Highlander's Return: The Sinclair Brothers Trilogy, Bonus Novella (Book 2.5) (7 page)

There was a salty bite to the air as Burke emerged
from the hatch door and onto the landing ringing Brora Tower’s roof. Meredith
turned toward him, her dark eyes filled with excitement.

“Look!” she said, pointing off toward the west.
Burke’s eyes followed the line of her finger. After a moment of searching, his
eyes caught a flash of red fur cresting one of the distant ridges.

“He’s back! But there aren’t any ice-covered lochs
for him to lure you toward.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back
snugly against his chest so that they could both watch the fox. He also managed
to pin her arms to her sides so that she couldn’t swat him for his tease.

“You beast!” she squealed, halfheartedly struggling
in his embrace. “Surely he isn’t the same one as before.” She managed to glance
over her shoulder up into his face. “But it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to be
lured to a frozen loch if it meant that I could be rescued by a brave Highland
warrior again.”

He tickled her with one hand, drawing another squeal
and a giggle from her. “Only two months of marriage and you already want to
trade me in for a newer, braver, brawnier rescuer, eh?”

She pleaded for mercy between gasps of air and peals
of laughter. When she caught her breath again, she leaned back into his chest.
“Nay, I suppose you’ll do.”

He almost launched another tickle attack for her
saucy tone, but instead he squeezed her tighter and placed a kiss in her hair,
which was rustling in the briny wind coming off of the North Sea behind them.

“Perhaps you won’t think me such a beast if I finally
make good on the wedding present I promised you,” he said, his eyes following
the fox in the distance.

“I almost forgot!” She craned her neck again so that
she could look up at him, a smile playing on her lips.

“Wait here,” he said as he went to the ladder and
descended to the chamber below.

Once he had the gift in his hand, he nearly bounded
up the ladder again. He forced himself to stop once his head had poked through
the hatch door to the roof. Meredith was waiting for him expectantly.

“Close your eyes,” he said. When he was sure she
couldn’t see him, he emerged the rest of the way onto the roof, the gift in one
hand.

“All right, open them.”

Her dark eyes fluttered open and landed on his
extended hand, in which he grasped several sheets of fine parchment.

The expectant smile on her face slipped, and her
mouth fell open. “How on earth…?”

“Do you like it?”

“Do I…?”

His stomach twisted. Had he misjudged his present
for her? “I thought you might use these to sketch animals. I know it’s two
months late for a wedding present…”

Her eyes finally shifted from the parchment in his
hand to his eyes. “Burke…how did you know that this is the most perfect gift
you could give me?”

Relief flooded him. “I can’t take all the credit. Your
brother told me a tale about a very naughty young lass who snuck into her
father’s study and covered his fine parchment with sketches of squirrels and
eagles and the like.”

Her face broke into a wide grin to match his own.
Then she threw her arms around his neck, and he could feel her slim shoulders
shaking with emotion. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“You deserve a whole tower full of parchment,
Meredith,” he said into her hair. “This is just the beginning.”

She pulled back, wiping her tears away, then rose up
on her tiptoes to press a searing kiss to his lips.

“I was going to suggest that you get started using
this parchment to sketch our friendly fox over there,” he said against her
mouth, “but now I think there is something else more pressing to attend to…”

She leaned into him, opening her mouth to deepen
their kiss. Just as he was about to hurry them both down to their bedchamber,
he heard the sound of hooves in the distance.

Meredith must have heard it too, for they both
reluctantly pulled out of the kiss and turned toward the sound. A lone rider
was coming in from the southeast.

She squinted. “I think that’s Ansel.”

Meredith’s brother had been gracious enough to give
them some privacy at Brora Tower after they were married. He had been spending
most of his time at Dunrobin, which pleased Laird Sutherland as well.

Despite Ansel’s initial hesitancy—and occasional
open glares—he and Burke had slipped into a working relationship that Burke
hoped could one day turn into brotherly regard. The turning point had been
Burke’s stroke of inspiration when it came to Brora Tower.

Meredith hadn’t wanted to leave the tower after they
were married. She had spent her whole life here, and finally felt like she was
taking charge of the tower’s upkeep. Burke hadn’t objected (after getting
Robert’s blessing), but Ansel remained prickly about having a Sinclair under
Brora’s roof.

