“I need to get you home,” he said, having lingered too long in the cold instead of rushing to clean her up and be on their way.

He snatched the cloth, Dolan had brought him, off his knee and hurried to dry the areas he had washed with snow. When he was done, he helped her to her feet, discarding her bloody cloak and wrapped the blanket around her, covering as much of her bloody garments that he could.

“Thaw?” she asked and the pup jumped up, his paws at her leg.

“He’s been busy sniffing and rolling around in the snow. He’s all cleaned off,” Tarass said. “He will sit on your lap and keep you warm for the rest of the way home.”

They were soon on their way, Thaw snuggled in her lap, another blanket wrapped around her and Tarass sharing his fur-lined cloak with them as Snow had suggested. They were snug and warm all three of them.

Snow smiled, her head resting against her husband’s chest, thinking how Tarass and Thaw were her family now and soon…

A flutter caught at her heart. How could she be joyful and at the same time anxious of coupling with her husband?

She told herself not to worry. Sorrell and Willow had no difficulty with it, but then their husbands loved them. Then there was her blindness. Would either make a difference? She didn’t know, but she would find out tonight.

Chapter 16

Snow sat in the cloth lined tub, the water beginning to lose its warmth, though she cared not that it did. Nettle had assured her that she had scrubbed her body clean, that there was not a spot of blood on her.

Tarass had ordered a bath prepared for her in his bedchamber as soon as they had entered the Great Hall. She might not have been able to see the faces of those in the hall when Tarass yanked the blanket from around her revealing her blood-soaked garments, but Nettle had expressed what many must of thought.

“Good Lord, so much blood and you’re still standing?”

“Silence, Nettle!” Tarass had commanded. “Lady Snow is unharmed.”

Once they had reached his bedchamber, he had ordered Nettle to wash Snow down before she got in the tub. He made it abundantly clear that not an ounce of blood was to touch her bath water. Then he was gone and Snow hadn’t seen him since.

That was perfectly fine with her, since she would have never been able to relax and enjoy the warm bath if he was present.

“A pool of blood,” Nettle said, shaking her head as she busily gathered the soiled cloths she had used to wash Snow. “I still cannot believe it. No one can. And where did the blood come from?” She continued to shake her head perplexed.