She slipped on her shoes, she kept by the bed, and made her way to the chair near the hearth. She had no intention of staying in bed. She felt much too vulnerable there and she already felt vulnerable enough with the Abbot and Lord Polwarth still in the keep.

Thaw’s paws were suddenly on her thighs and she leaned over and gave him a kiss and a rub. She startled when his dark eyes came into focus.

Please. Please let it be so that my sight is returning.

She didn’t dare say it aloud for fear of somehow chasing it away. Instead, she gave Thaw another kiss and looked more closely at his face, blurry but visible to her.

“You’re a handsome one and you’re getting so big.” She smiled.

After she lavished him with kisses, rubs, and praise, Thaw curled up by her feet for a nap.

Snow hugged herself, not for warmth but out of sheer happiness. She never thought she’d be as happy as she was now. Even with all the problems facing her and Tarass, she still felt a sense of joy and most of all hope.

Thaw jumped up suddenly and started growling.

Snow followed suit, standing and listening. Thaw’s growl meant one thing.

Someone approached he didn’t like or he felt was a threat to Snow.

“You cannot expect me to leave when I’m not feeling well,” Abbot Bennett said, sitting at a table in the Great Hall with a tankard of ale in hand.

“I don’t care how you feel, Abbot Bennett, you’re not welcome in my home. You will take your leave with Lord Polwarth and never return here,” Tarass ordered, the strength of his command leaving no doubt he meant it.

“Your father would have never been so rude,” Abbot Bennett sneered.

Tarass slapped his hands down on the table right in front of Abbot Bennett. “My father wasn’t a heathen… I am. And I’ll show you just how much of a heathen I am if you don’t get your arse off that bench and leave.”

Abbot Bennett’s eyes grew as round as full moons and he drew his head back, his mouth falling open and his lips moving, though failing to find words.

“If you make me repeat myself, I’m going to reach across this table, drag you over it, and toss you out on your arse,” Tarass warned.

Abbot Bennett stood and raised his hand, pointing a finger at Tarass.

Tarass straightened to his full height and glared at the Abbot. “Shake that finger at me and you’ll be leaving here with nine fingers, maybe less if you continue to annoy me.”

Abbot Bennett immediately dropped his hand to his side. “You’ll rue the day you disrespected me.”