Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

DUMBARTON CASTLE, DUMBARTONSHIRE, SCOTLAND, 1314

I pledge myself tae you, Errol, but you must wait tae ask for my hand in marriage. We lost my poor mother only three days past and my father and I need time tae grieve—och, I must return tae the great hall before he misses me!

Errol Sutherland winced at the haunting memory as he paced outside the chamber where King Robert the Bruce was in counsel with some of his highest-ranking warriors.

A meeting that had gone on now for over an hour while he waited impatiently, his beloved Tira Cheyne forever upon his mind.

If he had known when he kissed her soft lips that Tira would be abducted by enemy Mackay clansmen a few days later, and then traded to ruthless Orkney raiders before she could be rescued, he would never have let her go!

With love shining in her beautiful dove gray eyes, she had whispered a farewell and then hastened back into the great hall where mourners had gathered after the funeral.

Errol and his father, Hamish, had been among those to pay their respects to Monroe Cheyne, the chieftain of a sept of Clan Sutherland whose lands bordered Mackay country. Errol hadn’t seen Tira since she was a gawky twelve-year-old, but when he had spied her in the front pew of the church, he had felt a jolt of emotion unlike anything he’d known before—and realized then, Tira was the woman he would marry.

Her long flaxen hair had gleamed like gold in the candlelight. Her milk-white hands folded in prayer for the soul of her mother as mournful tears had streaked her rose-tinged cheeks.

Errol had stood in the opposite front pew as befitting the rank of his father, the most powerful chieftain of Clan Sutherland, and had been unable to look away from Tira—no matter Hamish had elbowed him several times in the ribs.

Nothing could have made Errol tear his eyes from her while his heartbeat thundered in his ears, so fiercely had love struck him.

So suddenly, too, but he had felt no astonishment…only a certainty burning in his chest that he would do anything to make Tira his wife.

“Ah, God, how much longer ?” Errol grated as he paced again by the closed door, gritting his teeth at the impatience ripping him apart.

The long months since he had discovered last November that Tira was still alive had been a tormenting nightmare from which he feared he would never wake—until spring had finally come to the Highlands.

The deep snow melted and the treacherous sea currents between the northernmost coast of Scotland and the Orkney Islands calmed enough at last to launch a mission to find her…if King Robert would loan him several ships and crew.

Aye, even one thirty-oared birlinn would be enough if manned by seasoned warriors ready to fight the ruthless raider who held her, Thorgren Sigurdson.

Cursing under his breath, Errol swallowed against bile rising in his throat at what Tira must have suffered since she was abducted last summer—och, he couldn’t think of it!

Agonizing months had passed before he learned that she still lived. That wintry November day, he and his father’s men had joined forces with the Mackays to attack the raiders who held Tira—only to discover that his sister, Rowen, who had been forced to marry Alec Mackay at the behest of King Robert, was a captive as well.

A fierce battle had ensued with half of the raiders standing their ground to fight while the rest, including Thorgren with Tira and Rowen slung like sacks over his shoulders, had run for the two ships yet to be set ablaze. Errol had watched helplessly as both birlinns were rowed from the cove where the raiders had camped for the night, and with Tira still in the raider’s clutches.

They had come so close to rescuing her— so close !—that Errol was swept by fresh anguish as intense as if it had been yesterday.

His only solace was that Rowen had thrown herself from Thorgren’s ship and been dragged safely from the frigid water by her husband, though Errol knew she grieved still that she had not been able to help Tira.

Rowen was happy in her marriage and expecting her first bairn, and the once-thought impossible peace had held fast between the Mackays and the Sutherlands, which Errol hoped would sway the king in his favor. Even if he possessed his own warship, the chieftains of Clan Sutherland would not have allowed him to sail for the Orkney Islands without King Robert’s permission.

War loomed with England, King Edward amassing his vast army at Scotland’s border. Errol knew his chances were slight that King Robert would spare any ships and warriors, which made him pace faster, his hand fisted on the hilt of his sword.

What would he do if his request was denied? God help him, he couldn’t think of that outcome, either!

