Chapter 1

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 are 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 will 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 are 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.

She thought often of the man with dark hair who had her heart. He had been right all of those years ago; she wouldn’t ever find a love like theirs, it seemed that she was doomed to live out that prophesy. Especially now that she was to marry a man from a clan that she knew little about, a stranger that could be the worst decision her sick father had ever made. The thought of living out the rest of her life unhappy was devastating to May.

She could see that her father was slowly slipping into sleep, his head lulled forward slightly, and he was struggling to keep his eyes open.

“Will he be all right?” May dared to ask. However, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to know the answer after all.

“He needs to rest,” the healer said with pursed lips. May didn’t feel as though he was finished with speaking though, and her fear was realized when he continued. “I’m sorry, but if his coughing continues like this… I’m nae sure how much longer he has left.”

May let the words sink like a stone in her mind. She was terrified of the outcome that had been laid out for her, she was going to have to marry whoever her father said, even if it was his dying wish.

She blinked away her tears and tried not to think about how different her life would have been if she had run away with Iain all those years ago. May didn’t want to even wonder if she would have been happier because she knew that she would have been.

“I see,” May nodded. Inside she felt like a piece of herself was dying, but she knew that she needed to remain strong in front of the people that she might soon be in charge of. In reality, she wanted to fall to the floor and cry until she felt better.

She glanced over at her father, wishing that she could touch him. All she wanted was to feel his embrace and comfort. However, the sickness drew her away. She was the last healthy member of her family, and May knew that she couldn’t jeopardize that by seeking comfort.

May sat in the room while her father slept for some time. She needed the quiet of the room to organize her thoughts and better understand what was the best way for her to accept her fate. Every time that he turned in his turbulent sleep, May winced, hoping that her father wasn’t in too much pain and would be all right. She shuddered and hugged her arms to try and make herself feel any kind of comfort.

After a while, she allowed her heavy eyes to close. Overcome with emotion, May felt exhausted by the day, even before she had found out the news throughout the town. She had felt foolish to have not known of this news before other members of the town. It had been a surprise, one that she hadn’t welcomed either.

Closing her eyes had been a mistake. May knew that instantly, despite the fact that she was so tired. Behind her eyes flashed images of Iain in his youth. She wondered how he would look after six years apart. However, there was no hope anymore.

She pictured him smiling, laughing, and holding on to her hand as though it were a lifeline. He really had loved her, and May couldn’t get over the fact that she had thrown it away for the very purpose that she now found herself in.

When she awoke, May realized that the wetness on her cheeks were tears that she had shed for her lover. She had not cried over him for a very long time, but the new prospect of marriage meant that she was going to truly never be able to see him again.

“May? Are ye there?” her father spoke through his wheezing.

“Aye, father, I’m here,” May said groggily while rubbing her eyes. She moved off of the uncomfortable wooden chair in the corner over to his bedside. May hadn’t kept track of when the healer had left, but it was evident that a couple of servants had come and gone since she had fallen asleep.

As though kept at bay by a wall that she couldn’t see, May stayed back as far as she could bear, but it was incredibly difficult while her father was so ill.

“Ah, me child,” Alistair breathed out weakly. He settled back into his bed with the knowledge that his daughter was close by.

“Father, I will marry whoever ye say I should. I will do it, I promise,” May nodded eagerly.

She wanted to put his mind at ease during such a sickness.

“Ye are too good to me, child,” he breathed out, “Ye will dae good for this clan, I always knew that ye would.”

May smiled and felt her heart warming at her father’s praise. She couldn’t help but feel a tinge of sadness following the welcomed moment.

“I will make the arrangements soon,” Alistair whispered, “I will send off the letter of agreement to the proposal and we will have all of the official arrangements made quickly. Trust me, I’m sure that ye will find the arrangement interesting, Diabhal has quite the reputation.”

May felt dizzy as she finally left the room. She felt as though she had been in there for a small eternity. She didn’t know much of this Diabhal, but she didn’t welcome the idea of becoming his wife either way. May wanted to find out more about him and this reputation that her father spoke about and quickly decided that she would use her remaining time in the castle to do so.

Everything was going to happen so quickly after that day, she just knew that things were going to slowly slip out of her control. Her father was going to make all of the plans, and she was soon going to be traveling off to a different land to marry a man that she had never met before.

