16. A Price on Her Head

16

A PRICE ON HER HEAD

A ll plans of breakfast with his parents were long forgotten. Instead, James found himself squarely in the middle of the Great Hall, standing shoulder to shoulder with everyone else who was awaiting to hear the news. Chatters of excitement and hope filled the air. He knew that bringing Taryn home meant the chance at resuming normal life for the rest of the clan. He had never imagined that the cost would be so high, nor that it would weigh on him so heavily.

He scanned the room, searching the familiar faces. Warriors who had fought tirelessly to defend the McGregor land from raiders, mothers who had lost everything and were still trying to give their children a home, young people who had spent the last three years questioning if they would ever have a future. Yet, for all their heartbreak and pain, he couldn’t see how sacrificing someone else was the solution.

“The Baron has to honor the terms of the initial agreement. He must accept Taryn back and stop these attacks.”

“Aye, ’tis what any sensible man would do.”

“When has the Baron ever been sensible?”

“Precisely. Taryn returning changes nothing. It is too late for that.”

“The English will always be a threat to us. One lass will nae change that.”

“Laird McGregor will see to it that Baron Dudley upholds his end of the treaty. They will have nay choice.”

Round and round the conversation went, following the dizzying pattern that James’ own thoughts had been going since the morning Taryn had woken up. He had been so convinced that bringing Taryn back would solve everything that he hadn’t stopped to consider the nature of the man they were dealing with. Both men.

Baron Dudley had lashed out at the McGregors far beyond what seemed appropriate. In fact, James had never known a man to retaliate against an entire clan for a broken betrothal. They had been tormented for years with no end in sight. He was beginning to wonder if the Baron had ever behaved as a reasonable man.

And then there was Laird McGregor to consider. A puppet in the hands of Taryn’s parents, he simply did as everyone else told him to do. The man was too old and too tired from a difficult life to truly care about his people anymore. The last three years were a clear picture of that. Laird McGregor had given into every demand that Baron Dudley had made.

The longer James stood in the Great Hall waiting for Laird McGregor to emerge, the more uneasy he became. Everyone else continued to debate whether the message contained the Baron’s agreement to continue the initial treaty, or if it would be full of more demands. James held his tongue, unable to decide which was worse. Both turned his stomach.

A door off to the side of the hall opened, revealing Laird McGregor along with Jonah trailing closely behind. They both wore grim expressions, though James couldn’t guess at what would cause them. In truth, neither man looked too altered after having read the letter. He took it as a sign that Baron Dudley’s response had been mild for once.

Silence blanketed the arguments of those in the room, snuffing them out entirely before the Laird had made it to his seat at the front of the hall. He remained standing, twisting the refolded letter in his hands over and over before finally clasping his hands behind his back, taking the letter with them.

“As ye are all well aware, yesterday I sent word to Baron Dudley that Taryn had returned and was ready to do her duty to him. I asked that he would consider upholding our original treaty, that we may put all of this feuding between us in the past.”

James huffed out a laugh, the Laird’s carefully chosen words making it seem as though they had ever tried to fight against the English. No one in the room was fooled. They all knew very well that the entire McGregor Clan had merely rolled over and let the English do whatever they wanted.

“I was hopeful that he would be amenable to this arrangement as that is all he has claimed to want these past three years. But,” Laird McGregor said with a sigh, “it seems he has changed his mind.”

The room started to stir again, people murmuring amongst themselves about what this could possibly mean. Their livelihoods were at stake, the safety of their families. James was torn so completely between his need to rescue his sister and this newfound desire to protect Taryn that he wasn’t sure what he was hoping for any longer. If the Baron didn’t want to marry Taryn now, he was bound to make some other demand of the clan. Just as the thought passed through James’ mind, the Laird spoke again, giving more clarity.

“He claims that after three years of living as a vagrant, there is nay way that Taryn could still be worthy of a marriage to him.”

“Ye mean to say the Baron thinks her ruined?”

James could have sent a fist through the mouth of the man who had posed the question so bluntly, had they not been on opposite sides of the room.

“Aye. And he will nae forgive her for the embarrassment she has caused.”

“She has ruined us all!” a woman accused.

“We are done for,” another added, distraught and near tears already.

Desperate to know there was at least one other person in the room who supported Taryn, James sought her father’s face. He was expecting to find a man at least half as conflicted as James was, one who wanted to defend his daughter. All he found was a cold expression, pinched and twisted with disdain and disapproval.

“That is nae all the Baron said,” Laird McGregor called, quieting the room once more, though the tension still hung in the air, unwavering. “He has offered to draft a new peace treaty with us. They will follow nearly all the same conditions as the marriage agreement, with one… significant change.”

While it was no secret that the Laird often allowed his brother to make most of the decisions for the clan, he rarely was so open about it as he was now. Twisting over his shoulder, Laird McGregor looked back at Jonah, who still wore the unflinching expression, and waited for the man to nod. Only then did he continue telling the room of the Baron’s demands.

“He claims that the only thing that would appease him, that would convince him to stop these raids and form a peace with us is…”

Laird McGregor hesitated. That pause made James’ stomach twist in knots. The last time the baron had made demands like this, James had lost his sister. He doubted this could be any better.

“… Taryn’s head, delivered to him on a platter.”

“Ye cannae! Nay! I will nae let ye!”

James was shouting, moving through the crowd towards the Laird, before he knew the words were coming out of his mouth and not just ringing in his head. For a brief moment, the Laird looked down on him with sad, tired eyes that showed little interest in finding another solution.

He doubted that the Laird had even been able to hear the rest of James’ refusal, as the rest of the room lit up in panic. Voices rose and echoed throughout the tall ceilings overhead, bouncing back down to the stone floor. Each one making a different point, contracting their neighbor.

