Page 5

"You are now betrothed, my dear."

Gwyn found she could barely breathe. The words her father had spoken echoed loudly within the chamber, which was only occupied by three.

"But father, I am not yet even fifteen summers!"

"I know, and it pains me more than I ever can say.

I had sincerely hoped we would have had more time together.

I have so much I wanted to teach you beyond the skills you have learned this far.

But we really have no choice and must act as quickly as possible.

If your mother is to become with child again, we must be prepared. "

Gwyn gasped over the words her father had just spoken. She had a fleeting thought that perhaps it was the Laird MacLaren now who possessed the dreaded rantings as had her mother. She had no comprehension of his irrational talk.

"Mother? With child again?"

It was the Lady Morwenna who took her daughter's hands gently within her own as she spoke.

"We must produce a male heir, my dear. Of this, we are both certain.

We cannot continue with how we have in the past. It is clear any child of ours will have no chance at survival as what has previously been proved.

What is most troubling is we truly have no understanding of to whom we can trust. We have no confidence in any other and no one beyond this very room.

Only the three of us will know the full of our plan. "

Gwyn looked at her mother with confusion upon her face.

"The full of what plan? And how will my gaining a husband help the fate of the MacLaren?"

It was the Lady Morwenna who spoke quietly and cautiously, lowering her voice to ensure complete secrecy.

"You will marry and when I am once again with child, I will send a communication.

You will then pretend to be expecting a bairn of your own.

Before I am showing my state, I will leave the MacLaren and tell all here I am so very distraught and I am going to visit you.

You will do the same and pretend to make the journey home.

Together, we will go to a distant abbey where no one will know who we are and where our secret will be safe.

While we are in seclusion, I will deliver the bairn and if it is a male child, you will take it on as your own and raise him as if he were your own son. "

As the words from her mother hung heavily within the air, Gwyn could only stare between the hopeful looks of her parents.

She was beginning to think they were daft.

She was but a child herself. How could she be expected to marry and then to raise a son all on her own and keep it a secret?

It was in this moment Gwyn felt as if the weight of all that was in these Highlands of Scotland was upon her.

It frightened her more than she was willing to admit.

It was her father who spoke next through the confusion that heavily laced the air.

"It is imperative no one know it is not your son, but that he is instead, your brother.

This is a secret that can be told under no circumstances nor to anyone.

Even to one you believe you can trust. Only the three of us will know the full truth until it is our time to disclose the whole of it.

You must remember the fate of our clan is dependent upon you.

You will return to your husband and he will claim it as his own. "

"But if he does not know, how can we be sure he will follow our plan?"

"We will disclose very little to him and he will know only what we choose to tell him, my dear."

When the confusion registered heavily upon Gwyn's face, the Laird MacLaren continued.

"I have a very distant cousin, really no blood relation at all.

He is the Laird Errol of the Chattan. He resides deep in the Highlands to the north.

His wife died several years ago and he has not remarried nor does he have any children of his own.

Just before you were born, I did him a worthy deed and he owes me greatly.

He would never forget what I have done for him and he will agree to our plan.

Of this, I could never be more certain."

The words her parents had spoken caught Gwyn completely by surprise and her thoughts were churning turbulently with all they had said.

'Married? And then make those around me believe I am with child, when I am really not with child? And no one would know. How, pray tell, would that work? How can I keep this all a secret?'

As the confusion for all they had known crossed over her face, the Laird MacLaren gently grasped both of her hands within his own. As Gwyn lifted her gaze to lock with that of her father's, he spoke once again with resolve.

"My dearest, Gwyn. Please tell me you will do this for us and for our clan MacLaren. Otherwise, I gravely fear what will happen if you refuse."

She closed her eyes to his pleadings and hung her head in concession for all he had asked of her.

Of what her father had requested, there was nothing Gwyn could argue and definitely nothing she would refuse.

She was a MacLaren and had been sired with only one thing known.

And that was there was nothing but her duty towards the protection of her clan.

Above all else, she must safeguard those of her people.

"Yes, my laird. It is my honor and my proud duty to serve you in this way. You must now disclose to me the details of where my journey is to begin."