How It All Goes Down
The Oath-Taking
- Claire is excited to make a break for it on the evening of the Gathering.
- She sneaks into the stables under cover of night and bumps right into Jamie.
- "How far d'ye think you'd get, lassie?" (10.11), he asks in his thick Scottish accent.
- She definitely thought she'd at least make it to a horse, but no dice.
- Jamie escorts her back to the castle, but they get intercepted along the way, and Jamie is taken by Rupert and some men to be properly dressed for the oath-taking, whatever that is.
- Before he goes, he tells Claire his clan motto: Je suis prest, meaning I am ready (10.61). But is he ready for this?
- In the gallery, Claire watches the oath taking, which is just a bunch of men swearing their loyalty to Colum and clan Mackenzie… except Jamie.
- Jamie gives no oath but tells Colum that he gives him his "obedience" (10.87). Colum isn't offended by this, and he gives Jamie a lot of whisky.
- Claire's a little buzzed, too, and a couple of randy guards try to grab her in the halls of the castle.
- She runs, and bumps into Dougal, who scares her pursuers away… then kisses her.
- In the morning, all the men are up early (and surprisingly not hungover) for a boar hunt.
- A man named Geordie is mortally wounded during the hunt; Dougal kills the boar, but Claire cannot save Geordie.
- After all the festivities, Dougal lets Claire know that he'll be leaving the castle to collect rent from all the tenants on Mackenzie land… and he's taking Claire with him.
- He thinks the commander of Fort William can help Claire find her family in France.
- Claire hopes she can use this as an opportunity to escape before her lie is exposed.