Alexander’s eyes narrowed and he attacked her declaration. “It is for you. And even your sister, who watches you from above, knows it. Do not pretend otherwise. Accept for once that I know what is best and lean on my judgment. For if you do not, it will be my cousin who decides this clan’s fate—as well as your own.”

Alexander shifted his focus to Colin. “I have heard your excuses as well.” He saw the swift turn of his son-in-law’s head and the burning fire smoldering in the cobalt depths of his eyes. The man had complete control of his actions, and though Colin outwardly appeared calm and collected, Alexander knew he was suppressing his instinct to draw blood. Alexander also knew his words had to strike hard to achieve his goal. He had no more time to wait. “Aye, I said excuses, Colin. Deirdre died nine months ago, and she loved you, son, but she would not have wanted you to live this way—constantly driving yourself and the men. You have a decision to make. Keep your pride and return to your Highlands or finish what you started here. Make your choice. You’re out of time.”

Alexander rotated in his seat and leveled his eyes on his youngest daughter. She stared back undaunted. He had often felt enormous pride in her ability to remain staunch in her convictions. Too many times his delight with her willful behavior had resulted in him giving way to her unorthodox desires. Now she was the only one of his five daughters unmarried. “And you, my Áille, keep your pride as well, but learn to be lonely. For one day, possibly very soon, you will no longer have me to applaud your unusual accomplishments. And whom will you have then? You claim you desire no man, but I put forth that what you have always wanted was for someone to accept you, be proud of you, and love you. I have given you this, but still you want more. Someday you will realize that what you seek needs to be offered by a man, a real man, not one of the malleable ògans who follow you about professing their awe at your skills. Go and prepare yourself for a sad and solitary life, daughter.”

Alexander watched a visibly shaken Makenna absorb his words. More softly, he added, “Colin is right, Makenna. You have little knowledge about being a proper wife, but you could learn.” He paused and waited until she looked at him. “What a man seeks most in a wife you have to give in abundance. That I promise. You just must first learn to trust in him and in yourself.”

He leaned back against the cushions. “And, Colin, despite your year with my Deirdre, you learned very little about being a good husband. Aye, I know the truth. Remember, she was my firstborn, and I knew her for almost six and twenty years before she finally chose you for a husband. Do you know how many she had turned down before you asked for her hand? Do you know why she desired you above all others? Aye, it might have been love, for indeed, she did love you, but she knew even before I did that you could save our people. She waited to marry until she found someone who could do just that. If you choose to leave, her desires for her clan will have been for naught.” Alexander watched the deep blue of the Highlander’s eyes grow darker.

Colin stood silent for several moments before moving toward the large dark walnut door and pushing it open. He stopped his exit halfway into the passage’s outer stone corridor. Gravely, he pivoted and declared quietly, “This isn’t what I wanted, Alexander.”

Green eyes weakened by pain and loss captured the blue ones of the man Alexander had learned to trust and lean upon. “I know,” Alexander replied, “but it has to be. Either you and Makenna marry tomorrow or you leave. Both of you, go now and make peace with your decision.”

Alexander closed his eyes and listened to his daughter’s light retreating footsteps followed by Colin’s heavier ones. Two years ago, when his eldest daughter had announced her decision to marry the second eldest of the famous McTiernays, he never dreamed he would select Colin to be the next laird of his clan. Yet soon after their marriage vows, Alexander knew Colin was the one man who could ensure that his Dunstan lineage continued to grow and be prosperous.

His clan was not ready for another war, and yet despite Edward I’s celebrated death, a fight was coming in the shape of his son, England’s new king. Located on the Scottish Borders, the Dunstan clan was especially vulnerable. It needed a brilliant leader like Colin, who possessed the rare ability to train raw men into skilled warriors ready for combat.

