Page 150 of Moon Craving

Osgard left the table and returned several minutes later with a small cask filled with

drink much stronger than mead. Talorc proceeded to imbibe in more than his share over

the following hours and through dinner. At some point he called for one of his soldiers to

take a message to Scotland's king, telling him of Sir Hamilton's treachery and demanding

redress.

He was deep in his cups when Barr said, "You've got to admire her ingenuity."

Talorc turned on his second-in-command with a glare.

Barr merely shrugged, not appearing nearly as drunk as his laird. "She didn't just

fool you, she fooled everyone at her father's keep and within our holding as well. Tamara

hoodwinked only your father, and that was only because he was thinking with his little

head, not the big one. Our lady is a clever one, not just a woman used to manipulating

men with her pretty face."

"She's a sight more than pretty," Earc said, slurring his words. "Our lady is

beautiful."

Osgard probably would have argued, but he was slumped over the table, snoring.

He'd never been able to hold his whiskey as well as Talorc's dad.

"Aye, beautiful and smart," Fionn intoned drunkenly. "Just like an angel."

Talorc frowned at his soldiers, Fionn's words stinging in a way he would never

admit. "She lied to us all."

"She hid a frailty. Like a good soldier," Barr said. "We do not reveal our

weaknesses to others."

"She is no soldier," Talorc roared, though perhaps not as impressively as he would

have before that last cup of rotgut. "She is my mate."

"Aye, she is that."

Airril looked at Talorc blearily. "Did you ask her why she hid her affliction?"

"'Tis not an affliction. She is deaf, not diseased," Talorc responded angrily.

"He didn't ask. We were all right here when he tested her." Earc was looking

distinctly green.

If he was smart, and all Talorc's Chrechte elite were intelligent, Earc would not

drink any more tonight.