by Eliza Knight
The Highlander’s Enchantment
Eliza Knight
Contents
About the Book
More Books by Eliza Knight
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Excerpt from The Highlander’s Temptation
About the Author
About the Book
Lady Blair Sutherland has always followed the rules. As the youngest of five, she’s spent years observing her older siblings misbehaving—but even more importantly, she’s learned a lot about smoothing over disputes. Dared by her cousins, Blair writes a note, and puts it in a bottle, but at the last minute, refuses to follow along with the dare and send it out to sea. As the months pass, she forgets about what she’s written until a warrior lays siege to her clan’s castle—in her name—claiming her brother is a murderer. For a lass who’s never been in trouble, her world is about to turn itself inside out.
* * *
Since the murder of his older brother, Laird Edan Rose has looked for a way to prove himself to his clan. When he was a lad, his father sent him to foster with Robert the Bruce, but never asked him to return home. Gone all these years serving his king, he has to make his mark and show his clan he has what it takes to lead by finding his brother’s killer. When the possible answer to his deliberations comes in the form of a message in a bottle, he wastes no time in taking action. Though he hopes the man responsible for his clan’s pain will surrender, Edan is not afraid to wage war. If he has to, he’ll lay siege to the castle, rescue the lass, and take out his enemies, gaining the respect he seeks.
* * *
When a Highlander rides on her brother’s castle, Blair is aware the blame lies at her feet. In order to clear her family’s name, she chooses to give herself up to a stranger and help him find the true assassin—for she’s certain it is not her brother. But once she’s in Edan’s arms, the only thing that comes to mind is wondering if his kiss is as powerful as his embrace. Having desired to show his worth to his clan, Edan is now determined to show he is worthy of Blair’s heart. However, their passion is halted when the one who wanted his brother dead, decides the two of them are a loftier prize.
Copyright 2019 © Eliza Knight
THE HIGHLANDER’S ENCHANTMENT © 2019 Eliza Knight. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part or the whole of this book may be reproduced, distributed, transmitted or utilized (other than for reading by the intended reader) in ANY form (now known or hereafter invented) without prior written permission by the author. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal, and punishable by law.
* * *
THE HIGHLANDER’S ENCHANTMENT is a work of fiction. The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional and or are used fictitiously and solely the product of the author’s imagination. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, places, businesses, events or locales is purely coincidental.
Cover Design by Kim Killion @ The Killion Group, Inc.
Edited by Heidi Shoham & Erica Monroe
Published by:
More Books by Eliza Knight
The Sutherland Legacy
The Highlander’s Gift
The Highlander’s Quest
The Highlander’s Stolen Bride
The Highlander’s Hellion
The Highlander’s Secret Vow
The Highlander’s Enchantment — Summer, 2019
Pirates of Britannia: Devils of the Deep
Savage of the Sea
The Sea Devil
A Pirate’s Bounty
The Stolen Bride Series
The Highlander’s Temptation
The Highlander’s Reward
The Highlander’s Conquest
The Highlander’s Lady
The Highlander’s Warrior Bride
The Highlander’s Triumph
The Highlander’s Sin
Wild Highland Mistletoe (a Stolen Bride winter novella)
The Highlander’s Charm (a Stolen Bride novella)
A Kilted Christmas Wish – a contemporary Holiday spin-off
The Conquered Bride Series
Conquered by the Highlander
Seduced by the Laird
Taken by the Highlander (a Conquered bride novella)
Claimed by the Warrior
Stolen by the Laird
Protected by the Laird (a Conquered bride novella)
Guarded by the Warrior
The MacDougall Legacy Series
Laird of Shadows
Laird of Twilight
Laird of Darkness
The Thistles and Roses Series
Promise of a Knight
Eternally Bound
Breath from the Sea
The Highland Bound Series (Erotic time-travel)
Behind the Plaid
Bared to the Laird
Dark Side of the Laird
Highlander’s Touch
Highlander Undone
Highlander Unraveled
Wicked Women
Her Desperate Gamble
Seducing the Sheriff
Kiss Me, Cowboy
Under the name E. Knight
Tales From the Tudor Court
My Lady Viper
Prisoner of the Queen
Ancient Historical Fiction
A Day of Fire: a novel of Pompeii
A Year of Ravens: a novel of Boudica’s Rebellion
French Revolution
Ribbons of Scarlet: a novel of the French Revolution
Prologue
Somewhere in the Scottish Highlands
1325
* * *
He was not her first kill.
