DEAR READER—
When I started the Dark Sword series, I knew it would be something special. It all began with a question: Why did the Romans never conquer Scotland? A simple enough query that many historians believe they could—and have—answer(ed). However, since Rome wrote the history books, I’ve always wondered what the real reason was.
My love of Scotland and the Medieval period is where the series began. I was a historical writer then, and only a historical writer—until my editor asked me to be a contemporary writer. So, my beloved Warriors and Druids went from Medieval to modern-day. Unfortunately, because of that, my publisher insisted on a series name change. I fought to keep it the same because I knew readers would be confused, but I ultimately lost that battle. So, the Dark Sword series became the Dark Warriors.
I loved writing in the Dark Sword/Dark Warriors series. I loved everything about it. The heroes, the heroines, and, yes, even the villains. It wasn’t the first series I ended, but it was one of the most difficult ones. Sure, I still wrote in the world, but I had to say farewell to the Warriors and Druids.
Except, I couldn’t. Not completely. That’s why I have them pop up in the other connected series throughout the Dark World. And each time I do—or did—there was an overwhelmingly positive response from readers. Which, of course, meant I had to keep doing it. That’s why I wrote this holiday story. For you, the reader, who has begged and pleaded for more Warriors and Druids.
Yet, when I ended the DS/DW series, I honestly believed it would be the hard-stop end to them. It was why the epilogue at the end of Malcolm’s book, MIDNIGHT’S PROMISE, gave a glimpse into each couple’s future. But…since I couldn’t leave the Warriors and Druids alone, that epilogue won’t match up to what’s happening now in the overall Dark World. My best advice is to take that epilogue and imagine it far, far, far in the future.
For now, I leave you with a holiday visit to MacLeod Castle…
xoxox,
DG
LUCAN AND CARA
December
MacLeod Castle
The gray sky stared back at Lucan as he gazed at the steady snowfall through the window. Behind him, his wife Cara sat on the floor, surrounded by different-sized pots in an assortment of colors as she sank her hands into the soil.
He’d built the conservatory especially for her. It didn’t matter what season it was, Cara was always with her beloved plants. If she wasn’t tending to one, she was planting seeds and helping them grow with her Druid magic as she was doing now. However, Lucan had wanted to give her a place to do so out of the weather.
Lucan had surprised her with the conservatory over two hundred years ago. In his opinion, it had been the best Christmas present he had ever given her. He had yet to gift her anything that even came remotely close in the years since.
“You’re brooding.”
Cara’s sweet voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He grunted. “I’m no’.”
“You forget, love. I know you better than you know yourself. Tell me what thoughts have pulled you under.”
Lucan turned to her. Her brunette locks were pulled into a loose bun atop her head with wisps of curls falling to frame her heart-shaped face that he never tired of looking at.
She was covered in dirt from her elbows to her fingertips as she knelt before a large pot and stirred the soil with her hands. She always said there was nothing better than feeling the dirt between her fingers, and he happened to agree. Which was why he often helped her. He watched her cover the seeds in the soil and then place her hands atop it before letting her magic flow from her palms into the dirt. Within moments, seeds sprouted and grew tall, forming a lush bush with red berries. Mistletoe was always hung throughout the castle during December and used for the solstice, and Cara made sure there was always plenty.
She sat back with a smile and dusted off her hands. “That should do for now.” She climbed to her feet and faced him. Her mahogany eyes searched his face. “What is it?”
Lucan walked to her and wiped a smudge of dirt from her cheek. “It’s nothing, I assure you.”
“Lucan MacLeod,” she stated. “We don’t keep secrets, remember?”
“It’s no’ a secret, darlin’.”
“It is if you don’t tell me.”
He flattened his lips and sighed, knowing she wouldn’t give up until he told her. “I doona know what to get you this year.”
“Is that all?” she asked with a laugh and shook her head.
“Is that all?” he repeated, slightly offended that she didn’t see what a conundrum it was.
She put her hands on his chest and grinned up at him. “You don’t need to get me anything. You know that.”
“I like to see you opening my gifts.”
“But I don’t need anything.”
“That isna the point,” he argued.
She stepped back and began cleaning up the dirt that’d spilled during her work. “We’ve had over four hundred Yules, my love.”
“I know.” That was why it was so difficult for him to find something to give her. His wife was simple in her desires—plants. He had gotten seeds from all over the world for her until there was no more to give. Maybe he should ask the Dragon Kings if they could bring some from Zora. The realm was similar to Earth but different enough that there might be new flora.
Cara straightened, dusted off her jeans, and caught his gaze. “I have all I need with you.”
“I appreciate that, but—”
“But you’re still going to get me something,” she said with a shake of her head.
Lucan lifted the heavy pot and carried it off to the side to put with the other mistletoe plants. “It gives me pleasure.” He watched her pause beside another plant and whisper to it. “You doona seem to have the same problem finding gifts for me.”
She glanced at him over her shoulder and smiled slyly.
“What’s your secret?” he pushed.
Cara faced him and shrugged. “If I find something that reminds me of you, then I get it.”
“That’s it?” It couldn’t be that easy. She always gave him terrific gifts.
She laughed. “Ever since you presented me with the conservatory, you’ve been trying to outdo it. There’s no need.”
He disagreed. He remembered the look of utter joy on her face when he showed her the inside. She hadn’t been able to stop touching the pots, bags of soil, and the seed packets waiting for her. They had locked themselves in the room for the rest of the day. Between rounds of sex, he’d helped her begin her indoor garden. Not a day went by that she wasn’t in the conservatory.
“How many times have we mulled over the fact that so many things had to go right for us to meet?” she asked.
Lucan raked a hand through his black hair. “Too many to remember.”
“And how many times have we considered everything we had to go through to triumph over Deirdre, Declan, and Jason?”
Just the mention of the Druids who had sought to control Warriors like him made Lucan’s heart skip a beat. The primeval gods inside each Warrior had been called up from Hell to defeat Rome, but the Druids hadn’t been able to return them. So, the gods had moved through the bloodline to the strongest in each clan. Lucan shared the god Apodatoo with his two brothers. Where they’d once thought it meant the end of everything, their immortality had opened up another world, ushered in by Cara’s arrival to the castle that fateful day in 1603. After three hundred years in the crumbling ruins of his castle, there was suddenly someone else. And not just anyone. Cara. A beautiful temptress who had enticed him beyond reason. She had brought sunshine into his dreary life.