“Is everything all right, ma’am?” one of the servants asked, as she passed them in the hall.

“I’m fine,” May muttered without looking up. She quickly made her way back down the corridor that she had previously stalked up to reach her father and toward her chambers. These were going to be the last days that she spent around the castle before she was moved off to be with a Laird. May suddenly found herself filled with a stony reverence for the walls around her.

It was where she had grown up and it was where she had shared so many memories that had made her the woman that she was that day.

Those were the very halls that she had once walked with Iain, a time that had been filled with so much happiness and joy that she couldn’t help but feel bitter at her circumstance. She wondered where in the land Iain had gone to, what he was doing with his life. But most of all, May wondered if he was happy.

Chapter 2

“I dinnae ken what more we can dae to make them see,” Bruce sighed as he rubbed his eyes with his hand. As the leader of the McAlister clan, it was his job to make sure that his neighbors were paying their debts and that he wasn’t losing out on any deals that were negotiated.

Iain glanced across the table at Bruce. He clenched his jaw, offering no possible solution that would help the cause.

“We have not received any news?” he questioned in response.

“Nae yet, but we haven’t received any messengers yet today. Perhaps we will be lucky and will receive something that can help us.”

“They owe a lot to the clan,” Iain spoke in a bitter tone, “We have given them lots of support, I thought that it would have been an easy decision for them to accept this proposal.”

“I hear that Alistair is very ill,” Bruce responded with a slight shrug.

Iain couldn’t deny that he felt a small pang of justice at this news. The man who had once imprisoned Iain within a cell just for loving his daughter. He didn’t like to admit the way that he felt as though he was now equal with May’s father, knowing that he was so sick. His feelings did extend to May, as he thought about how hard it must be for her with her father falling ill.

“Any word on how serious it is?” Iain questioned, trying his best to sound as though it was simply a way to make conversation.

“I have heard that there is a possibility that it could be quite serious,” Bruce nodded.

Their conversation was cut off by the sound of the doors opening to the great hall. Outside, the noise of rain pelting into the castle walls was growing louder as the storm drew nearer over the nearby Glen.

“Yes?” Bruce spoke up, his voice booming and bouncing off of the stone walls around them. A servant scuttled into the room holding a lone piece of parchment in his hands. His hair was wet from the weather and his boots squelched against the floors.

Bruce quickly took the message from the servant, dismissing him without a second look. Iain watched in anticipation as his adopted father read through the message. His expression didn’t give too much away as to what the letter contained.

However, Iain couldn’t help but hope that it was an acceptance of his proposal to marry the only heir of the McIver clan.

“Well?” Iain asked impatiently, as he watched Bruce place the parchment on the table and sit back in his chair.

“We have received news from the McIver clan,” he began with pursed lips. Iain was really finding it difficult to fathom even a guess to the outcome of what had been said. “We have an acceptance to the proposal.”

*

Iain paced through the castle and thought about the news that had been announced the day before. He knew that Bruce was eager to make sure that the contract was seen through, however, there was still an obvious reluctance in his eyes.

It stemmed from the fact that Bruce would be losing his only son, and even though they weren’t related, their bond was strong. Iain could see that Bruce was still hesitant about being left alone after spending so many years with him.

“Ye need to keep yer priorities in check, lad,” Bruce said from the window, causing the young Laird to look up from his seat in his chambers. Iain’s eyes narrowed and filled with a darkness that even concerned his guardian.

“Aye, I will be, I ken what I’m doin’.”

“I just dinnae think it’s wise to be so focused on the past, so focused on an event that occurred so many years ago. The past can haunt ye, but many times it can only dae so if ye let it.” Bruce spoke on the back of his many years of experience.

Iain wanted to roll his eyes at the comments, however, he had been taught better than that and knew that it would not sit well with the older man. He wanted to teach May a lesson and show her that she made a huge mistake all those years ago.

“It will still be a smart match,” Bruce continued. “The girl is after all of noble blood, and so it will dae ye some good to have a proper connection to a laird than simply being a ward.”

Iain felt his nostrils flare involuntarily at Bruce’s words. He had once been nothing but a soldier in the army that belonged to May’s father, he had served with all that he had and still couldn’t garner the respect of many people. But once Bruce had taken him in, things started to change.

He distanced himself from the young soldier who had fallen in love with the Laird’s daughter, Iain pushed that man to the boundaries of his being. His time as a sell-sword had once shamed him, now they were times that he reflected on often, times that he could use to guide his journey into the future.

