the king said, looking up from the stack of parchments waiting for his signature before him. One week after Kenneth had finished his training on the frozen peak of the Black Cuillins by successfully avoiding capture from the other ten members of the Highland Guard for nearly two days (one day longer than the other recruit), he stood in the laird’s private solar of Dunstaffnage Castle before Robert the Bruce and most of his new Highland Guard brethren. Only Boyd and Seton were absent, having been sent south to join Edward Bruce in the borders as soon as they’d finished training on Skye. Kenneth indeed had been the last man standing, and the satisfaction of his victory had not waned one bit. He’d done it. He’d earned his place in Bruce’s secret army, even if not in the outright way he’d planned. “Thank you, Sire,” he said. “You are to be commended,” Bruce added. “From what I hear of Chief’s Perdition, surviving at all is an accomplishment, but he said you distinguished yourself.”
