Page 15 of The Bells of Triumph
“Men,” he called out in greeting, striding through the room to the empty seat at the head of the table. “Please, sit with me.”
“We were nae sure why ye called us here,” the man directly to his right admitted, the rest of the room too quiet and timid to say anything. “We thought it might be to start making the necessary preparations to travel to Aberfeldy Village.”
“Aye. The meeting is only in a few days and if we are to make it there on time?—”
“I ken when the meeting is,” Finn said, cutting the second man off.
He hadn't bothered to learn their names, rather he chose them all to be here tonight after watching the way they operated within Drummond Castle. Of course, several faces were familiar, having been in the Lost Valley together. But there were too many new recruits to try to keep up with. So Finn hadn't bothered to deal with any of them. Not until now
“I ken when Seamus has summoned us, just as I ken how long it will take us to get there.” His words were harsh and full of the bitterness he felt. “I called this meeting to inform ye that we will nae be going.”
The room grew hushed and confused, as the men looked at each other in bewilderment.
“What do ye mean,” the man on his right spoke up again, “that we are nae going?”
“I mean just that. It has recently come to my attention that things are nae what they appear to be.”
Finn stood and began walking circles around the others, pacing behind them, peering over them.
“I ken ye all to be reasonable, sensible men. I ken that ye dinnae wish to be under Campbell's rule any longer, for he is a tyrant. He has stolen so much from us over the years—our money, our land, our families. But I would challenge ye to think bigger than that.”
He stopped, placing his hands on the back of the chair of the man who had been bold enough to speak up.
“Aye, Campbell has caused us a great many problems, but who let him in? Who allowed this tyrant to enter our lands and steal from us without putting up any resistance?”
“Laird Murray,” a single voice uttered.
“Precisely. Murray the Coward sold us out and let us suffer for years without doing anything about it. I dinnae ken about ye, but I am nae keen to let his son come in a rule over us now when he is verra likely to do the same things.”
Finn paused, letting his words sink in, watching them take the desired effect on the men listening. He had learned his lesson of what trusting a Murray would do. He had believed it when Seamus had promised to get him out of the dungeon. But it was Liam and Errik and Flora who had been his rescuers while Seamus hid away in his cushy tower. Finn had believed Seamus when he had promised to fight alongside Rolland against Campbell. But that had only gotten Rolland killed, while Seamus had run away from the battle. The final straw had been when Finn trusted that Seamus and Flora were going to do what was best for Brid. He had felt that they understood when they did nothing to stop her from going with him to Drummond Castle.But still, they sent Connor to influence Brid, to turn her against him. Trusting Seamus had cost him everything, and it was a mistake he wouldn't make again.
“If we go to this meeting, if we join our forces with his, then when Campbell is defeated, we will all be sitting under his rule. It is hard to believe that it is better to be led by a coward than a tyrant. I would have neither of them.”
“What are ye suggesting we do then?”
“We go after Campbell ourselves.”
Some of the men visibly swallowed, but Finn wasn't going to be put off of his plans.
“We have enough men here that if we are wise with our forces, if we keep the element of surprise on our side, then Campbell will nae stand a chance. We will be ruthless with him, as he has been with us. By the time I am finished, nae a single one of his men will be left standing.”
“How do we do that? Murray Castle is impossible to sneak up on. His guards will see us coming from miles away.”
Finn tried not to roll his eyes at the question. He had to remind himself that though he had spent weeks thinking through his plan, the rest of the men had only minutes to consider it.
“That is why we will nae go to Murray Castle first. I have learned my lesson there, trust me.”
The men looked around uncomfortably, clearly unsettled by the thought of his time spent in captivity. He couldn't blame them. Thinking of his time in those dungeons still got under his skin, not that he could ever let it show. The last thing he wanted to do was to give the impression that he was weak or afraid. He had let Campbell get the better of him once already, he wasn't going to do it again.
“Clearly ye have thought about this,” the oldest man in the room said without a hint of sarcasm. “Tell us yer plan so that we may decide what to do.”
Finn wanted to snarl at the man. He wanted to shout, “how dare ye” and lecture them all about who was really in charge here. He did his best to temper his response, but it still came out sharper than he intended.
“What makes ye think that any of ye have the authority to decide what the rest of the men are doing?”
“Is that nae what ye called us in to do?” the same man questioned, resting his elbows on the edge of the table.
“In case any of ye have forgotten, please allow me to remind ye. Until a month ago, none of ye here were fighters. Ye were farmers or tradesmen struggling to make ends meet. If ye had held a sword, it had been decades since ye last used it. None of ye were even thinking about going to war against Campbell until Chief Rolland and our rebels planted the thought in yer head.”
