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Ian waited at the stables. He prepared two horses, one a black stallion with a mane as dark as the night, and the other a speckled mare that had a grey coat marked by black dots sprinkled near her rump. Her mane was light and sandy. He held out his hand and fed them some carrots while he waited for Ainsly to come to him. The meeting couldn’t have gone any better than he had planned. There was going to be tension lingering for a long time until the two clans had gotten used to being with each other. He could tell that Calan hated him, and Ian was sure that there would be harsh words exchanged later, but there were plans he had that were for the best, even if they seemed hard. There were adjustments that had to be made all over. In his heart, he had always known it was going to be like this, and he was just glad that the clan was not showing signs of rebellion. He was done with fighting. He was ready to settle, and he just needed a little more time before the clans were used to the new way of doing things.

He was pleased to see that Ainsly was adjusting better than he had expected. Her gaze was no longer filled with spite whenever he looked at her, and her words did not burn with anger. He patted the horses on their thick necks. They huffed and whinnied, clopping their hooves against the ground as the stablehand scurried around and prepared them for the ride. The day was sunning and the air was sweet. Before too long, Ainsly appeared, looking radiant. Ian smiled at her and held out his hand, intending to help her onto the horse. Ainsly ignored it and took a running leap onto the horse, pulling herself up. It showed great strength and he immediately remembered the hard muscles that resided underneath the soft skin.

“Are ye coming?” she asked with a twinkle in her eyes, and then took the reins to lead the horse out of the stable. Ian smirked and quickly mounted his horse, leaning forward and riding his black stallion to try and catch her up.

Ainsly was a talented rider and knew the land better than him. She rode her horse across the field towards the forests, but then veered away and followed the path across a clearing that led to the rising hills of the valley. She glanced behind her and her hair flowed out like a flame. As Ian watched her, his heart was filled with desire at the sight of her being so wild and free. Her triumphant laughter drifted on the wind, like a beautiful song that was meant for his heart and his heart alone. He had always been a hard man and had embraced violence over everything else, but now that he was with Ainsly, there was room for something else in his heart, something he didn’t quite understand. It felt safe and warm, and it flowed through his body. It made him feel happy, and he knew that somehow she was responsible. It was as though she had enchanted him with a spell, but he did not bear her any ill will for it.

He geed his horse and pushed it to its limit, trying his best to catch up with her. Clods of mud shot up from the ground as the horse galloped forward. Ainsly rode hard and seemed determined to make Ian chase her hard. He wore a wide grin as he liked that she didn’t make it easy for him. It felt as though their spirits were kin. She disappeared over the horizon. Sweat trickled down the side of his face as he gripped the reins tightly and burst over the hill, seeing Ainsly waiting for him, sitting astride her horse with a straight back, the silhouette of her figure looking gorgeous set against the horizon.

“I thought if I didnae stop ye would never hae caught up,” Ainsly teased.

“I think yer horse is a wee bit swifter than mine.”

Ainsly laughed. “Always blame the rider, never the horse,” she said, her eyes gleaming. She waited for him to trot up beside her and took a deep breath as she looked out at the horizon. It was indeed breathtaking. Wide fields stretched out, looking as though someone had draped lush blankets over the land. There were small hills that rose and fell, and a river gleamed in the distance. Near the far horizon, in the mists where the world seemed to end, there was the outline of mountains and the promise of the unknown.

“Did ye ever think there’s tae much of the world?” Ian said without thinking. “Tae much tae see. I imagine if ye traveled all yer life, ye would never see it all.”

Ainsly’s mouth twitched into a smile. “I used tae want tae. When I was younger I’d come out here and I declared that I would see it all. I planned tae take a horse and keep riding until I found the end of the world. It haes tae be out there somewhere, dinnae it? Can ye imagine what wonders are out there? I used tae get Da tae tell me all kinds of stories about the different lands that lay beyond the horizon. Now I know he made most of them up; at the time I would never let him tell me he didnae know.”

“Ye speak fondly of him.” Ian leaned forward on his horse. Ainsly’s head dipped forward and her hair fell across her face.

“Aye, he was a good man.”

“What happened tae him?”

Ainsly’s words were hesitant. “There was an illness that took him. A fever. We tried everything we could, but naething worked. That was four summers ago.” Her voice faltered and cracked with emotion.

“And then ye became laird.”

“Aye. My ma died when I was wee, tae wee for me tae remember her. Da never had another child. Without any other male kin, it was left tae me.”

“Sae ye never got tae see the world.”

“Aye.” She smiled sadly before she turned her gaze to the horizon again. “But I get tae look out upon these fields and moors. It’s nae a bad sight, all things considered, and I hae the forest as well, filled with all its mystery, although I didnae take ye in there taeday as ye seem tae be well acquainted with them.”

There was a strange tone to her voice as she said this. Ian couldn’t quite place it, but he let it pass without comment. It didn’t seem to be the type of place to talk about the battle. He was only concerned about the future now, although Ainsly seemed to have other ideas.

“What about yer parents?” she asked.

