“To my bride,” Lachlan continued, with a bit more emotion to his words. “And my children. Ye have given me reason to fight, reason to become a better man. Thank ye for staying by my side and for making this home one worth defending.”
“Here, here!”
Again, they all drank.
“There is one verra special woman I would like to salute,” he told them all, eyes searching the room for her. “It is only because of yer bravery, both in fleeing Dudley with letters that contained evidence of his treachery and in yer impeccable aim with an arrow, that we secured the victory today. Laura, ye will always have a home and a place of honor within the Kincaid walls. Anything ye need, ask and I will see it done. I owe ye everything. To Laura!”
The cheers grew louder with each drink, but they were nearly deafening at the mention of Laura’s feats over Dudley. She blushed and nodded her head demurely, still a bit shaken by the day. Her mother and father sat on either side of her, proud smiles as they held her close for the first time in years.
“And finally,” he said, turning his attention to the table in front of him, “I must admit that there is something I have been gravely wrong about.”
A hush, anticipating his confession, fell over the room, sobering the atmosphere quickly.
“After my dealings with the Baron?—”
“Disgraced Baron!” someone cut in.
He chuckled and nodded.
“Aye, the disgraced Baron, I swore to loathe all Englishmen for the remainder of my days. I thought it impossible to find a decent man among the whole lot. I have never been more happy to be proven wrong.”
He locked eyes with the Marquess and smiled.
“Lord Blackwood,” he said, speaking directly to the man. “Oliver, ye are the best man there is. First, ye saved our Sorcha from any number of atrocities. And then ye saved us when we could nae give ye so much as the barest amount of trust. I ask now, in front of all who are here, for yer forgiveness for doubting yer character. Ye are loyal and true, steadfast and honorable.Though, perhaps that is simply yer Scottish blood coming through.”
Laughter, raucous and jovial, spread through the room. Lachlan raised a hand after a moment, the sight of his friends and family celebrating bringing tears to his eyes. He blinked them away and grew serious once more.
“Both of ye, Oliver and Sorcha, put a stop to the fighting when all my might could nae. Ye saved us from losing any more precious lives. Ye freed us from the threat of any further injustice. There are truly nae words for everything ye two have done for me and my people today.”
He looked up at the rest of the room then.
“From now until I draw my last breath, the Kincaid clan will have nothing but gratitude for the Blackwood family. Ye have my loyalty, Lord Blackwood. It is an honor to call ye my ally. Ye will always be welcome on Kincaid lands as a friend—nay, as my brother.”
The applause that erupted from the Great Hall then was so loud, so exuberant, that Elsie covered her ears with her hands. It was several long minutes before Lachlan could hear his own thoughts again, but he did not mind. The merriment in front of him was a balm for his soul and a promise for tomorrow.
Laura picked at her plate.She should be happy, she knew. She had not only escaped Dudley’s clutches, but had reunited with her parents and brother on the same day. Laird Kincaid had expressed his undying gratitude in front of three clans, including her own. All things considered, the day was a total victory. But she could not stop the nagging sadness that clawed at her bones.
“Laura, dear,” her mother said in the same soothing voice she had used whenever Laura had gotten sick as a child, “whatever is the matter?”
“Are ye unwell?” her father asked, finally voicing the concern that had been etched into his face for the last half hour.
“Tired, is all,” she told them, quietly. “It has been a verra long day.”
In truth, it had been a long several days. She had left Dudley’s estate, left his stables with Brandon in them, two nights ago and had not slept since. Her mind hardly knew what to make of everything her body had experienced, everything it had witnessed.
Her mother’s hands, with more lines and spots on her nimble sewing fingers than Laura remembered, rubbed her arms up and down. Her father put a strong hand on her back, warm and protective. It was a sensation she had so rarely felt in the last three years. It was nearly more than she could bear.
“I am all right,” she assured them, gently shaking off their touch. “Really. I merely need a night or two of sleep.”
Over her head, she could feel her parents exchanging glances. They had an infernal ability to tell when she was lying. But neither of them pressed her. She knew one day she would have to share with them stories of her days inside the Baron’s estate. Not yet. Maybe not for a long time.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Taryn, her hair still just as gold and beautiful as it had always been, leaning around James to look at her. With both her mother and brother in between the two girls, Laura had felt hidden well enough that she hoped there would be no great confrontation. But when her mother and father begged off to go chat with their new friends from the Kincaid clan, James shot her a warm smile and made himself scarce.
“I need to check the patrols for the night,” he explained to both women. “Laird’s orders.”
With him gone, no one separated the two long-lost friends. Laura found herself once again at a loss for words.
“He always was a bad liar,” Taryn commented dryly, watching him go. “Ye both were.”
