Page 46 of Surrendering to her Highland Captor
13
A HOLLOW VICTORY
James took in a deep breath through his nose and pushed it out of his mouth, forcing the bile that had risen to his throat back down. He kept his eyes on the tip of his boots, studying the scuffs and caked on mud, doing his best to ignore the rest of the room. Losing his breakfast on the floor of the Great Hall would not bode well for him. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t seem to settle his stomach or his nerves.
“Where is our hero?” the Laird called, silencing the hum of conversations that had grown louder with every second that passed since Taryn had been escorted out.
Clenching his teeth, James swallowed hard. He had hoped he would have been able to avoid all the commotion. Laird McGregor waved him forward, dashing any chance of that.
“Welcome him, lads and lasses. Here is the man who has saved us all!”
With every step James took closer to the dais, more people moved out of his way, creating a clear path to the exact same spot Taryn had been standing in only minutes before. He knew his conversation with Laird was going to be entirely different, but he still felt just as horrible.
“Three cheers for James,” the Laird declared as soon as James was standing in front of him.
The entire room echoed the cheers, creating a nearly deafening roar. James couldn’t help but wonder if Taryn could hear it and what she thought of the entire clan celebrating her capture.
“I must say,” Laird McGregor told James once the room had quieted once more. “Ye have done this clan a great service. Ye have given us all hope, for the first time in three years, that all of this misery and suffering will soon be over. Thanks to ye, we will be able to send a peace offering to Baron Dudley.”
“I had reasons of my own, but I am glad to ken the clan will be safe once more.”
“A feast,” the Laird said as if he hadn’t heard James speak at all. “We must have a feast to celebrate yer magnificent catch. The entire clan will be invited. They will all want to ken who is responsible for their ensured future.”
“I would much rather the food from a feast be divided up and given to the families most in need.”
“A verra noble man indeed, then, to continue to think of yer clan first.” Laird McGregor nodded approvingly as he stroked his chin. “There must be some way I can repay ye. A reward, perhaps? Allow me to give ye that for all yer hard work tracking and hunting her down.”
James blanched. Taryn had used almost the same words in her accusation against him for only seeing her as a prize animal to catch. She hadn’t understood what was at stake then, but hearing Laird McGregor consider a member of his clan, his own flesh and blood, as such made it all seem so depraved.
“Nay,” James refused outright. “I dinnae want any celebrations or rewards. All I ask is that ye secure safe passage for my sister to return home.”
“Yer sister?” the Laird questioned.
“Aye,” Jonah, Taryn’s father, spoke up. “The tailor’s daughter who helped Taryn escape in the first place. Lily? Maybe Lauren?”
“Laura. Her name is Laura,” James corrected sharply.
He was stricken to know that Laird McGregor had so quickly forgotten about the member of his clan who had been taken captive. It seemed such an impossibility that such an important detail could slip the man’s memory.
But the more James was getting to see of Laird McGregor, the more apparent it became that the man had grown weary of leading his clan. The way Taryn’s parents continued to interject or whisper in the Laird’s ear was proof enough of who really ran the clan.
At Jonah’s reminder of who Laura was and the part she played in their current circumstances, Laird McGregor narrowed his eyes. Though his expression was still thoughtful, it was significantly less appeasing.
“I will do what I can to bargain for the lass’ release.”
It was a diplomatic answer at best. At worst, it was a thinly veiled lie to pacify James into going home with no guarantee that his sister would be granted her freedom again. The knots in his stomach turned to fire, his dark mood growing darker by the second.
“That is nae enough,” James argued, not particularly caring that he was speaking so harshly to his Laird. “When I set off for Taryn as ye requested, I did nae tell ye I would ‘do what I could.’ I told ye that I would come back with her, or I would nae come back at all. In return, ye promised me whatever I asked for. I held up my end of the bargain. Now it is time to keep yer word.”
“Let me remind ye just who it is ye are speaking to, lad,” Jonah warned, his voice full of condescension.
“I ken verra well who I am speaking to,” James assured them, an underlying tone of sarcasm as the words dripped out with thesame forced politeness Taryn’s parents always seemed to speak with. “I am addressing my Laird, the man who vowed, long before I was born, to guide and protect the people of his clan. Laura is still verra much a member of this clan. She was born within McGregor borders. She has spent her entire life in the clan that sits on the other side of those walls.”
He pointed to the windows. Beyond the glass, the tops of the buildings that made up the village could be seen, furthering his point.
“She has served ye and yer family her entire life. In fact, she made the verra clothes ye are all wearing. I dinnae deny that Laura made a mistake, but she was a young lass doing what she thought was best. I did nae realize that a simple error in judgment was all it took to be dismissed from this clan. If that is the case, then I am surprised that there are any of us left standing.”
“Ye have made yer point,” Jonah bit out.
