Chapter 1

McDowell Castle, Scotland, 1765

Kyven stuck her head through the doorway, peering at someone she knew she should not be watching.

Captain Gilchrist was sitting in his usual chair in the library of McDowell Castle. It was surprising to find a soldier, a military leader at that, so often in this room, reading alone or in her company. It was their tradition for him to read aloud as she sat nearby, painting and drawing, but not today. On this day, she'd had much to do, and now that she was free, as the sun set, she had come to find him.

Seemingly unaware of her presence, she watched him sitting in the vast Flemish baroque chair that he always occupied, his uniform pulled tightly across his tall and broadly muscled frame. His legs were a little apart, the book resting on just one large palm.

Kyven's mouth turned a little dry. His black hair was cropped short these days, though he had once worn it longer, and she could remember the way the ends used to tease his forehead. The stubble across his chin was growing longer too, and she wondered if that dark hair on his angular jaw was soft or sharp to the touch. The blue eyes, dark like a stormy ocean, were trained on the book, calmly moving from one word to the next.

A candle beside him kept him company and the fire that burned in the hearth gave out a soft glimmer, the only sources of orange light in the room to compete with the black sky. At this time of year, it grew dark so early, most of the day seemed black. So often had Kyven thought of Captain Gilchrist as a source of light in that darkness, despite his quiet, nearly always silent manner.

"Since when did the lady of the clan become a spy?" Captain Gilchrist asked without looking up from his book, his deep voice making something in her stomach quake.

His voice always had this effect on her. It was as if he could reach into her very soul just with his words.

"How did ye ken I was here?" she asked, stepping into the room and moving her hands to her hips.

At last, Captain Gilchrist looked up from what he was doing. He raised one dark eyebrow in her direction, not quite smiling, as he rarely smiled, though there was a lightness in his gaze.

Sometimes I feel it is only I who kens him well enough tae understand what that look means.

"It's unusual fer ye nae tae be here," he said quietly, returning his blue eyes to the book. "Though many wonder why we enjoy spending time here reading together."

"It is me library," she reminded him teasingly, moving to kneel on the hearth rug and turn her body to the fire. She extended her hands toward the flames, trying to warm her body. "Maybe people should question why ye are in me library so much."

"Fer the books," he said simply, turning the page.

"Sometimes people wonder if ye come fer another reason," she continued to tease him. He raised an eyebrow again, showing what he thought of those words, though he didn't look away from the book.

She laughed softly, trying her best to release the sudden tension in the air. She often teased him in that way, for it was what everyone said of the two of them.

Even her maid had wondered if the two of them were secret lovers as they spent so much time with one another. Kyven's particular reply to that question had been sharp, tart, and an attempt to cover a secret hurt.

"Captain Gilchrist would nay more look at me fer a wife than he would his dog. I am simply someone tae keep him company in that library."

Though, of course, she wished he would look at her in that way. There had been a time when she had thought he was fond of her, but that was a long time ago now. After the first couple of years of dancing around one another, Gilchrist had never made a move or even truly flirted with her. It had only ever been a jest.

"What is it, Kyven?" he whispered.

She startled, wondering if he had noticed just how much she was staring at him. It was a habit of hers, one she indulged in far too much.

He doesnae think of me in that way.

She turned her focus on the fire, watching as the yellow flames licked the wood.

"It's just today," she murmured with a sigh. "It's been a busy day, going tae the mausoleum."

"Ah." He closed the book sharply and rubbed the brow of his forehead. "I'm sorry, Kyven. I didnae even think about what today is fer ye."

"It doesnae matter."

"Of course it matters." He sighed and placed the book on the table beside him.

Turning in the chair to face her, he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He came so close, her breath hitched in her throat. She wet her lips, trying her best not to think about his proximity, or how she felt a heat not just from the fire, but from him.

"How was it?" he asked, his voice soft.

"As it usually is," she murmured. "Me father's death… I feel the usual ache, the grief, the anger at the Gregors fer what they did tae him, although it was a long time ago now. But at least the sharpness of the pain isnae as bad as it once was."

Gilchrist shifted in his seat. For a moment, she thought he was uneasy, but then she presumed it was just because the subject they were discussing was death.

Who could ever be easy when speaking of it?

"Hmm." He nodded slowly. For a moment, she thought he might say more, perhaps speak of his own father. In all the time she had known him, he had never mentioned his own family. He must have had a father, but was he dead? Or was he still alive? And if so, why did Gilchrist never speak of him? "I am sorry," he whispered to her. "I ken it is of little comfort, but it will get even easier in time. Trust me."

Maybe his father is dead.

She was about to ask him. Was it so wrong to want to know something about Captain Gilchrist's life after knowing him for eight years? She had first met him when she was scarcely more than a child, and he had appeared, acclaimed by the captain of their army at the time. Just a stranger, Gilchrist had come across some of his scouts on the road as they were being attacked by bandits. Stepping in and saving their lives had earned him such praise that he had been quickly enlisted in their own army and had advanced fast through the ranks to become their new captain.

