Page 33 of Surrendering to her Highland Captor
When he took too long of a pause, Taryn stepped forward just a hair, bringing the sharp tip of the weapon closer to his skin.
“Have ye ever stopped to think about what happened after ye left home? I suppose that is a wasted question. Ye were always too selfish to consider anyone else before yerself.”
She wanted to scoff and argue the point, but she knew if she did, she would never hear the full story. So she bit her tongue and let the coppery, metallic taste fill her mouth instead of her arguments.
“Ye abandoned yer duties. Ye had a responsibility to our clan, to our people. Everyone adored ye, ye ken. Every time ye would waltz down to the village, it was all anyone could talk about for days. On and on they went about how bonny ye are, how kind and considerate they thought ye. If ye smiled at anyone, theywould tell the entire town as if it were a great boon. And when yer engagement was announced,” he hesitated. “Well, the whole village threw a feast.”
She swallowed hard, not liking the coldness in his tone.
“They were all convinced that it was ye and yer bonny face that would save us. They thought that yer marriage to such a powerful, nae to mention wealthy, Baron would finally ease our suffering.” He scoffed. “None of us kent just how wrong we were. Perhaps it would have been different had ye followed through on yer betrothal, had ye kept yer word. But we will never ken that now, will we?”
“What happened?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
James shook his head, his eyes on the ground as he searched for the words. He had wanted to torment her with the truth. He wanted her to know just how much everyone had suffered because of her. Yet, now given the opportunity to do just that, he found himself at a loss for words. It had a bone chilling effect on Taryn all the same.
“The Baron is a man easily angered. And when he found out that ye had left, escaped only to get out of marrying him, he was furious. He felt that the McGregor Clan owed him.”
“I thought that Laird McGregor would have more than enough to pay whatever the Baron felt he was owed,” Taryn admitted, her brows furrowed in confusion.
Again, James shook his head. The anger that had seemed to take up a permanent residence in his eyes gave way to a deep sadness she had not seen before. It was as if, by telling her the story, he was reliving it all over again.
“Baron Dudley did nae want our coin. Ye did nae cheat him out of much financial gain. He felt as though ye robbed him of the chance to expand his land and his power. Ye wounded his pride. So he did the same to our people.”
“What do ye mean?”
“He started by taking our livestock. At first, it was just a few raiders here and there. A ram, a couple of sheep, a steer. And then the attacks became more frequent. More common. Eventually, it seemed as though someone was getting robbed every night. It did nae take us too long to realize that he was the one behind this. When there was hardly enough to sustain the clan, Laird McGregor sent a message, pleading for mercy, asking to come to some kind of arrangement.”
Taryn’s heart thudded slowly against her chest. It ached to know how her people had suffered. She had never imagined that Baron Dudley would be such a cruel man, though she supposed that she should have guessed he would do something like this, considering what he had done to the Kincaids.
“He demanded land. The most fruitful plots. And he demanded anyone living on them be removed. We could nae afford to withstand any more raids, so Laird McGregor agreed.”
A gasp let out from Taryn’s mouth.
“But some of those families have been there for generations. Hundreds of years, those same people have worked those lands. That is part of what made them all so prosperous.”
“Ye really think the Baron cared about any of that?”
The venom was back in James’ tone. Taryn didn’t try to hide her wince.
“Even with the Laird agreeing to all the Baron’s terms, even with the entire clan forced into poverty, it was nae enough. We were too weak to put up a fight, too poor to try to pay the man off. So all Laird McGregor could do was keep giving in as the Baron took and took and took.”
With every word, James grew more angry, more indignant. All the while, Taryn grew more heartbroken, more unsure of her path forward.
She had known when she left that fateful night that there would be consequences. She knew she would never be able to goback home to see her friends or family. She knew that the Laird would have to find a new heir. She knew that her parents would be furious. She hadn’t expected to still be a highly sought after prize for bounty hunters three years later, but she had grown used to it well enough. But in her mind, nothing for the clan had really changed. She had never truly stopped to think about how her broken engagement would affect them.
Perhaps I am as selfish as James says.
“He would nae be satisfied until he discovered how ye escaped. He kent that someone had helped ye, and he was determined to find out who and make sure that they paid for their crimes against him.”
Taryn gasped in horror.
“He took Laura. He put all the blame for yer escape on her. He said that since she cheated him out of a new woman in his household, that she would have to replace ye somehow. She has been trapped in his estate, working as a scullery maid ever since.”
All the breath fled Taryn’s lungs. She had never known such terror. Her fear of the Baron had been enough to prompt Taryn to leave the only home she had ever known. To flee from her responsibilities, her family, her entire life. Knowing that Laura was now in that man’s hands was enough to make Taryn’s knees shake and her stomach turn.
“Ye have nay idea how this has broken our clan. Beyond that,” James continued, not seeing or not caring just how distraught Taryn was. “Laura being taken has destroyed my family. With people barely surviving, they dinnae have any spare money for new clothes or a tailor to do all the work. Because of Laura’s hand in yer escape, the Laird has shunned my parents’ business. They had to sell everything and try their best to grow their own food. They are outcasts now. Everyone in the village blames them for this.”
“But they had nothing to do with it! They could nae have kent what Laura was planning. I certainly did nae.”
