Bas Sinclair has lived with guilt for his mother’s death when she died birthing him. Raised to be the executioner for the mighty Sinclair Clan, Bàs lives a solitary life, but cares for the animals who flock to his home in the forest. He only ventures beyond when called upon to battle or punish criminals. He’s questioned his existence and purpose but has never escaped it.Elspet Gunn is the chief’s sister by marriage, a marriage that has left her sister dead and her child in jeopardy. When Elspet follows her sister’s dying wish to save her child from a cruel father, she risks her own life to whisk the boy away. Nearly dying with the child in the snowy forest, Elspet is rescued by the largest Highlander she’s ever seen who nurses them both back to health. Despite his grave countenance, scars, and large number of weapons, the Highlander is gentle and kind.When Elspet is captured by her sister’s husband, she’s sentenced to death for treason when she says the boy is dead. Bàs isn’t sure he can execute the woman who has thawed his frozen heart. How can he be an impartial executioner when his own life, and everything he’s been taught to believe, is on the scaffold?
