Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

S ix Months Later

The afternoon sky was clear as the sun touched everything as far as the eye could see. Alec Sinclair and his warriors waited patiently behind the ridge to the MacKay lands as their scouts rode forward to see if Seth MacKay was wise of their plans.

“Ye look stiff, Connor,” Alec teased with a wry smile. His older brother shot him a cold look.

“This is an important day for ye, Alec,” Connor snapped. “Ye should take it more seriously.”

“Aye, I do. But I also know that Seth MacKay, even when he’s sober, is no match for us. If he’s smart, he’ll step down. If not, he’ll die,” Alec said simply. He patted the pouch around his waist as if to ensure that it was actually there and it wasn’t just a dream.

Connor Sinclair, as the oldest son, had been groomed to be laird of the Sinclair lands since birth. When their father died, Connor stepped easily into his new position, and Alec took over training the men. Everything was fine. As the younger brother, he had more freedom. He was still heir, but Connor would marry soon and produce a son. Other than his loyalty to the Sinclairs, Alec had no real responsibilities. He didn’t even realize that he was unhappy until the letter came for him.

It was no secret that Seth MacKay was rapidly ruining his clan. Word had somehow reached King Edward of the real damage Seth was doing, and Edward stepped in. Seth was to step down as laird and Alec Sinclair take his place.

Taking over another clan simply wasn’t done. Alec knew that the job wouldn’t be easy. The MacKays would no doubt balk at having a Sinclair as their leader. He would have to take them in hand, retrain their men, and rebuild their strength all while dealing with a clan that didn’t want him. This moment, with his brother, might be the last chance he had to feel at ease for a long while.

“Connor, ye should have taken my offer to bed Dolly,” his friend Shane said as he clapped him on his back. “Perhaps ye wouldn’t feel too uptight.”

“Her name is Ginny, and I should have taken you up on it if only to make sure that she had a good time last night,” Connor snorted.

Alec roared with laughter and even his brother finally smiled. It was rare to see Connor so relaxed. Although the Sinclair clan was in good shape, the responsibility weighed heavily on his brother’s shoulders.

Or maybe rearing their little sister, Grace, was taking its toll on them. The girl had been a hellion all her eighteen years, and the loss of their father hadn’t slowed her down in the least.

“Aye, Ginny was the first girl to warm my bed, and Bonnie was the last. I assure you, they both had quite a good time,” Shane retorted with a wink.

Alec was about to join in on the banter when his horse pricked his ears. Straightening in his saddle, he raised his hands to silence the men as Jamie and Stephen returned.

“No sign of any activity,” Jamie said with a frown. “We could see the crops. They’re in poor shape. I shudder to think of what we will find when we breach the keep.”

Alec nodded. “Verra well. We give Seth MacKay a choice.”

All traces of amusement fled the men as they straightened. They knew things could go one of two ways. The MacKays could surrender and there would be no bloodshed. Or they’d be forced to fight.

Spurning his horse forward, he clenched his jaw as he led the men over the ridge. Every man was different when they faced battle. Shane relieved his tensions with women the night before and held their pleasure in his mind as a reason to fight. Stephen was always spoiling for a battle, and Jamie was loyal until his last breath. He’d ride into the mouth of hell itself for Connor and Alec.

His older brother did everything for duty, but Alec felt almost nothing before battle. A strange sense of peace and calm settled over him. Gone was his pride that his King had chosen him. Gone was the fear that he wouldn’t be good enough. All that was left was the goal.

Take down Seth MacKay.

By the time they made it to the crumbling keep, Seth had been alerted. They were greeted by a sad looking group of men.

Alec swept his eyes over them dispassionately. It was clear that they were loyal to their land, but most were on foot rather than horses, and it was obvious that most of his army were still young and untrained.

“What is the meaning of this, Sinclair?” Seth snarled as he weaved on his horse. It was obvious that the man was drunk but then, from what Alec heard, he stayed in that condition.

“I’m not here of my own volition, MacKay,” Connor said quietly. “Yer poor treatment of yer clan has reached the highest level.”

Connor nodded at Alec, and he stepped forward with the letter. “Seth, I have here a missive from King Edward. Step down as laird, and face the consequences of yer actions in court. The Sinclair warriors are here to see that you comply.”

“Poor treatment?” Seth spat. “Lies! I have done nothing but treat my people fairly. I’ll not be going anywhere with you.”

“Verra well,” Alec said softly as he slid his sword from his sheath. “We have no choice. Let it be known that whoever fights with this man today will do so against the orders of the King.”

He didn’t expect it to make the men back down. They had been taught since birth to be loyal to their laird no matter what the situation, and it was clear that today they would do just that. Alec knew his men well, and he knew they would be as compassionate as possible. Only those that could not be subdued would die today.

“Kill them!” Seth screamed, and his men flew into action. Alec tensed, but he ignored everything around him. He only had eyes for Seth.

By the time Alec got within striking distance, the man fled. Gritting his teeth, Alec raced after him. If there was one thing he hated, it was a coward.