Makenna, with her unorthodox habits of training with the soldiers, was the only one of his offspring who understood just how depleted the Dunstan forces had become while supporting Wallace’s cause. Without McTiernay’s leadership and legendary ability to train and build a loyal force, his people would be enveloped by another branch of Dunstans, and his bloodline would fade as if it never was. Makenna would most likely be forced to wed the man designated to run Lochlen Castle, and Colin would be obliged to return north, causing his soldiers to either go with him or disperse. Some would join Robert the Bruce’s campaign, but very few would remain loyal to the Dunstans. Most had joined to follow McTiernay, and the majority of them would follow him to the Highlands if he left. Eventually the Dunstans would be no more.

There would be a marriage tomorrow.

There had to be.


Colin marched out of the dayroom and descended the tower’s stone spiral staircase. Rounding the last turn, he exited into Lochlen Castle’s inner ward and proceeded along the southern curtain wall leading to the inner gate. Named for Malcolm Canmore III, the Canmore and Forfar Towers were two of the castle’s most prominent structures.

After the Viking raids, Malcolm III was one of Scotland’s first rulers to defy the Norman kings of England reluctant to accept Scottish independence. Malcolm’s leadership inspired the construction of many keeps, including Lochlen, named after the small lake located southwest of the castle’s town wall. Continually fortified for over two hundred years, Lochlen had been transformed into a small, well-fortified castle nestled between the Lammermuir Hills and the River Dye Water. Seven towers unevenly spaced to fit the rolling contours of the land formed the castle’s odd-shaped inner ring. Surrounding the main castle was a thick outer curtain wall connected by intermittent round drum towers situated to protect the two main outer gates.

Colin had intended to continue expanding and securing Lochlen by completing the town wall surrounding the local village. While it would only protect clansmen who made their home behind the stone barrier, the wall would create a place for Dunstans and allies to come and seek refuge when under attack.

With Alexander’s decree that he leave, the wall would be completed without him.

Colin’s mood darkened with each step. He had been walking among Dunstan clansmen for almost two years and still the men and women scampered like frightened children out of his path. Today was no different as one by one they ceased their occupation and dashed out of view. He knew his black mood was clearly etched on his face, but Colin doubted his expression was the cause behind their fast disappearance. The Lowlanders darted out of sight because of who he was—an unwanted outsider, an undesired future clan leader, and worst of all—a Highlander.

Only one man in sight was brave enough to approach Colin rather than flee. With one brief glance, Dunlop discerned his commander’s ill temper and the conversation that had caused it. Wide-shouldered and muscular with thinning brown hair, Dunlop deluded many to believe he was older than a man of five and twenty years. Even Colin had been surprised to learn Dunlop’s age when he was first conscripted into the Highlander’s burgeoning cluster of men. Soon, though, Dunlop and his best friend, Drake, were true converts, learning much from the Highlander, including how to trust and follow an outsider. Colin in turn had made them both his commanders. In time, Dunlop and Drake learned how to train and then strengthen raw, inexperienced men with the necessary skills to become warriors. It was now their responsibility to observe the ranks and ensure that the skills of every man grew steadily each day.

In order to hide their multiplying numbers, Colin had split his men into two groups. Those ready for combat honed their abilities behind the Lammermuir Hills under Drake’s command. A lack of natural passes and the hills’ steep gradients, though not especially high, formed a formidable barrier. Consequently, travelers circumvented the area, unaware of the nearby force being trained discreetly. Dunlop worked with the second group, consisting of new and inexperienced recruits, in the Dunstan training fields located east of the town wall in an isolated spot to discourage casual observation.

Colin was well aware that many believed his army consisted of only those men spotted training in the fields. They thought his training slow, his numbers few, and the soldiers unprepared. He did not intend to convince them or anyone else otherwise.

Soon after his arrival, when the army’s growth started becoming noticeable, Colin and Alexander decided to keep its true size a secret known only to them and his commanders, Dunlop and Drake. Makenna was the one person Colin suspected might be able to discover the truth. Despite ending her eccentric habit of training and sparring with his men, the willful woman wanted to watch. Very quickly, she would have noticed skilled soldiers disappearing from the training grounds and would have sought him out for answers. Colin had no intentions of giving explanations, especially to where his more advanced soldiers had gone. Consequently, he had forbidden her to come near the grounds, a decision he had paid for many times with loud curses and verbal attacks.