Caledonia

Prologue

September, 1620

On a beautiful, clear day a fortnight after the autumn harvest finished, members of the extended clan Campbell from all over the Highlands arrived at the castle home of her uncle Hamish, the much older brother of her mother. Callie MacLeod was only nine years old on that fateful day, but she was alert enough to notice the coil of tension in her father's stature, as they arrived at the edge of her maternal uncle's lands having traveled over two days from her father's keep. Her parents eloped ten years ago after a chance meeting at the Highland games and this gathering was the first Campbell one where the wedded couple were invited to attend. There had been a long-standing feud between the Campbell and MacLeod clans over some prize ewes stolen out of a MacLeod field a generation ago and Callie's parents eloping had done nothing to mend the bad feelings between the two clans.

"I can't trust them, Morag!" Her father, Ross, quietly whispered to his wife, as they rode towards the small castle which could be seen in the distance. "I've got a bad feeling in my gut that I can't ignore."

"It's been ten years, my love. Laurie wrote me months ago saying Hamish wasn't of the same mind as my father was about us. They're the only family I have left, Ross."

"Ye have the MacLeod clan. They're your family, too."

"I know." She soothed his distemper by gently laying a hand on his arm. "But, we must give them a chance for Callie's sake if nothing else. Don't you want her growing up and knowing my family as well?"

"Aye, love, of course, I do." He agreed on a sigh. "But, how can we trust them?"

"Laurie was my best friend since we were bairns. I have to trust her word. She'd never harm me or the ones I love." Morag patted her belly swollen with pregnancy, leaning over to kiss Ross sweetly on his bearded cheek before smiling at him. "Is it so wrong of me that I want my family to see me and witness that I'm still happily wed after all these years?"

Her father sighed in response, but said nothing as he gently kissed her brow. She smiled broadly at him before curling her arm around his and leaned her head into his shoulder.

Later that same afternoon, Callie sat not far from a group of older girls watching two teams of boys their age playing a game of shinty. Callie couldn't help but notice the one boy who stood a full head taller than the others, his body already making the jump from boyhood into man. He had dark, wavy hair that flopped haphazardly in front of his deep blue eyes while he easily ran circles around the other boys in spite of him being a few years younger than most of them.

"That's Alexander Campbell." A pretty, but snobby girl with long, blonde curls declared to Callie. The blonde flounced her curls over her shoulders before adding with a smirk. "My Da says I'm going to marry him when we're old enough. He's already fifteen, so I won't have to wait verra long."

Some of the girls oohed and ahhed at this bold proclamation, a few of them saying Alex was simply the most handsome boy in the entire Campbell clan. Aged only nine, Callie couldn't fathom why you'd want to marry anyone, let alone a boy, so she didn't reply and kept her thoughts to herself. Instead, she kept her eyes locked onto the dark-haired boy in question and watched when Alex playfully nudged another boy as they played a game of shinty, their smooth, wooden sticks clashing mightily over the rough, leather ball. His handsome face was alight with laughter and already pink from exertion. Callie noticed the other boy had similar features, though he wasn't quite as muscled or as tall as Alex.

"Mind yourself, Alex! You might be bigger than me, but I'm still your older brother and laird." Ian joked.

"You're nay my laird yet, Ian! You have to wait for Grandpa and then Da to finish the job, so you've got years to go." Alex laughed in reply, cheekily adding. "Even if you are, I'll still best you at shinty whenever I can."

The game ended with Alex's team as the winners in thanks to him scoring twice in the final minutes. All the boys dropped their equipment and moved over to a table filled with food and drink, so the girls followed them. Passing over all of the meats and bread, Callie reached in a basket for a big, red apple at the moment Alex went to grab the same one. At the touch of their hands, Callie felt such a spark of electricity that she thought she must have imagined it. She immediately tried to drop the apple, but he kept a firm grip on her hand and the fruit. Alex's eyes locked onto hers and she knew she hadn't imagined it, because he'd felt it, too.

"Who are you?" Alex demanded of her. "What's your name, lass?"

Callie felt herself freeze under his deeply intense stare. She swallowed, but still wasn't able to force any words from her throat to form a reply. She bit her lower lip, willing her voice to speak and then she began blushing with embarrassment when nothing would come out. He wouldn't let go of her hand which only deepened her blush.

"Caledonia!" Her mother's maid, Moira, was suddenly calling her name. "Come on, lass. Time for sup!"

Her head snapped up in the direction of Moira's voice, as her name was called and she hurriedly tried to pull her hand from Alex's strong grasp. He slowly let go of her hand to offer her the apple with a warm smile. "All yours, Caledonia."

Finally finding her voice, Callie quipped with a cheeky grin. "Good luck with your future wife, Alex! You're definitely going to need it!"

His mouth dropped open in surprise at her words which made her cheeky smile get even bigger with her growing confidence at seeming him rattled by her reply. At that, she grinned one last time in his direction, then backed hurriedly away and turned to run in direction of Moira. She glanced back at Alex to find him standing in the same spot at the table, staring after her small, retreating figure with his dark brows furrowed in marked concentration and his wide mouth still hanging open in shock st her unexpected reply about his future wife. Callie herself was so wrapped up in observing Alex one final time that she never saw the older boy, Ian, watching them with avid interest.

After she finally disappeared from view, Alex heard Ian say to him in all seriousness. "Now, brother, that's the lass you'll marry."

"What are ye on about?!" Alex barked.

"A dead man could see the spark between you." Ian grinned wickedly at his younger, more handsome brother. "Lucky for you, not becoming laird means ye can marry for love and not something like land or gold."