Tarass walked with a strong gait and a deep scowl through the village. Everyone left him alone, not even calling out a greeting to him. All knew it was best to leave him be when he got angry. Otherwise his tongue would unleash a lashing that left far worse scars than any weapon.

His own foolishness had nearly cost him all his well laid plans. He intended to make a beneficial marriage, not be forced into one, and he certainly had no use for a blind wife. He needed Snow gone so she could no longer distract him. He needed to keep his attention focused. It troubled and worried him that someone had killed Finn and while with Snow.

“Thaw!” he snapped, ready to return to the keep and when he heard no bark, he looked around and didn’t see the pup. “Thaw!” he called out and still the pup didn’t answer. Had he run back to the keep without Tarass seeing him? “Thaw!” he shouted again.

Tarass headed back to the keep, asking some of the villagers if they had seen the pup, but none had. He hurried up the stairs and called out for the pup as soon as he entered the Great Hall.

“Thaw!”

Snow shot to her feet with such force she sent the bench rocking. “You’ve lost Thaw?” she cried out and hurried around the table, stretching out her arms. “Nettle, get me outside.”

“Aye,” Nettle said.

“Get her a cloak,” Tarass ordered sternly. “I’ll take her out.”

“How could you lose him?” Snow asked, panic rising in her.

“He’s not lost. He has to be somewhere in the village. I thought he might have returned without me,” Tarass found himself explaining, something he never did.

“You weren’t keeping watch on him,” she accused, fear causing her voice to rise.

Tarass took hold of her arm and kept his voice tempered, seeing and hearing how worried she was that the pup could be lost. “He’s never wandered off far before. Something must have caught his interest.”

“And if you had been watching him, you would not have lost him.”

“He’s not lost. He’s somewhere in the village and I will find him,” Tarass said as if it was already done.

“We will find him,” she corrected.

Nettle returned with her cloak and one for herself.

“You need not help, Nettle,” Tarass said.

“She comes with us,” Snow ordered, slipping on the cloak Nettle had handed her.

Tarass bent his head, his lips near to her cheek. “Command me again and you will wait in your bedchamber while I search for Thaw.”

Snow turned her head enough that she hoped she looked him in the eye. “Try keeping me from finding Thaw and you will regret it.”

“You dare threaten me?”

“It’s not a threat. It’s a promise.”

“I’m a lucky man not to have to wed you,” he whispered.