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“I’m going to be honest with you, wife.”
“Is this something that is one time only or something you intend to do often?” she asked with a soft giggle.
He poked her in the side. “Very funny. I will always be honest with you.”
“Or say nothing at all?” This time no humor filled her voice.
How had she gotten to know him so well?
“Sometimes it is better you don’t know,” he said.
Snow took hold of his hand and brought it to rest against her chest. “It is not easy being blind. Sometimes it’s actually frightening, but I have no choice in the matter. So when you tell me that you purposely keep me blind to something that goes on, it not only hurts more than I can say, but frightens me as well. Please, don’t make me any more blind than I already am.”
Tarass rarely regretted anything. The last time was when he hadn’t been there to protect his parents. It had hurt worse than any physical wound and he felt that hurt now.
He rested his cheek to hers before his lips tenderly touched hers in a brief kiss. “You have my word, ást, from this moment on, I will tell you everything.”
“That pleases me more than you know, husband,” she said and smiled. “So what is it you haven’t been honest with me about that you’re about to be honest with me?”
“That day I found you in the snowstorm… I was to meet with Finn.”
“My Finn?” she asked, surprised.
“Aye, your Finn.”
She shook her head. “Why?”
“He provided me with information.”
Her brow went up. “What information?”
“Any and all information he came across when James sent him with messages from clan to clan.”
“He spied for you?” she asked, shaking her head again, not believing it.
“He kept me apprised of things going on in the area. I had received a message that he had something important that he had discovered and would meet with me on his way home with you.”
“That’s why he agreed with me about leaving my sister’s when everyone else had urged me to stay in case the snow worsened. And why we were closer to your home than to mine. He detoured to meet with you, and, of course, he didn’t have to worry about me since I couldn’t see.”
“I had hoped that he might hear some gossip about my parents that would help open a door to what happened here that caused my da not to return home and my mum to flee with me.”
“You think he may have learned something and that’s why he was killed?”
“It’s possible,” Tarass said.
“You think the dead man was the one who killed him?”
“That’s something I don’t know, but what I do know is that Finn was the one marked for death, whoever killed him had no interest in you or you would be dead now too.”
A light snow was falling when Snow took Thaw outside later in the day. Nettle walked with her, detailing everything she saw around them.
“The village is quiet, many feeling safer inside than out, though most agree that if the dwarfs wanted to find their prey, nothing would stop them. But I don’t know what the dwarfs would want with the likes of this group since they’re all claiming ignorance.”
Snow chuckled.
“Runa is busy with demands for amulets to keep them safe.”
That news brought a worry to Snow. If a cleric or the abbot arrived and saw that, it would not bode well for her and Tarass. But she couldn’t nor would she prevent anyone from seeking and using something they believed would protect them.
“Runa is busy enough, having three women near ready to give birth,” Nettle went on talking. “Two are first births and the other a third birth. Helga doesn’t need much help. All are amazed at how easily she delivers her bairns. But some say her mum or grandmother, maybe both, had been a healer and she knows about birthing better than most.”
“Do not keep Lady Snow out long, Nettle, the snow grows heavier,” Rannock ordered.
“I know how to look after Lady Snow, you don’t have to tell me,” Nettle said.
“You’re busy talking and not paying attention,” Rannock argued. “Do you not see how the snowfall has turned heavier?”
Nettle planted her hands on her hips as she took steps to stand right in front of Rannock. “Do you think I cannot see that for myself?”
“Watch your tongue with me, woman,” Rannock said.
“You make demands that are not necessary,” Nettle said, standing face to face with Rannock.
An arm hooked around Snow’s. “Let the couple argue since it’s the only way they’ll ever get together, and come join me for a hot brew.”
Snow recognized Twilla’s raspy voice and followed along with the woman, Thaw keeping pace beside her.
“Nettle and Rannock?” Snow couldn’t help but shake her head. “An unlikely pair to me.”
