“What are ye doing, James? Ye cannae tell me that after spending ages trying to find me and then everything ye endured to bring me back, that ye have suddenly had a change of heart?”
“That is exactly what I am telling ye. Now, please, come with me.”
He reached again, but Taryn receded further into the cell and sat back on her cot, arms folded.
“I told ye I would nae be running away from my duty any longer. Unless I am being sent to the Baron, I will nae move.”
“I willnaeever let ye be sent to that man,” James seethed.
He ran a frantic hand through his hair and over his face. He knew they didn’t have time to waste. Someone would soon come down here, just to ensure that the key to this supposed treaty had not vanished. They needed to be long gone by then. Yet, he saw no hope for it. Taryn was stubborn. For a brief moment, he considered throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her out on his back, but he needed her to cooperate, to be clandestine with their escape.
“This is all Laird McGregor’s fault. When the raids first began, we should have attacked. But the Laird was too concerned with spending money on building an army so instead, he tried to fashion a peace treaty. The price was yer hand in marriage, but that was a price he was more than willing to pay.”
James let out a sigh, deep and long. He knew there was no going back from this, but he didn’t care anymore. What was happening was not right, and he had the ability to put a stop to it. He had to at least try.
“Ye had every right to run when ye did. I wish I had been able to see the truth of the matter sooner. I wish I had understood the way I do now. It was yer right to leave, to do whatever ye had to do to save yer own life. Ye had to protect yerself; yer parents certainly were nae going to. Ye were the only one thinking of what was best for ye and nae just the easiest way to protect the clan. I wish I had run with ye.”
“And Laura,” she cut in.
“What?” he questioned, not understanding how his sister had anything to do with this.
“Laura always tried to keep me safe. She cared about me. So did yer parents. I thought ye did too once.”
She met his eyes with a bold look, as if she was asking something without saying anything at all.
“I do care about ye,” he admitted softly. “I was only thinking of Laura. My only purpose in all of this was to get her back home, safely. But I have gone about this in all the wrong ways. I should have gone after Laura myself, nae ye. I was too concerned with what the Baron might do or how I might anger the Laird. But I should have gone after her regardless. Instead, I did what everyone else has done and blamed ye for things ye have nay control over.”
“James, I dinnae understand,” Taryn told him, softly.
At some point in his impassioned speech, she had risen from her cot and moved to stand in front of him once more. A cold, small hand pressed against his arm. He looked up at her and lost the words he was about to say.
Her eyes, though tired and trying to make sense of his ramblings, still shone so brightly. The curves of her checks, the lines that graced the side of her mouth, the way her full pink lips turned up at the corners. All of it reminded him of who Taryn really was. Somewhere along the way, he had forgotten that he had known her as a friend. She had always been kind, selfless to a fault, a little unsure but willing to try anything at least once.
He had seen for himself the way she bloomed from a little attention and direction. In all their years of growing up together, he had seen hints of her turning into a capable, confident woman. The sensible part of him knew that those admirable qualities, the pieces of her that had drawn him in so fully, could not have vanished over the last three years.
It took standing in this miserable little cell for him to remember that Taryn hadn’t just been Laura’s friend, but his own. It took the Baron threatening her life to bring him to his senses and show him that she was someone he had once protected just as fiercely as Laura, even if it had been for different reasons.
“I will nae let them take ye,” he answered her at last, cradling her fingers in the palm of his hand.
The heat from his skin seeped into hers while her fingertips brushed against the small divots that were still running along the base of his palm.
“I will nae let that man claim another life, especially nae yers.”
Their eyes locked and for a moment, he wondered what it would be like to press his lips against hers. Something scurrying in the corner reminded him of just where they were and their desperate need for safety. They had wasted enough time as it was already. He needed to get her out of the cell, out of this castle, and out of McGregor land.
“Please, Taryn. Come with me. Let me keep ye safe. We can create a plan to save Laura together. I just need ye to,” his words caught in the back of his throat, his voice a gruff whisper. “Please come with me.”
Gently, she pulled her fingers out of his grip but this time, she did not move to get away from him. He took this as a good sign.
“I cannae, James. I have already shirked my duty once before, and countless people have suffered for it. I cannae do that again. I will stay here until the baron sends word that he will have me. I am sure it will come at any time.”
“Yer father has already gotten the message. That is why I am here, do ye nae see?”
“See what? That ye dinnae want me to marry the Baron?” She forced out a laugh. “I dinnae either, but if that is what I have to do, I will do it.”
“Nay, Taryn!” James was close to shouting again, his fury and driving need to keep her safe taking him to the edge of his sanity. “The baron sent word that he will nay longer marry ye. He has called yer reputation into question.”
“My reputation?”
