Chapter 1
The night was quiet and yet Seamus McCallum couldn’t sleep. His mind was troubled, a subtle ache settling like fog around his heart. For a while he merely lay there listening to the soft snoring of his dog curled up beside him, hoping it might be enough to carry him away into slumber. No such luck. When the clock struck midnight Seamus rolled out of bed and crept out of the room.
Like a wraith he haunted the halls. He wandered down the grand staircase, through the vast kitchen and out the backdoor into the garden. Seamus bathed in the golden moonlight, the night’s gentle breeze still clinging to the coolness of the spring days. Stars twinkled in an endless ocean of darkness and the castle loomed at his back, a silent monster in the night.
The ache enveloping his heart grew wor
