The Laird's Bastard Daughter (The Highland Warlord Series Book 1)

by Tessa Murran

  ‘Insult me if it makes you feel better, it won’t change anything.’

  ‘When are you leaving for the lowlands?’ snapped Cormac.

  ‘As soon as I see my nephew or niece safely into this world. Then it is more madness and mayhem for me.’

  ‘Be careful, English castles are well-defended, no matter how reckless Black Douglas is, and they will be hard to capture.’

  There was a piercing scream from the other side of the door, which stopped them dead. Cormac went pale in the silence which followed, until, after what felt like an age, a thin wail sounded. A baby’s cry, his bairn’s first breath.

  A few moments later, an old woman rushed out, cradling a bundle in her arms.

  ‘You have a son, Laird, a fine, healthy son.’

  Cormac looked down at the squirming bundle she held in her arms. A tiny hand reached upwards, pale fingers curling open and shut like a little, white flower. It was as if his heart shattered into a million, tiny pieces, and then crumbled into dust. It took his breath, this love, this fire of feeling sweeping through him.

  ‘Ravenna?’ he asked, choking back tears.

  ‘She is well, a little tired. Give her a little while, then you can come in. Here, hold your son, Laird.’

  The woman placed his son in his arms and disappeared inside the chamber. He felt Lyall at his shoulder. As Cormac pulled back the blanket, he saw his son’s puckered, red face for the first time. The child opened its mouth and let out a piercing cry.

  ‘Bad tempered, little bugger, just like his father,’ said Lyall.

  ***

  Ravenna felt weak, as though she were floating, and she could not move her arms and legs. She struggled to open her eyes. She must not sleep, she had to take care of him, her precious son. He needed her but, though she tried as hard as she could, her eyes would not open. She felt herself rise up and gently lift away from her body, and she was looking down on herself, all tucked up in bed, her face pale and still.

  Someone was crying, and it was harsh, cutting through her like a knife. She opened her eyes with a start.

  ‘Ravenna…Ravenna, you have to take him, he’s hungry again.’

  Morna was beside her, holding out a squirming Ross, his face puce, mouth gaping in search of a nipple. She sat up and smiled to herself. For a moment there, she had thought it was all for nought and that God, or the Devil, was taking her away.

  She took her squalling baby and winced as he latched on to her breast. He was a greedy one, her son, always demanding, just like his father. His little fingers clutched on to her skin as he fed wetly, slurping and sucking. She stroked his downy head as he stared up into her eyes. They said his grey eyes would change and darken as he got older, like his father’s, but she hoped not. They were her eyes, and she loved to see herself reflected in them.

  ‘It’s cold in here,’ she said to Morna.

  ‘Aye, I wish the storm would break so I could get outside and go up the hill.’ Morna threw another lump of wood onto the fire.

  ‘You are bored, stuck in here with me and the baby.’

  ‘No, I love holding Ross, he’s so warm and fat, it’s just, sometimes Ravenna, I have too many thoughts in my head to let my mind rest.’

  ‘About what?’

  ‘Oh, I don’t know.’ She looked down at her hands, and her face went pink, like the bairn’s.

  ‘Sometimes I wonder what he is doing, Ravenna, that Will O’Neill.’

  Ravenna laughed. ‘Robbing someone, most likely, and hush, don’t let Cormac hear you say his name, for he was a bad lot.’

  ‘Aye, he was a scoundrel but, you have to own, he was fair in the face.’

  ‘Aye, he was, a little too much for his own good.’

  ‘And he did survive the battle, so he must have been brave.’

  ‘Or he was off somewhere, hiding, Morna.’

  ‘Well, if he was, that would make him clever, wouldn’t it?’

  ‘You only knew him half a day and you would make him a hero, Morna. You fear you will never again meet such a fine man as Will O’Neill,’ teased Ravenna.

  ‘I doubt I shall ever see him again.’

  ‘It’s not likely, is it? Don’t waste time on a fancy for a lad you can’t have. You will get yourself a fine husband, soon enough, one who is every bit as fair in the face as Will O’Neill. Already, you are considered the greatest beauty for miles about, and you’ve no shortage of eager suitors.’

  Morna looked deep into the fire. ‘You knew him, didn’t you, that other one, Brandan?’

