Page 95 of The Bells of Triumph
EPILOGUE
A NEW DAWN
It was over. After fourteen years and countless lives lost, battles and failed plans, families destroyed, and new ones built, the war was finally over. Campbell was defeated. His lifeless body laid on the ground where Seamus had left him. All the men who had tried to defend him laid beside him. What was left of his army surrendered almost as soon as Flora and Seamus rode back into the courtyard.
“Put yer swords down if ye wish to live,” Seamus ordered, having passed through the gates.
His voice reverberated through the stones of the courtyard. Flora had never felt so proud as she watched every man present stop to watch him. One sword clamored to the ground before another and another, until a wave of weapons clashing filled her ears.
“Take them to the dungeon for now. We will decide what to do with them later,” Seamus told Finn.
Moving to do as he asked, Finn gathered a few soldiers to help him round up the prisoners.
“Errik, Liam, help Iona and Brid bring the wounded to the Great Hall. We will treat them there. Make sure that we treat all the men, nae just ours.”
They nodded in tandem, doing as he asked, even if Liam had a sour expression. For the next few hours, they were all consumed with the aftermath of the battle. Seamus helped carry men into the Great Hall, while Flora worked alongside the healers, bringing fresh water and bandages. It was a sight he had seen before, but this time it felt different. There was no shame or feeling of failure. Seamus wasn't wrestling with trying to figure out how to lead an army or hunt down Campbell. Instead, there was a strange kind of peace. The light shining in through the windows that filled the Great Hall was soft and warm. When clouds gathered and let down their water, there wasn't a sense of doom or sadness accompanied. Rather, Seamus felt as though the clouds were washing away the signs of battle. The pools of blood were rinsed away until Drummond Castle was clean once more.
“Seamus,” Flora said, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.
It was the first time either of them had slowed down from the moment that they had re-entered the Drummond Castle courtyard.
“What is it, my love?” he asked, his tiredness starting to show.
“Yer hands,” she told him, drawing his attention down. “They are still covered in blood. Ye should wash them.”
He studied them for a moment longer. The brightness of the red hadn't faded as it dried. The cracks and calluses in his hands were highlighted, as if his life story was one coated in blood.
“Allow me,” she offered.
Reaching behind her, Flora picked up a bowl of clean water and a fresh rag. Dipping it in the coolness, she brought the wet rag to his right hand and began wiping away the blood. It became a watery pink before coming away completely clean. The water in the bowl turned red, growing darker and darker with every pass. He watched it swirl, even as Flora took his left handand repeated the process. He couldn't help but feel as though she had done this for him before, in too many different ways to count.
“There, that is better. Now ye will nae scare yer people when they come to shake yer hand and welcome ye as their Laird.”
His eyes went wide at her words. He hadn't allowed himself to think through what life would be like after Campbell. He hadn't allowed himself to dream, knowing it would have been that much harder had they failed. But now that Campbell was gone, now that the Murray Clan was his own again, the reality of being Laird started to settle in.
“Dinnae look so frightened,” Flora chided. “Ye have already been the best Laird this clan has seen in all of its history. And I ken ye will continue to be.”
“Only with ye by my side.”
“Always.”
He leaned in to press a kiss to her lips but was promptly stopped by a less than pleased voice.
“Have ye lost all sense?”
“Or perhaps have ye never had any?”
“That has to be it. I dinnae ken a single man who could be so foolhardy and reckless as to pull something like approaching an enemy without even a knife.”
Liam and Connor looked at each other, their expression as if they had solved an impossible problem. When they turned to look at Seamus, their anger and frustration was more than evident. He hoped that Flora would defend him, but her expression was a mirror of the other men.
“I could nae see another way,” he told them all. “Campbell had too many guards. We never would have gotten close enough without agreeing to his terms. And if we had continued down the path of merely taking on his army, it would have beenDrummond Castle all over again. Campbell would have found some way to sneak off and come back later. I could nae risk that.”
“So instead, ye risk yer life,” Liam finished for him, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Better mine than yers,” Seamus shrugged. “Besides, I did nae go without a weapon. Campbell insisted that I drop my sword, but he forgot about Flora.”
“That was one impressive shot,” Connor complimented.
