"I know what she's asking," Loghlan said, though his tone carried more frustration than disagreement. For a moment, he said nothing, quietly drumming his fingers on the well-worn table while he sifted through his thoughts to find the root of his discomfort.
Mairwen had taught him long ago that weak arguments were a sign that there was something so deeply entrenched in his being that he was unwilling to expose it to counterarguments for fear that it might crumble. Everything else he said, especially objections as feeble as having his honor imputed by acting like smugglers, was just a distraction from the real objection.
In this case, he realized, the real discomfort came from years of finding out too late that he'd been suckered into an 'agreement' with barons who held back important details until the last possible minute… And for years, Bors Lothian had let his vassals get away with it, even in open court, because it served to check the Dunn's growing power.
