7. Tied Beneath the Fading Sun

7

TIED BENEATH THE FADING SUN

A warm, white light breached through the shield of Taryn’s closed eyes, rousing her from a fitful sleep. She wasn’t sure exactly when sleep had claimed her, nor was she sure how she had managed to get so warm.

Peeling her eyelids back, she blinked, letting her tired eyes adjust to the morning light. As soon as they had, she made out the cloak that had been draped across her shoulders and tucked in behind her legs. With her hands still tied behind her back, there was no way she could have managed such a thing.

The wind picked up, carrying the scent of the old cloak—James. Everything about it smelled distinctly like him. Even if he had not reappeared the way he had, it was a scent she would have recognized anywhere for as long as she lived.

Having uncovered where the cloak came from only made her more confused, however. She searched the camp for the man and found him on the other side of the forest, unaware that she was awake. He was packing up their makeshift camp, shoving things into his saddlebags and tying them to the leather seat.

For a moment, she could almost pretend that he was the same man she had left behind. The small act of kindness he had done for her in the middle of the night was one that didn’t align with this new, hardened man he had thus far portrayed himself to be.

“Good. Ye are awake. It’s about time, princess.”

The sharpness in his words made her forget all about any chance of him having returned to his kind ways.

He crossed the distance between them, pulling out his dagger as they went. Her heart rate picked up at the sight of the gleaming point. It made no sense to her why he would help her sleep the night only to kill her first thing in the morning. She scrambled to her feet as best she could, trying to be ready for a fight.

“Wait—” she breathed out once he had reached her.

But he ignored her halfhearted plea and placed two firm hands on her shoulders. Before she realized what he was doing, she was spun around and her wrists were being pulled away from her back. The movement burned, making her wince. Her hiss made James loosen his grip just enough to ease the ache in her shoulders. His dagger moved again, slicing through the ropes in one swift motion.

“Prepare yerself for a long ride. We leave as soon as ye are ready.”

Taryn was too busy rubbing the red skin around her wrists to listen to his instructions. She massaged at the muscles in her arms as feeling returned to them, pricking her skin like painful needles.

“Did ye hear me?” he barked, his brows furrowed, concealing almost completely the color of his eyes.

“We are leaving soon,” she echoed. “Aye, I heard ye.”

Her own frustration mounted at his highhandedness. She sidestepped him and made off for the trees.

“Where do ye think ye are going? Dinnae try to escape me, Taryn. Ye will nae get far.”

She could hear his stomping feet behind her, but she didn’t stop.

“I am nae going to run, James,” she seethed that he would think her so foolish and naive.

When he didn’t stop his pursuit, she spun around, nearly running into him in the process. He glowered down at her, less than an inch separating them. She refused to be the first one to move. They were both huffing, the breath that escaped their mouths mingling to create little ghosts of cold in the air.

“I am going to prepare myself for the journey, as instructed,” she told him through clenched teeth.

Understanding dawned on him nearly as soon as the words were out of her mouth. He threw his hands up and said something that sounded an awful lot like “Women” and stomped back to the camp.

Taryn watched him leave, taking her anger with him. She couldn’t understand why he was so furious with her, what she had done that was so wrong. Today, she was determined to get some answers out of him.

She went through the motions of getting ready quickly, happy that he had given her privacy to do so. Straightening her dress and running fingers through her hair, Taryn braided it off as quickly as her hands would allow her to. While she washed her face and worked to clean her teeth with a finger, she wondered where they were going and what he was planning to do with her. Soon enough, her mind drifted back to getting answers out of him.

By the time she emerged from the woods, James had the campsite cleared and was waiting for her by his horse. She refused to give him the satisfaction of protesting their riding together. Marching up to where he stood, Taryn didn’t wait for him to offer any help as she swung herself onto the saddle. She took her time smoothing out her skirts and settling herself in the seat before she glanced down at him. A fleeting look of admiration or approval danced over his eyes but vanished just as quickly as it had appeared.

James lifted himself into the seat behind her, saying nothing as he reached around and took her reins from her hands.

“I can steer,” she argued, hesitant to let go.