  Ravenna froze and locked eyes with the girl. She held her breath and brought her hand up around her baby. ‘It was a long time ago Morna, when I was just a girl, in a different life, back at Mauldsmyre. I thought I love him, but I was a fool.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter now, and your secret is safe with me. I didn’t ask because I could see how it wounded you to see him.’ Morna gave her a little smile.

  ‘I will tell Cormac, one day, just not now.’

  ‘As you please. It is your business, your secret to keep. I’m just glad that you are here with us, with me, and that you chose my brother.’

  ‘So am I, Morna. I do love Cormac very much. How did you know about him, Brandan?’

  ‘Was that his name?’

  Ravenna nodded.

  ‘I knew because of the way he looked at you. Part of me would love to have a man look at me like that, someday, but another part of me wants to run and hide from men, for they do such terrible things to each other.’

  Ravenna looked at her long and hard. It had embittered her, that awful betrothal and the things she had seen at Bannockburn. Morna had grown up too quickly and knew too much about life’s harshness already. She was becoming more like her, and Ravenna hated to see it.

  ‘Morna, you have a family who cares for you and protects you. No one will force you into a marriage to someone you do not love. In time, when your heart mends a little, you will find a good, strong man to love you. I will not settle for anything less for you, Morna, for you are no bastard daughter, cast out into the world to fend for yourself. We are as sisters now, we are family, all of us, and whatever happens, we stick together.’

  Morna smiled at her and went back to gazing into the fire as the wind gusted sheets of rain across the valley and up against the keep.

  ‘Aye,’ thought Morna, she would give it time, and while she was waiting for that good, strong man to come along, she would dream of Will O’Neill, who wasn’t good at all.

  THE END

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Tessa Murran grew up in a mining community in the United Kingdom but currently lives a sun-soaked life of golden beaches and blue skies, with a husband, a daughter and a fat, greedy dog, at the edge of the Australian bush.

  When her dark Celtic soul whispers to her of rain-lashed moors, wind-swept peaks and forbidding castles, she loves to conjure up dark-hearted romances. Tessa writes high- stakes love stories that live up to her motto of ‘wild and passionate historical romance.’ Tessa enjoys creating fierce heroes with a fire in their belly, and strong-willed, compelling heroines, and setting them on a rocky path to enduring love.

  A keen reader of romance fiction since her teens, she also has a passion for the past and delights in creating stories set in a world of intrigue and conflict, at the turning points of history.

  Tessa sincerely hopes you enjoy The Laird’s Bastard Daughter.

  To find out more about the Highland Warlords Series, and all of Tessa’s books, check out www.tessamurran.com or Twitter @tessamurran.

  ALSO BY TESSA MURRAN

  THE HIGHLAND WARLORDS SERIES

  The Highlander’s War Prize - Book 2 © 2019 Tessa Murran

  Castles and hearts are under siege.

  Giselle de Villers is sent to Northumberland to wed, but when a Scots hoard besieges her betrothed’s castle, she falls prey to vicious predator, Banan MacGregor. Salvation, of sorts, comes in the shape of handsome Lyall Buchanan, who wins her as his war prize an
d takes her for ransom.

  Carried off into the Highlands, Giselle has to suffer the protection of a savage Scot who is as wild and unpredictable as his moorland home. But he is also a sight to behold and more of a man than anyone she has ever met. Soon, Giselle is in danger of losing not only her freedom, but also her virtue and her heart. As she tries to resist Lyall’s practised seduction, Banan’s urge to possess her grows to murderous proportions.

  Lyall Buchanan has become two men. Haunted by the rigours of war, he is torn between the ruthless fighter he has to be to survive, and the honourable man he once was. When innocent Giselle de Villers needs protection, he steps in. Telling himself he wants the ransom her rich father will pay, Lyall drags her into Scotland. But feelings that lay buried, start to resurface, and soon, the soft, English lass becomes more than just an enemy and a burden. Giselle is at his mercy, so, if she yields to him, is it through passion, or fear? When evil threatens to tear them apart, how far will he go, how low will he sink, for love?

  As storm clouds gather around the throne of Scotland, a reckoning approaches, and a fight to the death, in one final, bloody siege - for freedom and for love.

  The Highlander’s War Prize takes the reader on a journey of temptation, seduction and conquest, through the moors of Scotland, into its deep lochs and soaring glens.

  This is a high stakes, adult romance, and there may be triggers for some people.

  Coming Soon

  The Pirate Laird’s Hostage - Book 3 © 2019 Tessa Murran

  THE HIGHLAND WOLF SERIES

  The Black Wolf’s Captive - Book 1 © 2018 Tessa Murran

  War has brought them together.

