Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 115248 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115248 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
“Aye, my… Snow,” Roy corrected himself. “Todd is making the snowballs now. We should be ready soon to attack.”
“And don’t worry if I get hit with snowballs. They’ll be expecting you to protect me. Go after them, and victory,” she encouraged.
“Aye, Snow,” he said with joyous enthusiasm.
“Listen, Thaw, I have a chore for you,” Snow said.
The pup sat, leaning against her leg to let her know he was listening, and fixed his eyes on her.
“Follow the snowballs when I throw them and chase our foe from their hiding spot,” she explained, though didn’t know if the pup understood.
“All here say the pup is like the god Thor, mighty and fearless,” Roy said.
Snow smiled. “That he is.”
“We’re ready,” Roy whispered and slipped two snowballs to Snow. “Todd has a pile of snowballs a short distance to your right. Todd and I will walk away as if our talk is done. Standing where you are, if you throw straight ahead of you, you’ll hit their hiding spot.”
“Perfect. Now I’ll wag my finger at you as if scolding you, then you and Todd can shake your heads and walk away.”
“Aye,” Roy said.
“Now be on your way,” Snow ordered with a wagging finger and as soon as she heard Roy and Todd walk off, she threw the snowballs and smiled when she heard someone yell out.
“I’m hit. It’s a ruse.”
Snowballs started pelting her.
“Get them, Thaw,” Snow ordered and dropped down to reach for the pile of snowballs and started throwing them.
Thaw charged toward the group, barking and snarling as if he was ready to tear someone apart. Snow was proud of him as she continued her assault and smiled when she heard one lad yell.
“Thor’s coming for us… run!”
“Turn to your left and throw,” Roy called out.
Snow did as the lad said, snowballs continuing to rain down on her as she enjoyed the fun of a good snowball fight just as she had done with her sisters throughout the years, even though Sorrell always won.
Snowballs flew, Thaw barked, laughter and yells were heard, then suddenly like a snap of the fingers all turned silent.
“What goes on here?” Tarass demanded.
Snow couldn’t resist, she just couldn’t. She turned until she caught sight of the large gray blur and let loose a snowball.
The sharp, loud gasps let her know she had hit her mark and she wasn’t surprised when the gray blur moved to stand in front of her.
“Did you just hit me with a snowball?” Tarass demanded.
“Since I’m blind and can’t see, you would need to be the one to answer that,” she said with a chuckle and wasn’t surprised to feel Thaw lean against her leg.
Tarass couldn’t stop himself from smiling, though chased it away when he saw the shocked look on the young lads’ faces.
“Be gone or be punished,” Tarass snapped at the lads and they scattered, disappearing in a heartbeat.
“They’ve done nothing wrong,” Snow said, coming to their defense, “except have some fun in the snow. Something I’ve missed myself and was pleased to enjoy with them.”
“You could have been hurt,” Tarass argued.
Snow laughed. “Snowballs bring laughter not tears.”
“What are you doing walking out here alone?” he demanded, noticing how her flushed cheeks brightened the green of her eyes and how her lips appeared rosier in color from the cold. She didn’t only look beautiful, she looked happy, and for a sheer moment he felt a spark of happiness himself and it startled him, not having felt it for some time.
“I was looking for you,” she said.
“Where is Nettle? Why isn’t she with you?” he asked, annoyed.
“Fasta ordered her to the kitchen,” Snow said and thought she heard him swear.
“So you ventured out of the keep on your own?”
“Not on my own. Thaw is with me,” she said, looking down to the pup still leaning against her leg.
Thaw barked.
Tarass shook his head, trying to comprehend how she put so much faith in the pup. “Why were you looking for me?”
“I heard about the two dead men that your warriors brought here and was wondering about them,” she said.
“That doesn’t concern you.”
“It most certainly does,” she argued. “Do you know who they are? Is one Finn? Do you know who the other one is? Did your men find my horses?”
“Leave the matter to me,” he ordered.
“No!” she said, shaking her head. “If you did find Finn, I wish to express my gratitude and take him home for burial. And I would like to know about the other dead man. The one I tripped over. Or are both men unknown to you? And are they unknown to me?”
“I will discuss it all with James,” Tarass said.
Snow was ready to argue, then thought better of it. She reached out to touch him and her hand landed on his shoulder. She trailed it down until her hand rested on his chest. “Please, Tarass, don’t leave me in the dark and ignorant of this situation. I want to know what goes on. I will worry less knowing, rather than left to wonder.”