“How do ye plan to do that if ye dinnae ken where we are going?”

“Tell me where we are going, and I will set off in that direction.”

She tugged on the thin leather strap as she spoke, but James didn’t let go.

“Nay, Taryn. This does nae work like that.”

Sighing, she let go and let her hands fall to the tops of her legs. James kicked the horse into a walk and turned him south. In less than five minutes, she was already regretting her decision to ride in the front. The way his arms settled around hers, his chest pressed against her back, she felt confined and held all at once. Her head and heart hardly knew what to make of it all. Even worse, his touch distracted her from her purpose of getting answers out of him.

“Why will ye nae tell me where ye are taking me? Do I nae have a right to know what my future holds?”

He grunted.

“I have already told ye I will nae try to run, and I meant it,” she lied. “Please, just tell me; are we going back to Laird McGregor?”

James stayed silent.

“Ye cannae mean that ye are delivering me to that vile man my parents promised me to? James, he will kill me. Does that nae matter to ye?”

She watched as his knuckles turned white around the reins. Thick veins protruded from the back of his hands, pulsing in anger. Why, she didn’t know. She was the one taken captive, being pushed around, and having her life threatened.

The silence stretched between them as they rode through the ragged beauty of the Highlands, Taryn had gotten so familiar with. Snow crunched under the horse’s hooves as they passed trees coated with a white layer. It was a blend of white and brown that Taryn loved. The only sight of green came from the evergreen trees and bushes they walked by every once in a while. To her, it looked like the world was getting wiped clean, given a fresh slate. She wished the snow could do the same for her.

As it was, the only thing the snow was good for right now was soaking through the top layers of her dress until her bones were cold. She had left the castle with only her gloves and her bag on her. She was grateful that, at the very least, she had her good boots on; otherwise, she would be arriving without all her toes still attached.

She shivered as a fresh piece of snow-soaked hair brushed across her back. Ever so inconspicuously, James shifted, acting as though he needed to readjust to find comfort once more, but Taryn couldn’t help but notice that his new position had him closer, his chest warming her back.

She was torn. So far, she had been met with nothing but cold indifference from James. Aila had taught her to play whatever part was necessary to survive, particularly when it came to kidnappers. She doubted that Aila ever suspected that Taryn would know her captor, but it had been a lifetime ago that she and James had been friends. He had seen her as a helpless, spoiled young girl, incapable of anything.

While her pride bristled at the idea of pretending to be so feeble and helpless again, she wondered if that was the only way to get him to lower his guard. From the way he pressed into her, warding off the cold, it was clear that he hadn’t lost all of his good manners.

I have to get him to talk. I have to show him that he can still trust me, nay matter how much I have changed.

The longer she thought about it, the more damp her hair became, and the further away from the Kincaid Castle they got, the more determined she was to get answers out of James. She needed time to prepare herself for what might lie ahead, and the only way to do that was to know where they were headed.

When midday passed, and he showed no signs of stopping or slowing, Taryn knew it was time to put her plan into action. If only to garner some sympathy for herself so that she could be just a bit more comfortable. Her legs were all but numb, her stomach rumbling from emptiness, and her bladder more than full. She supposed that the worst that could happen was he would continue to ignore her.

“I ken ye think that growing up, I had it all,” she started slowly. “But the truth is, I was always so lonely. My mother expected me to be perfect. My father expected me to be invisible until he needed something from me. I was nae allowed to play or explore. I was made to sit on a sofa and stab myself with an embroidery needle over and over again, all in the name of becoming a lady.”

James, as expected, didn’t say a work, nor did he try to stop her from rambling on, so she continued.

“I dinnae suppose ye are going to tell me how my parents are?” A beat of silence. “Nay, I did nae think so. I doubt they miss me much. They were never ones for familial affection. In fact, the first time I saw what a family should be was the day I first walked into yer parents’ store. I was so mesmerized by all the colors of the fabrics that it took me entirely too long to notice the way yer mother always made sure Laura was taken care of. Or the way yer father kept such a keen eye on yer mother. By the time I did see it, I could nae focus on anything else. I had never seen a family care for each other so openly.”

