Tor bowed slightly.“Good e’en, aunt.As you can see, our mission was a success.”
The harpy’s eyes narrowed.“I wouldn’t be so sure of that.The Kraken King doesn’t relish being thwarted or outsmarted and I’d wager the moment he discovers his schemes have been undermined, he’ll seek retribution.”
“I am not afraid of his retribution,” he said as he tightened his grip on Brun’s hand.Often, he forgot his own strength and prayed he wasn't crushing her.When he glanced over, he caught the barest wince, and loosened his hold.
Arianrhod was ever sanctimonious, and knew just how to drive her barbs home.His aunt had a way of making his skin crawl, and he knew his mate was well-acquainted with the effect insidious observations could have.He didn’t want her to question his decisions.
“I am not afraid of this coward king, either.What sort of ruler launches his attack by subterfuge instead of meeting his enemy with a sword in his hand?”Brun asked as she stepped forward, until they were standing shoulder to shoulder.
“You do know that your husband uses subterfuge as well?His spy network is nearly a rival to my own.”
Brun resisted the urge to roll her eyes.According to her husband, this woman employed the network at her disposal as an interminable wheel of gossip.He’d witnessed on more than one occasion how she sowed seeds of discord and watched gleefully from the sidelines as chaos ensued.
“It is not the same,” Brun refuted, and her tone brooked no argument.
“You do not know the ways of the each uisge court,” Arianrhod haughtily replied.
Brun snorted.“The ways of the each uisge court differ little from the Bodthing of my home, or from my father’s longhouse.Fools scrabbling for favor and stumbling over their own feet in their eagerness to curry it.”
Arianrhod spine snapped straight and she glowered in Brun’s direction.“I repeat.You know not of what you speak.Our court should never be compared the the ignominious surroundings of your barbarian kingdom.”
"I may take issue with many of the ways my kin deal with others, but I'll not allow you to impugn my heritage," Brun said as she narrowed her eyes and stepped forward with clenched fists.
Tor put a restraining hand on her forearm, "Don't let her vitriol poison you," he said softly in her ear.
“I dare you to call us unworthy of comparison again.”
The other woman sniffed imperiously, and turned her attention back to Tor.“Nephew, you’d do well to instruct your wife in the proper tone of address.”
He let go of her hand to cross his arms and raise a brow.His air of superiority matched that of his aunt.“Mayhap I enjoy the fact my wife speaks her mind, and believe she needs no instruction.”
The woman tossed her head at Brunhild’s smirk and whirled on her heel.“A feast is being prepared in your honor, nephew, and you’d do well to attire yourself as befits your station.Please ensure your wife conducts herself as a queen and not a mongrel.”
Brun scowled and would have strode forward, but Tor’s hand on her forearm stopped her.“Nay, wife.She merely mourns the loss of her own influence.”
“She should know she has nothing to fear.Though your subjects may admire my battle acumen, I am foreign to them.They only welcome I've received is due to the might of the warriors I brought with me to this union, and if I had come to them with empty hands I’d have been met with nothing more than cold shoulders and icy stares.”
Tor's hand curled around hers again.“I very much doubt that, wife.You gravely underestimate your appeal.”
One side of her mouth quirked in a smile and she shook her head, charmed by his defense.“You are smitten, husband.”
He reeled her into him, uncaring who saw his display of obvious affection.“I concede, you’ve tamed my beast, wife.In more ways than one.”
“False flattery,” she teased as she bussed him on the cheek.
The sound of pipes greeted them as they descended the stairs.A lively fete was already in progress, and Tor smiled as he saw a particularly buxom and exuberant selkie topple into Glamorgan’s lap.
“Your aunt called me a barbarian?There seems to be a substantial lack of decorum here, and the panorama below bears more resemblance to my father’s drunken celebrations than I expected.”
Brunhild’s observation didn’t surprise him.Despite Arianrhod’s words to the contrary, the each uisge had never been proponents of decorum.“My aunt frequently overstate’s our kind’s concern with propriety,” he told her with a smirk and a shake of his head.
“It appears neither Glamorgan nor his companion give a fig for it.”
Indeed, they didn’t.His man at arms had the serving girl bent over his lap, his mouth perilously close to the cleavage the threatened to spill from her unlaced bodice.“They’ll not withstand the hall much longer,” he agreed.
His pronouncement rang true when Glamorgan swept the giggling woman over his shoulder and strode from the hall.
“I doubt he’ll be the last to abandon the festivities,” Brun said as her gaze scanned the boisterous, crowded hall.When she spied Mirren on the other side of the hall, she turned to her mate.“I haven’t spoken to Mirren in at least a month.”
