Chapter 5

Griogair stomped up the steps to the castle in a very bad mood. He had spent the day talking to some of the men in the village, introducing himself and learning what he could about his new home.

He was not impressed. At all.

The ramparts and shops weren’t in any better shape than the castle. The crofters' homes were in shambles. The people feared their laird but wished to only grow enough to pay their rent and survive until spring. There was not a single happy, motivated soul among them. If the crofters in his clan lived in these conditions they would likely leave, but these people didn’t even have the motivation to walk away and look for something better.

Most annoyingly, the men had all snickered at the news that their lady was wed! The women looked him up and down, a couple even flirting with him! Not one person that he had met had offered a single word of congratulations or well wishes.

The sound of drunken laughter further soured Griogair’s mood and pulled him towards the gre