Page 14 of The Bells of Triumph (Highlands’ Lost Valley #3)

13

STORMING THE GATES OF TYRANNY

T he dawn brought more than just a new day. It brought renewed hope and vigor for their plans, for their hopes and dreams. When they gathered in the courtyard of Glenkirk Castle, Flora was pleasantly surprised to find that the vast majority of rebels had joined them. Gone were the factions between Seamus and Finn, at least to most of the men there. They were united in their mission to see Campbell fall, to bring freedom and prosperity back to their homes. All they cared about was who had the better plan, and who was the man most likely to give that to them. And from what she could tell, most of the rebels had seen sense and chosen Seamus.

She did not doubt that Finn, who had yet to be seen, was none too pleased about that development. She imagined he was still sulking in the War Room, telling anyone who would listen about how he was betrayed and upstaged by Seamus and his men. But Flora knew better than anyone, that wasn't Seamus' intention. They both knew that their efforts would benefit greatly from Finn's help rather than his opposition. And should Finn change his tune, she knew that Seamus would welcome him back with open arms and ask for his aid. But she also knew that Seamus wasn't going to wait for that to happen before acting. They had waited long enough, as it was.

“This is it, my love,” he muttered.

The couple stood side by side, watching as the rebels collected their weapons and kissed their wives and children goodbye. Her stomach turned, knowing that for many of them, this would be the last time their families would be whole. She reached out for Seamus' hand, needing the comfort. She couldn't imagine being here, staying put while watching Seamus ride away. She didn't even want to imagine life without him, as she had no doubt so many wives were doing now.

“Today we will put an end to Campbell and his tyranny. We will free this clan from his grasp and end the pain and suffering he has caused for nearly two decades.”

She squeezed his hand and gave him a proud smile.

“We could nae have done this without ye. Are ye ready to lead yer people into victory?”

Seamus bent his chin, readying to press a kiss to her lips. Flora tilted her head back, ready to meet him halfway.

“We dinnae have time for that,” Liam interrupted. “It is time for us to leave. Stop yer smoochin' and get on yer horses. The rest of the warriors are ready.”

Flora couldn't help but chuckle at Liam's impatience and the look on Seamus' face at having been denied a kiss. He settled for a wink and then motioned for her to get into her saddle as he did the same.

Taking their place at the front of the army, Flora watched in pride as Seamus looked at all the men following them. He didn't offer a flowery speech or some motivating words in an attempt to disguise the brutal and challenging nature of the task that lay ahead of them. Rather, he looked them all in the eye and offered a nod, a silent “thank you” of sorts. And from the way each man straightened in his seat and pulled his shoulders back, Flora could tell that that small interaction meant more and had a greater impact than anything Seamus could have said.

“Open the gates!”

Those three words shouted from the courtyard up to the ramparts silenced the rest of the courtyard. Her horse huffed, leaving a cloud of smoke in the air from his nose. A child began to cry behind them, and his mother shushed and swayed. But there were no words, no last declarations of love. Just the heavy weight of anticipation.

The chains rattled as two men raised the gates, slowly, inch by inch. She watched it go up, revealing the world beyond it. She hoped that the world they came back to when this was all over was a better one than it was right now.

Looking back once more, her eyes found Finn's. He stood at the top of the stairs, just in front of the castle doors. Three men on either side of him glared out at the crowd. But Finn didn't look angry. It was too great of a distance between them for her to really tell, but she got the sense that he was sad, regretful maybe. She didn't have time to think about it, to ponder what it might have meant.

Off to the side of him, a few steps down, Iona looked on, a hand covering her mouth as though she needed to stop herself from crying out, or perhaps just crying. A dozen other women stood with her, arms over shoulders and holding each other. The healers stayed for their own safety so they could make the necessary preparations to turn the Great Hall into a makeshift surgery for those who might need it when all was said and done. Their task was one Flora didn't envy.

“Ready?” Seamus asked, the gates having been lifted and locked into place.

Flora turned back around and met his gaze. The strength and determination she found there made his eyes look like a blue flame, burning hot and bright, ready to consume anything in their path. It lit the same kind of fire in her, one that put aside all sentimentality and steeled itself for the battle to come.

“Aye. I am ready.”

Seamus kicked the sides of his horse, nudging it into a walk, and then they were off. Flora stayed at his side, only half a step behind him. She thought she had prepared herself for anything, was well-trained, and had seen battle before. But the sights that welcomed them into the village were unlike anything she could have ever imagined.

Somehow, Finn must have gotten word to the rebels that they would be coming, as three men had already been working on taking down the barricade. Flora was grateful, even if it only meant that they wouldn't have to stop to do it themselves.

