Blood of the Highlands

Prologue

Blood of the Highlands

By: Heather McCutchen

Prologue

Persais watched as the last of her men rode through the gates of the keep. She wasn't ready to return, the finality of the days events were finally catching up with her. She'd lost 2 men today, good men and she took those loses personally. Angus had fought beside her for over 3 years now and young Ian had only been eight and ten; the poor lad. Glancing down at the dirt and blood covering her hands she turned her mount towards the loch, she could use a dip in the icy water, maybe it would dull the pain.

Persais MacGuin wasn't a normal lass of two and twenty. She preferred a sword in her hand and a bow at her back to any needle and thread any day. She didn't understand how her sister could be so content prancing around in her evening gowns and laughing with the other ladies in the tower about god knows what. Elspeth was only a year her senior and identical to Persais in coloring but they were nothing alike. As children Elspeth had always been attached to their mother's skirts while Persais was bouncing form one mischievous adventure to another. She could hear her father now, Och lass you're as wild as the heather. Indeed she was and thus the cursed name had stuck, her father and brother have called her that ever since. She didn't really mind, she adored them. William, (or Falcon as she'd took to calling him) was now eight and twenty, a formidable warrior with a fierce temper like their father but showed the patience of a saint when it came to Persais. She'd been an awkward child always tripping and knocking things over while trailing after him but William never seemed to mind. He'd taught her everything he could as a lad, taking her along on scouting missions and letting her hold his arrows while in the practice yard; along with taking the blame for all the trouble she'd get herself into.

Persais started showing true skill with a bow at age five but her mother, after catching sight of her one morning put an end to it immediately. It was unseemly for a girl to be around such brutality she'd say, but William didn't give up hope sneaking out of the keep with her every chance he had to help her practice. After her mother passed giving birth to her youngest brother Antony, William somehow convinced her father to finally start letting her train with the other men. Though thinking it an oddity a first her father took an interest in her training seeing glimpses of what her true potential could be; along with the passion and determination she had for learning the skill. With her father and Williams' encouragement and hours of vigorous training she grew into the woman she was today. She owed everything to Will and today she'd let him down. A simple patrol had gone terribly wrong.

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