She looked back just once to see Lennox waving at her, bouncing on her toes with excitement, then she turned her focus back to the guard.
Together, they traipsed through different corridors. Though Laura could see just how grand a place it was, illustrious with white stone draped in tapestries and candelabras adorning the ceilings, her eyes danced quickly across each of these things.
Please say yes, my Laird. I beg of you!
As the guard paused in their journey, he reached for a double set of doors that led to a great hall. He pushed them open and allowed her to walk in ahead of him.
Laura was first met with blinding light seeping in from the tall windows, then she blinked madly, allowing her eyes to adjust. At first, she saw a great tapestry portraying the scene of a hunt trying to catch a white stag. Then her eyes drifted from the tapestry to two men who were standing in the center of the room.
One of the men was dressed grandly, only emphasizing his tall and imposing presence in the room. He shared the same dark auburn hair as Erskine, and the same freckles as Dearg, though he was older than both of them.
This must be the Laird.
Laura’s feet came to a stop at her place in the room. As the Laird twisted to look at her, the man he was talking to turned as well.
At this sight of this person’s face, Laura’s mouth turned dry, and her lips parted.
It is Lord Moore.
Chapter Twenty-One
Run!
Laura shouted the order at herself, giving her body only a beat to catch up with the thought. She swiveled on her feet as fast as she could and leaped back toward the door.
“Guards!” Lord Moore’s voice ricocheted through the room.
Two Englishmen who had been standing either side of the door dived forward, and before Laura could reach the door, they had grabbed hold of her.
“No! Let me go!” she cried, but it did little use. They took her arms and dragged her back through the room so that the heels of her shoes practically scraped across the floor. Then they turned her so that she was forced to face Lord Moore and Laird MacCallum.
“Is it her?” Laird MacCallum asked.
The Earl marched toward her, his dark features furious, the ire he did not bother to conceal as he reached her. She tried to flinch away, but she could not fight against the guards’ hold on her. The Earl took hold of her face, grabbing her chin so violently that she could feel where his fingers would leave bruises as he tilted her chin up toward him. His black eyes danced across her face, and his thin lips curled in a snarl.
“It is her,” he tossed the words over his shoulder before pushing her face away. At that moment, she was glad for the guards’ hold, for they kept her standing. She watched as the Earl turned back to face Laird MacCallum. “You realize how serious a matter this is, my Laird?”
“Of course,” Laird MacCallum nodded, his manner somber and clearly unhappy with the situation. His eyes flicked toward her. With the resemblance he had to Erskine, Laura pinned her hopes that he would be just as charitable toward her, but of course, he didn’t know her. “Please accept my apologies, Lord Moore.”
“Apologies? That is not enough!” The Earl’s voice bellowed. “My betrothed was abducted and dragged across the country byyourmen.”
“I was not abducted.” Laura made her voice strong and clear. She earned sharp looks from both the Earl and Laird MacCallum. The Earl stepped toward her again. “I ran away from you willingly —– ah!” Before she could finish her sentence, he struck her, harsh across the cheek.
Laura grimaced at the stinging pain reverberating through her pace before she lifted her eyes, looking to Laird MacCallum with hope. He looked extremely uncomfortable indeed, shaking his head with his blue eyes darting between the two of them.
“Lord Moore,” though the Laird’s voice was quiet, there was so much depth and darkness to it that the power in the room shifted. It was no longer with the Earl, but it resided with Laird MacCallum. “I ken I have nay right to stop yer actions to yer betrothed beyond these walls, but here ye will nae strike a lady in front of me. Is that understood?”
“For now,” the Earl said, clearly untouched by his warning.
Laura’s eyes danced around the room, searching frantically for the face she knew and loved.
“Where’s Erskine?” she asked. In response, Laird MacCallum’s eyebrows shot up. The Earl turned back to her again, looking tempted to strike her once more.
“This is the man that took you, isn’t it?” the Earl scoffed before looking to Laird MacCallum. “Yer son abducted me betrothed! Ye realize what this could do for the peace between England and Scotland?”
“Probably more than ye do, me Lord,” Laird MacCallum said with strength, refusing to back down. “I am the one who has fought in the battles, watchin’ good men’s blood spilled. Daenae lecture me on the good of peace, for I ken it well.”
“Good,” Lord Moore flicked his head around, the dark hair dancing across his forehead with it.
