With every word he spoke, Taryn understood less and less.
“Are ye… Does that mean ye are…” she stumbled. Frustrated, she sighed and spoke as bluntly as she could manage. “Does this mean ye are a bounty hunter now?”
As soon as the question was out of her mouth, she wished she could pull the words back in. James had always been a man of such strong character. He was never cruel, rarely angry, always offering a kind smile and a helping hand. It was too far-fetched to think that he had turned to such a slimy way to make a living.
She couldn’t discredit the fact that she had no idea what life was like in McGregor lands anymore, however. There was rarely any news, this far north, about her homeland. Still, she couldn’t believe that things had grown so desperate.
Instead of answering her, he huffed. In a flash, he was off her, yanking her up by the arm. It was as if her very presence irritated him beyond words. Everything about the situation was so unbelievable that Taryn stood unmoving as she tried to make sense of it all.
Despite her shocked state, James kept a firm grip on her upper arm as he dragged her towards his bags laid against a rock by the fire. He fished out a fresh rope and spun her, so her back was to him.
Wisdom would have prompted her to run, to make things harder for him. She should have been fighting as hard as shecould to get away. Not standing still, letting him bind her wrists once more. He tugged on the rope hard, causing the rough fibers to dig into her raw skin once more. Taryn winced but said nothing, waiting for him to explain just what was going on.
“Do as I say, when I say it, how I say it; stay quiet and dinnae make this harder than it needs to be,” he ordered, turning her back so he could glare down at her.
When had he gotten so tall?
“I ken it is nae yer strong suit, but ye must be obedient. If ye do this, ye will get food, water, and warmth. If ye dinnae, I will let ye starve. And dinnae,” he emphasized the word with a grip on her arm, “try to escape me again. Next time, I will nae be so gentle.”
Her eyebrows shot up. If slamming her onto the ground was his idea of gentle, she dreaded to find out how much worse it could get. Her entire back felt sore and bruised, her wrists burning, and the top part of her arm was threatening to bloom into black spots where his fingertips were digging into her.
She winced again and this time, he saw it. Just as quickly as he had grabbed her, he let her go. His eyes shifted from vitriol to guilt, but it lasted for only a moment before they hardened again.
“All right, James,” she said softly. “I will do as ye say.”
Satisfied with her acceptance, he nudged her towards the fire, and with a firm hand on her shoulder, made her sit. He knelt beside her and threw another log onto the fire, stoking it bigger and bigger.
“Why have ye done this?” she tried again, keeping her voice soft and calm so as not to rouse his anger. “Does Laura ken what ye planned? Does she ken ye have come after me?”
As soon as her friend’s name was out of her mouth, James bit back a growl. He did not answer once again, opting to instead focus on making them some food. He pulled out somedried meat for them to munch on as he mixed the batter for the oatcakes. Once the flames were tall enough, he placed a thin, smooth rock over one side of the fire and poured the mixture over it. She watched him curiously, wondering when he learned to cook. Every so often, he would poke at the food with his stick.
Unabashedly, she studied his face. He had grown and changed so much in the years since she had last seen him. Their time together in the forest that day, as he taught her how to shoot an arrow, came to mind. Her cheeks flushed, and her stomach twisted, as it always did when she thought of that day.
His hair was the same chestnut brown, still clipped close to his skull, though it was a haphazard job rather than the clean, sure cut that Laura always managed to do for him. There was a thin pink line running through his proud chin that had not been there before, and another scar on his forehead, near his eyes. Those had not changed. They were the same piercing shade of green. She had once thought the world of those eyes; now she was less certain about their kindness.
Seeing as she had failed twice now to get any answers out of him about his actions, she tried a different line of questioning, hoping to start some sort of conversation.
“What happened to my horse?”
“Ye mean the one ye stole from me three years ago?”
The accusation, while true, still felt harsh. Laura had promised that James would understand why she had taken it. Technically speaking, it had been Laura who stole the beast and given it as a gift to Taryn. Clearly, James was not as understanding or forgiving as they had both hoped.
“Aye,” Taryn agreed softly.
“She ran away,” he said with a sigh. “She never did like me much. Seems as though she was much better suited too ye to have stayed with ye all this time.”
“She kept me safe on more than one occasion, aye.”
It was a hidden kind of admission. Some part of her hoped that James would be shocked or at the very least concerned about the dangers Taryn had faced after her escape. But he gave no indication that he so much as cared.
“We will have to ride together. Dinnae fash. I was able to replace that mare with a true stallion. He will be able to carry both of us without problem.”
He had misunderstood the worried look that had crossed Taryn’s face as soon as he announced they would have to ride together. She wasn’t concerned about the horse being able to carry their combined weight. She simply couldn’t fathom having to sit that close to James for who knows how long, with only his anger for company.
“Where are we going?” she tried again, needing to prepare herself for just how long of a ride this might be.
It would be a tedious trip if they were going back to her uncle’s castle and McGregor land. She dreaded the thought of seeing her parents again. She could already imagine their disappointed faces. And then struck an even more terrifying thought had had her pleading with James before she could think about the words she was saying.
