I felt Seonaid tremble at my back and knew I had to think quickly. There are two things that distinguish Borderers from other people; one is their constant readiness for war, a state necessitated both by the nearness of a national enemy and by the constant feuding of the border clans; the other is guile. Borderers are often called upon to fight against odds; that is the nature of defending a very bloody frontier, and so we have learned tricks to equalise the situation. Now I called upon that border guile to survive this situation.
“Alastair Mor Mac an Righ? Alastair, the son of the king?” I tried to inject surprise and delight into my voice in place of the horror I felt. I was not yet ready to face the Wolf of Badenoch, but it seemed that fate had decided my life for me.
“The very man,”
