Chapter 16
Tavin didn’t know how long he stood there after Moira left, every fiber in his being telling him to go after her.
He couldn’t tell her that he too had fallen in love with her, that she was the bright light in his world of darkness.
Moira had shown him that there was more than trying to bring the glory back to his family’s name and now that he knew the truth about what his da had been planning, he did not want to see Moira or her family be hurt by his.
He had to tell her, no matter how much she would hate him in the end.
She likely already did hate him after he had failed to tell her about the way he felt, caught off guard about her goodness, and detesting that he had lied to her.
Grinding his teeth together, Tavin struck out in the direction that Moira had left in, his chest aching at what he must tell her. He deserved her anger.
Heedless of those around him, Tavin searched high and low for Moira amongst the clans gathered, finally realizing she must have started for the keep.
Tavin found his horse and for a split second, looked at the path that led out of the battlefield and to the main throughway that would take him to the border.
He could leave now and save everyone, including himself, more hurt.
But then he would be leaving it open for his own family, his own flesh and blood, to attack the lass he loved.
Tavin knew he could not walk away because of her.
As Tavin approached the keep, a lone rider came out to him. “Halt!”
Tavin frowned as he recognized Moira’s second-in-command. “I must see Moira.”
The other man rested his wrists on the pommel of his saddle, no warmth in his expression. “I willnae allow it.”
“’Tis a matter of her safety,” Tavin tried again, nudging his horse forward. If he had to go through the second-in-command, he would, but he could not allow Moira to be hurt by his own family.
The man drew his sword, pointing it at Tavin. “I know who ye are, Tavin Stuart.”
Bloody hell. “Aye,” Tavin said slowly, showing his empty hands. “I am Tavin Stuart of Clan Stuart, but I am not like my da.”
“Then why are ye here?”
Tavin didn’t know how to explain that. No matter how he told the other Scot, it was going to sound as it was, that he had been part of a plan to rob Clan McPherson.
Now his da had stepped up in his demands and wanted the clan for his own, which was what he was trying to stop.
He would be turning his back on his own clan, his own family, but it was the right thing to do.
“My intentions were not true in the beginning,” he said evenly. “But they are now.”
“Now?” the Scot laughed. “Now that the lass is enamored by ye? She doesnae deserve the likes of a traitorous Stuart.”
“I agree,” Tavin forced out. “She can do better, but I will still love her all the same.”
Even with his declaration of love, the other man had not lowered his sword. “I willnae let ye near her again.”
Tavin did not have time for this. “Her life is in danger,” he stated, not caring if the other Scot ran his sword through him.
“She must be warned.” Tavin tried to sidestep the other horse, but he didn’t get far, finding two more warriors in his path.
“Dinnae make me fight ye,” Tavin warned, reaching for his sword.
He would take on an entire party if it meant to put himself at Moira’s feet. “But I will.”
“Git off yer horse traitor,” Will sneered, pressing his sword against Tavin’s back. “There is only one place meant for the likes of ye.”
Tavin did as he asked, his hands out before him as his sword was removed from his belt. “I’m telling ye. I only wish tae warn her.”
“I knew ye were trouble,” the other man stated, coming to stand before Tavin.
“I knew that ye had no good intentions when I found ye sniffing around the keep. But only a Stuart would stoop so low tae seduce the lady of the keep for his own gain. Yer nothing but a coward, Tavin Stuart, and ye will be swinging from the gallows before the week is out for yer treachery.”
“No, please,” Tavin stated as one of the warriors approached him, a length of rope in his hands. “Just let me see Moira.”
The blow came out of nowhere and Tavin dropped to his knees, the explosion of pain in his left temple causing him to see double. “Ye are never tae see her again!”
Tavin winced as his arms were yanked roughly behind his back and his hands tied before he was pulled up to his feet. Another blow to his stomach took the breath out of his lungs and Tavin doubled over, coughing. “Stuart trash,” the Scot sneered. “’Tis all that ye are and will ever be.”
Tavin forced himself to straighten, blood trickling down his face from the gash on his forehead. “Perhaps, but I still love her.”
His jaw clenched, but Will didn’t speak, motioning for the warriors to take Tavin with them. “Ye will go into the dungeon and once I tell the lady what I have found, she will deal yer fate.”
“Tell her,” Tavin wheezed. “Tell her about mah da’s attack.” He didn’t care what happened to him, but he would not be able to bear it if Moira were hurt and he could have prevented her pain. “Tomorrow.”
“Shut yer mouth traitor,” one of the warriors growled, his fist colliding with Tavin’s jaw.
Tavin stiffened, his vision hovering along the darkness that was threatening to seep in. “Just tell her,” he said, his voice wavering. “Dinnae mean tae hurt her.” The blackness overtook him and Tavin said nothing else.
He woke with a start, groaning as he made a move to sit upright. His head pounded incessantly, his jaw sore from where he had taken the warrior’s fist.
One look around was proof that Will had not been lying when he had stated that Tavin would end up in the dungeon. The smell of rank hay and moldy water was heavy in the air, the stone cold beneath him.
He rose to his feet, crossing the small cell and grasping the iron bars. There were no guards about, no sounds save the steady drip of water in the distance.
Tavin was alone.
Leaning his head against the cold bar, Tavin drew in an unsteady breath.
He had failed her. He had failed to protect the woman he loved and now she would suffer because of him and his family.
His da would likely find him here in the aftermath and know what Tavin had tried to do.
Well, he could kill him if he liked for it would not matter.
If only he had abandoned his original intent earlier.
If only he had never kissed Moira.
She would hate him and Tavin did not blame her. No amount of him pleading that his actions were not an act would not change the fact of who he was.
He was a traitorous Stuart.
Pushing away from the bars, Tavin started pacing the small cell. He couldn’t do anything to help her now. He just had to hope that his da’s plan would be thwarted and that the McPherson clan would come out unscathed.
What he wouldn’t give to have his da and his brothers in this cell with him! His da had never provided him nor his brothers a home, a place to call their own. He had not given them the warmth he had experienced amongst Moira’s clan nor had he provided for his own clan.
Tavin knew that his da had done this for his own wellbeing, not for that of his clan or even his family. His da was no laird, but a selfish coward that was going to steal from yet another clan.
And because of it, Tavin had lost something very precious to him, something that could not be replaced by money or riches.
He had lost his chance at love.
Tavin gripped the bars once more, his jaw clenched tightly, welcoming the pain that his body was experiencing. He would never leave this cell and when he did, it would be for his death.
But in that death, he would remember Moira’s smile or her gasps of pleasure that he alone had given her. He would do this all over again if it meant that he could experience being near her once more, to share their dance amongst the stars and their time together in the forest.
And she would be the last thing on his mind before they hung his body from the gallows.
She was the best part of what had made him the man he had become during his time here.
He was not his da nor was he his brothers.
He wanted a simple life, one that was filled with a sense of belonging and today, before everything had gone awry, he had felt that sense of belonging with the other clans.
They had not looked at him with disdain in their eyes but had accepted him into their circles.
All that was over. Now he sat in a cell, awaiting his fate from the woman he loved.
What a strange turn of events.