Pulling his horse up short, he slid off the beast and ran up the steps after Seth as the man tried desperately to make it to the tower. Unfortunately for him, he was too drunk to move quickly; Alec grabbed him by the shoulders, turned him around, and slammed him into the stone wall.

“Don’t think I haven’t seen what ye’ve done to these people. Some of the structures are burnt to the ground, the crops are withered, and while they starve, ye are getting rather fat around the middle. Ye deserve the hanging that awaits ye,” Alec snarled. “These people looked to ye, and ye have betrayed them.”

“Ye cannae have my clan!” Seth bellowed. He pulled a dirk from behind him and thrust it forward. Alec moved quickly and had no choice but to bring his sword down.

The man slid to the floor with a low moan and was dead in seconds. Anger washed over Alec. The man had deserved to die in front of hundreds but instead had chosen the coward’s way out.

Reining in his disgust, he strode back out to his horse and rode back to the battlefields. It looked like the Sinclair warriors had everything well in hand.

“Yer laird is dead,” Alec bellowed. “By orders of the King, ye will swear yer fealty to me or ye will find yerself without a clan. Make yer choice wisely.”

The fighting stopped instantly, and there was a mix of emotions on the men’s faces. Most of them looked relieved, but some just stared at him in disbelief, as though he were mad to think they would ever declare their loyalties to him.

One by one, they dropped their swords. It was enough for now. “Who takes responsibility for these men now?”

A hulking man with dark hair and an angry scowl stepped forward. “I’m Kane.”

“Kane. Come with me. I want a tour of these lands. Everyone else, gather the people. I’ll address everyone when I am ready.”

He didn’t look pleased, but Kane did as Alec asked. Silently, they rode side by side through the lands with Shane, Jamie, and Stephen behind them.

“I donnae want this transition to be difficult,” Alec said quietly. “I want ye to know that this has nothing to do with transgressions in the past. I mean to strengthen this clan, and I’ll need yer help to do that. So tell me, Kane. Will ye be fighting me every step of the way, or do ye care enough about yer clan to help me?”

“Seth was no prince, but ye have no right to step in. A MacKay should rule. To abide another is unthinkable,” Kane said shortly.

“’Tis not my choice to be here. I have been summoned by the King, and ye will step aside for the verra same reason. Be the bridge that I need, Kane. Help me.”

Before the man could respond, they were quickly joined by a dozen warriors who didn’t wear the MacKay colors. Alec recognized their leader and immediately curled his lip in disgust. “Innes Campbell. What might ye be doing here?”

“The MacKays are our allies. If ye have slain Seth MacKay, it will be the last thing ye ever do,” Innes growled. He was the younger brother of Mac Campbell, laird, but Alec knew his kind well. When he spoke on behalf of the laird, he was most likely interjecting his own wishes in the decree.

“I’m here by order of King Edward. We gave Seth MacKay a chance to ride peacefully to court. He rather violently declined the offer. I would not make a move against us if I were ye,” Alec said coldly. While Innes’s older brother Mac was a respectable laird, Innes was just as much of a weasel as his friend Seth. King Edward made it clear that if Alec could not take the clan in hand, the job would be given to Innes.

It was just as clear that King Edward didn’t want that, so Alec could only imagine the King’s anger if he failed.

Innes held out his hand expectantly, and Alec reluctantly gave him the letter. He didn’t want Innes to get his grubby hands on the paper much less on the clan itself. Although they were MacKay allies, the people deserved better.

The vile man grunted his disapproval and handed the letter back. “Fine. But that doesn’t mean that I have to leave. The MacKays will continue to have the Campbells as allies, but donnae expect that loyalty to extend to ye.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Alec muttered as he put the letter safely back in his satchel. “Do as ye will. I’m trying to discern how much damage yer friend has wreaked on his people. Feel free to join me. Perhaps ye can explain just what the hell Seth MacKay was thinking.”

Innes narrowed his eyes in anger, but he urged his horse into step with Alec and his men.

Alec ignored him completely. His first step to win over the clan was with Kane, and that was his only focus.

The water trickled down the walls as it mocked her. Cora’s throat was so dry, and yet, in Alec’s last bout of cruelty, he’d chained her to the middle of the prison so that she couldn’t reach the walls.

It was demeaning to lick the walls like an animal, but she would have done it in a heartbeat. There were days when she thought that if dying was her only means of escape, she would gladly take it. Then she thought of her family, her sister, and knew that she couldn’t give up. She needed to protect them.

Seth and Innes were careful. When they came to visit her, they made it very clear what would happen if she made a sound, and they never left a mark that could be seen outside her dress. She didn’t know why they would take such care unless they were afraid of what would happen if word got out that the two men were regularly beating on a prisoner, and a female one at that. She didn’t even know what they’d told the guards she’d done.

At the very least, they hadn’t taken her virtue. For all of Innes’s cruelty, it was apparent that he wanted a virgin on his wedding night. A shudder of disgust ran down her spine as she remembered the last thing he’d whispered in her ear.

