Name:

Lady Aithinne Ogilvie, Baroness of Coinnleir Wood, though I also run the fief of Lyonglen.  It’s owned by my ageing guardian, Gilchrist Fraser.

Occupation:

Lady of two keeps

Zodiac sign:

Pisces.  They say people who are Pisces are caring.  That is true.  But they say we are often too “otherworldly” for the rational world.  That seems true as well.  Other wise, I wouldn’t find myself in such a mess.  You don’t want to know how bad, so don’t ask.  Everything just seems to spiral into an ever-increasing nightmare around me.

Tell us about yourself.  Where were you raised?  What’s your family like?  Where do you live?

I live with my very old guardian, Gilchrist, since my parents died.  Poor dear is dying, but I am trying very hard to hide that fact.  If the English king discovers this, I am in trouble.  He will send a man to assume command of Glen Eallach, likely force me to marry him.

I also live with a huge Viking, my warrior guard.  Each lady of Coinnleir Wood has one.  I also have three very troublesome brothers, age ten and six.  They are triplets.  Some whisper triplets are demons.  I can very well believe this, as they are a constant pain, though they do mean well.  By the Lady, I pity the women who one day will wed them!  However, they love me.  So when I sent them out to find me a “stud” they embrace the quest with complete enthusiasm.

What are your short and long-term goals?  What do you want out of life?

I need to get with child.  Can babes come faster than nine moons?  I wished they would.  Still, men are very gullible in this fashion and often cannot count without using both hands.  So mayhap I shall be able to pull the wool over their eyes.

If I can produce a babe, claim the child belongs to my guardian, then I can keep my irritating suitors and an English King at bay.

What’s your most embarrassing moment?

Just one?  My whole LIFE is an embarrassing moment.  No, no.  It’s too hard to single out just one.

Biggest regret?

Again…JUST ONE???  I am a busy woman and do not have the time to list them ALL.

Ever been convicted of a crime?

Convicted?  No.  I did have my brothers kidnap an English knight, feed him a potent aphrodisiac to make him ‘perform’ to his fullest.  I have lied, piled lies upon more lies.  I fear any day this will catch up to me and Edward will banish me to the Tower.  I shall not even consider what the Black Dragon of Challon would do if he finds I am holding his cousin chained to my bed.

Sometimes, I don’t sleep too well.

If you could meet anyone in the world, dead or alive, who would it be and why?

Dead??  I have enough problems dealing with the living.  I don’t need to drag in dead people.  They are so ‘untidy’.  I know they say the Christian Jesus raised people from the dead, but I would rather not consider this.

I suppose I would like to meet Damian St. Giles’s mother.  She created a very beautiful son and I would like to thank her.

Are you single? Married?  Looking?

I am single.  Looking to stay that way.  Phelan Comyn, Robert Bruce and Dinsmore Campbell have continually sought my hand in marriage.  I am rich and my lands are coveted for their position.  The Scottish king wishes to marry me off to Phelan Comyn to spite Robert Bruce.  The English king seeks to give me to some lord loyal to him.  I weary of men and their pale aims.  None care for ME.  I am not a horse to be given away as a prize.  If I can just get with child, mayhap I shall retain my freedom to rule Lyonglen and Coinnleir Wood.

What’s your ideal mate like?

Damian St. Giles, but don’t tell the arrogant man that!!  His self-value is already beyond the standard of mere mortal men.  He is hard enough for me to deal with.  Always telling me go here, stay there, ask his permission–and get this―the arrogant son of shoat told me to take off my clothes!!  Didn’t ask, just ordered me!!

Tell us a secret.  What’s something others might not know about you?

Again, they are legion.  We could spend the whole day nattering on all my secrets…I will have you know I work very hard to keep them all, so you think I would blether them before a public forum??

Do you have a nickname?

Aithinne means firebrand.  That vexing man calls me that.  My idiot brothers call me Sister.  Einar, my Viking guard, calls me Princess.  But he means it.  Silly man has it in his brain that I am a princess of the Picts.  Well, I am, but we no longer follow Pictish ways.  Does he understand that?  No.  I have tried.  Believe me, I have tried.  I gave up.

Any pet peeves?

Brothers.  Vikings.  English Kings.  Vexing men who order me to take off my clothes.  Bloody Dragons of Challon!

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be and why?

I wouldn’t know where to begin.  I continually tell myself to be more like my cousin, Raven.  Do I listen?

Any pets?

A pet Viking.  He is seven-foot-tall and one big pain in the…arse.

How about allergies?

Men!

Do you support any charities?

I see to all in Glen Eallach.  We have no needy.

Is the glass half-full or half empty?

Half full— of men!!