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“Rest in peace, Finn,” she said and turned, recalling Nettle saying something about the tables the dead men rested on lay close to each other. A few steps and she touched an empty table. Even with the commotion the pool of blood had caused, wouldn’t someone have seen the body being removed from the hut.
She heard sniffs and low growls and called out to Thaw. “What is it, Thaw? What have you found?”
She followed his sounds and found him in one of the corners of the hut, digging. She was about to lean down to find out what he was up to when she heard a slight crack. She reached out and touched the crudely built wall, that did little to keep out the cold, and the section moved against her hand. She pushed at it and the section fell away.
Thaw gave a yap and scurried past her leg.
“Thaw,” she called and followed after him.
She had only taken a few steps when Thaw returned to her and gave her hem a tug. He wanted her to follow him and without thought, she did.
When a branch brushed her cheek, she knew he had taken her into the woods and she stopped, realizing her mistake. “Thaw, we need to go back and get Tarass.”
He barked, then tugged at her hem again.
He was desperate to show her something and she was desperate to alert Tarass to her whereabouts.
“You can show me, Thaw, but first…” She cupped her hands together so her voice would carry far, and shouted, “Tarass! Tarass!” She hoped he heard her and she planned to call out to him again, but first she took a cautious step forward to appease Thaw, who was tugging wildly at her hem.
Her foot hit something and she crouched down, her hand reaching out to touch a body.
Thaw started growling low and deep as he made his way around her and climbed up on the body to position himself protectively in front of her.
Something or someone was there with them.
His growling intensified, letting her know that whatever it was… was drawing nearer.
“Snow! Snow!” came her husband’s frantic calls.
Thaw barked repeatedly while Snow shouted to her husband, “Tarass! Tarass!”
She was relieved to hear pounding footfalls, but she also heard a scurrying of sorts.
“Snow!” Tarass shouted when he caught sight of her and snatched her up off the ground to hug her tight.
Thaw kept barking.
“I’m here, Thaw, Snow is safe,” Tarass assured him.
“He’s letting you know someone was here and ran off,” Snow said.
“Search the woods!” Tarass commanded and his warriors trailing him took off, though two remained behind, aware their lord and lady were not to be left unprotected.
“There’s a body,” Snow said, pointing to the ground. “I think it’s the man with the markings. Thaw discovered the scent and was digging. I leaned on a section of the hut wall and it collapsed, then Thaw led me here.”
“Bring the torch closer,” Tarass commanded and when the warrior did, Tarass saw that his wife was right. “Dolan, get Rannock and more warriors.”
“Aye, my lord,” the young warrior said and hurried off.
Snow went to speak.
“Not a word, wife,” Tarass ordered. “You have disobeyed me twice tonight and put yourself in unnecessary danger.”
“You’re right. I followed Thaw without thinking. It was foolish of me and I called out to you as soon as I realized my mistake. I’m truly sorry.”
That she admitted her mistake and apologized for it caught him off guard. He expected her to argue and make excuses, but he should have realized that was not what his wife would do. She spoke her mind to him and she spoke the truth.
“We will discuss this later,” Tarass said.
“Aye, my lord,” she said softly, hearing footfalls approach and feeling as he might, that it was not a matter to be discussed in front of others.
While dark and gray shadows remained for Snow, she felt the heat of several torches around her and her husband’s hand clutching hers. He squeezed it now and again to either make it clear he had no intention of letting her go or to remind her that he was there with her. Either way, it comforted her.
Snow listened to the conversation between her husband and Rannock, offering no opinions, at least not yet.
“How do you get blood from a dead man who’s been frozen for a couple of weeks?” Rannock asked after some discussion.
Just as Snow had thought, someone had taken the dead man’s blood. “Your healer might know, if not, my sister would,” Snow offered and couldn’t stop the yawn that rushed up and out of her mouth.
“You’re tired,” Tarass said and got annoyed that it took a yawn for him to realize it. It had been a long, exhausting day and his wife needed sleep, which meant…
He silently let loose a string of oaths in his head, frustrated that their union would not be sealed tonight.
