Page 134 of Moon Craving

already," he said to Abigail before making his own less-than-happy exit.

"That one has a temper," Una observed.

Abigail asked, "The older warrior?"

"Oh, Osgard can be unpleasant right enough. My dam says he's never been the

same since losing both his wife and son to the English attack." Una sighed and shook her

head.

"But I was speaking of Niall. He always holds back with you, Guaire. You are lucky

he sees you as such a friend."

"What do you mean?" Abigail asked, thinking Una had to be exaggerating Niall's

angry nature. Her new friend was sweet.

"If any other soldier had said something like that to Niall, he would have been

knocked flat and had a knife drawn on him for good measure."

"Never say so."

Guaire sighed. "It's true, but he did not hold back with me because we are great

friends." He looked terribly dejected in that moment. "Far from it, in fact."

"Why then?" Abigail asked out of curiosity.

"He thinks I am too weak to bother with."

"Nonsense. You may not be as big as some of our Chrechte warriors, but you are

no weakling, Guaire. You might use your brain to serve our laird, but you have never

neglected your soldier's training. I would trust my life with you . . ." Una gave the

redheaded man a wink. "That is, if I wasn't laying some heads open with my own bread

board."

Abigail smiled as the other two laughed, though Guaire's humor seemed forced.

That morning heralded a new direction for her interaction with the English-hating

widow. Una shared with Abigail that her laird had forgiven her initial insult to his lady, after

dressing her down but good. However, he had stressed his expectation that she help

Abigail find her place in the clan. Una had not acted in the least surprised by this.

But Abigail had been thrilled to discover her husband had listened to her and given

the other woman another chance. She hoped that meant he would not be too hard on the

rest of the clan as they got to know her as well.