Children of the Mist

The MacGregors proudly claim that their race is royal, but by the late sixteenth century ancestral prestige offers little protection. Their territories have been steadily reduced, their neighbours are stronger, and their remaining lands lie dangerously close to the expanding power of Clan Campbell. When the young Alastair MacGregor of Glenstrae inherits the chiefship, he receives not a secure patrimony but a poisoned chalice of old obligations, disputed rights and enemies waiting for weakness.

Foremost among those enemies is Sir Duncan Campbell of Glenorchy, remembered as Black Duncan of the Cowl: patient, politically astute and prepared to use bonds, legal authority and force to extend Campbell control. Because he also has influence with James VI, resistance to him can be represented as resistance to the crown itself. Alastair must defend his people while avoiding the traps set by a government increasingly determined to discipline the Highlands. The struggle turns clan loyalty and inherited honour into liabilities, driving the MacGregors towards feud, outlawry and the mist-shrouded fight for survival.