“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.”