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“The pool of blood was used to distract,” Snow said.
“Did all the sentinels leave their posts to find out what was happening?” Tarass asked, his temper sparking.
The warrior lowered his head. “Aye, my lord.”
“Yet, you’re the only one who stands before me.”
The warrior bobbed his head, but said nothing.
“Wait for me at the hut,” Tarass ordered and turned away from the warrior.
“Please don’t have Nettle fetched again. I’ll go with you,” Snow said, locking her arm more firmly around her husband’s, determined to remain with him.
“It is cold and the snow falls heavily. You need to be inside where it’s warm and safe,” he argued.
Snow rested her hand on her husband’s chest. “It is our wedding night and while I’d prefer to be in our bedchamber together, what I want most is for us to be together wherever that might be. So please don’t send me away from you.”
Married a few hours and his petite wife had already worked her way deeper into his heart.
He took her hand in his and scolded, “Where are your gloves? Your hands feel like ice.”
“I was in a rush and forgot them,” Snow said.
Tarass caught sight of Nettle at the keep steps and shouted, “Nettle, fetch Lady Snow’s gloves.”
“Aye, my lord,” she said and lifted the hem of her garments to carefully, yet quickly, climb the snow-covered steps.
“We wait here for her,” Tarass said.
Snow snuggled against him. “Good, then it gives you a chance to tell me about the dwarfs and who Kvasir is and why your clan thought of them at the sight of the pool of blood.”
Tarass felt more content standing there in the snow and cold, his wife snug against him, then he had in some time. His mum had told him not to settle for anything but love when it came time for him to choose to wed. After his parents’ brutal deaths, his only thought had been to do whatever was necessary to find the person responsible and make him pay with his life. He liked to think that somehow his mum had had a hand in bringing Snow to him to make sure he married for love.
“It’s a tale told by my mum’s people. Kvasir was born of two gods. He possessed great wisdom and he taught and spread his wisdom in his travels. The dwarfs, Fjalar and Galar, were jealous creatures and wanted his wisdom. They captured Kvasir and drained him of all his blood, hoping to gain all his knowledge.”
She glanced up at him, seeing only a gray blur and wishing she could see her husband’s face clearly. She recalled when she had last seen him, but he had been young, with fine features and an arrogant stride of youthful confidence. She wondered what he looked like now, though she had no doubt that arrogant stride of youthful confidence had become more powerful and confident with age.
“So the pools of blood could be a message of sorts.” She scrunched her brow. “Someone searching for knowledge? What knowledge? And why two pools of blood? Or was it simply a distraction to steal the body and put fear in your clan?”
Tarass admired her quick perception, his own thoughts being the same.
Snow gripped his arm. “You search for the person responsible for your parents’ death. Could this be a message that if you gain that knowledge you will die? The arrow that almost struck me could have been meant for you, the marksman having missed his target. Someone wants to keep knowledge from you, perhaps the knowledge of your parents’ deaths.”
“You piece puzzles together quickly, wife,” he said, hugging her.
“Not all puzzles,” she said, frowning. “I can’t understand why we dally out here on our wedding night when we should be in our bedchamber making lo—”
“I have the gloves, my lord,” Nettle called out as she approached.
Tarass slipped his hand beneath his wife’s cloak to give her backside a hasty squeeze. “I will rectify that soon.”
He took the gloves from Nettle and dismissed her for the night once again. He slipped the gloves on his wife’s hands, then took her arm.
“We will see this done quickly,” he said and took her arm.
Tarass stopped to talk with Rannock briefly, explaining what the warrior had told him and that he was on his way to speak with the warriors who had failed to do their duty. He ordered Rannock to send four other warriors to the hut.
“Do you mind waiting inside the hut?” Tarass asked as they approached the area.
“I don’t mind. the dead can’t hurt us,” Snow said.
Tarass escorted her inside the hut. “I won’t be long.” He turned to Thaw, the pup having followed them in. “Guard Snow, Thaw.”
Thaw gave a bark and pressed against Snow’s leg.
“I won’t be long,” he said again and left.
“You all failed tonight!”
Snow cringed at the powerful anger in her husband’s voice and felt sorry for his warriors, though they had failed him and needed to face the consequences of their failure. She recalled the last time she was here and moved slowly, bumping into the edge of a table. She reached out and found the table empty. It had been the one her friend had laid upon.
