“Do what you must to wake her,” Bhric said.
Hertha piled more snow on her and continued to repeatedly slap her cheek with a degree of strength that would wake her.
Fen protested with a growl and Bhric was quick to warn him. “Silence! Hertha helps Tavia.”
The hound quieted but kept cautious eyes on Hertha.
“Wake up, Tavia. You are all right. There is nothing to fear. Wake up,” Hertha kept prodding.
Tavia’s eyes finally fluttered open to Bhric’s relief and Fen stepped around him to lick Tavia’s face.
Bhric went to stop him.
“Nay, my lord. It is good for her to feel a familiar, comforting touch,” Hertha cautioned.
Jealousy was not often known to Bhric, though he had learned that when it came to his wife it was. He felt it now, his wife fighting to open her eyes as the hound licked her face.
“Fen,” Tavia said. “Bhric. Get Bhric.”
His heart swelled with relief and was glad her first thought was to fetch him. “I am here, my love.” He took hold of her hand and squeezed it, and he was pleased and further relieved when she returned his squeeze.
“Uta?” she cried out worried for the lass.
“She is fine. You kept her safe,” Bhric said, looking to the lass still in her father’s arms to see tears running down her cheeks. “Do you feel any pain anywhere?”
“Nay,” she said, shaking her head. “I recall turning to avoid the thick portion of the branch, knowing the smaller branches would not harm us and could very well protect us.”
“A quick and wise decision. I am going to sit you up,” Bhric cautioned. “Tell me if you feel pain anywhere.” He eased her up after she nodded.
“No pain,” she said with a smile.
Hertha moved aside as did Fen when Bhric announced he would get her to her feet.
“Aye,” Tavia agreed. “The cold feels as if it has seeped into my bones.”
Bhric stood, leaving his wife sitting, then reached down and slowly brought her to her feet.
Tavia smiled until she went to stand on her own and a pain shot through her leg that had her gasping and gripping her husband’s arm before she dropped in a dead faint.
* * *
“You are never to do that again. Do you understand me, wife?” Bhric ordered, his pounding heart calming now that his wife was tucked safely in their bed, her scarred leg resting on a pillow and warm wet cloths covering it.
“Will you please stop pacing, you are making my stomach churn,” she said and patted a spot on the bed beside her. “Come sit by me.”
Bhric shook his head as he went to her and sat. “I have known a fright I have never known when I took what I thought was your lifeless body in my arms. I have grown accustomed to having you close. I would feel like a part of me is missing if I lost you. So, you will not place yourself in such a dangerous position again.”
“I will do my best,” she said, not wanting to cause him worry, but happy to hear he felt her such a strong part of him.
He leaned over to rest his brow to hers. “I cannot lose you. We need time to love each other.”
“Lots of time,” Tavia said and pressed her cheek to his before kissing his lips gently.
“Endless time, wife, endless time,” he whispered in her ear after the kiss ended. He reached down to feel the cloths on her leg. “They have chilled.” He stood and began removing them. “Hertha and Greta both agree the cloths must be heated to help ease the pain.”
“You do not need to tend my leg, Bhric. Hertha would gladly do it,” Tavia said.
“Nay, I will do it, so that I can make certain you stay put in that bed,” he said with a scowl at his wife. “And you will not leave that bed until your leg heals.”