Belial sat next to her. He’d remained silent all throughout their meal and she couldn’t miss the way he looked about the room at those gathered, as if he were a predator stalking game. Even more sinister, he seemed to delight whenever discord broke out and took a special mental note of it.
Especially at whatever had caused the fight.
His very presence set her on edge and warned her of danger… of death, but she couldn’t quite say why. Just something about him slithered over her skin like a chill. He seemed friendly enough, yet that feeling persisted until she feared she’d go mad.
As if sensing the same thing about him, people near them began excusing themselves from the tables as if putting as much distance from her brother as they could.
Grateful for the excuse they gave her, Ariel smiled stiffly at her brother. “I should like a walk outside.”
He arched his brow with an expression that seemed somehow fake. “Careful, Ariel, the hour grows late and I would grieve should anything happen to you.”
Why did she doubt those words?
Because he’s lying. She knew it and yet she could think of no reason why.
If only she could remember her past, mayhap then she’d know why her brother bothered her so.
Why she didn’t trust him.
Because he’s a snake…
That was an image she couldn’t shake.
“I won’t be long.” She rose from her bench and quickly did as the others. Put as much space between her and the creepy feeling her brother evoked as she could.
As Ariel pushed open the heavy oak door of the hall, the wood scraped gently against her palms. A chill wind blew against her, freezing her cheeks. She almost turned back toward the dining area, but the last thing she wantedwas to face her brother, or anyone else. All she needed was a little time alone, time to think and clear her head without any distractions.
Please let me remember something.
Anything.
She was so tired of not having any sort of tidbit from her past. Of knowing nothing about who or what she was.
How could nothing be there other than faint shadows that taunted her to near madness? It was so unfair.
Clenching her jaw to keep it from chattering, she made her way out into the dark yard. Rushlights had been lit and they provided a modicum of cheerfulness to combat the hidden fears lurking in the dust of her memory that teased her with just a hint of something she couldn’t quite recall. As she walked, she heard the sounds of grooms talking to each other in the stable, and various animals settling down to sleep.
With no thought to any particular destination, Ariel followed a worn path around the wooden hall and into a small garden.
An icy rose scent clung to the air while the flowers fought against their inevitable surrender to the approaching winter frost. And yet the beauty of the garden, the out-of-place cheer of the flowers, warmed her. It was strangely pleasant here and reminded her of yet another thing she couldn’t recall.
“Milady?”
She jumped at the voice coming out of a darkened corner. Facing the sound, she watched Valteri push himself to his feet and tower over the bush that had blocked her from seeing him. “Milord, what are you doing here?” She closed the distance between them.
He didn’t say anything. Instead, he watched her with the steady intentness of a wary fox that had been trapped by a hunting party.
Ariel stopped at the side of the bush, and looked down to the pallet Valteri had made on the cold ground, where a rare leatherbound book lay opened. His intent to sleep out in the cold night obvious, she fought against the sudden pain in her breast over his solitary nature that kept him so distant from everyone.
Cecile slept wrapped in a thick woolen blanket next to a small tallow candle. A wooden platter of cheese, bread, and half-eaten fruit left no doubt that Valteri had taken his meal out here in the cold night.
Alone.
Suspicion filled his mismatched eyes. His was the gaze of an old, tired man. Someone who had known untold suffering throughout their life and who was exhausted from the toll it’d taken. No spark of joy glowed in the hollowed darkness of his soul, and in that moment she knew he sought the welcome relief of death.
That unguarded look haunted her, scared her more than anything else she could imagine. For it was familiar. Somewhere in her past she had been more than acquainted with it.
Had seen it many times.
