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eBook Category: Romance
eBook Description: To become Clan Gunn's chief, Gerek must marry before the end of his thirtieth year, he accepts that until he meets Catronia, who has no intention of marrying at all.

eBook Publisher: ebooksonthe.net, Published: Originally published as The Gunn Of Killearnan by Novel Books, Inc. in 2000, 2001
Fictionwise Release Date: June 2005

19 Reader Ratings: Great Good OK Poor

Available eBook Formats [MultiFormat - What's this?]: Adobe Acrobat (PDF) [1.8 MB], eReader (PDB) [390 KB], Palm Doc (PDB) [391 KB], Rocket/REB1100 (RB) [344 KB], Microsoft Reader (LIT) [299 KB] - PocketPC 1.0+ Compatible, Franklin eBookMan (FUB) [354 KB], hiebook (KML) [875 KB], Sony Reader (LRF) [439 KB], iSilo (PDB) [322 KB], Mobipocket (PRC) [400 KB], Kindle Compatible (MOBI) [440 KB], OEBFF Format (IMP) [496 KB]
Words: 123711
Reading time: 353-494 min.
Microsoft Reader (LIT) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Format:  Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud DISABLED
All Other formats: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED
ISBN: 978- 1-59431-189-7

Fairloch Castle, the Highlands Early spring, 1650

Her hands tied behind her, her feet trussed like a wild fox with a short piece of rope stretched between them, Catriona MacFarr was being led by the leash around her neck. She gagged then stumbled on the uneven flooring of Fairloch castle. William and Simon, her brothers, yanked her forward until she dug her heels in and said, "I'll go no further. I have no wish to see our father like this."

With a grunt of pleasure, William reached up, grabbed a hank of her hair and tugged. "Och, dear Cat. Do ye think to evade yer fate?" He elbowed her and she fell, hitting grimy stones with a thump. "Ye're as dirty-looking now, after all yer fostering, as ye were when ye left."

"There's something about Fairloch that brings out dirt and slime. Perhaps, it's the people." She stared at him. He still treats me roughly. "Damned bully."

He wheeled around, an ugly sneer on his face. "Ye damned sow. Ye dinna' run things. And ye never will." He winked at Simon. "Wait until ye meet yer betrothed. The Beast!" The two brothers chuckled and clutched each other in mock fun.

All Scotland knew of her betrothed, the Beast of Battle, whose brutal courage was legend. Her fear of the man was as great as her fear of her father, so harsh and cold-blooded were the rumors of the Beast's exploits in battle.

Simon whined, "Father will be waiting. He'll be angry." He lifted Cat from the ground and set her on her feet.

"Simon, please, untie my ankles. I would greet our father standing square on my feet." When Simon looked at William, Cat pleaded. "Och, please Simon. I beg of you. I do not wish to face Da like an animal ready for the pot. Please!"

A sly smile on his face, Simon took his dirk from its sheath at his waist, bent and cut her leg restraints. "There. Do not ask that yer wrists be untied." He sheathed the dirk, took her arm and dragged her around the corner through an open door into the great hall of Fairloch.

Atop a platform at the front, her father the Earl of Crannog sat on a richly carved, heavily pillowed chair. Terror-stricken, Cat grew weak at the mere sight of him. He was dressed in the resplendent attire of the English gentry, clothes she'd never seen him wear before. They didn't suit his short, stocky build nor his growing fat belly. Lace cascaded from his collar and the ends of his sleeves.

Six churlish men-at-arms surrounded him. Several more lounged on the steps near him. A plump blonde serving-girl preened and fluttered her eyelashes in the chair next to him. Cat scanned the room. Where was Mam?

"Och, my daughter comes as she left," MacFarr croaked. "Dirty and disheveled. Why are ye tied, me dear?"

"I do not understand it myself. Let William explain. It was his choice."

William reached out and forced her forward, pinching her arm with his thumb and forefinger. Cat straightened to her full height, until she was taller than her brothers, but her eyes remained riveted on her father. Still pinching, Will hurled her to the stone flooring in front of the dais as if touching her burned his fingers. Simon stood beside him, his sly smile intact.

Her father stood and crossed his arms over a flabby chest. "How little ye've changed. Well, daughter, come. Greet your laird." A sneer creased his battle-scarred face. "Did ye not learn yer manners during yer banishment at Stoneleigh?" His guards and the blonde snickered, but MacFarr's glare silenced them.

Cat nodded from where she was sprawled on the floor. "Milord."

Directing his gaze to his sons, he ignored her. "William? Would ye care to explain, son?"

William moved closer to the dais. Cat watched him gaze at the floor, as if her actions had hurt his feelings. "She attacked me, Father. I had to take her dagger away, so I figured I'd best tie her hands."

Through tight lips, Cat asked, "Then why were my neck and ankles tied?"

Simon mimicked his brother's pose and furthered it by scuffing a boot along the stone flooring. "Father," he whimpered, "she refused to come home, even when I told her it was ye who demanded it."

"Well, Catriona? 'Twas forever yer way to be defiant and disobedient. Tell me, why did ye attack me eldest son?"

She knew she could not defend herself against William, who was the image of her father and his pride. "Let William tell you the lies. He does it so well."

"Still blaming yer brothers for grief ye cause! Who will ye blame next? The Beast?" MacFarr guffawed and slapped his leg as if he'd made a joke. "I doubt he will allow ye to misbehave. And ye'll not do it here. At Fairloch, I forbid it!"

Unable to hide her mounting hurt, Cat pushed herself up onto all fours and countered rashly, "You forbid anything you don't understand. You always have."

William gulped and looked at Simon, who continued to study the stones beneath his feet. A smirk raced across his face and was gone instantly. The guards drew back from her father, whose scars stood out in bright, ruddy ridges. "Ye raised a hand against yer brother. Ye'll be punished for that."

Smiling with all the sweetness she could muster, but without looking at her father, she hastened to rise though her knees shook. "Isn't that why you summoned me, Sir, after years of exile? To pay for whatever caused you to banish me?"

"Catriona," Simon cautioned, his narrow face pale.

Cat's heart pounded. Her legs wobbled in anticipation of her father's next outbreak of fury. She should know better than to taunt him. She peered about the room, looking for Mam, who always protected her against the worst of her father's wrath. Where was she? A chill shot through her. Alarmed for her mother, Cat returned her gaze to the dais and asked politely. "Sir, why hasn't my mother come to greet me? Is she ill?"

Cat noticed her father looking first at the fair-haired girl then at his men and her brothers, but she waited patiently for a reply. Her dismay grew. She needed to know if her mother was well.

Her father glanced at the woman again. Her face, formerly adoring, now showed a tinge of fear. She shrank from him when he patted her head. MacFarr turned and strolled to the edge of the dais. "No one informed her of yer arrival. Ye'll see her later." With an imperious wave of his hand, he dismissed Cat. "This is the end of our talk. For now."

Cat's fear of her father brought a rosy flush to her face, but a pounding at the huge door of the hall released her tension. The door was flung open.