In a Revolt of Their Own

[Lord Iain Robertson]

In the underbelly of Dun Darroch, there lie an intricate web of corridors… Corridors that the young Iain and Chloestrain would play… to be able to escape the viciousness of the then middle-aged laird, Alexander. Now some two-plus decades later, those same children, now adults, struggled to remember their paths previous. As hands swiped at spiderwebs, following the girl named Qynn, a shadowed figure, unseen by the group, approached from behind… and when the group turned right and disappeared around a corner, Iain was yanked back by Chloe’s tightening hand and a scream…

Seeing Shyvonne and Mark ahead of her, she balked, pulling her hand away from Iain’s… “Where is Robin.. He was supposed to be with you…” she had left him in Shyvonne’s care, and now all hell was breaking loose, and Shy was with Mark, and Robin was no where to be seen. Without waiting for an answer she bolted back the way she had come, intent on finding her son, no matter the dangers...

“Chloe are you mad..? The castle is in revolt.. Robin is probably safetly out already.” he tried to push her back toward the group, “The best thing to do is get you to safety,” his words were firm… But he was met with a lioness protecting her cub.

Searc MacGregor had followed… and saw his wife, hand in hand, with her lover… and as he followed, he reached out and captured her by the waist before she could pass him up in the narrow tunnels that weaved like a honeycomb in the old castle.. “Chloestrain…” the voice was gruff and harsh… jealously sparked anew as he did not wish her to be with THAT man…

Iain felt her tug and he whipped around thinking it was the masked invaders…but what he faced in the dimming light was his lover’s husband… “Searc… where are the others? What are ya doing?” he glanced toward where the group was, then back at Searc… “We will lose the Queen… we are in danger here. Chloe cannot go back… stop her Searc…”

“Dun talk to me about my wife.” Searc growled at Iain, pushing Chloe to the side in effort to stare down the younger man whom his wife loved. “You forget yourself, your place and hers.. And my generosity in paying for your defense when I should have left you be…” His voice lowered in warning, as he turned to see his wife disspear into the maddness they had left behind.. “Go to the Queen, I will find my wife and son…” it was a downright slap in the face to Iain and he knew it, but few things had come to be clear to Searc, Chloe belonged with the MacGregors, the boy Robin was his heir, and so would be the child she carried now.

As he was incapable of conceiving one of his own now, Chloe and her children had become the future of the Clan, and he would see her so placed. In the last months he had gained a new found respect and reverence for his wife, and in Iain he saw, a man besotted by love, and yet too weak to have taken her back when he could have, a man who chose his life, riches, and duty, over love… over Chloe and Robin. There were few times in his life he admitted he was wrong, but he knew he had wronged Chloe, in more ways than could be calculated, and he intended when all this was done, and they were returned to Sleat, to make some sort of peace with her, make a life, not as husband and wife, for he would never love her in that fashion, but as perhaps friends, family and two united for their people.

Iain felt Chloe slip from his fingers as the larger man Searc stepped closer. “My defense? Yu were gonna let me die…” and the gap between them shortened. “I shall not go back… This is my home…”

“Aye, yer home… the place is in turmoil…” he chuckles… “and the Laird slinks away… like the scum yu are… yu do not belong in our class… Chloe is far above yu…” and the larger man pushes Iain back… and Iain resisted, only to push him back.

“This not the time nor place Searc, are yu mad? We MUST escape… to give us time to regroup…” and he stood against Searc’s shove, his slate-grey eyes narrowing. “Outta my way Searc, I’ve got to stop Chloe…” Iain’s fists balled up… and his temper rose. “Get outta my way Searc…”

While Searc’s sexual preference was not conducive to society, his size and strength were far greater than most men… and when Iain ordered him, the temper flaired within him and he shoved Iain back… and in doing so, two tempers risen to an exploisive level… the two began to scuffle…… and then fists flew… but ti would be Iain on the receiving end…. Searc, the larger man tossed Iain around like a ragdoll…

Iain was a fighter… all of his life… but he didn’t want to fight Searc… not now… but he would not be manhandled… and Iain rocked from Searc’s shove… and he retaliated… Searc pushed and got pushed, Iain swung, connecting with Searc’s head… only for the large man to shake his head and pick Iain up… tossing him like a sack of grain. As he started to rise from the dirty floor, Searc swung and connected with his jaw… and as he fell backwards, his head hit the wall… and he slumped unconscious.

