The Seduced Read Free

actions will determine the outcome.”
    “I’m going to find my friends,” he stated.
    Illinca’s lips pressed together briefly. She held up an amulet. “The next time you see this, your destiny will be before you. The path you choose will seal your fate.”
    Daman got that bad feeling again as Ilinca placed her hand on his forehead. He wanted to jerk away, but she still held him frozen. His eyes grew heavy, and the more he fought to keep them open, the more tired he became.
    “Don’t fight it,” Ilinca’s voice whispered in his head.
    It was in his nature to fight. He fought as hard as he could against whatever she was doing to him, but it was too much. The world went black in an instant, like the snap of someone’s fingers.
    Ilinca sighed as she dropped her hands and took a step back from Daman. Then she nodded, and the men carried him to her wagon and brought him inside. Grief rose up in her like a tidal wave. She would tend to Daman later. Right now, she needed to bury her granddaughter.
    Once that was done, she had a destination to reach.
    “Grandmother?”
    Ilinca held out her arms for Ana’s younger sister. When Amalia wrapped her arms around her, Ilinca held her tight. “It’s almost over, my sweet.”
    “You didn’t say Ana would die.”
    “I didn’t know.” Ilinca didn’t stop the tears from falling. “Ana was impetuous and kind, but she wasn’t as strong as you are.”
    Amalia looked up at her. “Where did you send those men?”
    “Far away.”
    “And the fourth? Why didn’t you send him, too?”
    Ilinca glanced at her wagon. “Because he’s the key to all of it.”

CHAPTER ONE

    MacKay Clan
    1609

    Innes stood in the great hall of the castle staring at their dwindling clan. Every day more and more people left. Not that she blamed them. People were starving, and with most of the warriors dead, their clan was weak.
    She fingered the amulet hidden beneath her gown. It had been placed around her neck when she was just seven summers. Her mother had told her to never take it off. It had been passed down through their family for over two hundred years.
    “You may need it one day, Innes,” her mother said.
    “Need it how? It’s just a pendant.”
    “It’s not just any piece of jewelry, sweetling. It possesses magic. There is a warrior hidden on this land. He’s sleeping, waiting for the time when we need him most.”
    Innes had thought her mother was making it all up until she was shown the sleeping warrior the next day. From that moment on, rarely a week passed when she didn’t go see him.
    Her brother’s voice boomed through the hall as he tried to quiet everyone. Innes knew they were in trouble. There had been an attack in their forest by a lone man who had killed several of their men, as well as the defection of another clan member to their enemy, the Sinclairs.
    “Enough!” Alistair shouted. He ran a hand through his dark hair, his nostrils flaring. “We will survive. We were a great clan once, and we will be again.”
    “What of Donald?” someone shouted.
    Innes watched her brother’s hands fist at his sides. It infuriated him that Donald was making more trouble for the clan instead of helping. Then again, their brother wanted to lead. Donald’s pride was hurt from not winning the clan’s support to become laird.
    Alistair met her gaze, and she gave him a nod. She normally didn’t take sides with her brothers, but in this, she wholeheartedly agreed with Alistair.
    “My brother will be brought to heel,” Alistair said, his words ringing clear and loud through the great hall. “Family or not, he is destroying this clan. I vowed to rebuild us, and I’ll no’ stop until I do.”
    The talk then turned to the stores of food for winter. Innes turned and walked from the castle. She made her way down the castle steps to the bailey, which was so quiet it was eerie.
    It used to be one of her favorite places. All the noise, all the people. It was a central place for the clan.