She sighed, lost in the memory of it all that she wasn’t sure she cared much if James would answer her.

“I did nae, however, miss the moment ye stepped into the shop. Ye were dirty and tired from training, but yer proud smile beamed through the room. Ye seemed larger than life to me then… Ye still do. A man like ye did nae fit into my understanding of the world. Until ye, men were either like my father, demanding and cold, or my uncle, quiet and permissive. But somehow, ye managed to be unlike either of them in any way.”

Had they been face to face, Taryn would never have admitted such truths. But with her back to him, she felt strangely free to confess herself.

“Ye were the first person to make me feel safe. That must sound so odd, but I always kent my parents would one day sell me to the highest bidder. Even Laura, at the start, could only see me as the Laird’s heir. But ye, ye never treated me any differently than ye did Laura. I was just another young lass underfoot.”

“That is nae true.”

Her breath caught at his gruff response. But judging from how quietly he spoke it, she knew he wasn’t ready to be pressed for more of a conversation. That suited her fine. She merely carried on walking down the bittersweet path of memory lane.

“First, it seemed as though ye could nae get away from us quick enough. Ye were always so busy with yer training, always carrying that sword with ye everywhere ye went. Then something changed, I am nae sure what, and ye started to teach us the things ye were learning.” She laughed softly to herself as she recalled the first time she sparred with Aila to show her the small list of self-defense skills she had acquired, all of which came from James. “I still use so much of what ye taught me. It has helped me survive on more than one occasion.”

“I only showed ye to get ye to stop begging.”

“I did nae beg,” she scoffed, her attempt at getting him to talk momentarily forgotten.

“Och, aye ye did,” he countered, sounding more like himself by the second. “Laura somehow managed to convince ye to sneak around the village, following me on my patrols, until I agreed to show ye how to…”

He trailed off, so Taryn finished for him.

“Ye showed us how to defend ourselves against a kidnapping.”

An awkward tension hung in the air between them.

“Just goes to show that I am nae a verra good teacher, I suppose.”

“My skill with a bow and arrow would argue otherwise,” she murmured, not sure if she wanted to travel through that particular memory with him.

“Ye were always a quick study. Ye picked up on things so much faster than Laura ever did.”

“It was always just fun for her. I think part of me kent that it would be more than that for me, one day.”

With that admittance, their temporary and unspoken truce came to an end. It was a painful reminder that all the lessons he had once shown her, and all the lessons she had picked up from her friends, were things she needed to be using against James now. It had been so long since she had last thought about all those little moments, those split seconds that had irrevocably shaped her into the woman she was now. The sweetness that used to live there was now marred by a bitter streak placed by James’ hidden agenda.

Foolishly, she had allowed the strength of his arms, the warmth of his legs, and the familiar depth in his voice to lull her into a false sense of safety. She grew silent as she reminded herself over and over again that this James was not the man she had once admired. Gone was any sliver of kindness or affection he might have once had for her. In his place was a ruthless captor, taking her to her death, as surely as if he were to be the one to drive a dagger through her heart.

Taryn sat up straighter, putting some distance, however small, between the two of them once more. She couldn’t allow herself to be so easily tricked again. She was supposed to be the one coaxing James into a more amenable disposition, not the other way around.

She had to get back to her friends. Taryn could only imagine how frightened Aila and Sorcha were, not to mention the three children she had grown so close to. She had finally found a family of her own—one that made her feel as safe as Isobel and Graham and James and Laura once had. She wasn’t going to let anyone steal that from her.

Keeping her head straight so as to not give herself away to James, Taryn let her eyes scan the forest floor. And when the hours passed, and they emerged from the trees by the bottom of a mountain, she kept her eyes focused there as well. Everything was an opportunity to escape, a chance to get away from James. She weighed every potential weapon, every escape route back to her home. Her guard had to stay up, she couldn’t afford to let it slip again, no matter how nostalgic her memories of James were.

“We will stop here for the night,” he announced gruffly.

