Desperate Scots summon supernatural aid in their 1745 war for independence, and create even more chaos.
Winter, 1745. Scotland is losing a war for independence. The advancing British army has orders to leave no survivors. In desperation, Robert Maxwell and his fellow soldiers beg for supernatural aid from the daione sìdhe—faeries exiled by humans to a parallel plane of existence. Their plea is answered, but in exchange, the sìdhe demand a permanent reversal of the banishment and unlimited access to the human world.
Their assistance gives the Scots a temporary advantage, but the tide soon shifts. Robert is unsure which is a greater threat to his family: the hostile British army, or the group of faeries who seem determined to take over his homeland.
With no way to return the sìdhe to their own world, Robert realizes the humans will have to learn to live alongside them. He and the Scottish leadership turn to Marian Cameron, a patriotic but flighty teenager with rare psychic abilities, and talented pamphlet-writer Ina Bruce.
Opposing their efforts to create harmony between faerie and humans is Alfred Grayson, a government official whose job is to “civilize” Scotland by replacing discontented farmers with wealthy English landowners—and to investigate the mysterious new rebel forces.