Searc smirked… “Woman…” and found Iain alive, but unconscious… then he turned and went after Chloe.

In the time that it took to speak those words, Chloe had slipped past them both and back out into the hallways, skirts flying in search of her son. She ran to the room, that Robin, Shy, and Lindall had shared, avoiding the swords and men fighting, pushing, and plowing her way thru, the acrid smell of smoke choking those who fought in the dimmed corridors. Stepping over a dead body, she quickly relived him of a dagger and sword...

Continuing on until she found the open door where her son had spent the last few weeks… “Robin… Lindall.. Leigha?” she screamed..

Calling out for them and seeing the room empty or so she thought until she heard the soft sounds of a child cry, tossing over a few tumbled chairs, she reached the wardrobe and pulled open the doors, to find a child huddled within. The cook’s daughter, Rosie, the readheaded little girl that had befriend Robin and become his constant shadow. Sobbing and cluthing a cloth doll that Lindall had fashioned for her, she screamed as the door to her hiding place wrenched open. “Shhhhhhh shhhhh it’s ok.. Come…” Chloe reached out for the frightened girl, and pulled her into her embrace, holdling her for a moment..soothing her… “Do you know where Robin went?” she questioned gently, trying to keep the girl quiet, while her eyes watched the doors…

“He… Went with the red-haired aunt... She took him... But I was hiding , it was my turn to hide, Robin was supposed to find me…” it was apperant the children had been in the middle of a hide and seek game, tiny fist rubbed at her eyes, as she sniffled.. And burrowed her head into Chloe’s shoulder.

“It’s ok we will find him... It’s our turn to find him.” she was relieved that Robin was with Lindall, Lindall was strong, and smart, and resourceful, and would keep him safe… Taking the child’s hand, she pulled her to the doorway, “Hold onto my hand, and follow me even if I let go ok?” she cautioned the Child, just as the doors burst open again, filling the frame the long lanky figure of Searc.

Searc stepped into the room, his cheek red and lip puffed and bleeding. He spotted Chloe near the large clothes cabinet… “Chloe!” he bellowed her name forcefully, and there was true worry and fear as he did, not for himself but her; out in the hallway, renewed fighting went on.. Swords clashed against swords, and flesh.. When his eyes found her form… “Robin.. Is he here ?” then he spied the little girl whom he had seen over the weeks with his son. His eyes scanning the room once more. “We have to go.“

“Lindall has him” she pulled Rosie toward Searc… the child’s hand in one, and a dagger in the other... Almost smiling as Iain stepped into the frame behind Searc…

Iain rubbed his head again… his lip bleeding and his jaw red… his clothes dirty, the shirt torn… “This is not over Searc…” then he saw Chloe with the girl… “Did yu find Robin?” He glanced to the hallway… “Love we must go…”

And those words fueled Searc’s rage. “Leave be Robertson… they are not yours to have… Chloe and Robin are mine… for better or worse…”

And in the hallway stood yet another figure escaping the invaders… it was the man who had followed Searc from Sleat… and slipped into Searc’s room night after night while the trial continued… But when the revolt started and the masked invaders began their reign of terror, the man’s lover left him alone… to find the wife and child… He was left alone to fend for himself, while his lover went after his family… he felt like the jilted lover… and his rage boiled within… He wished Chloestrain and Robin was dead.

As the trio entered the hall, a figure lurked in the ell of a corridor… but it was the masked invaders that were more the threat… and Searc took the sword from Chloe… “Robertson, get my wife and son out of here, and to safety…”

Iain saw the situation, and both he and Searc knew what was to be done… Nodding, he took Chloe by the arm and guided her out, while Searc moved to intercept the masked invaders. Iain, Chloe, and the little girl made their way thru the halls…

In a room, two boys sat crying… Visible from the hallway, Chloe yanked against Iain’s hand… “Iain wait… we must take them too… No one is safe… we do not know who these invaders are…”

Iain grumbled… and he soon found it no use to argue with her… nodding, they went in and convinced the boys to come with them. Out in the hallway, Iain found a sword on a dead masked invader and picked it up, leading the group toward safety.

