Total pages in book: 10
Estimated words: 8504 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 43(@200wpm)___ 34(@250wpm)___ 28(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 8504 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 43(@200wpm)___ 34(@250wpm)___ 28(@300wpm)
At home, a several days ride away from where I found the Duncan, Callum awaits me.
“Welcome home, brother. I ken ye’ve just returned, and we need to discuss much, but I need ye to claim land in the Stewart name. The king has already given me the land, which I am now giving to ye,” he begins handing me a piece of paper. The Brodie lands are all mine now, it seems. After reading the rest of the decree, I tuck it into the pocket of my everyday kilt. This one doesnae have our clan colors on it, tis just black but doesnae look dirty. He stands and motions for me to come to him, which I do. We clasp forearms and pull forward until our foreheads touch.
“My duty to ye is lifelong, brother.” My oath is my bond. It’s unbreakable and ne’erending.
“Not anymore. I am releasing ye from that oath. ye will take anyone from here who wishes a fresh start and start yer clan branch. The Stewart-Brodie line will flourish from there. Allow me to introduce my betrothed, Lady Islay Brodie.” I quirk an eyebrow at that. According to our father, she was meant to be my wife, but one look and I ken she isnae mine.”
“Congratulations, brother. Sister,” I say, leaning forward to kiss her cheek.
“Thank ye, Culloden,” Islay says. “I would ask a favor of ye.”
“Name it, and it shall be done,” I tell my new sister. The look of worry on her face is concerning.
“I left my sister behind. She refused to come and meet Callum. I need ye to bring her here.”
“It would be my honor to escort yer sister to ye, My Lady.”
“Thank ye,” she replies.
“Go now. My Lady wishes to ken her sister is safe.”
“Of course, Thank ye, brother, for yet another thing I can ne’er repay ye for.”
“Think naething of it. Go, claim yer lands, but come back before as soon as ye can. Any that wish to join ye can do so in the spring,” Call says.
After resting my horse, I take off again, alone. My men need a break and to see their wives and bairns. It’s already starting to snow, and I need to get to the Brodie lands before nightfall.
I dig my heels into Mhairi, my trusted steed’s side, Islay's words haunt me. Faster and faster, Mhairi tears up the countryside under her feet. I doona ken why, but I am desperately trying to reach Brodie lands, now my land, but that isnae the point right now. Thankfully, the wound in my thigh is aching but has stopped bleeding. I had to stop so that Mhairi could rest. There I cleaned the wound and my leg.
Daracha, as Islay told me about, is all alone, and with the snow swirling all around me, she is surely freezing her silly arse off in their castle. The weather is brutal in the Highlands year-round, but I cannae help thinking that this is by far the most brutal winter I’ve experienced in all my thirty years, and it’s not even fully winter yet. The trek to Cadleigh Keep takes longer than it should, but I finally enter the gates of the keep. Daracha is wholly unprotected here, and I find that I doona like that at all. There’s no way in hell I can leave Mhairi outside in this, so I dismount and lead her to the doors. Pushing them open, we go inside. After shutting the world out, I leave Mahiri to her own devices after leading her to a water source; I scour the lower level. No fire is lit here, so I bound up the stairs and search the chambers individually. In the last one on the right, I hear her before I see her. Her cries are the wretched sobs of someone who no longer has any hope. Tis both gut and heartwrenching. I need to be the one to console her. To make her whole again. I dinnae ken the lass, but she calls to me.
“Daracha, lass?” I call quietly. She screams and pops up from a pile of blankets in the bed. The fire in the room is the only light. It bounces off of her wild red hair. She is all pale skin and freckles. I have an overwhelming desire to kiss every one of them. To count them. The feeling that comes over me is one I’ve ne’er felt before, nor can I describe it. She is simply stunning with her tear-stained face. I cannae help but stare at her. Her eyes are a shade of green that I have ne’er seen before. They are somehow calming to look at and full of fire, like a proper Scottish lass.
“Who are ye?” she asks, clutching the blankets to her chest. Her lips look blue. She needs warmth. The kind of warmth only I can provide.