But even more importantly, Ansel was the one who had
to convince Laird Sutherland to enter into peace talks with Laird Sinclair. To
add to the challenge, Ansel also had to explain his sister’s marriage to a
Sinclair. Ansel had feared he didn’t have enough to go on with his Laird.

Then Burke had proposed that Brora serve as not only
the symbolic uniting of the two clans (through Meredith and his marriage), but
also a strategic one as well. Brora Tower stood to the northwest of the
Sutherland seat at Dunrobin, and not far from the border with Sinclair holdings.
A signal fire lit on the tower’s roof could not only be seen from Dunrobin, but
also from Sinclair lands.

After some diplomatic meetings, Lairds Sutherland
and Sinclair were able to come to an agreement that Brora would serve as a
signaler of threats and invasions for both clans.

This arrangement went a long way in smoothing the
tensions between not only the two clans, but also Burke and Ansel. But most
important to Burke, it thrilled Meredith to have a delicate but growing peace
between her husband and her family and clan. Ansel’s visit from Dunrobin would
hopefully bring more good news about the continuing peace talks between the two
Lairds.

Burke followed Meredith off of the roof and down the
spiral staircase leading from the upper floors of the tower to the open room at
its base. A servant was just pulling open the tower’s large door to Ansel when
they reached the great room.

Meredith embraced her brother warmly and Burke
exchanged a quick forearm grasp with him before they led him to a chair in
front of the large hearth in the far wall. Now that it was October, a marked
chill hung in the air.

“What brings you to Brora, brother?” Meredith asked
as Ansel held his hands in front of the fire.

“A letter, actually.” He shifted his eyes to Burke.
“For you.”

Burke frowned. “From whom?”

“Laird Sinclair. He was just at Dunrobin for the
latest round of peace talks. It seems that some of the farmers and crofters
along the border between our lands continue to fight about which lands and
sheep are whose.”

Burke rolled his eyes. Peace was not the absence of
war, but a constant state of actively avoiding it.

Ansel quirked a smile at Burke’s annoyance. “They’ll
sort it out eventually, I’m sure.” He handed Burke a folded missive with
Robert’s seal on it. Without waiting, Burke broke the seal and quickly read the
message.

“What is it?” Meredith said, concern furrowing her
brow. He must have been frowning at the contents of the letter.

“It’s not bad,” he said to reassure both her and
himself. “In fact, much of it is good news. It seems that my cousin Garrick has
gotten married to Lady Jossalyn Warren.”

Meredith raised her eyebrows, a smile beginning to
form. Burke had told her about Garrick and Jossalyn’s connection, and how he
had encouraged them to get married. “I hope I get to meet both of them soon.”

“Aye, I hope so too. There’s more, and it may throw
us all together in the future. Apparently Robert the Bruce has a plan for my
youngest cousin Daniel. The Bruce wants Daniel to secure his ancestral holdings
in the southwest Lowlands through a marriage alliance. It looks as though there
will be a fourth Sinclair wedding this year.”

“Another wedding? Would we be able to go for the
celebration?”

“Perhaps. I’m more worried that I’ll be called to
serve for less festive reasons.”

“I heard something of that at Dunrobin,” Ansel said,
his face serious. “Our Lairds have been discussing more than just peace between
our clans. The Bruce is gearing up to make a decisive move against the English,
now that Longshanks is dead.”

“Aye, that’s what the letter says as well,” Burke
replied. “I may be called to the Borderlands along with my cousins—and
Sutherland men—if we are needed for a battle against the English.”

Meredith’s eyes widened and the color drained from
her face. “You would both have to leave?”

Burke ran a soothing hand over her back. “Nothing’s
certain yet, love. Who knows, perhaps we’ll just travel for Daniel’s wedding
celebration and that will be the end of it.”

“But war is coming,” Ansel said darkly. “And not
just skirmishes and battles here and there. We must do something decisive if we
are ever going to gain freedom from the English. The Bruce is ready, and so must
we be, when it comes to that.”

Meredith shivered at her brother’s words. Burke
longed to chase away her worries, but he feared that Ansel was all too accurate
in his assessment. Edward II had yet to prove one way or another what his
stance toward Scotland would be, but he could still take up the mantle of Hammer
of the Scots from his dead father. The time was upon them to act.