  Ailsa MacLeod rebels against the prospect of an arranged marriage. She knows it will bring an important alliance for her clan, but she strives to be mistress of her own destiny. A brutal clan war brings upheaval and uncertainty into her world and Ailsa finds herself humiliated and at the mercy of wild and handsome rival clansman Duncan Campbell, who would bend her to his will and claim her for his own. Ailsa must pretend to submit to him as she fights to win her freedom. But can her growing attraction to him be conquered or does danger still lurk where she least expects it?

  Duncan Campbell is a fierce man with a dark and troubled past. A consummate survivor, he moves in a world of intrigue and violence and when the Highlands explode into armed conflict he finds himself in possession of the spoils of war, defiant beauty Ailsa MacLeod, who utterly hates him. Duncan must do battle once more against the hunger that starts to grow in him. Does he want to protect her or possess her? Ailsa is his to do with as he pleases, though a bitter upbringing and the brutality of the life he is forced to lead have closed his heart to love. As he forces her into submission, Duncan begins to realise that love is something earned not taken and if he is to hold this prize he must fight one last battle against enemies who would tear down everything he holds dear.

  The Lone Wolf’s Bride - Book 2 © 2018 Tessa Murran

  Is he her road to hell or her path to redemption?

  Ilene Campbell is poised on the brink of getting her heart’s desire. As the daughter of powerful Laird Duncan Campbell, she has the world at her feet. But when her hopes for the future are cruelly dashed and her heart broken, she has no choice but to seek the protection of her wild and rugged adopted brother Murray, returned from war and scarred by the life he has led, inside and out. He wants her, but can she ever find happiness with him, especially as an awful betrayal opens up a gulf between them. Ilene must earn his trust if she is ever to bind this hard, uncompromising highlander to her forever.

  Murray Campbell has led a brutal life, enriching himself on the battlefields of Europe. Returning to his home of Cailleach after years of exile he finds Scotland on the brink of a civil war. Much has changed in his absence, not least his adopted sister Ilene, now a captivating young woman, pretty and free-spirited. She appears too good for the likes of him until an abrupt change of fortune places her within his grasp. But the beautiful stranger he takes to his bed has hopes and dreams of her own, and a terrible secret. Murray must find some warmth and forgiveness in his shrivelled heart if he is to claim the prize forever just beyond his reach.

  The Dark Wolf’s Deliverance - Book 3 © 2019 Tessa Murran

  He must gain her trust. His life depends on it.

  Kenna Moncur longs to escape her life at remote Sgathach Dun Castle where few folk venture close, wary of rumours that an evil spirit lurks within its walls and fearful of her father’s reputation as a villainous laird. But when Kenna meets Conall Campbell, son of a powerful man, a whole new world opens up before her. Locked in Sgathach Dun’s grim dungeon, Conall faces a terrible fate and Kenna takes pity on him, trying to keep him alive, and risking all to do so, while dark forces move against his clan. Does he return the feelings she starts to have about him or is he just using her to escape Sgathach Dun’s horrors? If she frees him will it be the beginning of a new life or will an old curse stalking the Moncur family bring her new love crashing down?

  Wild and handsome Conall Campbell has been sent to live at Dunslair Castle with his father’s best friend, Rory Mor Campbell, in an effort to curb his wild ways. He is expected to relinquish his dissolute lifestyle and become a man of stature like his father, Laird Duncan Campbell. But there is a darkness within Conall, and he is at war with himself and the future laid out before him. With his clan still rebuilding from a fearsome battle with a rival clan some years earlier, these are dangerous times for the Campbells.

  When Conall disappears, Rory begins a desperate search while trying to deal with his growing attraction to a mysterious woman he has sworn to protect from a charge of witchcraft.

  Taken prisoner by the Moncur clan, Conall must surrender his pride in favour of survival and his captor’s daughter, pretty, trusting Kenna Moncur might just be his means of escape. Will her budding love for him break against the darkness within him or can she lead him to the light? And in tying her fate to his Conall could be leading her into danger, because someone, somewhere, is out to destroy him.

  The Dark Wolf’s Deliverance takes the reader on a desperate flight across the Highlands, and into a deadly rivalry over the love of a beautiful and vulnerable young woman, all set against the backdrop of a murderous witch hunt engulfing Scotland.