But her smile was infectious. “If you’ll excuse me, milord? I should like to clean up.”
“Of course. Wace? Would you see her back to her room?”
“Aye, milord.”
Valteri watched them leave while he tried to solve this latest puzzle.
Just who was this woman and how had she come to fall into his hands? If she had this amount of skill, how much did the man who trained her?
Not that he feared any man. But this was war. Could she have been a spy or assassin sent after him?
That made the most sense. He’d never suspect a woman of such treachery. What better tool for the Saxons to use against their enemies.
One they’d never see coming.
Which meant she was either feigning her memory loss, or it was real and had she not lost her memory, she’d have killed him by now.
That sent a chill over him and finally brought his desire back under control.
What if all this was nothing more than a game she played? People were rotten. No one knew that better than he. To their core center, they conspired and beguiled for selfish reasons, all the while smiling at the face of their victims.
Aye, he’d watch her, and if she held such treachery in her heart, he’d end her. That was the one thing his bitter childhood had taught him. People weren’t tools. No one deserved to be used and discarded.
Or abused for entertainment.
As beautiful as she was, he would protect his squire. He would protect his brother.
“A demon I may be, but I am never disloyal.”
CHAPTER3
Ariel had just entered the great hall when she saw a number of men fleeing for their lives, each cursing her lord and protector.
“He’s the devil’s spawn!”
“Lucifer’s own!”
“God save us all!”
They practically tripped over themselves as they ran past her for the door.
Amused and befuddled, she headed in the direction they’d come from, which turned out to be Valteri’s chamber office. A large room that was sparsely furnished with uncomfortable, overturned chairs and one large desk where he stood, leaning on it with clenched fists.
But what made her raise a brow was the dagger that was firmly lodged in the door, right at eye level as she entered.
Ariel took a moment to pry the dagger loose. “Bad day or bad aim?”
“Bit of both,” he said churlishly. “And unless you wish to be the next unfortunate target of my wrath, you might wish to take heed and run as well.”
She set the dagger on the desk, near his hand, and glanced over the stack of papers while he moved to pick up the chairs and right them. “You’ll find I’m made of sterner stock. Now that I’ve seen your precision, I’m not so easily frightened.” Wrinkling her nose playfully at him, she skimmed his ledgers. “So what has milord so cross?”
He let out a bearish sigh. “Nothing.”
Cocking her head, she noted the letters of complaint that were in three separate stacks. “Are the peasants revolting?”
Valteri scoffed as he righted the last chair and returned to her side. “I wish.ThatI could handle.”
“Knocking people about isn’t always the answer, milord.”