That scrap of his life was all she knew of him, though she longed to know more. Yet she feared he would shut down and refuse to answer her if she asked more, as he had done in the past.

"It's nae just that," she said instead. "After what me family did recently, can ye blame me fer feeling a little… lost on a day like today?"

"Nae at all." He slowly shook his head, turning his face to the fire and also staring at the flames. "Yer sister is gone though. She cannae hurt ye or anyone in this life again."

"Aye. I ken." Yet it was sometimes hard for Kyven to accept.

After her father had died, her uncle had come to take care of the clan. After his passing, the lairdship had been given to Kyven's older sister, Imogen. A less loving sisterly relationship would be hard to find. Imogen had always blamed her for killing their mother in childbirth and so the women never got along.

When Imogen had become lady of the clan, she had lied about taking a husband, Elliot Sutherland. She blackmailed and manipulated him into doing her bidding by imprisoning his father, while keeping a lover by the name of Ossian Macauley. He was a foul man whose greed had been fanatical. In the end, both Ossian's and Imogen's greed and manipulative actions had seen them falling to the bottom of a cliff together.

A year had passed since then, but Kyven was still haunted by her elder sister dying in such a way. She was never sure whether to grieve her or not.

"Kyven?" Gilchrist's deep voice called her back to the present, and she looked at him, turning her head his way. The heat he emanated made her warm again, and it somehow made it easier to forget the darkness of the past. "All will be well. I promise ye that."

"How can ye ken that?" she asked, her voice shaking a little. "The council insist I marry, so a new laird can be found fer the clan."

"There are some good things tae marriage," he said, the smallest of smiles pulling at his lips.

"Ye mean like the happiness we have found in this room?" she asked, feeling brave but regretting the words a second later.

"Aye, maybe yer husband will read tae ye, as I dae."

A sudden coldness washed over her body, and she looked away from him, into the flames.

He will never look at me as a possible wife.

She had to push away all the pictures she'd ever had of her and Captain Gilchrist together. She had often dreamt of the two of them, sitting in this room, reading and drawing into the late hours. What would it be like if a small child ran between them, with her green eyes and Gilchrist's black hair? She always pretended in front of other people that she couldn't care less for Gilchrist but deep inside, her truth was different.

"Knock, knock," a familiar voice called from the doorway.

Kyven looked around, surprised to be disturbed in this room. She considered the library her haven, her place to be alone with Gilchrist.

In the doorway stood Aaden. He had been Elliot's man-at-arms when he had stood in place of the laird of the clan, and still occupied the position, though he was not their war leader. These days, that role resided with Captain Gilchrist.

Aaden's dark blond hair was ruffled, as if a lover had just trailed a hand through it. His rather full beard these days was neat in comparison and as he leaned on the doorframe, she noticed one of the laces of his doublet was tied at an odd angle, as if he had just thrown it on. She sighed loudly, realizing he must have seduced one of her maids again.

"Nae disturbing, am I?" he said with a mischievous smile, leaning on the frame. "Only, ye'd think the two of ye might be locked in an embrace, based on the amount of time ye spend alone in this room together."

"Aaden!" she snapped at him, her face blushing as purple as a beetroot. She refused to turn around and meet Gilchrist's eye. "Just because ye jump into bed with every woman in me clan, doesnae mean every man is like ye."

"Nae every woman." Aaden winked at her. "I havenae found a bed with ye in it yet, have I?"

"Aaden." Gilchrist's warning tone only made Aaden laugh all the more, tipping his head back and guffawing.

"Ye ken I would never dae that tae me lady." He bowed ostentatiously. "Now, before I can tease ye and make poor Lady Kyven's face even redder, ye are needed Gilchrist. The scouts have returned and seen movements of the other clans' soldiers. They wish tae talk tae ye."

"I'm coming." Gilchrist stood. Kyven looked up at him, wondering if the fear showed on her face.

It was something the council had talked to her about an awful lot, how without a laird in place, someone could seek to take advantage of their weakness as a clan and attack to take the land for themselves.

"It will be nothing tae worry about," Gilchrist said, pausing beside her, his voice deepening. "Trust me," he added. "Any soldier would have tae fight me tae get here, and I'll be as ruthless as the devil in his fiery hell tae stop them." With these impassioned words, spoken so calmly he might as well have been talking about the weather, Kyven shuddered in a kind of delight.

She waited, watching as Gilchrist left. Aaden didn't follow him thought, just standing in the doorway, staring at her.

"Ye dinnae need tae blush so much now. He's gone."

"Then dinnae make such comments like that in future. Ye are simply poking at something that isnae there."

"Ah, Kyven." He sighed loudly and stepped into the room. "I could jest about ye and Captain Gilchrist all day, but unfortunately, business calls and the council want ye."

"What fer?" she asked, noting that all traces of humor had left Aaden completely.

"They have found a husband fer ye."