For now, though, there was nothing to be done about
all that. “Let us set such things aside for the time being,” he said, looping
his arm around Meredith’s waist. She leaned into him, and he buried his nose in
her rose-scented hair.

Now it was Ansel’s turn to roll his eyes. “You two
act more like lovesick bairns than a couple of married people. I’ll stay for
the afternoon meal, but then I’ll head back to Dunrobin and leave the tower to
you.”

Meredith stuck her tongue out at her brother as he
went to the kitchen to see about a meal for himself.

“He’s right, you know,” Burke said mock-seriously. “I
can’t seem to keep my hands off you.”

“Nor I,” she replied, a mischievous light in her
brown eyes. “Even during the day my thoughts are filled with you.”

He raised an eyebrow at her boldness. “So the fact
that it is no longer forbidden for us to be together hasn’t dulled your desire
for me?”

She elbowed him playfully, then bit her lip to try
to stifle the grin that grew across her face. “Not in the least.”

“Good, because we have a lifetime of loving ahead of
us. We’d better not fall behind.”

He took her hand and pulled her toward the stairs
leading to their chamber, her thrilled laugher filling the air behind him.

The
End

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Look for the thrilling
conclusion to the Sinclair Brothers Trilogy, HIGHLANDER’S RECKONING, coming in
spring 2015!

He is forced to marry…

Daniel Sinclair is
charged by Robert the Bruce to secure the King’s ancestral holding in the
Lowlands—and marry the daughter of the castle’s keeper to secure a shaky
alliance. But the lass’s spirit matches her fiery hair, and Daniel quickly
realizes that the King’s “reward” is more than he bargained for.

She won’t submit
without a fight…

To protect her
secret—and illegal—love of falconry, Rona Kennedy must keep her new husband at
arm’s length, no matter how much his commanding presence and sinfully handsome
face make her knees tremble. But when an all-out war with Raef Warren, the
Sinclair clan’s greatest enemy, finally erupts, will their growing love be
destroyed forever?

The Sinclairs and Sutherlands had several feuds
dating back nearly one thousand years—almost as long as the two clans could be
said to exist. Both clans seem to have committed atrocities against their hated
neighbor. In the twelfth century, Sutherland churchmen had horseshoes nailed to
their feet and were forced to dance, and in return a group of Sinclair men were
castrated to prevent them from creating any offspring.

I base the details of one of the long-standing feuds
on a particular incident in the thirteenth century, almost one hundred years
before my story takes place. Several Sinclairs started a rebellion in 1222 over
steep tithes imposed by the Bishop of Caithness in Dornoch (on Sutherland
lands). Unhappy about the tithes, the Sinclairs rioted, set the Bishop’s
cathedral on fire, and roasted the Bishop alive. The Sutherland Laird was
charged with restoring order, so he gathered a force of Sutherland men and
ravaged Sinclair land. Several towns, along with the Sinclair stronghold at the
time, were completely razed. Eighty Sinclair men were tried for rioting, and
four of the ringleaders were roasted alive, then fed to the town dogs.

Brora is indeed a town just north of Dunrobin
Castle, but Brora Tower, which I locate more to the northwest and inland from
Dunrobin, is fictitious. Tower houses were just beginning to be built when this
story takes place, especially along the Borderlands, but also in mountainous or
remote areas. They served the dual purpose of providing defensible structures
in strategic locations, and also acted as fortified residences for the
well-born. Smaller and less fortified than a castle, tower houses nevertheless
protected against bands of attackers, and also served as watch towers that
could signal impending danger (especially in the Borderlands). I am unaware of
tower houses ever being shared by two clans, especially two feuding clans like
the Sinclairs and Sutherlands, but it’s a nice thought.

The parchment that Burke gives to Meredith at the end
of the story probably would have been made from animal skins. Though paper
mills were starting to appear in Europe in the fourteenth century, there likely
weren’t any in England until the fifteenth century, making paper rarer than
parchment. Nevertheless, parchment was considered superior to paper at the
time, because it was more durable and of a higher quality. Parchment was made
by soaking an animal hide in lime, stretching it, scraping the hair off of it,
and cutting it to size. It would be a lucky person, indeed, who got to use such
a valuable item.