Taryn nearly let out a cry of relief but bit down on her lip to keep from doing so. She refused to let him know just how difficult of a ride it had been. He had already made it quite clear that he saw her as weak and incapable, she wasn’t going to give him any evidence to further his belief.

He slipped down first, landing gracefully on his feet. His size suggested that such a feat would be impossible. Between his height and the muscles packed onto his frame, she never would have thought that he would be capable of moving so soundlessly.

That is how he snuck up on me.

Before James had the chance to reach up for her, Taryn forced herself out of the saddle. Her muscles, sore and tired, protested the movement, but she gave them no choice. She made it to her feet much less gracefully, but did so without falling over, if only because she was clutching onto the stirrup for dear life.

She expected James to go stomping off so he could set up their camp for the night, but he stayed right by her side. Too close for her liking. When she went to step away, James’ hand shot out and wrapped around her wrists. Not having anticipated it, she let out a curse from the stinging pain that followed.

James blinked in surprise, but that lasted only for a moment before it melted into furrowed scrutiny. He took in the whole of her and when his eyes landed on the angry red welts under his fingers, he immediately let go. The sides of his jaw flexed as he clenched and unclenched his teeth, clearly trying to determine what to do with her now.

“I am nae so daft as to let ye roam free,” he warned. “Dinnae think I did nae see ye looking for a way to escape me, all while telling tales of days gone by.”

She kept her features schooled though, internally, she was shocked that he had picked up on her thoughts.

“I will nae bind yer wrists again tonight…”

Taryn nearly sighed in relief, but it was brought too soon as James finished his sentence.

“But ye will be tied up. Over there.”

He drew her attention to a tree with a nod of his head. This time, she sighed in resignation. Without any brook of an argument, Taryn found her way over to the tree he had pointed out, so very slowly. The movement, though stiff, felt great after a day in the saddle. She had hoped to be allowed to stand for a bit longer, but from the way James pushed her towards the ground, she knew that had been too much to ask for.

He worked quickly, winding his rope around the trunk of the tree three times, tying her to it, before knotting it off out of sight. When he was finished, he tugged on the thick cord, ensuring there was just enough room for her to sit and breathe and shift about, but not so much slack that she could wiggle out of the hold.

“Stay here,” he ordered, as if she had any option but to obey.

Her eyes followed his back as he disappeared into the thicket. With him gone, she slumped against the rough bark of the tree and studied her surroundings. A small pond was to her left, promising fresh water and a chance to wipe the dust from the day, should she grow brave enough to face the cold. To her right were slabs of hard stone, making up the very base of a mountain.

Without knowing how long they had been traveling or the direction they were going, it was impossible to tell just which mountain he had planted them beneath. In front and behind her were trees, just wide enough to hide the width of a man, and not much more. At the very least, she had to commend him on his choice of resting place. They were sure to be shielded from the elements and any creatures that made this small thicket their home.

When James returned, he carried an armful of wood, and she relished the thought of warming by the fire. Without his body heat to help fend off the winter air, she nearly shivered out of her boots.

“C-can I h-help make dinner?” she offered between chattering teeth.

“Nay.”

James kept his back to her as he built the fire and started to prepare what they needed for oatcakes. She supposed she should be grateful he decided to build it close enough for her to feel this time.

“I suppose we dinnae need to fret about anyone seeing the fire?”

He peered over his shoulder at her, an incredulous look on his face. Shaking his head, he turned back to the small flame he had started.

“Dinnae fash, Taryn. I will nae let anyone take ye from me now.”

In another time, his words would have been comforting, even welcome, perhaps. But now, they silenced her and steeled her resolve to escape him.

The sun dipped below the horizon, leaving them with only the firelight to see. She didn’t make another attempt at conversation. Instead, she watched his every move, looking for the slightest hint of hesitation or regret or even weakness. When he offered her a ration of dried meat with her oatcake, she didn’t refuse it. The last thing she wanted to do was lose her meal for the second day in a row.

Tiredness clawed at her, urging her to sleep. Her muscles demanded rest and time to recover from the day. But as Taryn laid back against the tree and her eyes drifted shut, she was too consumed with plotting her escape to sleep.