Prologue

PROLOGUE

E dina was suspended from a thick branch of the elm tree at the extreme length of her arms. Indeed, she was hanging on by her fingertips, and knew that if she slipped even half an inch she would fall straight downwards, but she would not hit the ground. Instead, she would land on top of her friend, Aidan, who was standing directly underneath her. She eyed the crown of his red-brown hair, wondering exactly where her feet would land. On his head? His shoulders? Should she risk it? Then she decided she would. He was only three feet below the tips of her toes, after all. How much harm could she do?

She caught the eye of the older of the two brothers, Lewis, and smiled mischievously. Lewis smiled back and shook his head slightly. It was a token attempt to discourage her, but he knew that he was wasting his time. He knew the spirit that lived in Edina, an imp that was so wayward and wild that it was impossible to tame. When he saw the gleam in her eyes that told him she was about to let go of the branch, he reacted swiftly and pushed his brother forward out of harm's way.

Lewis was unable to move quickly enough, however, which ended up with him landing on top of his brother so that Edina fell on top of both of them, resulting in an untidy heap of bodies.

Lewis pushed Edina off the top of the pile and stood up, then helped Aidan to his feet.

Aidan wiped himself down, then glared at Edina as he sucked the blood from his hand, which had been cut in the fall.

"You'll pay for that!" he said in a tone of mock menace. "Just you wait, you wee besom!"

He did not tell her how dangerous her little stunt had been because it simply never occurred to any of them that they could come to any harm. They were only playing, after all, and at their age they were immortal anyway.

Edina grinned and stuck her tongue out at him, then gave a little squeal and dashed away, snaring her skirts on the undergrowth as she went. She had been reprimanded a hundred times by her nanny and her mother about the state of her clothes. She never took any notice, though, despite her mother's threats of confinement to her chamber and the withdrawal of her favourite dolls.

She came home one particularly dreadful day in a worse state than ever before, and tried to creep into the castle by the servants' staircase so that no one would see her. Her luck was out that day, however, since one of the chambermaids passed her on her way to work. Ordinarily this would not have been a problem, since they were mostly indifferent to the escapades of the children. However, this particular woman, Mhairi Martin, had been with the family for years and was something of an institution. Edina knew she had no defence, and slumped in defeat. There was nothing she could do now but face the music and hope for the best.

That was why Edina was forced to face her mother guiltily as that poor long-suffering woman gazed at her, horrified, wondering what on earth had happened to her precious little girl. Edina stood mutely gazing at the floor, avoiding her eyes. Her hair was tangled into something that resembled a filthy bird's nest, her dress ripped and soaked up to the knees with mud, and her face was only visible through a mask of mud.

"What have you been doing?" Bettina McCarthy asked furiously. "Here is another perfectly good dress I will have to throw in the fire. This is a sinful waste, Edina. Many young girls would have been very glad to get a dress like that!"

After her mother had forced her into a bath and had her scrubbed from head to toe, a shiny and clean Edina stood on the floor of her bedchamber while she administered a stern warning.

"This is the last time, Edina." Her voice was grim. "If this happens one more time, you are forbidden from seeing your friends again except inside the castle. Do I make myself clear?"

Edina nodded. She would try her best, she thought, and she did, for a few weeks, until Aidan's and Lewis's taunts and teasing became too much. Every day, she watched the two brothers saunter out of the main entrance to the castle, while she was obliged to dither along slowly behind them. She would fizz with frustration as she pulled her skirts out of the way of any tangling bushes. They were always making remarks to each other about how much fun they were going to have, knowing she was listening but could not join in. Then they would dash away to wrestle in the bushes and climb trees, leaving her to stand and watch impotently.

Finally, she could stand it no longer, and that was why today she raced as fast as she could through the spiky bushes being pursued by her playmates, all three of them laughing at the tops of their voices. Then she had started climbing the elm tree in her attempt to escape them and found herself in a rather comical situation; crashing the two brothers under her weight, while losing her grasp of the branch and falling down.