“This has gone too far.”

“Give the lass over to him. Let him do with her as he pleases.”

“We never should have given into his demands in the first place.”

“Och, we have nae missed her for the last three years. I dinnae see the problem.”

“She is just a lass! This is nae all her fault. We should have fought against the Baron years ago.”

“Aye. It is because of the first treaty we tried to make with him that we are in this problem. She should never have been promised to him in the first place.”

“Nay use talkin’ of the past. That will nae solve this now.”

“We should fight.”

“Ye and what army? We are too weak to fight.”

“Why send hundreds of men off to die when only one life will bring us peace?”

The vein in James’ jaw throbbed from the strain of clenching his teeth so hard. His fingernails created little crescent shaped divots in his palms as he fought for control of his temper. He knew that if his mother were there to bear witness to how rude James had been to the Laird, she would have cuffed him on the ears. He didn’t care. As far as he was concerned, Laird McGregor was no longer a man worth the effort to respect.

James inched closer to the Laird’s high seat, only stopping once he could see the lines in the Laird’s face. A few steps away, Jonah watched the chaos, his sharp eyes marking every face for and against his own daughter’s execution. It made no sense to James how Jonah could stand there as if they were discussing the menu for a feast and not Taryn’s life. James’ own blood was boiling at the thought of hers being spilled.

“What are ye going to do?” James asked in a pointed whisper, glaring at the Laird first and then at Jonah. “How can ye be sure that the Baron will nae change his mind again, as he has so often done already? Only, yer only heir will be dead and there will be nay one else for ye to pin the blame on. So tell me, tell us all, what will ye do?”

He hadn’t noticed it over the thunderous beating of his heart in his chest, but James’ address to the Laird had caught the attention of nearly everyone standing close enough to hear. Others further away still bickered and debated between themselves, but James didn’t care what they had to say, he only wanted the word of the man in charge.

“I-I,” Laird McGregor blinked, shifting his eyes away from James and towards the floor.

“Ye have already given that man one lass. How are ye going to bring Laura home? Or have ye forgotten about her too? Is she just going to be another casualty in this war ye refuse to fight in?”

“That is quite enough,” Jonah tried to cut in.

But James wasn’t finished. And seeing as he was one of the few armed men in the room, he wasn’t going to let anyone stop him from having his voice heard. He had stood by silently for far too long. He wasn’t going to do so for another second.

“Are ye truly so desperate, so weak and willing as to hand over the head of yer heir, yer own kin, simply to make a vile man chuckle? As that is all he will do. It will only show him that there is nay limit to the power he has over ye. And then he will make another demand and another, until ye hand us all over. What a legacy ye will leave; the coward Laird who handed over a lass because he was too afraid to fight back.”

Those paltry stammerings were the only answer the man tried to give.

James spun and stormed out of the Great Hall, more than content to leave the rest of the clan members behind while they tried to argue their way into a better solution. He refused to waste another second, not when he already knew what he needed to do.

There was no one left in the corridors to stop him as he nearly sprinted his way back to Taryn’s cell. Everyone else was either in the Great Hall or rushing to spread the news throughout the rest of the clan. Fury drove him into the cold, dank cells without a single thought as to what he would do next, he only knew what he had to do now.

“James,” Taryn called out, welcoming but surprised he was back already. “What are ye doing here? I thought ye were?—”

“I am getting ye out of here. Get up. Let’s go.”

James fumbled with the keys, his ire making him unsettled. Taryn stood and moved towards him, confusion written all over her face. He had no doubt that she could see the anger brewing on his own, but he didn’t dare take the time to explain it. When the lock on the cell door finally clicked, he reached for Taryn’s arm, only for her to step back, just out of his grasp.

“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 will nae ever 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?”

“It is all a front,” he explained hastily. “Baron Dudley does nae care about yer reputation. He only means to embarrass ye. He will nae forgive the way ye slighted him.”

“But what about the peace treaty?”

Taryn was finally starting to look worried and James nearly sighed in relief. Until he realized what he was going to have to tell her next.

“He proposed a new one; one he would only sign so long as yer uncle sends him yer head on a silver platter.”

The words came out forced and gritty, but it was the only way James could bring himself to say such a wicked thing. His eyes darted all over her face, searching for any sign that she had heard him. She nearly stumbled after a heartbeat, and his hands shot out to catch her. They stayed firmly on the tops of her arms, ready to pull her out of the cell and into a run as soon as she was ready.

“Laird McGregor just announced it all in the Great Hall. He was still undecided as to what he would do when I came to find ye. We must leave now. Before anyone else comes looking for ye.”

“M-my father?” she stammered out.

“Did as he always does, put his own interests first.”

Those dinnae seem to include ye.

Though he didn’t speak his thoughts, he could see he didn’t need to. Taryn was clearly thinking the same thing. A mask of resignation slipped over her face. The brilliance of her eyes dimmed as her mouth dipped into a flat line. She might have given up, but he certainly wasn’t going to.

“Let’s go.”

It wasn’t an option, but an order he had given her. Pulling out a hat from the pocket of his coat that she still wore, he tugged it on and tucked her blonde hair into the collar.

“Keep yer head down. We will move quickly. Just down the corridor is a back tunnel. If we can get ye there, we will be safe.”

She stayed silent as they moved with haste out of the cell and into the hallway. With one hand on the hilt of his sword and the other on her back, he led them across the way and towards the tunnel. So few people knew about it that he doubted they would be caught. The door in sight, James went to reach for the handle, relieved that they were finally setting things to rights.

“Where do ye think ye are going?”