Warden of the Queen’s March

Thomas Kerr of Ferniehirst grows to manhood in the violent Border country, where loyalty is measured by kinship, armed strength and the ability to answer a raid. As Warden of the Middle March and a committed supporter of Mary, Queen of Scots, he must restrain feuding riders while resisting English pressure and the ambitions of Scottish nobles who see the Queen’s troubles as their opportunity. His service brings him into the upheaval of the Reformation and the increasingly bitter contest for control of Scotland.

Around Thomas move the central figures of Mary’s reign: John Knox and the Protestant lords, the Regent Moray, the volatile Lord Darnley, David Rizzio and the Earl of Bothwell, with Elizabeth I watching events from across the Border. Tranter combines frontier warfare with court intrigue as Ferniehirst tries to reconcile personal honour, family survival and fidelity to an embattled sovereign. Each political reversal makes his position more dangerous, until service to Mary threatens not only his lands and liberty but the future of the Kerrs themselves.