She suspected he wouldn’t be her last. The plotting, the careful implementing of each detail, and the watching. Oh, how it still sent a shiver racing up her spine when she thought over each incredible detail.
But the very best part by far had been the death.
She’d sat back, well away from the crowd, and observed her handiwork as it unfolded. Watched the life slowly, painfully slip from his body. Felt that same life punch to her chest, renewing her in some odd sense. She’d gasped, sucking in the last of his breath and feeling her body tingle with what could only be known as rapture.
People had thought she’d gasped from the shock of his surprising demise, and she’d let them think so.
She knew she would get away with it. Hell, it was hard to keep in her laugh. Those bloody fools were going to take the fall for her; she knew they would. Because she’d made sure of it.
Deciding to take his life had been easy—he deserved it for what he’d done. He’d needed to suffer, and so did everyone else he loved.
Who was she going to kill next?
A bubble of excitement expanded in her throat, and she turned to flee the great hall before anyone could see it burst.
Chapter 1
Castle Ross
Scottish Highlands
Late March, 1325
* * *
Lady Blair Sutherland always did what she was told.
And yet, she was far from perfect.
She followe
d rules as though they were carved into her very limbs, and to break one would be to sever a very important part of herself—or bring war upon her family. That was an event she did not care to encounter…again.
Blair didn’t have archery or storytelling skills like her eldest sister, Bella. Nor did she hold any talent with sailing or swimming, as was the case with her older sister, Greer. Though she’d tried both, it had ended in disaster. She’d nearly taken her father’s eye out with an arrow, and Greer did not yet know that it was in fact Blair who’d caused the horrid series of events that led to Greer’s husband being speared in the leg.
She was not good at playing music or singing. Nor was she any good at embroidery, though she tried her darndest to see the task done, because that was what a proper lady was supposed to do. In the end, she often hurt more ears than she pleased and left whatever fabric she was working on covered in droplets of red.
She was not a warrior like her brothers, though she could probably defend herself if necessary, as was the way for most younger siblings who were forced to defend themselves from one rivalry or another. Her defense, however, was scrappier than it was coordinated, as attested when she had to scurry out of the way of an older brother’s desire to wrestle.
But Blair was really good at keeping secrets.
So here she was, sitting in the great hall of her brother’s newly refurbished castle at Ross, where her brother, Liam, was the new laird. This seemed strange, considering the Ross clan had been her family’s mortal enemy since before she was born. Yet, here they were, dining as they’d done the past several nights as though nothing were out of ordinary. And all around her, it seemed love was blossoming with the first buds of spring.
Blair was at a complete loss as to what she could do about procuring a husband.
Liam’s lovely English bride stared at him with such love that it was enough to make Blair yearn for that same feeling. She glanced around the crowded hall where everyone was eating, drinking and being overly boisterous, but she found no man in the vicinity that made her feel even the slightest inkling of joy. And even if there had been, she had no way to entice him. Yet, that did not detract from her desire to gain a husband.
Aye, marriage… It had been on her mind a great deal as of late. Her parents had yet to broach the topic with her, though she’d waited patiently for that day to come. She was not like her sisters who had resisted marriage. In fact, Blair wished very much to take up the mantle of wife. To find purpose in running a household and bearing children. After all, if she couldn’t excel at any one thing in particular, she knew for a fact she would be gifted at fulfilling her duties as a wife. Well…most duties. She knew nothing of the marital bed, and she didn’t think she needed to, as it was a husband’s duty to see it done. But she could take the skills she’d learned from her mother about running a kitchen to see her husband and children well fed. She would organize the house to keep it clean, and she aid her husband in dispensing judgments and rewards on his people.
Above all, she knew she could help bring peace to any clan. After all, since she was a wee lass, she’d made it her goal to do just that. It was, without a doubt, the only other thing she was good at besides keeping secrets. And only because of one very large, unforgettable mistake. Funny how the various mistakes she’d made had not led to her developing multiple talents.
Alas, life was as life was, and one had to foster what they were given.
Once the vows were exchanged, her life would be different. More exciting. More purposeful. She was certain that a husband was exactly what she needed to fulfill her purpose in life.
Now, how to go about getting one?
At her age of nearly twenty, it was a wonder her parents hadn’t been entertaining offers at all. Unless they weren’t telling her about it, which seemed impossible given how involved they’d allowed her sisters to be with their own marriage planning. Well, if they were planning something, she sincerely hoped it wasn’t with any of the fools here today.
With a great sigh, she stood to excuse herself, hoping to catch at least some semblance of a walk and fresh air before the sun set completely. She loved to be outside, to feel the sun on her face no matter how cold or warm the air was.
