Page 53 of The Bells of Triumph
“Tell me what ye see.”
“I see men celebrating a false victory.”
“I will tell ye what I see. I see a clan that has been reclaimed from an evil man. I see a fortress that has been won by the rightful heir. I see men that are nay longer in fear for their families and homes. I see fourteen years of suffering coming to an end—all because of ye.”
“Flora,” Seamus groaned, shaking his head.
He turned from the window to face her. She hated seeing the deep sadness that rested in his eyes, the way his brow creased with worry. Taking a hand, she began to smooth out the lineson his forehead, pushing them away as she hoped to do with his disbelief.
“I ken that the fight is nae over yet, Seamus. We will have to defend our homes once more. And I ken that it will nae be easy. I am nae so naive as to look past that. But I would ask that ye look around to appreciate all ye have accomplished before ye start planning on what to do next.”
Her hands slid from his face and down his arms until her fingers intertwined with his.
“We have reclaimed Murray Castle. That is nay wee thing. And beyond that, ye trusted yer instincts and stood against Finn's plan. Ye protected Murray Village from a siege that would have been pointless. Ye kept those families from starving and suffering, even if that meant we had to fight a wee bit harder. Yer people will nae forget such things.”
The more she spoke, the more the defeat in his eyes ebbed away. His fingers started to grip hers, as if he was pulling on her strength to stand. She didn't mind, she would give him all her strength if that was what he needed.
“What about Campbell?” he asked, quietly, but not crushed anymore.
“We will deal with him the same way we have dealt with everything else—together.”
Bowing his head, Seamus pressed his forehead against hers and breathed in deep. His eyes slid shut as he held her close.
“I dinnae ken what I would ever do without ye, my love,” he whispered.
“It is a good thing ye dinnae have to find out.”
He chuckled dryly before picking up his head and finding her eyes once more.
“Together?”
“Together.”
She promised him with a single word before rising to the tips of her toes. Letting go of his hands, she wove her fingers through his hair and pressed a kiss to his lips.
They had shared many kisses before, most of which were full of passion that burned through her. But this was not that kind of kiss. She held him, drawing him into her, if only to fill him with the love she had for him. This was a kiss to put him back together, to show him just how much she believed in him, even when he didn't believe in himself. He clung to her as though he depended on her, as if he was desperate for her love. And she was all too willing to give it.
When she pulled away, his eyes were alight with fire again, his shoulders straight and tall. He looked like a man she recognized, a man she loved, a man ready to fight another battle.
“I suppose it is time that we go find the others. They will wonder where we disappeared to.”
“Aye,” Seamus agreed, taking her hand and leading her out of the sitting room. “We will need to start making plans for what to do next. We cannae afford to lose any more time. Who kens where Campbell has gone or how long it will take for us to reach him again, let alone defeat him.”
“Dinnae fash. We will see the end of this soon enough.”
They were two flights of stairs down with several more to go when Seamus tugged her to a stop in front of a window.
“What are ye doing?” she asked. “I thought we needed to make it back to the others before they come looking for us.”
“Aye, I just wanted to take a moment to show ye this.”
She gave him a confused smile but turned to the window anyway.
“What am I looking at?”
“Murray Village,” he answered simply.
“Aye, but what about it?”
