The Fox Princess And Her White Dog

12: More Time with You

Here's a quick recap of Erden's family:

Oyunchimeg: mother
Erhi: youngest sister
Ganzorig: youngest brother, Ganz for short
Geriel: Erhi's eagle

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"That's the biggest dog I've ever seen," Erden said, eyeing the massive white dog glowering back at him from one side of their yurt, as he changed out of his wet deel into dry inner robes. "And you said it rescued you from wolves?"

"Wolves?" Oyunchimeg said incredulously, her hands frozen on the bandages she was wrapping around the splint on Snow's broken foot.

"Err, yes," Snow said with a straight face. "I don't remember what happened before that, but I woke up surrounded by wolves and this dog chased them away."

Oyunchimeg's hooded eyes skimmed over the torn parts of Snow's sleeves. Despite staying up all night waiting for Snow's return, the diminutive older woman still looked as sharp as a blade, with nary a strand of jet-black hair out of place. The line between her arched brows deepened as she stared at Snow.

Snow's brain raced as she tried to think up a plausible explanation for the rips in the fabric. She wished she had had the opportunity to change into another deel before Oyunchimeg came in. There's no way I can say that an eagle did that to me, she thought. Mercifully, she was saved by a small figure barreling into the yurt.

"Big Sister!" Everyone turned to look at Erhi when she burst in through the door with her loose hair flying about her head. "I'm so glad they've found - Oh!" she exclaimed when she caught sight of Chow Chow.

"Careful, it's a wild animal," Erden said in a low tone.

"Wild? How did you get it to follow you? What is it doing inside here?" Erhi crouched down with her eyes fixated on Chow Chow. He regarded her coolly, looking somewhat amused by the attention she was giving him.

"I asked him to follow me," Snow piped up as Erden came to sit beside her on the bed. Or more like I didn't give him a choice, she thought.

"Come with me!" she had insisted earlier that morning. Chow Chow's gaze went from her in Erden's arms, to the other people on horseback behind them, whose bows and arrows were already in hand.

"I'm not leaving until you come with me!" she had shouted, before turning to the others. "Don't shoot! It's not a wolf! It saved my life!"

"Love," Erden started to say, but Snow interrupted him before he could object. "Can we keep him, please? He saved me from wolves, if not for him, I might have been. . . Please, can we have him?" she had pleaded.

"It's not a pet," Erden said gently, moving to help her onto his horse.

"Please, husband, please," she whispered, looking imploringly into his warm brown eyes. "I don't ask for much, just this."

He gave her a wearied look as the sun peeked over the horizon. Sighing, he said, "Only if it wants to follow you, though I doubt so." At that, Snow turned towards Chow Chow, hoping that she could communicate with him with her mind.

Stay with me. Stay, at least until you're well enough to travel back, like you said, she had thought. When he hesitated, she added, please, I just want to spend more time with you.

"You asked it to follow you and it did?" Erhi said, looking up at Snow with wonder.

"Qara says Snow has a special bond with dogs," Oyunchimeg said with a tight smile that betrayed her disbelief.

"Whoa! If it can like you, I wonder whether it'll like me too," Erhi said, her eyes growing large.

What's that supposed to mean? Snow wondered. I'm not that bad with animals, am I?