[Lord Iain Robertson]

Travill MacGruder: The figure in the hallway watched his lover battle against the masked invaders… Even he could tell that they were inexperienced fighters…and his lover soon made a quick dispense of them. He smiled as his lover stood over his kills. He was such a vision… and his mind twisted again as he thought of Searc naked in bed with Chloe instead of him. Anger boiled within, and as he approached , he picked up a dagger than had been forced loose from an invaders hand… Hiding it, he moved toward Searc… “Yu are so strong, my lover… I remember the days you would fight for me... or at least yu said yu would.” he said as he walked to Searc , stepping over dead bodies.

Chloestrain MacGregor: Chloe and Iain had raced down the corridor , three small children with them, as they heard the clash of steel behind them, she faltered turning back to see, Searc cutting down the masked invaders easily, as if in slow motion, a dream or portent, something of deje’vue settled over her, sending a chill up her spine and she stopped.. dead in her tracks… "Iain we can't leave him…" her voice was that of pleading... Mossy green eyes set with a stubborn look. She looked at the oldest boy Thad, some ten years of age… "Stay here, and hold your brother and Rosie.. we will be back " she pressed them into a corner… then turned back the way she had come…

What should have happened had she left with Iain then, what fate would have been will never be known, for now fate’s hands were a cruel and twisiting thing inside these walls. Still holding the dagger, she moved back down the hall in purposfull strides, coming into view just as Travill's mask slipped off… "Travill…" her voice was that of astonishment, shock, "What is the meaning of this ?"

King Adam Aberdeen: Adam, Caldean, and two Gold Talons checked the corridors for masked invaders... At the far end of the corridor, they witnessed Travill and Searc arguing… and as Searc stepped toward his lover with a balled fist, Travill produced a knife and held it toward Searc…

Travill MacGruder: Travill stood, the dagger in one hand, Searc's sword in the other... Upon the floor, lay the man that was Chloe's husband, with his lover standing over him... the lover's blood on his jacket. Overlooking what he had done, tears flowed freely... "AH told ya Searc... Ah would kill Chloestrain... and that bastard boy... Ah did nae mean tae..." he sobbed, speaking to the man upon death’s bed... "Ya gave me nay choice… ya did nae have tae coom at me... Yae shant, and cannae beat me any more... You shall nay toss me aside for the woman and boy..." Sobbing again, he used his sleeve to wipe away tears, careful not to cut himself with the dagger. "Ah bae so sorry my love... so so sorry... but know upon yaer death, that Chloe, and th’ bastard boy, shall die tae... and burn in hell for all eternity sake... for if’n Ah cannae ‘ave ya fully, then none shall enjoy yaer efforts…"

Iain Robertson: Iain followed Chloe, and continued to glance back at the children... with no idea of what lie ahead, just around the bend of the corridor.

Chloestrain MacGregor: She did not think, but reacted, flying at Travill like a mad woman, the dagger raised, a banshee's scream, when she saw the fallen body of her husband… "Noooooo " the man had threatened Robin… killed Searc… The dagger plunged into his back at the shoulder, attacking him, she jerked it out, and begin again, but he was ahead of her, grasping her by the throat with a strength that suprised her, and slamming her against the wall… the breath gushed from her lungs, as behind her, Searc rose on hands and knees, and fell again,trying to get to them, slipping in a puddle of his own blood… "Damm you Travill.. let her go.. she is not to blame…"

Iain Robertson: It all happened so fast... one instant he was looking back, the next, Chloestrain was turning the corner and then running straight at... Then he saw it... Searc lying in a pool of blood... his own... and Chloe wielding a dagger and plunging it deep into Travill's shoulder. He had only met the f*g**t one time... and thru rumor, found him to be sweet on Searc... the truth only now revealed by Travill's own words... And when he saw the f*g**t manhandle Chloe like a rag doll, Iain lunged at the man himself... his hand grabbing the man's hair fully and yanked back as he plunged the sword thru him... The sword plunging thru the kidney past the stomach... the blade slicing thru gristle, bone, and organs, burying to the hilt, the major portion of the sword now protruding out the front of the stomach....

A dying body, it's hand now loosened Chloe's throat.. and fell beside its lover, their blood mixing, forever staining the stone floor. Now Travill and Searc lay together... both dying... Iain stepped to Chloe... "Are yu alright?" and he glanced at Searc, then back to her, he stepped aside.