Blair managed to slip from her place at the table and through the great hall unheeded until she reached the wide oak doors. Suddenly, she found herself flanked by two of her cousins. Aislinn and Aurora were the youngest twin daughters of her mother’s twin sister, Aliah.
They were the spitting image of their mother. Blair had always found that to be rather eerie. She also felt a slight twinge of jealousy, given she looked so very different from the rest of her family. They were all golden-haired, pink-cheeked and had sunny smiles, while she was dark-haired, sun-kissed and rather reserved.
The twins were also forever getting into trouble, more so even than her sister Greer, which meant Blair did her best to avoid them at all costs. She couldn’t allow her cousins to ruin the reputation she’d so carefully been building.
The twins slipped their arms around hers, on either side, and fairly carried her from the great hall in their exuberance and haste.
“We’re so glad ye got up to leave,” Aurora gushed with a roll of her big blue eyes.
“We were so bored,” Aislinn continued in a drawn-out groan, obviously an exaggeration, as they both seemed to be having plenty of fun flirting and fawning over her brother’s men.
Before Blair could say she was looking for some time alone, her cousins cut in with their own back-and-forth banter.
“So stuffy in there.”
“And not enough music.”
“Aye, they could have done a better job of that.”
“I didna like the chicken.”
“Was it chicken? I thought it was goose.”
“Gross. Goose?”
Peals of laughter from her cousins left Blair both confused and slightly irritated. She furrowed her brow, trying to figure out a way to disengage herself from them post haste. Aislinn started in on a story of a stuffed goose, and Aurora shouted about how they’d thought it was alive. Blair frowned, glad she’d not been a part of whatever it was they were discussing and wishing very much not to be a part of anything else.
When they finally ceased their chatter, she cut in with a tight smile. “Rather tedious, aye. If ye’ll excuse me, I’m going to take a short walk before I retire.”
“We’ll come with ye.” Aurora peered around Blair at her sister, a mischievous grin on her face.
“Aye, ’twill be fun.”
Blair gritted her teeth and forced a smile; certain their idea of fun was going to be far different than her own.
They exited the castle with the twins talking so fast, and without catching their breath, all the while finishing one another’s sentences. They talked over top of one another so much that Blair could barely keep up, and so, she quit trying. The courtyard was mostly empty as the clansmen and women were either in the great hall dining, or home with their families doing much the same. Soon, the only ones awake would be those guards on watch, and perhaps her own brother, who never seemed to sleep in his quest to be the perfect laird.
Guards lined the castle ramparts, staring out over the lands beyond, always prepared for an attack. It made Blair nervous the way they stood like that. Always had. Especially after what had happened a few years before with her brother, Strath… Blair had almost single-handedly been the downfall of their entire clan. She shuddered at the memory. She was glad that what could have happened had never came to pass. But, oh Lord…if she had only thought before speaking…
Every day when she woke, she thanked the heavens for being as safe as she was. Thanked her lucky stars to never have been a part of an attack, like her sister-by-marriage, Cora, or Bella, when she’d come so very close.
As the bairn of five, she’d been well-protected—unless the attack came from an older sibling trying to steal her scone or her favorite pair of hose. As a lass just coming into her own, she’d nearly
destroyed thousands of lives when she had caught her brother’s betrothed with a lover. Shocked at what she’d found, Blair had immediately gone to her brother and told him everything. Insulted and in a rage, Strath had taken his bride back to her father, humiliated. A war had started soon after. And it had been all Blair’s fault. Well, not all her fault exactly; it wasn’t like she’d insisted Jean Guinn bed another, but if she’d kept quiet, or maybe told her father instead of her brother, war could have been avoided.
A husband would protect her. Maybe even keep her safe from her own blunders that inevitably put other people in danger, for even though she tried hard to follow all the rules, unexpected and sometimes unpleasant things still happened.
One of the guards called out a greeting to Aurora, who ducked her head in feigned shyness. That lass had not one shy bone in her body. Blair narrowed her eyes, wondering if this contrived coyness was something that she should adopt to gain the attention of a man. Was that what they wanted?
Blair swiveled her gaze back to the guard, who was nodding with appreciation at her cousin. She recognized him as one of her brother’s men from their lands up north. Though the guards at Ross Castle were a mix of both Ross and Sutherlands, at night, only Sutherlands stood watch. Watching him ogle her cousin left her with a sour feeling in her belly. She would do her best not to act coy, as she did not want this kind of attention. He looked to be fairly drooling, like a dog over a bone.
