Fire Tree

Two women. One crown. And a truth that neither of them could have imagined.Janine and Annis have both been summoned to The Fortress of Inverness on a charge of treason. Each believes herself to be the rightful Queen of the West. Each carries the scar of royal blood. Each has been touched by the mystical flames of the Quickening. One was born to the crown. The other was raised to it.But the trial is a lie.Colonel Jamieson - the Fortress's ruthless commander - is no servant of justice. He is a traitor, and the two young queens are walking into his trap. King James has sent warnings, buried beneath layers of deception, but will they be understood before it is too late?Inside the Fortress walls, loyalties are tested at every turn. Constable Burberry suspects the trial is a sham. Queen Annis, effectively a prisoner dressed in the finery of diplomacy, plots her resistance. Beyond the moats, Captain McCleary and a MacDonald army wait in disguise, searching for a way into a building that seems impossible to breach. Their only link to the prisoners within? Two extraordinary children - known as 'The Spiders' - who crawl through the ancient chimneys carrying secrets between allies who do not yet know each other exists.As Jamieson tightens his grip, Janine and Annis are thrown together in the depths of Woden's Well. There, in the darkness, tending to a beaten soldier they both recognise, the two rivals begin to discover something that will shake the foundations of everything they have ever believed - about the crown, about their mothers, and about each other.Some truths are worth more than a throne.The Fortress is Book 7 of The Fire Tree series - where the threads of destiny are drawn tight and a reckoning eight hundred years in the making finally begins.

The Queen of the West lies imprisoned in the depths of The Fortress of Inverness, held captive by Colonel Drew Jamieson, a man whose cruelty knows no limit and whose ambitions threaten to tear the Scottish Highlands apart.Forces are gathering. On the waters of the Moray Firth, a ship arrives that may be concealing a secret beneath its carefully constructed form. In the lanes beyond The Fortress, there are soldier in a uniform that shocked Colonel Jamieson. In the dungeons below, men and women who have endured the worst of Jamieson's tyranny are choosing their moment to rise.As alliances are forged between unlikely companions - outlaws seeking redemption, spies playing deadly games and warriors bound by an ancient prophecy - the assault on The Fortress begins. Unfortunately, Jamieson has secrets of his own, and the cost of freedom will be paid in blood.In this exciting volume of The Fire Tree Series, loyalties are tested, sacrifices are made, and the mysterious power of the Quickening draws ever closer to its purpose.