Description

Lyla never imagined she would be a lynchpin for anything.

Her mother told her all her life that, following the death of her father, it would be her responsibility to marry the boy next door and merge their lands and cattle. To her credit, she does intend to...

...until a group of men wearing Cameron colors come riding down the road.

With her fields condemned to burn, and her town threatened to be razed to the ground, Lyla does the unthinkable, and offers herself in marriage as a show of good faith to the leader of the clan, a powerful man named Lachlan, if he will only spare her town and allow them to pay tax and tribute to remain alive.

To the horror of her people, Lachlan accepts.

A Standalone Short Story with No Cliffhanger!