As if in awe, the villagers watched in stunned silence as the rebels walked through the barricade and into town. The vast majority of the town hid behind window curtains and sides of buildings. Children buried themselves in their mother's skirts, while wives took shelter behind their husband's shoulders. There were a handful of those who seemed to be unfazed by the rebels' presence, and even some who picked up whatever makeshift weapon they had been able to find and took their place in the line of rebels.

While she was overjoyed to see that there were those who had wanted to join them, she loathed the idea of frightening the children watching. She wanted to scream out, “We are nae here to hurt ye! We are the good guys!” if only to soothe their anxious looks. She could almost see herself in the faces of those hiding and hoping that everything would turn out all right. Her memories of the day Campbell invaded, the terror and violence, still haunted her. It made her all the more certain that Seamus had made the right call in not allowing the village to starve. These innocents would be wholly unharmed and untouched by the battle to come. At least, that is what she hoped would happen.

The eerie silence of the village unnerved her, though Seamus didn't seem the least bit bothered by it. He kept his head straight, his eyes on the Murray Castle doors. By the time they made it to the other end of the village, Flora felt like the entire world was waiting to see how the next few moments would go.

Riding to the keep was just as nerve-wracking. They didn't have to contend with the stares of the villagers, but the looming towers of Murray Castle were intimidating in their own right. The last time Flora had been there, she had been so consumed with getting Finn out and ensuring that Seamus was all right that she hadn't had time to consider the castle itself. Now, it was all she could think about as they rode up to the walls.

“Let us in!”

“Ye must help us!”

“Why is Campbell doing this?”

Flora winced at the desperation in the shouts of the crowd of people who had gathered around the gates. They were all so wretched and frantic as they demanded answers from the unfeeling and immobile guards who watched without expression. She could practically hear Seamus' thoughts, though his face gave away nothing. This wasn't the first time the Murray Clan turned to their Laird for guidance, protection, and leadership only to be turned away and left to fend for themselves. She knew the image devastated him, more so than the row of archers now filling the ramparts.

“Go home,” he called out, his voice rising over the rabble. “Get back to yer wives and yer bairns. We will sort this out. There is nae reason for ye to risk yer lives today.”

One by one, those in the mob turned to see that they were being commanded by a Murray, his red hair and blue eyes giving him away. And not just a Murray, but one who was leading an entire army up to Campbell's gates. The sight was one that prompted each of them to do as he ordered. He waited for the entire group to disperse. Flora watched them trudge down the path they had just ridden, whispering among themselves. She did not doubt that the rest of the villagers would be doing the same thing right now too, each of them trying to predict how things would go.

She couldn't afford to think about that, though, as Seamus continued to push forward until he landed just out of the archers' range.

“I would guess there are about two dozen bows up there,” Seamus told her over his shoulder, “and more soon coming. Campbell will ken that we are here now.”

Campbell's men were still scrambling to find their places on the ramparts. It looked to her as though they were waiting for orders, waiting to be told where to go and what to do. It was nothing like she might have expected from well-trained, well-practiced archers.

“What are yer orders, then?”

The question came from Liam, who had ridden up to her side. It wasn't once posed in insolence or a challenge of Seamus' plan, but rather an effort to support him. He was a battle commander looking to be told what to do so that he could prepare the rest of the men.

“I must give Campbell the chance to call this off. I will nae have people say that I invaded. Though it is my own home, my verra birthright that we are fighting for, I will nae have him or anyone else say that I have nae fought fairly.”

“What do ye want to do?” she asked, her voice gentle but still firm.

“Both of ye, ride beside me. Flora, be ready with yer bow. I will speak to them.”

Liam did not hesitate to take his position on Seamus' left, nor did Flora wait to draw her first arrow. As a single unit, the three of them moved several more feet forward, leaving their army behind. Her eyes stayed glued to the men on the ramparts. Far too many of them were aiming for Seamus, too many for her to stop on her own. She almost wished she had insisted on bringing along more archers of their own to help give them cover, or that they stay out of range. But she understood why Seamus had wanted to do things this way. Luckily, she didn't need to tell him when they were close enough for him to be heard, but not so close as to make them easy targets. It would still take an excellent shot from an archer to wound any of them. She wasn't going to take her chances though and kept her arrow pointed at one of the few guards who looked like he knew what he was doing well enough to pose a real threat.

“Surrender peacefully and surrender now. There does nae need to be any more bloodshed. We will nae harm any of those innocent in all of this if yer soldiers put their weapons down now. Dinnae fight against us, dinnae fight against what is right. I dinnae ken why ye have chosen to align yerselves with Campbell, but I can tell ye that ye dinnae have to do so any longer. Surrender and let us make a new start for this clan.”

