A Breath of Snow and Ashes

Jamie writes to Lord John on July 3, 1774, thanking him for his advance payment for the gemstones and telling him he needs the money for 30 muskets. Jamie receives a letter from John Ashe, a fellow militia commander during the War of Regulation, requesting his presence at a Committee of Correspondence meeting. It’s almost time for Jamie to declare himself a Whig and a rebel. Jamie and Claire discuss the impending American Revolution, noting that they will need to be more wary of their own neighbors than they are of the government. Jamie considers keeping the muskets for himself but ultimately decides he must keep his word to Bird, so Bird can defend his people.

At River Run Plantation, on August 6, 1774, the colony welcomes Flora MacDonald, icon of her people, with a huge barbecue (“worked” by the Africans enslaved there). She’d saved Charles Stuart from the English after Culloden and, although he lost the battle, she’d bonded the Scots to one another more than ever. Jamie has a long history with her, from when he was a child.

Remembering an unpleasant, sexually aggressive incident with King Louis of France, Claire has another near-fainting spell, recognizing it as a PTSD flashback.