Page 1 of Scot of Seduction

CHAPTER ONE

Clan Mackintosh

Highlands, May 1698

Catreena pushed her head through the gap between the doors, listening intently. Her head was cocked to the side and her blonde hair gathered behind her ears so she could hear clearly.

The guards were marching up and down the battlements of the castle walls, clearly just as determined to keep everyone inside as they were to keep intruders out.

“Ye give yer orders carefully, eh, Alec?” Catreena muttered under her breath, as if she could indeed speak to her older brother, the Laird of the Macintoshes, though he was currently miles away, visiting family in the clan of his wife Kira. Clearly, he had given careful instructions when he left to make sure she was guarded in this castle, more prisoner than free.

Something in the back of Catreena’s mind told her Alec had left such instructions only to keep her safe, but her frustration and boredom made this thought vanish as if it had been magicked from her mind. With Alec away, and Bran, her second brother, also gone with his wife Ilyssa, that left only Dunn, her twin brother, and Evander, her other brother, for company. They were both so caught up in their own business those days, they hardly noticed her when she wished to talk or find entertainment. Fortunately for her, they did not seem to notice much either when she tried to sneak out of the castle.

Catreena waited with bated breath, feeling the cool night breeze on her cheeks as the guards’ footsteps faded away, then she stepped out onto the battlement walls. Lit by the stars above, the castle looked colder than it did in daylight, the stone whiter and much more ghoulish. She shivered as she looked around the bare wall, seeing the spots where some of the guards had left their weapons, ready to snatch up. The sight of those weapons reminded her of the battles that had ensued in these walls and in others.

We’re nae safe. That’s what Alec keeps telling me.

She backed away from the weapons as quickly as she could, going in the opposite direction to the guards. She reached for the nearest watch tower and scrambled down the spiral staircase nestled deep within the grey walls, running her fingers along the stones to ensure she did not lose her balance and fall.

It was always the same, whenever she thought of the battle and bloodshed that happened between the clans of Scotland. It made her fear the future, and fear what men were capable of doing to one another. Her brother’s parting words before he left with Kira on his travels sent a shiver up her spine.

“Remember, Catreena, the son of Laird Gilroy Grant wants revenge on us all after his faither’s death. Ye must stay inside the castle.”

Yet she was tired of staying indoors, and she thought it unlikely that at this time of night, Cillian Grant would steal inside Clan Mackintosh lands to take revenge on her family when so few of them were gathered there.

It’s time for an adventure.

She turned the key in the lock of the door and pushed it open, stepping out beyond the watch tower into the outer grounds. She inhaled deeply, feeling the chilly spring air fill her lungs.

“Freedom,” she whispered to herself. “Aye, it’s wonderful tae breathe easily.” She giggled at what she was doing, the mischief of it all, and glanced back toward the door of the tower, being careful to close it behind her. No guard had noticed her, and before they patrolled back to that tower, she shot off at a run.

With the skirt of her paisley gown tucked into one hand, she sprinted as fast as she could between the trees, running on her toes to avoid making too much noise. The scent of the fresh pine needles filled her nose, as did the wild garlic, stronger and more pungent, the fragrance wafting up from where she kicked the plants as she ran. More than once, she nearly tripped on the roots of trees in the darkness, but she did not care. She simply reached out to nearby trees, steadying her balance before running again.

In the distance, something glistened in the dark. The moon, strong, almost full like a vast candle, was shining on the surface of the loch. She hurried toward it, peering between the branches of the Douglas firs and larches, to glimpse the loch bank.

“Och, it’s beautiful,” she whispered, coming to a halt at last on the riverbank. She panted, catching her breath as her gaze took in the sight of the shimmering loch and the distant mountains. Giggling with delight at her escape in the darkness, she wandered along the loch bank, searching for what she gone there for.

Sophia had said it would be here. Aye, on the loch bank.

She wafted her hands through the long reeds at the edge of the loch, searching by moonlight. For the past few years, Catreena had watched the healer, Sophia’s, to learn all she could from her. Practically an apprentice, Catreena was learning how herbs could heal a man. It was a fascinating subject, a world of tonics and potions that sometimes seemed more magic than science at all. Her twin, Dunn, seemed to be the only one out of her brothers who understood her fascination for such a world, though he too had issued caution about not learning too much.

“Remember ye are sister tae a laird now, Catreena. A healer’s life isnae the one fer ye.”

She had asked what he meant, what he expected the path of her life to be, but he had chosen not to answer.

“Ah, there ye are,” she whispered, coming to a halt on the loch bank. A small and hairy plant stretched up before her. Short and stubby, it was very difficult to find at the side of the reeds, encapsulated in muddy marsh land. The thing that made it most identifiable were the hundreds of tiny white flowers speckled across the stem. The moonlight glinted off the petals, revealing what it was.

Gypsywort.

Sophia had told her what properties it could have for those who struggled to sleep and suffered errant beatings of their heart at night.

She reached forward, about to pluck the plant from the ground, when she felt a chill run up her spine. She froze, her fingers still outstretched toward the plant that swayed in a breeze that rippled around the loch.

The evening may have been cold, but the chill which had run up Catreena’s spine had little to do with that. She had the unmistakable feeling she was being watched.

She stood abruptly tall, stiffening her spine and jerking her head around. Her eyes traced the side of the loch, the undisturbed water, smooth as glass, and the dark mass of trees nearby. She staggered a little as she backed up into the marshy earth, her eyes on those trees. If someone was indeed watching her from that darkness, she had no way of knowing. They would be too hidden.

With one hand, she scrambled to retrieve the dirk she carried in her belt. It never left her side now, and she kept it there at Alec’s insistence, though she had to admit it was now a wise decision. Keeping the dirk close to her side, she clasped her fingers tightly around the hilt, ready to attack if needed.