“I ken that it will dae me good,” Iain nodded to Bruce, “When will we be leaving?”

“We can make haste as soon as possible,” Bruce sniffed, and sat up in his seat, “We will want to get on the road in the morning so that we will reach MacIver’s land by the afternoon. It will be a long day of riding, but now that we’ve got confirmation, it will only be a matter of time.”

Bruce had made his thoughts clear; Iain wasn’t to lose sight of the reason for this marriage, it would be to strengthen claims of nobility, Iain recited in his head. However, he couldn’t help but anticipate the look that would fall over May’s face when he saw her again.

He hoped that it would be similar to the way he had felt when May told him she would not run away with him. It was a sharp cutting sensation that had torn through his chest, allowing a heavy and jagged weight to sink into his gut. It was like being wounded in battle, a sensation that Iain could never forget.

“Ye seem troubled, lad,” Bruce called, as servants started to slowly and tentatively return to the room.

“Nae, I’m just pensive. I want to get the formalities of this affair over with,” Iain sighed. He knew that it would do him no good to reveal everything that he was thinking to his guardian, although something told him that Bruce understood exactly what he was thinking about.

“Aye, I remember when my marriage contract had been confirmed, that week went by in such a haze.”

Iain nodded slowly, the last thing that he wanted were any rumors to leak from the walls in the form of slimy gossip.

He pushed a hand through his hair, chestnut strands catching the light coming through the window and projecting the illusion that he was almost blonde. Iain followed his guardian’s glance out of the window and to the scenery that stared back at them.

“As of late, do ye feel that the rain has been as constant as the sun setting every day?” Iain sighed. He was no stranger to the highland weather, he knew it like a second skin after all of the time that he had spent up there. However, he couldn’t help but think of the world he had merely glimpsed when he was a mercenary. It had been thrilling for him to not know the ground underneath his feet for the first time, to discover for himself already discovered land.

“Lad, I have always held yer council close in my decision making, but I ken that yer thoughts are nae aligned if ye are goin’ to talk about the weather like this,” Bruce said while chuckling.

He slowly pushed away from the wall, prompting the servants around the room to flinch and stand to attention like pretend soldiers. It would be futile to get in the way of the Laird, for he was not known for being reasonable all of the time.

Iain looked down at his lap at the comment his guardian had made in front of the many servants. A dull heat was moving up into his cheeks and fueling a sense of embarrassment even more.

He only looked up at the feeling of a gloved hand on his shoulder.

“I ken that this is goin’ to be difficult for ye, but just remember how necessary this will be for ye to secure yer claim to this Lairdship.”

Bruce could be soft with him when he wanted to be, however, Iain didn’t appreciate it that day. He clenched his jaw and shifted in his seat until the familial hand moved off of his shoulder. Iain felt his reputation was like a stone wall that was constantly under siege and he was the only one there to fight and keep it standing.

Iain remained in the great hall for a moment longer before rising from his own chair and stalking out of the large room, his brisk footsteps echoing like a warning against approaching him.

*

Iain paced about the castle like a restless animal that had been caged. His jaw was perpetually clenched and he didn’t feel at all like engaging with any of the servants. Instead, his thoughts drifted back to the castle that awaited him at the end of their journey, a place that had once been familiar and welcoming. He couldn’t help but wonder what kind of reception awaited his return. It had been six years, after all.

He walked past the walls of the castle and out into the woodlands that surrounded the land. It was to be his land soon, however, Iain was patient. He paced through the trees and stalked into the shadows to avoid anyone who he might encounter. Iain wanted to be completely alone and with his thoughts; there was still the inner conflict that he lived with as to how he should act around May. The boyish, vulnerable side of him wanted nothing more than to go to her and embrace her, he wanted to promise her that he would never leave and that they could finally be together. But the other side, the side who had seen more of the world, still felt anger towards her. He wanted nothing more than to show her that she would pay for the way that she had betrayed him.

Iain’s nostrils flared and he tried his hardest to contain his anger, however, he ended up taking it out on a nearby tree. With both hands gripping his sword, he swung ferociously until the sharp blade found purchase against the bark with a dull thud. The noise reverberated around the quiet forest and was only followed with his heavy panting. Iain realized at that moment that he was more confused than ever on how he felt about May.

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