Instead, Errol thought again of Tira and how she had slipped away from the funeral feast in her father’s great hall to join him in the corner of the foyer for a few precious moments.

Her slim fingers had trembled as she clasped his hands, her fair cheeks flushed and her lovely eyes shining with emotion that told him she had felt the jolt, too…

“You’ve grown so tall since last I saw you, Errol. I couldna believe it when I saw you and your father enter the church.”

“Ah, so you noticed me straightaway,” he teased her, though his heart pounded as she nodded.

“I had hoped you would come tae the funeral?—”

“Aye, I grieve for your loss, Tira. You’ve grown as beautiful as your mother…if not more.”

Her blush warmed him more than he could have imagined, the stirring scent of roses emanating from her skin, her hair, making him squeeze her fingers and step closer.

“Dare I hope that you bear feelings for me as I bear for you, Tira? I canna but tell you the truth. I love you and wish tae marry you…if you will have me.”

The rush of emotion across her face, wonder, aye, and joy, making him feel breathless, Errol could see she trembled even more and he longed to fold her into his arms.

“Oh, Errol, I’ve loved you since last I saw you. Could you not see it? Didna you know?”

He did pull her close then, her slender body fitting perfectly against him just as if they had been forged for each other.

Her sweet breasts pressed to his chest while his heart soared…and he kissed her hair, her temple, her cheek.

“I will speak tae your father—aye, today!”

Only then had he felt her grow tense in his embrace, and she had pulled away to look up at him and utter the words that had tempered his impatience, however reluctantly.

I pledge myself tae you, Errol, but you must wait tae ask for my hand in marriage. We lost my poor mother only three days past and my father and I need time tae grieve…

God help him, if he could only have known of the treachery that would tear her away from him! Those Mackay bastards had been tracked down and captured by Tira’s father and his men—and beheaded for their heinous crime—but not soon enough to prevent her from being sold to Orkney raiders. Fiends! Ravagers!

Groaning in fury and frustration, Errol stopped his pacing and pounded upon the door—only to have it open so suddenly that he nearly stumbled into the room.

Catching himself, he straightened and stared at a dozen or so men clustered around a long table spread with maps, and who stared back at him.

Errol had never seen the king before, but he knew at once that King Robert was the stocky, broad-shouldered man at the end of the table from the air of command that surrounded him.

“It took you long enough tae demand entrance, Sutherland. We were wondering if you had changed your mind and decided tae return home?—”

“ Never , my lord king!” Errol cut him off, striding further into the room. “If you will only hear me?—”

“Och, man, I know of your plight from your father’s messenger two weeks past. Did you know he asked me tae try and discourage you from so dangerous a quest?”

Now Errol could only stare at King Robert, who had come around the table to face him a few steps away. The man’s feet spread and his hands fisted at his hips as he looked Errol up and down with piercing light brown eyes that seemed to bore into him.

“You favor Hamish, aye, you look strapping and strong—but he fears you’re not ready tae face a host of Orkney raiders.”

“ Not ready ?” Errol echoed, incredulous. “I’ve trained hard since I was a lad and can best any of my three elder brothers in a fight! I dinna understand why my father would discourage me from saving the woman I love—aye, the woman I will marry!”

“Mayhap he favors you above the others, as his youngest son, and doesna wish tae lose you. What are you now? Nineteen years?”

“Twenty-one, my lord king—and if you know of my plight, what is your answer? Will you give me a ship and crew or not? By God, I swear I will find another way tae rescue Tira if you deny me!”

“Ease yourself, Sutherland, will you rage so at the king?”

Errol had been shouting, and he clamped shut his mouth as a powerfully built warrior with thick, shoulder-length hair nearly as red as his own came around the table to stand beside King Robert.

“Gavin MacLachlan…once known as the devil of the sea,” the king said in a low-spoken introduction as again, he stared sternly at Errol as if still taking his measure. “Mayhap you’ve heard of some of these other lairds who have joined me in Dumbarton tae plan for war. Gabriel MacLachlan, the Earl of Argyll and a cousin tae Gavin.”

Errol nodded at the warrior who stood taller than the rest, and who gave him the barest acknowledgement with as stern an expression.