King Adam Aberdeen: What would be witnessed next was the man known as Travill choking Chloestrain... with Searc upon the floor wounded... Now they witnessed Iain killing the man... Adam stopped the men from running and helping... his hand upon their chest... "Shhh, tis tae late tae stop them… just watch... let us see wot bae goin' on..." and they stood to the side.

Chloestrain MacGregor: It was a blurr, the darkness encroching on her as she fought to breath Traviall's surprisingly strong hand squeezing the life from her, and then there was breath, glorious breath... inhaled, gasping and Iain was before her, asking her if she was alright... a little nod of her head, as she tried to speak and only croaked out a strangled cry as she saw Searc on the floor.. “Noooo.. "

She moved to him, taking his head into her lap.. brushing back the hair from his face… "Your going to be fine.. " she crooned... What was this, she really cared for the man, did she love him.. was she mad...? Her hands pressed at the sucking wound in his chest, the blood bubbling from it, making a pink flecked foam, where air escaped…

Searc MacGregor: "Dun lie to me now… my past has polanned my future…" he chastised her… "I ‘ave wronged you.. forgive me…" he choked and weezed, gasping for last breaths on which to speak...

Chloestrain MacGregor: "It is ok… I forgive you, don't speak... we are going to get you help…" tears now ran down her cheeks. "Get him help pleaseeeee…" she implored the man beside her… "You can't die Searc.. you have to lead the clan… your the Chieftan… you will live !!” her voice held sobs of true emotion in it...

Searc MacGregor: "Nay wife... that is your job now... till Robin is of age... and the one you carry… it will be a MacGregor too.. no matter if Carver was it's father. It be born a MacGregor." spasms of pain wracked him as he spoke in broken sentences… his fingers tightened on her arms… "I'm sorry... for it all... you deserved better.” he whispered against her cheek as she rocked him gently.. "Now you... you are chieftain... you are the future of the MacGregor..."

Chloestrain MacGregor: The blood flowed like a river between her fingers, as she shook him. "Nooo… Nooo, do not..." she pleaded for him to stay... until the blood no longer bubbled... and the horrid sound of breath escaping through the hole in his chest ceased... for long moments, she sat silent before delicate fingers closed his eyes for the last time.

Iain Robertson: Iain watched... and his mind began to wander helter skelter... Did she really love the f*g**t? How could she show him...? then he thought about it... He had taken care of her all this time... What occurred in their lives, he was not privy... He could only watch and learn.

She begged him to go after help... but he knew that Searc's wounds were... mortal... Before all this, he had wished that Searc would die... but now... he feared that hatred took second seat to Chloe's tears... He stood behind Chloe, his hand upon her shoulder...more for support than anything... Robin a MacGregor? Pregnant? With Carver’s child? How, when? His slate grey eyes narrowed in curiosity...

He watched...witnessing something he thought never possible... and with Searc surrender to Death, Chloestrain became the Chieftain... Clan law was changed in Parliament when Adam became King... Salic Law was abandoned... and women's rights now flourished under the Queen... and in doing so, coupled with Searc's death and dying wish... Chloestrain became the MacGregor Chieftain...

King Adam Aberdeen: Having seen enough, Adam and his men would now advance to the scene. Thudded boot steps were ignored as the people were still involved in the grievious display of human life, severed from reality.

Chloestrain MacGregor: Chloe had not seen the king nor his men, a gentle brush of her lips to Searc’s cheek... And she withdrew, laying his head gently on the floor… Reaching up to caress the hand on her shoulder, Iain’s hand, gently. “We cannot leave him here, he deserves a proper burial, a clan burial.“ she moved to Travill’s side then slipping the mask back over his face…

Iain Robertson: Iain had been focusing on Chloe... and had not seen, nor heard, the King, or the others... And when Chloe touched his hand... it was like an electric shock... "I will carry him...” He watched Chloe as she refitted the mask over Travill's head and spoke... And as he edged past Chloe... he strained, pulling dead-weight up and onto his shoulder.... staggering a bit, he resettled the dead man equally upon his shoulder in a fireman's carry... "He will be buried proper...."

Chloestrain MacGregor: “No one will ever know that they were lovers, and that he killed Searc for that reason.. We do not know the murderer, it was a masked feind.” she proclaimed to Iain softly before turning to see the King, the back of her hand wiped at her tears, smearing the blood of her husband across her cheek…

Iain Robertson: Iain, steady under Searc's dead weight, nodded... "Silent I shall be... til my death, none shall know..."

