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want to stay once you’ve seen it.”
     

Chapter 6
     
     
    “ You remember how I told you that my family, the MacRaes and the MacKenzies owned the castle and all the land around it?” I nodded and he went on, resigned but determined. “It was the month of May in the year of our Lord 1719 and I’d just had my twentieth birthday. I lived at the castle with my mam, my older brother Duncan, my younger brother Willie and many other relatives. The Clan MacRae had guarded the castle for generations, keeping her safe from warring clans who might try to overpower her. Strength and power ran in our blood, and we were warriors when we needed to be, to protect our lands and the castle.”
    As he spoke, the pasture around us melted away and then we were standing in a banquet hall. The early morning light streamed through vertical slits into the stone walled room, which was filled to bursting with heavily armed men in kilts. The air was thick with the scent of sweaty, unwashed bodies, soot, smoked meat and ale. I covered my face with my hand in a convulsive attempt to block out the stench.
    A long dining table ran the length of the space, and a majestic fireplace spread its warmth throughout the room. Half empty steins of whisky and beer littered the table, though it was barely dawn. The men were packed in around the table, a few of them seated and eating, but most of them standing and talking, waiting for something. The atmosphere hummed with the men’s hostility and excitement.
    The leader of the group addressed them from an upstairs pulpit overlooking the great room. “My brothers in arms!” He held out his hand and a hush fell over the hall. “ Fàilte! Welcome, friends. I, William MacKenzie, Earl of Seaforth, have asked you here today to defend this castle and this country. The Spanish fleet that was to be joining us hit stormy weather and had to port in England. Now the bloody Sassenachs know we mean to march on Inverness and they’ve sent three warships to try and stop us.”
    The crowd began to murmur in agitation at his statement.
    “ They are powerful, with more men than we have here, and with many a cannon. If you stay and fight, some of you in this room will die today.” He waited, watching with narrowed eyes as this statement rippled through the crowd. The men turned to each other in mumbled displeasure, shifting uneasily back and forth. The Earl’s booming voice called them back.
    “ Men! Let me remind you that our rightful king has been dethroned and the redcoats’ King George”— he said the name with disgust and spat on the ground—“seeks to take away our freedom and impose his rule on our land, this land that our fathers have passed down to us. They have raped our women and tried to make us English slaves, and they hang those who won’t pledge allegiance to the traitor king!”
    The men responded with roars of indignation, several pulling out their weapons and emitting war cries. The Earl’s speech gained momentum with their fury.
    “ Will we let them? Will we let our brothers’ deaths go unavenged? Will we bow down and let the bloody redcoats steal our land because we were afraid to fight?”
    The crowd was boiling now, men waving their weapons and shouting with barely-contained blood lust.
    “ No! We are Highlanders and we will fight for our freedom!” Cheers of agreement rose up from the men, some clasping arms or pounding their neighbor on the back.
    The Earl held out a hand to silence the crowd. “If you’re with me, friends, come forward.”
    Men from each clan stepped forward one by one, calling out their allegiance.
    “ The MacKenzies of Glen Shiel are here! The MacRaes of Kintail are here! The Frasers of Lovat are here!” The list went on and on, including the Spaniards who had come to join the fight. Once the last man had declared his loyalty, the Earl bowed his head for a prayer and the men followed suit.
    “ Blessed Saint Michael, be with us this day. Let your light shine upon