“Cameron Campbell and his brother Conall, both my trusted advisors. Those three saved my life seven years past when Seoras MacDougall sought to cleave my head from my body.”

“Aye, I heard of such events from my father,” Errol said as the king gestured to two more men standing by the table.

“Roger Douglas and his younger brother David, equally trusted. Your brother-in-law, Alec Mackay, trained for several years with Roger before returning home by my order tae marry your sister, Rowen. I demanded all strife between the Sutherlands and Mackays tae cease, and your father assured me in his message that peace prevails, aye?”

“Aye,” Errol murmured solemnly, in truth honored to be among so many renowned Highland warriors whose exploits were legendary in Scotland. “The peace holds as you decreed.”

“Good. I need all my loyal clansmen tae fight the English, and not each other—and that day is swiftly approaching. So you demand a ship and crew?”

“ Request , my lord king,” Errol amended as King Robert glanced at his assembled warriors. “Mayhap my father told you as well that we know the very island where Thorgren Sigurdson makes his home.”

“Aye, from the raiders he left behind tae fight for him that survived tae become your prisoners. What if they lied tae save themselves? What if Sigurdson moves from one island tae another so he can never be found? What if the lass lives no more, Sutherland? Do you believe her strong enough to have survived what she must have suffered since last summer?”

Errol didn’t readily answer, the king’s pointed questions making his chest grow tight and his fist to clench again upon the hilt of his sword.

All of these same queries had tormented him night after night, but what else was he to do than to try and rescue Tira? If there was even a chance she was alive…

“Forgive me for my boldness, King Robert, but have you given up hope for your wife held prisoner these past eight years in England?”

An audible intake of breath went up from the assembled warriors as the king’s broad face grew ruddy with anger, though an instant later he exhaled heavily and shook his head.

“I will never give up hope of seeing Elizabeth again…holding her again—och, Sutherland, you will have your ship and crew, it’s already been decided. I was testing your resolve, and it’s clear you willna give up, either. In truth, your father didna try tae dissuade me, but requested that you have a chance tae retrieve the lass in place of her own father. Monroe’s grief over his wife’s passing and his daughter’s abduction brought about his untimely death, God rest him.”

Now everyone in the room nodded solemnly while Errol’s chest felt as tight as ever, impatience once more overwhelming him.

“ When , my lord king? I canna bear many more days tae pass without knowing if Tira…”

His throat tightening, too, Errol couldn’t say it—and he wouldn’t believe for a moment that she was dead. He would have known it in his heart, which pounded now with relief that he had won a ship, a crew!

“Aye, I know as well how you feel, man. I’m certain in my heart that Elizabeth still lives, though even as a king, I havna been able tae discover where the English have imprisoned her. Bastards ! You will leave at dawn with Laird Gavin MacLachlan, who will accompany you tae the Orkneys on one of his warships. He knows the sea and its currents like no other, and he has plundered as a raider and knows their ways—though he was wise enough tae stay away from any of my ships. Aye, MacLachlan?”

Gavin’s grim nod did little to stunt Errol’s surprise that the renowned laird would accompany him, but now it was King Robert who sounded gruffly impatient.

“Enough, we have a battle tae plan! You have ten days tae search for the lass and bring her back tae Scotland, Sutherland, no more. I need Laird MacLachlan with me tae prepare for war. Now get some food and some rest, dawn will come soon enough.”

Ten days ? Errol was about to protest only to be waved to silence by Gavin, who indicated to him with a pointed glance to leave the room. Already the king had turned his back and returned to the table along with his warriors, who began to pore again over maps and discuss strategy in low voices as if Errol had never interrupted them.

Ten days. Would it be enough time? Exhaling heavily, Errol did as he was bade and went to the door, only to glance over his shoulder to see that King Robert watched him.

A pensive look on the man’s face as if he wished that he was setting off as well to find the woman he loved—och, Errol swore then and there that he would do anything to help the king regain his beloved wife once he rescued Tira.

As to how or when that chance to assist King Robert might occur, he had no idea…but for now, Errol couldn’t have said anything more, his heart was pounding so hard with gratitude.