Page 70 of Surrendering to her Highland Captor
“What are they planning to do with her?” Aila asked, horrified at the turn of events.
“The Laird sent Baron Dudley a letter, asking to reinstate the original terms of their agreement. But the Baron denied him. Heis now insisting that the only thing to appease him is Taryn’s head.”
Aila felt her knees give out. Were it not for the chair behind her, she would have crumpled to the ground.
“Dinnae let this man’s words get to ye, my love,” Lachlan told Aila, his words bitter and cold. “He is a liar. This is exactly the kind of thing the Baron would think to do; send a man in to gain our trust so that we follow him into a trap.”
“What if it is nae a trap?” Aila pressed, her eyes wide with desperation. “What if Taryn truly is locked in a dungeon, on the brink of losing her life?”
Lachlan sighed heavily, but it was Finn who answered.
“This is exactly what he wants ye to think. Ye must trust us, Aila. He cannae be trusted.”
James launched into his defense anew, repeating the things he had already told them. Aila turned to Lachlan to try to convince her husband that they needed to do something to help Taryn. Lachlan, swayed by Aila, turned to Finn to weigh the risks and benefits while the rest of the room erupted into chaos, each man vying to have his opinion heard.
If she had found the room dizzying before James had entered, it was an absolute mess now. Just when she thought the room couldn’t get any louder with shouted thoughts, a shrill whistle cut through the air.
One by one, each conversation halted and heads swung to locate the source of such a powerful whistle. Iona stood at the end of the table, two fingers in her mouth, keeping the impossibly high pitch going until it was the only sound in the room.
“In all my days as the daughter of the Laird and Laird myself, I have never seen a war room in such disarray.” Her words held the tone of a mother’s strong disapproval. “If ye had told me this morning that I would need to whistle as if we were ona battlefield to gain any kind of decorum, I would have argued that my council has more manners than that. How worrisome it is that I have been proven wrong. Perhaps it is time I consider changing some of these seats to clansmen who ken their position in this room.”
Every pair of eyes lowered to the floor, save for Finn and Lachlan’s.
“This ismyKeep, need I remind ye,” she continued, cutting off whatever Lachlan was about to say. “I am the Laird in these lands and my word is final. I am tired of deliberating our next steps. We have been too busy arguing when we should have been preparing ourselves for battle.”
“Does that mean ye will help us?” Aila blurted out, too relieved to keep silent.
Iona nodded, a small smile gracing her face.
“But, Iona—” Finn tried.
“It was nae so verra long ago that I was in Taryn’s position,” Iona reminded him, “that I have forgotten the fear that goes along with it. My father had also decided that I had to marry for the benefit of the clan, even if that meant surrendering my life. I, like Taryn, ran for help.”
The room grew still as they all listened to Iona’s story, each face a mixture of awe and amazement.
“Without the aid of my kin, Seamus Murray, and those brave enough to stand in rebellion against a tyrant, I have nay doubt that I would nae be here today.” Her features turned stern as she stared down everyone at the table. “I have heard enough of yer arguments. James’ arrival is the last piece of this puzzle for me to ken that we are in perilous waters. If the Baron is bold enough to attack the McGregors and Kincaids, then Lachlan is right. He will soon set his eyes on us and then to the Murrays. We cannae allow him to get that far. We must intervene now.”
Had she not already been sitting, Aila would have collapsed with relief. Someone was going to help them, to stand against the Baron, to save Taryn.
“I was biding my time, waiting for Seamus to voice his support before I made my mind up, but we can wait nay longer. My conscience demands that I extend the same aid to ye that I was so graciously given when I needed it most.”
She cast a warm, intimate look at Finn. Aila watched in amazement as his face transformed to something equally warm, and even a little handsome.
“Laird Kincaid,” Iona addressed Lachlan formally, shifting the tone of the room once again. “I cannae imagine what it has been like for ye to watch yer clan endure such hardships and ken that ye must prepare to endure them once again. My heart truly aches for all that ye have lost, all that yer people have lost. If I had to rebuild my clan, the way ye are now, if I had to ready them for battle when they have already suffered so greatly, I dinnae ken how I would find the strength.”
Bowing his head in a silent thanks, Lachlan took in their host’s words with an air of mourning that Aila knew was never too far beneath the surface. A tight hand wrapped around her heart and squeezed it.
“The humility and determination ye have shown me in the short amount of time that we have kent each other tells me all I need to ken about ye. I am honored to consider myself yer ally. Honored that ye would come to me to ask for aid. Nae many men would do what ye have done. I applaud yer commitment to leading yer clan well, nay matter the cost.”
“’Tis nay cost but a reward to create a friendship with ye,” Lachlan said earnestly.
“Yer people are welcome within my borders. We will open our homes, our Keep, and our stores to them. Whatever theyneed, they will find here. We will give them shelter for as long as it takes to see yer lands settled and well-defended once more.”
Aila’s hands covered her gaping mouth. She turned her head so that her eyes could find Lachlan’s. He was just as overwhelmed by Iona’s generosity as she was. Too speechless to reply, Lachlan reached out a hand to Iona and shook it.
“Now, as for ye,” Iona continued, turning her attention to James. “I will nae ally myself to yer Laird. He is nae worthy of the title nor the lands and responsibilities that go with it. Any man willing to sacrifice the life of a woman as a solution to problems that he created, any man willing to sacrifice any woman or child for any reason whatsoever, will never have my support. I find Laird McGregor a spineless coward who deserves the fate coming to him.”
She paused, and the entire table leaned in, waiting to see where she was going with her speech. James didn’t bother arguing, clearly agreeing with everything Iona had accused his Laird of being. But Aila couldn’t help but wonder what that meant for the rest of the McGregor Clan, what that meant for Taryn.