Chloestrain MacGregor: The look of shock on her face, mixed with grief and confusion… She bowed abruptly… “Your Majesty…"

Iain Robertson: She then bowed and made the curtsey to royalty. The King? Did he? Surely now Iain would die upon the axeman's block, for surely he was guilty of murder... was it murder in defense of a woman? How much had the King seen and heard? He steadied himself lowering his eyes as he turned... "Yer Majesty..."

King Adam Aberdeen: Adam nodded... "Lady Chloestrain... Lord Iain... Ah ‘ave witnessed what none would believe.... God above has blessed us with a small, expensive, it seems, victory..." he approaches Chloe... his hand upon her shoulder... "Mae condolences M'Lady... if there is anythin’ Ah I can dae... ask of mae..."

Iain Robertson: Iain shook his head to Caldean and the Talons who offered to carry Searc... "I shall carry him... If yu can prepare a wagon, it would be most gracious..." and one Talon disappeared to make it so...

Iain looked at the King... "Is my son... the Queen and the others alright?"

King Adam Aberdeen: Adam looked at the man... "We were separated.... but we shall take care of what is required now... I am sure the Queen has cared for her subjects... Now let us go..."

Iain Robertson: Iain nodded, looking to Chloe... "You go my dear, I shall follow..." and the Talon soldier moved to behind Iain just in case he needs help.

Chloestrain MacGregor: As she moved behind the King, they came upon the three children still in the corner where Chloe and Iain had left them.. Picking Rosie, the youngest, up, she placed her on a hip, and offered a hand to the younger boy, "Come children we are away from here.. " she looked back giving Iain a grateful smile.. oh how her heart ached.. and how she loved him for the honor he did her, the patience he showed in carrying Searc's weight.

King Adam Aberdeen: Adam looked at the woman and wondered… he gave a smile at the thought… The woman is so defiant and aggressive upon the battlefield… yet so soft and genteel with ones she loves and children… The smirk quirked a lip as he mentally compared her to Bess… and he looked at Iain… and drew conclusions why the man loved the woman so…

Chloestrain MacGregor: As soon as they were outside, in the courtyard, the cook ran to them, her arms open for the little girl… "Here Lady, Rosie is safe... you will join us, yes ?" she pointed to the carriages that awaited them, while still inside the castle small pockets of rebellion ensued.. it was no place for women or children.

Both Rosie, her mother, and the two Theo Robertson boys were bustled into a carraige with a few more nobles who had escaped the treachery, before Chloe turned to follow Iain, Adam, and the Talons to a wagon, where Searc's body was laid, from inside the stables, someone offered a blanket to cover him…

The Lady MacGregor, now the Chieftan, stood silent and stiff, looking at the body… as if it were both doom and freedom beneath that blanket... How long had she wished him dead, prayed for it... and now that it had come to pass, she felt as if she had lost something, undefinable… a leader of her people, a father to her son... the only one he knew… She swallowed harshly, thinking how Searc's family would react... and the clan as well… It would kill Ivella, her only son, dead… and as much as Shyvonne argued with her brother, she loved him as did Lindall… hands lifted to wrap about her shoulders .. she was a widow now…

Iain Robertson: Iain laid Searc in the wagon... and then handed a blanket by someone,he began to cover the dead man... the Talon helping him; the two appeared ceremoniously respectful in doping so. "Chloe... yu and some men need to return to Dunsgate... and bury him... this is no place for you... the body will soon ripen..." He moved to her, kissing her upon the cheek... "Go home to your people... they need yu now..." then he smiled, picked up a sword and followed Adam and his men as they began to move back into the castle...

Chloestrain MacGregor: “Iain?” her voice called out to him.. As he turned to go.. She walked to him in a way that was both prideful , yet panicked, embracing him in a manner that was not lady like nor widow like. Pressing her forehead to his chest, she trembled… “You come back to me..." it was both prayer and order… “We have much to finish…" her eyes lifted to his and she let him go with the King to defend his castle...

King Adam Aberdeen: Adam walked to the wagon and watched the MacGregor chieftain laid upon it… and he shook his head. He listened to Iain, and nodded. “Tis yer duty Lady Chloestrain… go in peace…” and then he heard her tell Iain they much to finish and he smiled at her, glancinga moment to Iain. “Aye M’Lady, tis unfinished business we all ‘ave in Eilean Donan… Tha’ is where the Queen took all the escapees Ah am told… and those as well shall gae tae… And Ah expect after yaer duty in Sleat, yae shall return to court…” then he smiled and headed back toward the castle.

