Page 4 of Highland Prince of Darkness

Chapter One

6 years later

May didn’t care how loud her boots sounded as they pounded on the stone of the hallway. The castle was alive with activity in the peak of the summer daylight, but the buzz of the place only left May with a heavy feeling of dread.

She rushed through the halls of the castle, hugging her arms close to her chest despite the warmth of the day. May could feel her heart racing in her chest and swallowed thickly as she turned the corridor quickly, making sure not to crash into any of the rushing servants that were coming the other way.

“Sorry,” she muttered, as she walked even faster and bumped the shoulder of a maid.

May could hear the whispers of servants following her down the hall, they were all gossiping about what she could possibly be in so much of a rush for.

It was no secret that her father was ill. May knew that the news had traveled amongst the staff of the castle without stopping, like a river that had nothing to halt its current.

“Is the news true?” May asked, as she burst into the room.

The scene in front of her came to a halt as soon as she entered. May glanced around to see that there was a healer by the bedside of her father and several servants around the room.

“Leave us,” Alistair said, and held his hand up feebly. She winced at how weak her father had become, but it wasn’t enough to cloud over her anger.

May waited for the click of the door before speaking again.

“I want to ken if it’s true.”

“Is what true, May?” he questioned, and sat up slowly, painfully slowly.

“I heard the news. Ye’re going to marry me to a stranger and decided to tell the entire kingdom before ye told me?” May snapped.

“I am doin’ what is best for our clan,” Alistair responded.

“I ken that the finances are bad. I just dinnae think that ye would marry me off so soon, I was surprised to find that out from others.”

“I’m sorry that ye had to hear from others, but ye ken that this would happen one day. A marriage of convenience will keep our clan alive.”

May knew that it was her destiny, but that didn’t make it any easier to process.

“I cannae dae that, not with the current situation that we find ourselves in,” her father shook his head.

“And by doing this, I will save the clan?” May asked in a quieter tone.

“Aye, me child. Ye’ll be doin’ something that will help us all, I promise. Our funds are running low, and I cannae raise the taxes again, it will ruin our people.”

“Father, ye’re too sick to be making such decisions. Have ye consulted with your advisors about any of this?”

“Aye, and they tell me to have ye matched in a strong marriage. One that will fund our lands and will allow us to prosper once more,” Alistair coughed as he spoke.

May nodded at her father’s words, she knew that a time like this was bound to happen, however, she wasn’t ready for it at all.

“I wish that there was another way,” she sighed.

May noticed that her father’s cough wouldn’t go away. The coughing persisted and the sound grated around the room, cutting through their conversation with no mercy. His brows were furrowed, skin slightly more pale than usual, and there was a definitive amount of sweat on his brow.

“Healer! We need a healer in here!” May called back toward the door.

Almost instantly, the healer was brought back into the room, the kind of service that was to be expected for a sick Laird.

May watched while biting at the nails on her right hand, and she knew that it wasn’t proper for a lady like herself to do so, but she needed some way to control her stress. Seeing her father so ill was something that she had never imagined would come to be. Her mother and brother had died when she was so young, the sickness had been relentless, passing through the land like a ravaging fire. She dreaded to think that she was going to see her father succumb to a similar fate.

May thought of the moment six years ago when she had broken Iain out of the cell that her father had imprisoned him in. It had been so thrilling, yet so devastating. It had broken her heart at the time, and still to this day, she could feel the dull ache in her chest from where her feelings had been shattered.