Page 137 of Moon Craving

come north.

The only thing missing was Emily herself. Even though Abigail no longer wanted to

go live with the Balmoral, she desperately wished she could see her sister. To be so close

and yet still unable to speak to her beloved sibling was hard indeed, but Talorc would not

consider a trip to Balmoral Island right now. He said he had spent too much time away

from the clan already.

Abigail suggested going by herself with an escort. However, he was even more

intransigent on the subject of her traveling there without him. She would not complain,

though. Magnus and Susannah had taken Abigail's gifts and letter to Emily and returned

with gifts and a long missive from her sister.

And Talorc had promised to extend an invitation to Emily to come for a visit.

Circin and his brother Muin arrived with two other Donegal warriors, both of whom

were not even shaving yet. Guaire arranged for the four to sleep with the unmarried

warriors in the barracks built into the thick wall surround the motte and tower. Talorc spent

even longer days training with his soldiers after that, and often came to their bed

exhausted.

Never too exhausted to make love, however. And no matter how long her own day

had been, Abigail's body always responded to her husband's passion-filled touch.

Chapter 13

A week after the Donegal soldiers had arrived for training, Talorc found Abigail

working what had been an overgrown herb garden, tucked away in the courtyard behind

the tower.

She'd discovered it soon after her arrival at the Sinclair holding. Abigail had begun

clearing the weeds immediately, thrilled to find something she could make her own. Next

to reading, gardening was her favorite pastime. She'd learned much about plant and bed

preparation watching the gardeners in her father's keep and working with them when they

allowed it.

She also knew a great deal about healing with herbs, having researched

everything she could about the art in hopes of healing her own ailment. Though she'd

never discovered a cure for her deaf ears, she had learned to treat a wide variety of