Iain Robertson: Iain nodded at her words… “Aye lass, I almost lost ya thrice, I shant again…” he looked to the King… “Aye unfinished business…” then he disappeared in the smoke of the castle.

Chloestrain MacGregor: And the men returned to the castle… while the carriage with Rosie, and the Robertson boys, moved on toward Eilean Donan… The wagon bearing Searc MacGregor’s body, and the Lady MacGregor, moved south to Sleat...

[Lady Chloestrain MacGregor]

Searc’s Funeral

She was free, in more ways than one, the Lady MacGregor sat upon the bench seat of the wagon, a few Griffin guards rode with her as far as the borders of Sleat, then turned round and headed back to the service of the King. She herself ruminated on the happenings of the past two days, a rebellion, revolt, masked men attacking; it all seemed surreal. Then Searc’s death and subsequent bestowing of the chieftainship upon her. The King as a witness, would there be dispute?? At this point she didn’t care. Her eyes looked straight ahead, not tempted to look back at the body that had stiffened, then gone slack, that she carried back to Dunsgate. Her mind was with her son; she knew he was in good hands with Lindall and Shyvonne, but she longed to have her arms about him, far away from the madness of Struan.

In as much as four days of fighting, the King, Jack, Caldean, Iain, and the remaining Talon soldier had held the castle until other Talon soldiers arrived and quelled the revolt… The invaders either captured, eliminated, or escaped back to wince they came. And Iain sat exhausted upon the large stone bench, his hands upon the sword hilt, his head resting upon the knuckles. These past few months, he had witnessed his world turn topsy-turvy… and twist as much as his fate had twisted in the past 4 years.

She had given explicit intructions to the cook, little Rosie’s mother, to go straight to Eilean Donan, and take message to the Queen only. For the Queen would surely know best in how to handle informing the family of Searc’s death, and Chloe’s trek to take him home for burial. The cook had assured Chloe that she had seen both Robin and the daughter of Iain Robertson bundled into the Queen’s carriage, and that she would see to both their well being personally. For her services, Chloe had promised her and her daughter a place in her household, and a year’s wages, to see Robin and Emily cared for, as well as to find out the whereabouts of Iain’s sons, Duncan and Alexander.

He was the Laird of clan Robertson, and Struan… Dun Darroch was his home. He glanced over his shoulder to see smoke still billowing from some rooms, though less and less while servants and villagers fought small blazes. He just sighed and thought of Chloestrain. It appeared that even God, Almighty was against them. She was returning… or returned… he did not know… to Dunsgate… and when she buried her husband, she would return to face charges… Sometimes, he wished he had been killed in either the clan war or here at Dun Darroch, but that would a finale… and he did not wish to give up Chloestrain that easily. He canted his head as he thought just how MUCH he loved her, and he smirked, shaking his head.

It took four days to reach Dunsgate, four hellish days of guilt, self doubt, recrimniation. She prayed for forgivness, her failings as a wife, for not finding a way to make things work between them; but she never repented her love of Iain, for that she was sure, even if a sin, would be something she could never deny, nor repent from. Now, as freedom settled upon her after months of being imprisoned within the bowells of Dun Darroch, and years within the prison of her marriage, she contemplated the future and what it would hold. She had never thought of Dunsgate as home, until the wagon made it’s way over the last hill and it came into view; fields ripe with wheat, dotted with sheep, vibrant and buzzing with activity of the coming harvest, cows lowed in greeting and it seemed a much more pastural place than Struan could ever be with it’s craggy mountains, and rocky lochs. Tears fell over her face as she and the wagon driver bore the Chieftain to his final resting place, a following of villagers joining them, to see their Lady returning their Lord home.

He lay in state, a coffin inside castle Dunsgate, as the late summer heat had left his body unfit for the eyes of the Clan. Draped in the tartan of his clan, flowers strewn across its width. She stood beside it as the Clan members filed in to pay their respects. She knew not if the est of the family would be released to come home for the rites, another day could not be had, for already the stench of death ruined the air of the castle.

