Chapter 15 #2
During her anxious rambling, Lachlan had risen from his seat, much as a lion stalks through his kingdom.
He came to her side with no hesitation in his movement.
As soon as she was within arm’s reach, he grabbed her by the waist and hauled her to him, kissing her firmly.
So thorough in his efforts was he that she left off mid-sentence and when Lachlan released her so she could catch her breath, she couldn’t remember what she was saying.
“I love ye, Aila. I am nae upset with ye,” he murmured, letting his forehead drop to hers.
Her fists curled into his tunic, taking in the smell and warmth of him.
“I needed the reminder. And I have nay issue with the men at this table, seeing just how fierce my Lady is.”
The last sentence he spoke with a prideful grin, one that she couldn’t help but return. They stood in each other’s embrace for a few moments longer, soaking in the love they shared, anchoring themselves in each other.
“We should go check on Taryn. She seemed verra upset,” Aila said softly.
Lachlan kissed her again and then took Aila by the hand to lead her through the castle.
It took only a moment to find Taryn and James seated in the courtyard, talking in bent whispers.
Aila’s heart broke the moment she saw her friend’s tear streaked face.
James, clearly doing his best to comfort her, was having no luck calming the torrent of emotions that currently rippled through Taryn.
“Och, love,” Aila said by way of greeting. “What is the matter?”
“This is all my fault,” Taryn wailed. “I have put us all in danger. If I had just married the brute when I was supposed to, none of this would have ever happened. But I did nae. I ran away like a coward. And now Sorcha and Laura are in so much danger. I have put three or four clans in Dudley’s line of sight.
There will be so much blood on my hands. How am I to bear it?”
She dissolved into tears then, any strength having long since left her.
Aila sat and wrapped her arms tightly around Taryn’s shoulders, wishing she was capable of holding all of the pieces together.
Taryn turned, tucking her head into Aila’s arms, letting her tears drench the sleeve of Aila’s dress.
“It is nae yer fault,” Aila hushed softly. “Nay one is responsible for this except the Baron. It is only his hands who are red, nae yers.”
“But if I had nae run…” she started again, her words muffled by the fabric of Aila’s dress.
“If ye had nae run,” James finished for her, “he would have almost surely killed ye by now. Ye would have been another of his luckless brides.”
“And he would still be on the rampage for my lands,” Lachlan added sagely.
Taryn sniffled and picked up her head then.
“What do ye mean?” she asked the group.
“We mean,” Lachlan answered, speaking firmly but kindly, “that Dudley is who he is nay matter the circumstances life presents him. Stayed or ran, he would have inflicted untold harm on yer clan. Same for mine. We are nae at war with him because of anything ye have done, but because of everything he has done.”
His words hung in the air, ringing with truth as they all contemplated them. Taryn shuddered and James pulled her close again, but Aila did not let go of her grasp of her friend’s hand.
“I can feel it in my bones,” she whispered. “There is an ache there, just like yer mother says before a big storm.”
Her eyes settled on James.
“But this is nay ordinary storm,” Taryn continued, a glassy look in her eyes. “This war is going to change the tides of history. It will be the making or the breaking of us. And right now, the winds are nae blowing in our favor.”
She shuddered again, blinking hard. When she looked back at Aila, she seemed much more herself—if a little drained. But Aila’s nerves felt sufficiently rattled.
“I cannae shake the feeling that Laura and now Sorcha have put themselves in harm’s way for my sake. And I have done nothing to save them, nothing to help them. What kind of person does that make me?”
“A good one,” Lachlan answered firmly. “That ye have won the devout love of nay just one, but two dear friends, speaks to who ye are. And it is nae true that ye have done nothing for them. Ye were on the brink of giving yerself up to the villain, had Dudley gotten his way with yer uncle. Ye were willing to sacrifice yer own life, yer own happiness to secure their freedom. It simply was nae the best course of action for ye to take.”
“But how—”
Lachlan interrupted with a finger pointed to the village that lay just outside of the stone courtyard.
The sun was unseasonably shining warm and bright, snow melting and water dripping off the newly thatched roofs.
Pockets of white snowdrops popped out of the muddied earth, heralding the arrival of spring in earnest.
“Taryn, I am nae exaggerating or bluffing or pacifying ye when I say that I have felt all the things ye feel now. I was consumed with guilt for the role I played in the destruction of my clan, the deaths of my parents and all those I held dear. I blamed myself, as ye are doing now. For years, I sat in a prison cell and grieved and mourned and hated who I was for all the things that had happened here. Those people,” he gestured again, “are everything to me. The thought of putting them in harm’s way puts a knot in my stomach, nay sailor would ever be able to untangle. ”
The three sitting down all stared up at Lachlan, enraptured by his speech.
“And when I returned, och, the rage that boiled in my blood was likely to burn me alive. I wanted to hunt down every man who had dared step onto my land and kill them with my bare hands for the part they had played. That does nae even begin to mention all the things I have dreamt of doing to Dudley.”
A dark expression passed over Lachlan’s eyes, sending a spark of worry through Aila.
She had walked through his need for revenge with him, helping him to overcome his fury as best she could.
The very last thing she wanted was for that unquenchable bloodthirst to come back stronger than ever.
But then Lachlan blinked, and the rage was gone, leaving only the man she knew and loved in its place.
“I was angry because I thought they had robbed me of my future.” His words were simple but landed with a punch that had Aila sucking inward as Taryn did the same.
He had struck a chord with Taryn. “But then I found ye. And Aila and Sorcha, guarding my castle like three banshees, here to stake their claim. Ye fought with a ferocity few men are capable of showing, all in an effort to protect the home ye had made for yerself, for the children. We rebuilt this place.”
A warm smile spread across his handsome face, shifting his tone entirely.
“Ye helped me find my home and family again. Ye have helped give me something worth fighting for again. It has been difficult and slow, I grant ye that. But we have created something here that must be protected.”
Taryn nodded slowly, silent tears streaming down her face. Aila blinked a few of her own tears away.
“Hope, like the snowdrops, goes underground during the darkest, coldest times.” He bent to pluck a white bell shaped flower from the dirt.
“But they are never gone. They are always the first to return at the end of a long winter, reminding us that even in the darkest days, we can always hope things will turn out well for us. We must keep hoping, Taryn.”
This time, she nodded more decidedly, steeling herself with the truth of his words.
Aila opened her mouth to speak, to offer her friend some more comfort, to remind her of the promises they had made long ago when the three girls had first found each other.
They had vowed never to forsake each other and had yet to do so before now, Aila had no intention of going back on her word any time soon.
But before she could get a single syllable out, her mouth snapped shut and her head swiveled. Lachlan reached for his sword, as did James and the handful of others who had wandered into the courtyard. Aila whispered, giving the sound a name.
“Horses. Riders are coming.”