Chapter One
GLEN ORCHY, SCOTLAND
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
KATE CAMPBELL LOOKED her enemy square in his lifeless face and then swung. Her blade severed an arm, but the torso remained intact. Mindless of her uncle’s men honing their battle skills around her, she lifted the ax she gripped in her other hand and grunted as it sank deep into her opponent’s straw chest.
Swiping her hair away from her eyes, she spied her uncle Duncan crossing the small bailey of her holding. He had arrived in Glen Orchy a few days ago to bring her to Kildun Castle, in Inverary. He’d promised to bring her and her brother to his home when they were children, but at the end of each visit he left without them.
Their mother died giving Kate life. Their father was killed at Kildun twelve years after that, just before Duncan was named Earl of Argyll, and Kate and Robert’s guardian.
Kate watched him stalk toward her, his equine legs encased in fine woolen breeches and boots of polished obsidian. His frame was slight, his shoulders narrow beneath an olive doublet. He was built more for priesting than for fighting, though he often bragged of his victories in battle. These battles kept him away from Kildun for months at a time, he’d reminded them many times during his visits, planting a kiss on their foreheads before heading for the doors. Soon he would come to bring them home with him. But he never did. Not even when her father’s vassals began leaving, save for a small handful who raised them.
Kate met the earl’s gaze briefly, and his gray eyes grew dark with intent that made her skin crawl. He may not have wanted her as a child, but he wanted her now.
“You brandish your weapons well, Katherine.” He came up behind her and ducked to his right when she hefted her ax over her shoulder for another crushing swipe, this time to her enemy’s thigh.
Aye, she and Robert had been made to practice day after day. “Amish and John taught us well.”
Behind her, she heard a tight snort. “They have remained loyal soldiers to my brother these many years. But their duty to him is over now. I will see that they are rewarded.” He leaned over her so that his whispered breath clung to her cheek. “It pleases me to know you would fight back should any man try to ravish you.”
Kate clutched the handle of her ax and thought about flinging it over her shoulder. “Truly, Uncle, your concern for mine and Robert’s well-being has always warmed my heart. Especially when you used to remind us how fortunate we were that it was the McColls who raided Glen Orchy every other fortnight, and not the murderous MacGregors.” He hadn’t cared that a Highlander might ravish her while she was growing up, or that there were but a handful of men left in the garrison to fight them if they did.
“When you were a child, the only thing the raiders wanted was sheep. I knew you were safe here. But now you are a woman and the Highlanders will take more than your livestock.” His breath glided over her throat. Kate cringed and brought her ax down hard on her opponent, raining hay on their heads.
“I do not fear any man who thinks to come here to steal my virtue, Uncle.”
“And if our enemy should fall upon you?”
Kate knew whom he meant. He’d spoken of them countless times over the years. “There are hardly any Mac-Gregors left in Scotland worth fretting over. I’m certain I shall never meet one.”
“There are enough of them left to continue to back the royalists’ cause.” The earl curled his finger around a raven lock that fell over her shoulder. “We must not forget how they joined forces with their Catholic Marquis of Montrose against us. Or how many of our kinsmen have died during their murderous rampages. Remember I told you how they massacred the Covenanters without mercy at Kilsyth? I will not let you fall to them, as well. You will do as I say and come home with me.” He gave her hair a tug, as if to remind her that he would not let her refuse.
“This is my home,” she said, stabbing her opponent in the throat.
“Not anymore.” When she stiffened at his sharp retort, he softened his tone. “Robert is eager to see you. It has been near three months since he has set eyes on his beloved sister.”
Kate missed her brother terribly, but he had chosen his path. “My brother has waited years to give his service to the realm, but I am content here, Uncle.”
His laughter raked across her ear. “With a few old men and a handful of servants? What could you hope to do against the Devil, should he find you?”
Kate was certain he already had and was standing behind her at this very moment. Her uncle was trying his best to frighten her into leaving with him, by reminding her of the horrid MacGregors the way children taunt each other with tales of beasties. The most terrifying of them all: The Devil, who had killed over fifty Campbells six years ago in a massacre that had made him legend—and made her and Robert orphans.
Duncan hauled her closer and gritted his teeth. “Have you forgotten already that he killed my father and yours?”
“Nae,” Kate answered without turning. “I have not forgotten.” Indeed, Kate hated him, but she did not concern herself with legends or the foolishness of fearing them.
“And you do not fear such a blood-lustful man?” he demanded while she swung again.
“Nae, I will kill him if ever I meet him,” she vowed, decapitating her enemy with her sword.
“You never will.” The earl slid his hand down her arm until his fingers covered hers. He jabbed her blade into her lifeless opponent, a groan tangling in his throat as he pressed her back to his chest. “Tomorrow you will return with me to Kildun. Only there will you be safe from our enemy.”
Kate stopped fighting and ground her teeth when he kissed the back of her head. “You are my enemy, as well,” she murmured as he swaggered back to his men. She brought her ax upward instead of down; it struck and wedged tightly between her opponent’s legs.
Leaving the ax where it landed, Kate sheathed her sword and walked off toward the meadow where her sheep grazed oblivious and innocent to the lusty wiles of men. It sickened her when she thought of why her uncle wanted her. She’d known of his depravity for some time but had never told Robert. She hadn’t truly thought Duncan would come for her, even after Robert went to live with him, so there was no need. But now he was here and so anxious to get her out of Glen Orchy, she was certain he would drag her there tied to his horse if he had to. Did he think Robert would let him touch her once they arrived at Kildun? Fool. Her brother would slice off Duncan’s hands, uncle or not. Robert was noble and valiant, with a strong sense of duty to protect his clan. It was he who taught her Malory and Monmouth’s tales of Arthur Pendragon and his knights of the Round Table. And it was the terrible tales of the savage MacGregors that drove him to leave their home three months ago and join the other knights of Inverary.
Robert had begged her to go with him, but Kate did not want to leave her home, and she certainly did not want to live with her uncle. She was safe here. The raiders were bothersome but not terribly dangerous.
