“Nettle is needed in the kitchen. She can take you to your room before she goes, since she will be gone for some time,” Fasta said.

Snow heard the annoyance in Fasta’s voice and also the satisfaction it brought her that she was sending Snow to her room.

“That won’t be necessary,” Snow said. “I will wait here for Nettle.”

“It will be quite a while before she is free,” Fasta argued.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m content here,” Snow said and to make it clear she would hear no more, she turned away from Fasta to where she knew Nettle stood. “I will see you later, Nettle.”

“Do not get in anyone’s way,” Fasta snapped. “Nettle, the kitchen… now.”

It didn’t take long for Snow to grow bored. At home she would be busy, walking through the village with Thaw, visiting with the new mums and the elderly, or spending time in her mum’s solar secretly trying to teach herself to stitch while blind. She had loved to stitch when she had her sight. She would make garments for the new bairns born to the clan and make repairs on the garments of those in the keep, and she missed doing it.

Eleanor had come upon her one day and had offered to help guide her stitching with a row of loose stitches she could follow by touch, and it had helped greatly. It was still difficult to accept how dependent she was on others, but Sorrell had often scolded her when Snow had made mention of it.

“You’re no more or less dependent than any of us,” Sorrell would say. “We’re family and each of us depends on one another for something.”

But Sorrell and Willow had their own families now with others depending on them. While she should feel grateful she had James and Eleanor and the clan, there were times she felt more in the way of things than being helpful to anyone. No one certainly made her feel that way, but with her sisters marrying and James and Eleanor close to marrying, she had begun to feel more alone than ever.

Feeling tears well inside her, she stood. Feeling sorry for herself, especially in a strange place, would do her no good.

“Come, Thaw, you will guide me while we walk,” Snow said, grabbing her cloak that lay beside her on the bench. She had brought it with her, hoping to get outside for a bit.

Thaw barked, then took hold of the hem of her tunic in his mouth and gave a tug.