Kingdom of Shadows

Kingdom of Shadows
Barbara Erskine

Barbara Erskine's classic bestseller, the successor to Lady of Hay, at last available as a HarperCollins paperback.In a childless and unhappy marriage, Clare Royland is rich and beautiful – but lonely. And fueling her feelings of isolation is a strange, growing fascination with an ancestress from the distant past. Troubled by haunting inexplicable dreams that terrify – but also powerfully compel – her, Clare is forced to look back through the centuries for answers.In 1306, Scotland is at war. Isobel, Countess of Buchan, faces fear and the prospect of untimely death as the fighting surrounds her. But passionate and headstrong, her trials escalate when she is persecuted for her part in crowning Robert the Bruce, her lover.Duncairn, Isobel's home and Clare's beloved heritage, becomes a battleground for passions that span the centuries. As husband Paul's recklessness threatens their security, Clare must fight to save Duncairn, and to save herself from the powers of Isobel…

BARBARA ERSKINE

Kingdom of Shadows

COPYRIGHT (#ulink_a112fbe7-0f4a-52a5-abba-2514c1ba8985)

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

This edition first published by HarperCollins 2004

First published in Great Britain by Michael Joseph Ltd 1988

Published by Sphere Books Ltd 1989

Published by Warner Books 1992

This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

The quotation from ‘I Have a Dream’ composed by Bjorn Uluaeus and Benny Anderson, is copyright © Bow Music Ltd, 1979, 1 Wyndham Yard, London, W1H 1AR, reproduced by kind permission. It is specifically excluded from any blanket photocopying arrangements.

Copyright © Barbara Erskine 1988

Barbara Erskine asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Source ISBN 9780007288663

Ebook edition © JANUARY 2009 ISBN 9780007290673

Version 2017-09-12

HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication.

DEDICATION (#ulink_5a9a4cca-e392-5459-a161-9e160fdba50e)

For

Adrian James Earl

and

Jonathan Erskine Alexander

also descendants of the Bruce

CONTENTS

Title Page (#u8c8a8c5a-448e-5108-91b6-2803a4e1fb05)

Copyright (#ulink_9fe381e7-42c3-54e5-bacf-12d9a1e72634)

Dedication (#ulink_75604fc5-1732-593d-8eca-69f264837fa6)

Map (#ulink_f656f0c5-0185-5afb-afd6-1b08f8ecd4a1)

The Dream (#ulink_96a401e8-01ed-5474-9312-095be1db78b8)

Prologue (#ulink_72242c12-d335-5295-a283-54f18e968e8d)

Chapter One (#ulink_1b737820-10d7-5682-9dcd-385b4123bb0e)

Chapter Two (#ulink_3773097e-2e8c-5c9c-b5ed-15675a438715)

Chapter Three (#ulink_d5b89780-8e9f-5f48-9716-86d099e0d0c7)

Chapter Four (#ulink_06e345c4-0b1a-5600-be98-b0a08f3ed95b)

Chapter Five (#ulink_ff612149-3c40-52ff-812e-35d23a4e45b1)

Chapter Six (#ulink_794d389f-765f-5141-8efd-717612f51d1e)

Chapter Seven (#ulink_75f48972-07c2-50e4-b87f-ff880f1d21bb)

Chapter Eight (#ulink_74bbff24-9b36-507f-871f-39b4121af9a8)

Chapter Nine (#ulink_7295e4dd-427c-5dfb-89bc-af2ea6e0b6d1)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)