“Thank you for coming and agreeing to the talks.”
“This feud must come to an end, and with you wed to a MacLean, I’ll do all I can to ensure it is so.” He cupped her face. “You have your grandmother’s eyes, and those of a child born under a falling star.”
“You said that the first time we met.” She wiped her wet cheeks.
“A time I dinnae remember. Still, we have all the time in the world now. I will know you as I should have all these years.”
Calum set a hand on her hip from behind and she eased back until she pressed against his chest. “Father, meet the man who has saved my life, and more times than I can count.”
“It seems you have a penchant for saving lives, Calum. Mine, and now my daughter’s.” John extended his hand and Calum shook it. “I’m aware of what you’ve done from Lila’s missive to my mother. You have my thanks.”
“I’m glad you accepted my invitation to travel here. These talks are about negotiating peace, and you have my word you’ll leave as you’ve arrived, safe and well.”
“It’s time to put this feud to rest. I want naught more than to see it come to an end, for my clan’s sake, and my wife’s as well. Janet misses her kin.”
Nanna pulled her back into a hug and jiggled about. “I can’t believe I’m going to be a great grandmother. I want to hear everything.”
“Then I’ll start again at the very beginning.” She looped her arm through Nanna’s and led her up the grassy incline toward Duart. Margaret and Janet walked behind them. Calum and John brought up the rear. This would be the end of the feud. She’d ensure it.
Oh, she had her grandmother back, and her father close.
Her future had been fully realigned, and the past set to rights.
No more traveling through time.
It was time to live.
Yes, and with the warrior who’d always been hers.
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/JoanneWadsworth/e/B00AVRVIBM/
Author’s Note
Restoration work began at the ruins of Mingary Castle in two-thousand and thirteen, and it’s one day hoped the castle will be fully repaired.
For the purposes of this story, I chose to send Lila MacIan back to the year fifteen-hundred and ninety, because Sir Lachlan Mor MacLean, the fourteenth Chief of Clan MacLean of Duart, had been imprisoned by the king due to his feud with the MacDonald of Dunnyveg, his brother-in-law. The king did in fact induce all those involved in the dispute, being Donald MacDonald of Sleat, Angus MacDonald of Dunnyveg and Lachlan MacLean of Duart, to go to Edinburgh. When they each arrived, they were apprehended and imprisoned. I altered this event slightly, stating that the MacLean chief had been captured by the king’s men to suit the story.
Lachlan MacLean’s successor was his son Hector Og MacLean, a minor, and with someone needing to lead the clan, I chose Calum MacLean.
Calum MacLean and Lila MacIan are fictional characters.
This terrible feud between the clans raged for years. Both MacLean and MacDonald ravaged by fire and sword, laying waste to huge portions of each other’s lands, and all within the Western Isles were affected.
The account told of John MacIan of Ardnamurchan marrying Janet Campbell (Lachlan MacLean’s mother) at Duart Castle in fifteen-hundred and eighty-eight, along with the subsequent massacre of eighteen of his attendants, and MacIan’s imprisonment within Duart’s dungeons for the year following it, was as accurate as I could convey it from the historical information on record of this event. Certainly nothing would persuade MacIan to join with Lachlan MacLean and ultimately go against his MacDonald kin during this great feud.
This story is woven with as much accuracy to the period and locations as possible, but any mistakes made are mine alone.
This book forms part of my Highlander Heat series, and each within it are stand-alone.
Please feel free to search for any of my other works. I simply adore strong heroines, and have a ton of fun matching them with their honorable alpha heroes.
Highlander's Charm (Highlander Heat #3)
Joanne Wadsworth's books
- Highlander's Desire (The Matheson Brothers #1)
- Highlander's Caress (The Fae #2)
- Highlander's Touch: Medieval Romance (The Fae Book 3)
- Bodyguard Pursuit (Bodyguards #2)
- Enchanter (Princesses of Myth #3)
- Highlander's Passion (The Matheson Brothers #2)
- Highlander's Bride (The Fae #1)
- Highlander's Castle (Highlander Heat #1)