She laughed.
“Which is why I wish you’d stay behind. If something happens to you, milady, I’ll be skewered for sure.” He mounted his horse and they were off.
Breathing deeply, Ariel clung to her saddle and tried to ignore the cold wind that whipped against her cheeks and settled in her bones where it chilled her very soul.
Once again, she struggled with something her mind told her she should know how to do and yet it felt foreign and strange to her.
I won’t lose my saddle. Not now!
Valteri would be all right. The images of wolves in her mind were just the devil’s playthings. And yet she could feel a wolf’s warm breath on her neck, smell its putrid scent as if it stood over her even now.
Eternity seemed to have passed before they topped the hill where the castle’s construction site stood. Anxious and frightened, Ariel scanned the area for any trace of her husband, but only the vacant, isolated stones greeted her eager gaze.
“No one’s here, milady.” Wace urged his horse closer to hers.
“Nay, I know…” Ariel paused, listening carefully.
Once more she heard a faint groan.
“Over there!” She leapt from her horse and ran toward the sound. Rounding the stone wall, she hesitated.
Valteri lay on his side, facing the woods. Even in the darkness, she could see the blood that soaked his clothing, feel his pain as if it pounded through her own body.
Ariel choked back a sob. “Valteri?” She rushed to him and knelt by his side.
He made no move. No more sound.
Was she too late? Her heart pounded in fear as she gently pulled him onto his back. His eyes were half-open and his chest lay so very still.
Terrified, she wiped the blood off his icy cheeks. “Milord, please!” she begged, her throat so tight that she could scarce draw breath.
“Ariel?” he whispered in such a low tone that she barely heard him.
Relief shot through her. Grateful beyond measure, she gave a small, nervous laugh. “Aye, milord. I’m here.”
Wace knelt beside her, his face grim. “We shall need a litter or cart to move him.”
She’d known Valteri would be hurt, but never once had she considered thathe,her fierce, untouchable warrior, would need assistance to return. “I’ll wait here while you go for help.”
“But milady—”
“I’ll be fine until your return.”
As Wace opened his mouth, Ariel shook her head to silence him. “Please, no more arguments. You must hurry. I know not how much longer he can last.”
Reluctance shone deep in his eyes, but Wace said nothing more.
As he mounted and rode away, she tore strips of cloth from her underkirtle to bind Valteri’s wounds.
Ariel stanched the flow of blood as best she could, but she feared her efforts wouldn’t be enough. With each frantic beat of her heart, it seemed his breath fell shallower and shallower.
“You should have gone in his place,” Valteri whispered.
“You shouldn’t speak.” She gently brushed his hair from his cheek. “You must save your strength. Besides, I’d have fallen without my brave knight to pull me astride his horse.”
Valteri reached his hand up to take hers, his grip so weak it stole her breath. He placed her hand over his heart and she felt the soft, feather-like beating beneath her fist.
Warm, sticky blood clung to her skin, but she refused to draw her hand away in spite of the panic inside her that urged her to run from the pain she felt.
