Looking around him, Valteri realized that his men had defeated the Saxons. And a few feet away, he spied the body of Ethbert. He shook his head and sighed. Though he held no great love for the Saxon, he regretted the end the poor man had come to.
Moans filled his ears as his men searched the bodies and gathered the wounded.
Then, his gaze fell to Thorn beside him.…
To the body Thorn held in his arms.
Nay…
Excruciating agony ripped through him, piercing his heart and scalding his soul.
Please, not this!
Anything but this.
He forgot everything else as he scrambled toward Ariel. With a trembling hand, he took his wife’s body from Thorn and cradled her against his chest. Tears filled his eyes as he inhaled the sweet rose scent.
’Twas no dream.
Ariel had saved him. Her words circled his mind like beasts of prey seeking to bring him low.
And bring him low they did. Raw, brutal grief ripped through him as he realized the price she’d paid.
What she’d done for a worthless piece of shit.
“I love you, Valteri the Godless,”her gentle words whispered in his mind, slicing his soul with agony.
Valteri clutched her body tight, willing her back to life as tears flowed down his cheeks. “Don’t leave me, Ariel. Please.”
His heart shattering, he glared at Thorn. “Do something!”
“There’s nothing I can do. I can’t interfere with free will.”
“Then you’re useless.”
Thorn let out a bitter laugh. “More than you know.” Rising to his feet, he sighed. “If you—”
“Just go! All of you have done enough.”
They had done what no one had ever done. All those years the monks had tried so hard and failed.
Now…
He was finally broken.
Ariel stood before her father and his council, her head sedately bowed. By the stern look on his face, she knew she’d long outworn his patience.
Even now, Kadar was demanding they hand her over since she’d broken countless rules. She was his prize and he wanted her.
“You know we’re not to interfere with human life!” He circled around her with a glare that should have left her a smoldering pile on the floor.
“Aye.”
“Then why did you push his soul back into his body?”
Ariel swallowed. One of the worst parts about having been human, she still had human emotions, and now it was hard to rein in her feelings. So while she felt a degree of remorse for breaking their strict rules, the moment she thought of Valteri, all guilt vanished.
For him, she’d do it again.