Soon.

Obviously they’d thought that enough time had passed that no one would suspect her to be Cora Isles. Soon she’d be wedded to Innes. Her torture would continue, but at the very least, she’d be out of the prison.

She could plot her escape. She could make sure that her sister was safe, and they’d live out their lives far away from Scotland. If she’d learned one thing in the past six months, it was that highlanders were never to be trusted.

Rolling her shoulders, she winced. She was quickly losing feeling in her hands and arms as they hung above her head. They stretched the muscles in her back, and she was aware of every bruise and cut on her skin, every crack in her ribs.

Seth had chained her up hours ago. When did he expect to return? Her hands and arms were going numb.

There was a sudden flicker of light around the corner, and she stiffened. As much as she wanted to be released from the chains, she knew that Seth would find some reason to beat her more.

“How many prisoners are currently housed down here?” a strange voice asked.

“Who the bloody hell are you? Where is Laird MacKay?”

The voices lowered, and Cora strained to hear what they had to say. Finally, the light moved around the corner, and Cora’s eyes opened.

Seth wasn’t with them, but Innes Campbell was, and there was a deadly coldness in his eyes. Whatever was happening, Innes was not pleased about it.

The man clearly in charge was a big man, but that was nothing new. It seemed that all highlanders were big men. The better to beat women for.

Long dark hair framed his large rugged face, and there was blood splattered on his shirt and the tartan of his kilt. Even through her pain and exhaustion, she noted that he did not wear the MacKay colors or the Campbell colors.

Had Seth and Innes sent someone new to torture her?

His face was different though. Cora couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but there was something strange in his dark eyes. Perhaps kindness? Pity? Would she even recognize it if she saw it again? He looked over her curiously, and his lips pressed into a thin line.

“She’s a thief you say? What’s her name?” he asked slowly.

Her guard shrugged. “No idea. I’m not to speak to her.”

“What did she steal?”

“I doonae know that either.”

Alec growled angrily. “Do you happen to know how long she’s been strung up like that?”

“Several hours. Laird MacKay is punishing her.”

“How long has she been here?”

“Six months.”

“Then what could she possibly have done to warrant this?” The new man shook his head. “Release her. Now,” he ordered.

The guard hesitated, but the hard look that the new man gave him was enough for him to fumble with the keys. Once the bars were open, all three men stepped into her prison. The guard unlocked the chains around her wrist, and her arms dropped heavily by her side. Immediately, she stumbled and fell.

The new man stepped forward and caught her. “Easy,” he murmured in her ear. “I’ve got ye.”

Cora couldn’t help it. Even though the arms around her were gentle, she still stiffened. He noticed, but he didn’t let her go.

“Seth MacKay is dead,” he said softly.

Relief swept through her, but it was short-lived. Her eyes fell on Innes, and she knew it wasn’t over. Just because one of her captors was dead didn’t mean that the other one was any less deadly.

“My name is Alec Sinclair,” he continued, still speaking as though he were afraid that he’d scare her. “I am current acting laird of the MacKays. Can ye tell me yer name, lass?”

She opened her mouth to tell him the truth, but suddenly, all she could see was Innes. He shook his head slowly and mouthed a single word to her.

Lana.

Her stomach twisted, and she squeezed her eyes shut. “Claire,” she said finally. “My name is Claire.”

“Yer English,” Alec said in surprise. “What the bloody hell are ye doing here?”

Wasn’t that a story that he would love to hear? Clamping her mouth shut, she kept silent.

“Can ye tell me what ye stole, lass?” Alec asked as he watched her closely. Cora had never been very good at lying, and she couldn’t risk saying anything in front of Innes.

So she said nothing.

Alec sighed and picked her up. She gasped as he swept her up in his arms, and clenched her teeth against the pain from her bruises.

“She’s a thief!” Innes growled. “What do ye think ye are doing?”

“Can ye tell me what ye stole? Cause if no one can tell me what she’s doing here, then I’m not going to keep her here. The woman is obviously in need of a healer. If I discover later that she is indeed a criminal, I’ll deal with her accordingly,” Alec hissed.

Maybe it was the realization that she was finally getting away from the dungeon, or maybe it was the hope that she had an ally, but Cora felt herself slowly sinking into the man’s embrace. He was strong and warm, and although he wore a hard expression on his face, she found him strangely handsome.

Lord, she wasn’t attractive to him, was she?

Looking over Alec’s shoulder, she saw Innes following them with a grim look on his face. She knew that she could tell everyone what he’d done.

What Seth had done.

But then she’d risk Innes following through on his threat to hurt Lana. The girl was only fourteen, and the Thistles had no idea the danger she was in. They’d never be able to protect her.

Lana was more important than Cora. She was a beautiful girl with a bright future ahead of her. Even if Cora had been able to find a husband who was okay with her mother’s occupation, no one would have her after being held in a highlander prison for six months.

No one would believe that she remained a virgin.

No, her future was ruined. She’d take whatever she could get now, and she’d keep Innes’s secret.

For Lana.