A lump formed in Ian’s throat. The color drained from his face and his expression turned to stone.

“That’s nae a story I like tae tell.”

“Surely ye can tell yer wife?” Ainsly asked. He glanced up as she turned back from the horizon and sidled her horse against his. She was almost close enough to touch. He gazed into her green eyes and found that he could lose himself in them just as easily as he could lose himself in the beauty of the natural world around him. Thoughts stabbed at his mind, flashes of the past that he had tried to vanquish, but that still tortured and haunted him. There were nights when they terrorized his mind and prevented him from sleeping. His throat ran dry, but she was right; she was his wife and if he couldn’t tell her then who could he tell?

“I was just a wee boy. We lived in a keep, a small piece of land that managed tae nourish us, but didnae dae much else. One day men attacked. They set everything on fire. My da and ma told me tae run. They pushed me out of the house even though I was trying tae keep hold of them.” He remembered the heat crackling around him. He remembered reaching for them and grabbing onto nothing. He remembered the screams of his parents as they pushed him away into the darkness.

“They told me I haed tae run. I watched our home burn. These men came in and took everything from me. I heard the screams of my parents as I ran away. I couldnae see because of the tears in my eyes. I cut my hands on the ground, I fell through bushes. I hated tae run. I told myself that it was because my parents haed told me tae, but now I’m nae sae sure. I think I might hae just been scared.”

“That’s terrible,” Ainsly said, genuinely shocked with pity in her eyes. Her voice was enough to pull him out of that horrible memory. The fire retreated. He closed his eyes, blinking back the tears that always came when he thought of that moment. He gripped the reins so tightly that his hand trembled, for the fear and the anger were still able to take hold of him even all these years later.

“What happened then? Did the men get ye? Was there anything left of yer parents?” Ainsly asked.

Ian shook his head. “When dawn broke I went back. The whole place was barren. The ground was charred. My home was filled with ash and my folks were…” He couldn’t finish the thought. He coughed and cleared his throat before he composed himself. “I walked away and went intae the woods. As it happened those men did the same tae other places. I found other survivors, people just like me. We helped each other tae live. We hunted taegether, and from that, my clan was born. We haed nae land. We haed naething but each other, but that was enough. Naething but a dream…”

“A dream?” she asked.

He looked up sharply, unaware that he had said anything like that. “Aye lass, I dreamed that one day I could hae a land tae call my own. I dreamed that I could hae a home. I know ye may think me a brute and a barbarian, but ye hae nae lived as I hae. It’s hell traveling under the open sky, never knowing where ye are gaeing tae end up or if ye are gaeing tae hae enough tae eat. There were those of us who haed naewhere else tae gae, sae we fought and defended ourselves, taking whatever we could tae survive, but I always wanted the raiding and the fighting tae end someday. I wanted tae hae a place tae settle, tae hae the family that was taken from me when I was wee.”

“And now ye hae my clan,” Ainsly said softly.

“I’m sorry that it haed tae work out like this,” he said. “I didnae want tae be like the men who attacked my parents, but it was the only way. My clan haed naething, but now it haes a place tae grow, and I want it tae grow taegether with ye.”

“What dae ye mean exactly by that?” she asked. She had softened a little while he had been telling the story of his past, but now there was the hint of ice in her demeanor as he admitted that he had put the needs of his clan before the needs of hers. He positioned his horse so he could look across at the horizon and the open fields of the land. It was in a tucked-away part of the country that was still ripe for expansion and exploration. In the distance, he could see the vague outline of the nearby town and the wisps of smoke that rose from it, but between here and there was fertile land, and as Ian gazed at it, hopes and dreams began to surge in his mind. He opened one hand and stretched it out, as though he was cupping the entire horizon in his palm.

“I want all of this land tae be a part of the clan. Like ye, I never want anyone tae feel like they hae naewhere tae gae. I hae seen broken people in my life, Ainsly, and I know ye hae tae. There is plenty of land here for them, and with the military might of our armies, we can defend them. We can build more keeps and buildings, creating an entire town if we hae enough materials. People would flock here, and the more people that came, the more prosperous this place would be. Before I came here I did a lot of research about which clan tae attack. Dae ye know why I picked this place?”

Ainsly shifted her weight on her horse and narrowed his eyes at him. Her body went rigid, and she turned away from him slightly. Whether she intended this or it was just a subconscious movement, he did not know. “Because it was led by a woman?”

Ian grinned. “Oh, nae. In fact, ye gave me a harder fight than most men I’ve met in battle. Nae, it’s because it was tucked away, almost hidden. I know ye took yer isolation seriously, and ye saw it as a positive. Ye thought that if ye were nae a true part of the world, then ye wouldnae get hurt, but ye can never turn yer back on the world. I want tae make this place known. I want people tae be in awe when they think of us, and I want our children tae hae an entire kingdom tae watch over, knowing that it can never be taken from them.” He clenched his fist tightly, and his eyes narrowed, so focused on the future that he did not see the reaction of the woman by his side as he mentioned children.