When she caught her breath and decided not to care about the state of her dress any more, Aidan ran towards Edina and pushed her out of his way. All his weight was behind them, and he had been moving at full speed, so she toppled backwards and lay on the ground, utterly stunned, before Lewis knelt down and bent over her.

"Edina, are you hurt?" he asked anxiously.

She sat up, looking dazed, and for a moment she could say nothing, then her face screwed up in pain before she began to weep.

Lewis was looking at her left hand. Edina had instinctively used her hands to break her fall, and in doing so, had impaled one of them on a sharp stone. Now it was bleeding profusely, and she was in agony.

Lewis growled softly to himself, then took her little hand in both of his own and rubbed it gently.

"Do not cry, Edina," he told her. "I'll fix it."

He looked down at the shirt he was wearing, and finding nothing else suitable, he let go of Edina's hand long enough to tear a strip from it and wind around the wound as a makeshift bandage.

He had always felt protective of his little friend, even though, as a girl, she had always held the boys back from their most outrageous exploits. Edina was the younger sister he had never had, and as such he felt a special tenderness for her, more than ever now when she looked so tiny and helpless. However, he felt no such emotion for his brother, only a raging anger at that moment.

He helped Edina to her feet, then they moved unhurriedly to meet Aidan, who was watching stones skip across the surface of Loch Dubh, the water source for the castle and the village. Aidan was grinning, not aware of the commotion he caused behind him. But when he looked at his brother's face, his smile disappeared. He dropped the stone he was holding to come reluctantly over to them.

"What happened now?"

"You knocked her over, and she cut her hand," Lewis informed him. "I do not think it's too serious, but we will have to get back to the castle."

"Wait." Aidan was indignant. "She cut mine first!"

He held up his right hand to show the barely visible nick on his knuckle and glared at the little girl. She looked so small and vulnerable that he was sure she was doing it on purpose to twist his brother around her little finger. Well, it was not going to work on him!

"I was only playing," she said in a small voice.

Lewis's protective arm was around her shoulders, and she nestled further against him as he spoke to Aidan. He always made her feel so safe, and although the boys looked very alike, Edina knew she would never feel about Aidan the way she felt about Lewis. She adored him.

"Do you not think you should say sorry, Aidan?" Lewis sounded slightly threatening.

"I will say sorry if she does," Aidan said grudgingly, pointing at Edina.

Edina had no hesitation. "I am sorry, Aidan," she said. "It was silly of me to jump on you like that."

"Then I am sorry, too."

Aidan came forward to shake Edina's hand, forgetting that it was the injured one, and she winced a little but gallantly said nothing. Even at the tender age of seven, she was learning the subtle art of diplomacy.

They began to walk back towards the castle, and the two boys walked on either side of Edina to keep the bushes away from her.

"I am going to Inverness for school next month," she announced suddenly.

The two boys looked at her, both amazed and puzzled.

"Why?" Lewis asked. "Can they not find you one here?"

"I am staying with my auntie and uncle," Edina began, "Mother's family comes from there, and she wants me to get to know them. There is a very good girls' school there that will teach me how to do a lot of useful and clever things. Oh, and I will learn to become a lady too!"

The brothers exchanged glances.

"What do you have to learn to become a lady?" Lewis asked. "I thought you only had to grow up."

"I think you have to be able to draw and paint and play the piano," Edina answered. "And dance. Then you have to learn manners, and what to wear, and how to talk to people."

"But you can talk to people already." Aidan frowned. "You are talking now."

Edina shrugged. "Yes, but Mother says I will understand better as I grow older."

"Maybe she means learning a foreign language," Lewis mused. "I would like to do that."

"Which one would you like to learn?" Aidan was intrigued.

"French," Lewis answered promptly.

"Me too," agreed Aidan.

"Me three," Edina chimed in, giggling.

They ambled home, and despite her injured hand and her mother's wrath at her shredded and filthy dress, Edina would remember it as being one of the happiest days of her life.