As always, it’s such a privilege to share this story of love and adventure with you—and to be able to share some of the historical insights that helped shape this book as well! While this is a work of fiction, several real events, people, places, and other historical tidbits helped me tell my story.

The backdrop of this story—and of all the books in the Highland Bodyguards series—is based on the historical record surrounding Robert the Bruce and the Scottish wars for independence in the early fourteenth century. After the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, which was a decisive victory for the Scots, Robert the Bruce and his army essentially opened up two fronts in the ongoing war against England—one along the English-Scottish border, and one in Ireland.

If you’ve been following the other books in the Highland Bodyguards series (or maybe if you’re just a history buff), you’ll remember that the purpose of the Bruce’s war in Ireland was likely multifaceted. His brother, Edward Bruce, may have hungered for the level of power Robert the Bruce held as King of Scotland. Or the Bruce may have been attempting to unite all Celtic peoples against the English. Or maybe the Bruce was merely thinking to strategically drive out the English and Anglo-Irish to cut off their supplies and supply routes, which were allowing the English to continue their war with Scotland. Or maybe all three.

Whatever the case, the Irish campaign came to a bloody end for the Scots at the Battle of Faughart. According to many historians, Edward Bruce was eager for a victory after many months of hardship. Famine, combined with the loss of many of the lands he’d already conquered, made Edward impatient for a win. On October 14, 1318, he decided to engage an enemy force, despite being vastly outnumbered, instead of waiting for reinforcements. He, along with many of the other Scots fighting that day, died on the battlefield.

With Robert the Bruce’s brother dead and his own struggles in Scotland still at hand, the Bruce drew down his efforts in Ireland, thus marking the close of that costly battlefront. However, the Bruce did continue to put energy and resources into reclaiming the Scottish Borderlands, which had been infiltrated by the English under King Edward I (nicknamed Longshanks because he was so tall, and “The Hammer of the Scots” for his ruthless treatment of Scotland and its people).

It was indeed a fairly common practice to claim a castle for one’s own side (English or Scottish), install a keeper who would hold the castle for that side, and yet leave the local farmers, villagers, and even castle staff unchanged. This was the case when Robert the Bruce reclaimed Berwick Castle, a powerful and important stronghold, from the English earlier in 1318. The Bruce installed his son-in-law, Walter Steward, as keeper, but other than swapping out the lord of the keep, the staff remained largely the same as it was under English rule.

This system seemed to work fine as long as the keeper, as well as the ruler who’d given the keeper his assignment, protected the castle from a counter-invasion. But as I have portrayed in this story, King Edward II, the son and successor of Edward I of England, neglected the castles claimed by his father. Partly this was because of his defeat at Bannockburn—Edward II ended up ceding much of the Borderlands, and even parts of Northern England, to Robert the Bruce’s advancing, and increasingly powerful, army. His neglect can also be accounted for by troubles in his own country—famine, debt, and political insurrections all hounded Edward II, whom everyone agreed was less skillful, forceful, and powerful than his father had been.

Craigmoor Castle, along with Dunfief and Selburgh Castles, both mentioned briefly in the story, are all fictitious, but any one of them could have been real—in the years following Bannockburn, Robert the Bruce reclaimed many strongholds for the Scottish in the face of Edward II’s ineptitude.

One of the most fascinating tidbits I came across while doing research for this book was a collection of medieval hand-to-hand combat maneuvers, which informed my portrayal of Helena’s self-defense techniques. The folks over at Milihistriot, a quarterly journal for military miniature enthusiasts (who knew that existed?) compiled a series of drawings and descriptions from the medieval period to compare them with modern military hand-to-hand fighting techniques from all over the world. The comparisons are meant to demonstrate that many military training techniques have common roots that can be traced back to the Middle Ages! How cool is that?

Another fun tidbit—although in modern chess the only way to win is with a checkmate, before about 1600, there was a second way: baremate. As Lillian explains in the story, it was thought that a King piece needed protection, and if he was stripped “bare” of all the other pieces on the board, he had in essence already lost, for no King could survive without support. This form of victory was called a baremate in the medieval game of chess.

And lastly, I modified Logan’s oath when he joins the Bodyguard Corp from the words of Robert the Bruce, who ironically pledged his fealty to King Edward I of England in March, 1296. The Bruce declared:

“I will be faithful and loyal and will give faith and loyalty to King Edward, King of England, and to his heirs in matters of life and limb and of earthly honor against all mortal men. And never will I bear arms for anyone against him or his heirs nor give counsel or aid against him.”

Of course, history unfolded differently, with Robert the Bruce breaking his oath and eventually standing against King Edward and proclaiming himself the rightful King of Scotland. In my mind, though, Logan Mackenzie never breaks his promise.

Thank you for journeying back to Medieval Scotland with me!

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