbed him for anything other than the donjon being on fire.
And that change wasn’t lost on him. Never had he thought to crave the presence of any person as much as he craved Ariel’s.
She was the air he breathed.
His bare sustenance.
He pushed open the door to their chambers and froze.
The tunic Ariel had been mending lay folded on his bed, but no other sign of her existed.
Cecile ran out from under the bed, collided with his legs, then proceeded to circle his feet.
Frowning, Valteri placed his helm and gloves on the table beside the bed and stooped over to gently rub the kitten’s head.
“Where is our lady?” he asked, but his only answer came as a soft meow.
Where could Ariel have gone? It wasn’t like her to venture far when she knew he was returning.
She must be researching in the chapel.
He looked there first, and found it empty.
A quick search of the hall and bailey yielded nothing, either. As he entered the stable, a disembodied voice stopped him. “If you seek my sister, then I fear you’ve again allowed her to escape.”
Tired of hearing the demon in his ear, he turned toward Belial. “What say you?”
His expression grim, he stepped out of the shadows, his eyes hollow.
Valteri held the distinct impression the demon’s anger had reached its shattering point.
Belial shook his head, disbelief flickering in his light gaze. “’Twould appear our little bird has lied to both of us. A new skill that, and I must saythat I’m very impressed. She told you that she’d be by your side forever and me that she was riding out to join you. But if you’re here seeking her… It can only mean that she’s flown.”
He shook his head as if he couldn’t comprehend it. “An unbelievable action, really. I never thought her capable of such.”
Valteri’s blood ran cold. “Then how do you know she left?”
“Since she’s been gone all afternoon… it’s the only thing that makes sense, isn’t it? She left the same time the Saxons did. You haven’t seen her and she hasn’t returned. What other deduction can be made than she ran off with them?”
The bastard was right, but he didn’t want to admit that.
