’Twas Saturday morning and most of th e servants had gone to tend family or to enjoy themselves in whatever way they did, leaving Aliah quite alone-and at the mercy of whoever stood outside her door. “Glenda, would you answer the door ?” Aliah asked. The only news she’d managed to garner was that a battle took place at Stirling Bridge in Scotland -the very place her sister was to marry.Īliah jumped as a strong fist once again slammed the door. Her father should have returned a month ago. That was what she needed, even if the sound of someone knocking made her want to run to the opposite end of the manor and hide. Swallowing her fear, she rubbed the ache from the back of her head and squared her shoulders. Well, Frosty as well- who in fact was a far superior protector than her maid. Today, her ma id Glenda was her only companion.

Th e se men would fight to keep her safe until their very last breaths.īut who was to say they hadn’t already taken that last shuddering inhale ?Īliah glanced around the room, filled with memories, but not with people. Her father, Baron de Mowbray, had left a small contingent of men to protect her while he escorted her older sister Arbella to her bridegroom in Scotland.

Aliah jerked back ward against the oak chair she sat in, hitting her head against the ancient wood and stifling a harsh word beneath her breath.

A violent banging at the manor door startled Aliah from her studies and set Frosty, the family’s monstrous Irish wolfhound, to barking ferociously.

Highlander's Touch by Eliza Knight