No one but her mum had ever called Onnleigh pretty. Thief, liar, wretched creature? Daughter of a drunkard and thief? Aye, she’d been called all those things, more times than she could count. But pretty? Nay, not pretty. “I dunnae lie to ye, lass,” Darwud MacCallen said as he sat next to the stream that […]

As a boy, Rodrick the Bold had loved Christmas Tide. His mum would decorate their little home with evergreens and holly. She would make special breads and sweet cakes, the scents alone enough to make a little boy’s mouth water with anticipation. On a special night, they would walk to the MacElroy keep and watch […]

MARİOTE MCCULLUM WAS very much in love, or so she fervently believed. Why else would her heart skip a beat or two whenever she saw him? What other reason could there be for the way her stomach tingled with excitement at the mere thought of him? Of course, the object of her devotion – and […]

The colors of sunset splashed across the deepening sky as if an angry god had slashed the heavens with great, violent brush strokes. Diabolus alarum, a sky like this was called. Devil’s wings. If one looked hard enough at the shades of purple, pink, and orange, one might have seen demons gazing back at them, […]

Brogan Mackintosh was a sensible, logical thinking man. Whenever possible, he tried to see the good in people and all situations. It could also be said he was as honorable as he was generous — the kind of man who would give you the tunic off his back if you needed it. There was naught […]

Death could not come fast enough for Black Richard MacCullough. ’Twas difficult to distinguish his blood from the countless others who lay dead or dying on the cold spring grass. Grass he had played in as a child. MacCullough grass that was now painted in blood. The blood of his kin; the blood of his […]