Nothing but pure silence from the castle. Horses shifted behind her while her stallion snorted. But from Campbell's men, there was nothing. It was as if those staring down at them couldn't make up their minds.

“Shoot! What are ye waiting for? Shoot them!”

The cry cut through the tension in the air and sent the guards scrambling all over again. Though they aimed their arrows at the trio, none of them fly, at least not for a moment. But that moment was all Flora needed to let loose an arrow of her own, sending it into the heart of the man who had his eyes locked on Seamus. With the first arrow in the air, the stalemate was over and Flora knew that the battle had begun in earnest. Before she could launch another arrow, she saw Seamus raise his shield out of the corner of her eye, fending off a flying weapon. She moved as quickly as she could manage, sending one, two, three, four arrows out, each of them landing on her marks.

“It does nae have to be this way. Put down yer weapons, let this be an end to Campbell's reign of tyranny. Let us enter into a new era of peace and prosperity. All ye need to do is put down yer weapons.”

“Kill them! Kill them all. Dinnae leave a single traitor standing!”

It was the same voice that had called out the initial order to shoot, but it was one Flora didn't recognize. With Callum Drummond dead, she hadn't thought much about who would replace him, but it was clear someone had, even if that someone didn't have full control of his men.

She reached for another arrow out of her quiver just as a mass of their own soldiers swarmed to guard Seamus. They raised their own shields to protect him from the rainstorm of arrows that came from the ramparts.

“We must break down the doors,” Seamus cried out. “We must put a stop to this!”

Just as soon as he gave the order, a dozen more soldiers ran by, carrying a battering ram, while another dozen ran alongside them, using their shields to defend each other.

“Heave! Heave! Heave!”

Errik's rhythmic shout was followed by the pounding of the battering ram against the wooden gates. Flora didn't dare take her eyes off the ramparts to watch the men work, not even for a second. She knew that was all it took for an arrow to end Seamus' life. Again and again she reached for her quiver, going through the motions of pulling the arrow and string back against her cheek only to send it sailing through the air with her breath. She no longer saw the guard's faces as she took aim, only the fact that they were threatening her husband. She moved without thought, without hesitation.

“We're in!”

Liam's voice drifted over the chaos just as Flora reached behind her. She felt with her fingertips, finding only two arrows left. The breach could not have come at a more perfect moment. Pulling one of the two arrows she had left out, she notched it before finally pausing long enough to look at Seamus.

“This is it!” he shouted to all those still behind him. “This is the moment we have waited for. Make it count!”

Pride raced through her, along with a hearty mix of trepidation and anticipation. She kept her arrow out long enough to see Seamus through to the gates that now lay in pieces in the doorway of the castle walls. Once there, she flung her bow across her shoulder and placed the arrow back in the quiver before reaching for her sword. Pulling the blade out of the sheath that lay against her left leg, Flora took in the scene in front of her.

Men clashed with men, their blades meeting in the space between them. The once gray stone was now a deep shade of red as Campbell guards poured out of the courtyard to face the rebels. She took pride in the fact that their men more than held their own against Campbell's, having rather quickly taken several down. They all let out screams and cries as they fought, years and years of anguish and suffering motivating the rebels.

The guards, on the other hand, seemed almost hesitant to fight. They had been disorganized and unsure on the ramparts, but those in the courtyard seemed just as uncertain. She only took it to mean that their attack had truly been a surprise. It was just like Campbell to be arrogant enough never to think that the rebels would dare to attack him first. He considered himself so untouchable, so intimidating, that an army of farmers and carpenters and blacksmiths wouldn't be able to mount an attack. How she loved to prove him wrong.

Flora waded through the battle on her horse, using the added height to her advantage, swinging down from above. Once or twice, she managed to sneak up on a guard and take them out just as one of their own was struggling to manage the task. Eventually, it grew too crowded and too chaotic for her to continue riding. She didn't mind. Dismounting, Flora reached for her second quiver of arrows, slinging it across her shoulder, and then grabbed her shield. Once she was fully armed, she smacked her horse on his flank, sending him running back to safety. A moment later and she was by Seamus' side, right where she intended to stay.

They fought, backs pressed against each other, taking down two and three guards at a time. She didn't remember Campbell's guards being so young, but she didn't let herself think much about it as she swung her sword.

A pause in the wave of guards came and Flora straightened, her chest heaving and arm tired, but her blood-pumping. She turned to face Seamus, his own face glistening with sweat and more than a few splatters of blood that was not his own.

“This is it,” she told him, echoing the words he had told his men only minutes before. “This is what ye have been waiting for.”

“What?” he all but shouted, the noise of the fray drowning out her words.

“Find Campbell,” she called back. “End this war.”