By 1306, Scotland was a pressure cooker. King Alexander III was dead, his heir line shattered, and the country had been dragged into a succession crisis that England’s Edward I exploited. Two great families stood near the top of the claim: the Bruces and the Comyns. John “Red” Comyn wasn’t just a noble—he was tied to the Balliol cause and represented a powerful faction that could block Robert the Bruce from ever becoming king. Bruce and Comyn met at Greyfriars Church in Dumfries on February 10,