This was a tumultuous time in Scotland with various ri, regional kings, vying to become High King even if it meant killing the incumbent and taking his throne. There were four high kings in the course of the book. Kenneth II who was murdered by Fenella nic Connacher, widow of the thane of Mearns and daughter of Cormac of Glamis's mormaor, Constantine III who was killed in a sneak attack by Kenneth, Mormaor of Atholl reputedly to have his nephew crowned high king but once Constantine is dead he decides he'd make a better high king as Kenneth III. In the end his nephew, Malcolm kills Kenneth and becomes Malcolm II, the Destroyer and will remain so for 29 not so peaceful years. Between the political in-fighting and the Viking raids it was a good thing that this fictional Thane of Glamis had a wife that insisted on going on some of his ventures otherwise she'd rarely have seen him. It's a tough time write about when you consider how little documentation there is. ( )