Page 44 of The Bells of Triumph
15
A COWARD'S WELCOME
It was a fearsome sight to behold. Dozens upon dozens of men marched through the forest, their swords and shields clanging against each other. Every step sent off a cacophony that echoed through the trees.
Campbell sat atop his horse, watching his men pass by. They all avoided his gaze, just as he liked it. As it was, he was fighting not to grimace. His pause was made under the guise of wanting to inspect his army. But the truth of the matter was that he couldn't bear to take another step. His leg throbbed against the bandages that wrapped around the bottom of his thigh. He muttered another curse, wishing Seamus would wind up in the depths alongside his father for taking his leg.
They had left days ago. As soon as the healer had deemed Campbell fit enough to sit in a saddle, he had insisted they pack up and go. It wasn't like Campbell to run from a fight, but he had seen the writing on the wall. The rebels had managed to take Drummond Castle and then Glenkirk too. Word had reached him that the rebels had even gone so far as to infiltrate Murray Village. They had become more of a nuisance than Campbell had originally anticipated. He was going to need a bigger armyif he was going to wipe them out for good, and that was what he intended to get.
He and his men rode on for five more miles, Campbell cursing Seamus nearly every step of the way before they reached the clan border. Though he had never been here in years, he knew what to look for.
Riding to the front of the procession, Campbell, and two of his advisors, crossed the rickety bridge that hovered over the river. He knew it would take time to get all of his men across it, but they could afford the time. There was no way that Seamus and his rebels could catch up to them now.
“S-state yer business with the MacKenzie clan.”
Campbell could almost laugh at the feeble attempt the guard made to sound impressive.
“And who are ye to demand answers fromme?”
The trio of men looked up at him, back at the mass of warriors so large that they blocked the view of the forest behind them, then at each other. Two of the men pushed the one who had spoken forward, deeming him the leader. It would have been amusing had Campbell's leg not been screaming at him to get off his horse.
“W-we s-serve t-t-the,” he swallowed hard, “We serve Laird MacKenzie. These borders are closed.”
Campbell nodded and pursed his lips as though he were contemplating the man's answer with great consideration. He glanced around, making a show of looking for any others to come out of the MacKenzie forest. When none did, he looked back at the pathetic show of soldiers.
“Is that so? And tell me, do ye three men intend on stopping my army?”
“Y-yes.”
The soldier hardly had time to finish his reply before Campbell drew his sword and swiped it across the man's neck. Adeep red began pouring from the wound just as the man fell to his knees.
“Wrong answer.”
The two remaining guards' eyes went wide in shock and horror. That was Campbell's intended effect. He didn't want to waste any more time arguing with such unimportant people. He had better things to do.
“Dinnae fash,” he called to the men as he brushed past them. “Laird MacKenzie should be expecting us.”
There was no reply as Campbell marched on.
Leaves crunched and branches snapped under his horse as they carried on through the forest. By midday, the sky grew dark, covered in clouds that blocked out all the light. It wasn't long until those clouds let down their rain in a terrible storm, complete with booming thunderclaps and flashes of lightning.
Campbell's men knew better than to grumble at the cold, piercing rain on their skins or the mud that they now had to trudge through. They didn't complain either of the fact that their feet already ached from the seemingly endless miles they had walked to get there. But every single one of them was thinking about it.
On the other hand, Campbell was all too pleased with the turn of the weather. He found he rather enjoyed making a dramatic entrance, and the thunderstorm would help him to do just that. Lightning slashed across the sky, illuminating the village that sat in front of them.
“MacKenzie Village,” one of his council members informed him. “We are nearly there.”
Raising his chin and gritting his teeth, Campbell shut out the pain and rode on. There would be nothing stopping him from getting what he wanted. And Laird MacKenzie owed him a debt. It was a debt that Campbell intended to collect.
Her hand stayed pressedagainst the cold glass of the window pane, standing in the same spot, the same position she had been in for longer than she could remember. Some part of her felt the need to stand vigil and keep watch. The other part of her merely stood to keep her maid from badgering her about being in bed too much. Most of the time, she didn't register what she was looking at. Her thoughts wouldn't connect long enough for that to happen.
As it was, there was nothing to look at today anyway. The skies had turned from a light gray to a dark blue with a devilish green hue. Clouds blocked any sunlight that might have made the day warmer. And then they had let loose all the rain they held, drowning out the land in front of her. Streaks of water slid down the smooth glass, running so fast that it blurred everything beyond them.
The storm brought a chill to her room that seeped into her bones. There had long been a draft in her room but despite all of her faithful maid's protests, her father refused to do anything about it. He had first claimed that she was inventing a problem solely to be difficult, and then he told everyone that the cold was her own fault. She didn't bother arguing with him. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that the entire castle was crumbling without the funds to maintain it. She shivered and tugged her shawl tighter around her shoulders, willing it away. For a moment, she considered moving closer to the fire, but then decided against it, not wanting to leave her post. She didn't deserve the comfort of the fire or the warmth it might give her.
Guilt had been her lifelong companion. Its presence was not a surprise to her now. But there was something more that willedher to stay in place, some sort of intuition. It was the same feeling she got the morning that her husband had ordered her away.
The commander had been summoned to join them in her favorite parlor. She should have known then that something was amiss. But when the guard appeared and Seamus had been kept away, she finally put it together that things were not going to go in her favor.