That night the funeral pyres were lit, it’s flames reaching toward the heavens, as the Chieftain Searc MacGregor was laid to rest, sent out in the way of his forefathers. Chloe however, had a priest also give the final rites, for who was she , a sinner as she was, one to deny the possibility of the Lord’s infinite ability to forgive. She prayed silently until the flames died away in the early morning hours, that Searc would find peace, and forgivness in the Lord’s sight.

Once returned to the castle she stood in it’s shadow for some time, then climbed it’s stairs to the highest wall, walking along it’s length and looking out over the place that sometime in the past years had become home. It was the only home her son knew, the place that he would someday lead into the future. Her hand lay over her belly and the tiny roundness that grew there. This child too, would need security, a place to call home, not matter it’s father… whether Carver or Mark... It was a child of her flesh and children were a blessing, it matter not how they were begot, but that they were loved. She truly belived this, and anyone who doubted her resolution on this matter would be damned to her ire.

Dun Darroch was still busy, but with restoration instead of a trial… he walked around the courtyard where he and Chloe once walked… and he looked around. The King, Queen and all the soldiers were gone… all went to Eilean Donan to resume the quest of the Argyll… Iain had given his word to the King that he too would be there in time to resume the trial. Granted permission to get his estate back in running order, Iain now handled all the errands necessary of a Lord of a manor.

Nights were the hardest… for in the remnants of his room, he lay upon his bed, eyes wide open, failing to fall asleep… and when he did, dreams of Chloestrain would wake him in erotic state, or a cold sweat from the time in the dungeon. The way they treated her… he would ensure NONE of those people were anywhere close to Dun Darroch or Struan… he’d personally see to that fact.

But all in all, the one he deemed the cause of all this… his Father, Lord Alexander, his wife, Keliana, and his cousin Theodore, were no where to be found. And this struck him odd… Alexander would not leave his beloved Dun Darroch for anything… except his own skin.

She lingered there as the sun rose over the land that had been left in her hands. It was a daunting task, an immense responsibility. The thought bumbled around in her head that even in death Searc had found a way to bind her to him. A soft laugh as she looked heavenward asking for strengh… and as if in answer a hawk circled the tower where she stood looking over the place that had become home; it’s cry casting out across the morning sky, as if settling the mantle of the land on her slender shoulders.

Three days later she would ride into Struan, headed for Eilean Donan... To face the charges laid against her... She rode in no carriage, nor wagon, but astride a snow white stallion regaled in the standards and leather of the MacGregor; her guards flying the pennants blazoned with the MacGregor crest. The new MacGregor Chieftan arrived in the courtyard, dressed not as the prisoner of Dun Darroch, nor as the lady wife of a chieftain, but as a Chieftain herself. Dark clothes of mourning, a riding habit of expensive, yet demure taste, white lace at her throat, and over her shoulder, the plaid of the clan, the golden broach of the MacGregor, shining in the late afternoon sun. “Inform the Queen the Lady MacGregor has returned.” she spoke as she stood in the grand hall of the Castle, awaiting the pleasure of the Queen.

Ten days… Ten days from the last time he saw Chloestrain… a man upon a pale-brown stallion would ride into Eilean Donan… the horse covered in a blanket of Robertson plaid… the headed gauntlet of the clan Robertson made in silver and embedded into the rear flap of the saddle… the man was dressed in fine Lord’s clothes. Iain halted the horse outside the gate, and called to the guards… “Inform the King, Lord Robertson has returned to face charges levied against him.”

As the guards opened the gates, Iain spurred the horse and entered once more toward destiny. Dismounting, he then led his steed to the livery… and it was there he got a smile upon his face. It was the MacGregor saddle set upon the post that gave him reason…. Chloe had returned. He just hoped that she would be glad to see him.

A page arrived as Iain stepped into the Castle corridor… “This way MiLord, I shall show you your room…” the page said. Iain simply nodded, but thinking… ‘No cell… no locked quarters… just a place to sleep during the trial’.

Adam stood in the window overlooking the courtyard… Eilean Donan was a beautiful castle And its courtyard still held flowers galore… well-kept, but there were a lot of things relating to the clan Robertson, but few relics of the Argyll. He hoped that would change soon enough. As he watched the children playing below, a page arrived and informed the King that Lord Robertson had finally arrived… him being the last of the absent defendants. “Aye, have him settled in his room…” was all Adam said.