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Chapter 1

The Scottish Highlands

August 1728

Lady Margaret Mackintosh tightened her fingers on her mare’s reins and leaned forward in her stirrups She earing a dark blue jacket with slashed sleeves and a man’s tartan trehich ; she had been riding so ht it strange to see Lady Meg gallop about dressed like a man, would never say so She was their lady and they loved her

Meg peered now through the soft and , or did she really see the flickering lights and shadowy buildings of Clashennic ahead? Surely there was an inn there that could provide her with a hot bath and a soft bed? Her skin and hair felt gritty fro ride from Glen Dhui, and her body ached from her days in the saddle

She had wondered oose chase, whether she should turn back, but always she remembered her father’s words, more of an order than a plea

“Bring Gregor Grant back to Glen Dhui, Meg Bring him back here to me He is the only one who can help us now”

Gregor Grant He had occupied a part of her life since she elve years old, and yet she had never h her father’s memories and the stories of the Glen Dhui people, and the drawings she had found in the attic of Glen Dhui Castle Meg felt as if she knew him very well indeed

“Clashennic lies ahead, my lady”

Her tacks words back to her Relief er He and several of his men had accoainst thieves and bandits, although since the governhlands, folk had been

Nestled in the fold of the hills before them was the barracks town of Clashennic, and soor Grant, she corrected herself—[ ]the man whom her father believed would save them

“How can you be so sure, Father?” she had asked him, her hand clasped in his as he sat before the fire

He had looked at her with his cloudy blue eyes that once had been as sharp as hers, as if he could still see her face “Because the boy I re Because he will fight for the glen and its people Because I believe that apart from you and me and the people themselves, he is the only one ill”