Page 2 of The Bells of Triumph (Highlands’ Lost Valley #3)

1

BEFORE THE DAWN

S eamus hurled himself up, sleep leaving his body in a rush. He panted as he tried to reclaim his breath. Hay rustled under him as he shifted, his shirt sticking to his sweat drenched back.

“Seamus?” Flora called groggily.

She sat up behind him and put a cold, calming hand on his back.

“A nightmare?”

He could only nod as he tried to force the images of his burning village out of his head.

It was confusing, as dreams so often were, for his mother and Campbell to be in the same place at the same time. As far as he knew, she had left before Campbell had started his attack on the Murray lands. He remembered begging to go with her, wanting to travel and see his grandfather, but she had refused and pushed him away. Not to mention the story of his great-grandfather. It was one he had indeed studied as a child, one he had discussed with both of his parents, but the floating toy soldiers acting it all out was much too fantastical for his mind.

And then there was the village. Once the invasion had begun, Seamus had been locked in his room and kept away from the windows as much as his nanny could manage. He had only seen glimpses, but he certainly hadn't seen the entire village burnt to the ground. That was a sight he had only recently watched when Campbell invaded the Lost Valley.

“Do ye wish to talk about it?” Flora asked, her voice low and gentle.

A night without waking from a dream was an unlikely occurrence between the two of them. She, likely better than anyone, understood the turmoil his mind wrestled with day in and day out.

“Nay,” he croaked, needing water to quench his throat. “It is all a jumbled mess, as though my mind has mixed up all the different pieces. I would nae make any sense even if I tried.”

He felt her nudge closer towards him as her fingers reached through his hair and started to scratch his head.

“I understand that. My thoughts do the same thing every so often.”

Seamus didn't say anything more, rather, he let his eyes drift close, and he leaned into her touch, gleaning whatever comfort she offered to him. Tilting his head back, he sighed as she pressed a kiss to his cheek, once, twice, three times. Forcing his eyes open, he studied her solemn expression that was so filled with love and worry, it reminded him of the way his mother had looked at him. Her dark mass of curls had sprung free from the braid she had tied down her back some hours ago. Even with the lack of light, he could still see her shining gray eyes watching him, studying him. They contrasted the paleness of her moonlit skin. All the ugliness in his mind that haunted his dreams couldn't detract from her unmistakable beauty. He pressed a quick kiss to her soft, full lips and then pushed himself off their makeshift bed.

Stretching to force the stiffness out of his muscles, Seamus glanced around the barn Flora's uncle had put them in. It was warmer than sleeping outside, as many of the other rebels were doing, but it wasn't nearly as comfortable as the tavern had been. Seamus had been all too happy to give up the bed, however, for Liam and Errik as the others had begun to trickle into the village.

“Seamus, what are ye doing?”

He shoved one foot into a boot while he reached for the other one.

“Getting dressed,” he answered a bit curtly.

“It is far too early for ye to be up now. The tavern will nae be open for another three hours. Ye have hardly gotten any sleep these last few days. Come, lay back down with me.”

He shook his head as he finished straightening his shirt.

“Nay. I want to go over the maps and our plans once more. We dinnae have much time to prepare, with Finn and the rebels from Drummond Castle arriving tomorrow. I want to be sure that we are ready, that we will have answers to all of their questions.”

She sighed and pushed herself up as well.

“Ye can sleep, if that is what ye wish,” he assured her.

“I dinnae wish to sleep alone,” she countered as she dressed quickly, “so I will go with ye. Just ken that I think ye need to rest. It will nae do anyone any good if ye are too tired to fight or think.”

He didn't answer her, instead offering her his hand and a small smile of his own.

Pushing open the barn doors, Seamus breathed in the morning air. It was as she had said; still very early in the morning, with the sun still hidden behind the horizon. Even so, there was a freshness to the dew covered world that pushed away the last remnants of his nightmare.

They walked, hand in hand, through the village and towards the tavern. Rebels on patrol were positioned throughout the town, guarding Aberfeldy Village from any surprise attacks as best they could. Though the tavern would not be serving any food or drink for another few hours, there were two men posted outside the doorway anyway, who offered them nods as they stepped inside.

As he had expected, the room was quiet and still, with only a single candle burning in a lantern on the counter. He picked it up and led Flora to the back room, not bothering to so much as look at the rest of the tavern.

“It is verra kind that they have allowed us to use the tavern so freely,” Flora commented as she made for the cold, dark hearth. “Being able to leave our things here, having a place for us to meet all while feeding and housing as many rebels as they can manage is a kindness we cannae forget.”

He set the lantern on the table that was covered in all the papers she was referring to, illuminating the maps.

“Aye, we will have to see that their generosity is repaid as soon as we are able.”

Flora continued to bustle about, lighting the fire and then putting a kettle on over it as he got settled into his chair at the table.

“I am still impressed that ye and Connor were able to conjure such a detailed map,” she complimented, taking her spot beside him.

Creating the maps was the first thing he and Connor had set out to do. No one in the village had any current drawings, and very few had even bothered to travel outside the village itself. They had needed the maps to be able to plot out a course of action.

“Aye, well, it was nae verra difficult after having spent countless hours studying them with a tutor.”

“Did yer tutor also teach ye how to win a war with a man like Campbell? I suppose that would make all of this far too easy,” she laughed humorlessly.

“I might have gotten a lesson or two in strategy,” he answered, reaching out to capture her hand once more. “But even now, I am unsure that we have found the best course of action.”

For a silent moment, they studied the poorly drawn image of a castle that was situated just outside the Murray Village, which was for sure the most crucial place for this fight. Glenkirk Castle had been the first among those built in the Murray Clan but had been abandoned by the Laird when Murray Castle was constructed several years later. It was half the size of Murray Castle, but just as well positioned

“We have spent days locked in this room, pouring over these pages,” she pointed out. “And still, we can all agree that it is a good plan. We travel to Glenkirk while Campbell is still recovering from his injuries. Once we have secured the castle for ourselves, we let it be known to Campbell that we are there. Ye have said a dozen times that Campbell is too prideful of a man to allow us to stay there for long. Our presence alone will draw him out and lure him to us. It is there that we will fight.”

“Aye,” he drawled, not convinced.

“What issues do ye see with this plan? We will be able to alert those in Murray Village, ensuring that they are nae harmed in the fight. We will be well positioned to attack, with Glenkirk an excellent place to defend.”

“It is a good plan,” he agreed. “It is the best that we have been able to come up with so far.”

“But?”

“But it all hinges on Campbell taking the bait.”

She sighed and rose to make their tea. He rubbed at his temples while he waited for her response. It was the same conversation they had been having for days. It was the same argument that he had presented to Connor. No one had been able to convince him that this wasn't a problem, nor had he been able to create a better plan. They were stuck in a stand still.

“What makes ye think he would nae?” she asked, setting a steaming cup of tea in front of him.

He sipped heartily, letting the warmth from the drink spread to his bones as the caffeine coursed through him. He willed the drink to give him the answers and energy he needed as his mind protested at having to work so hard on so little sleep. But Seamus knew that now wasn't the time for rest.

“It is nae that I doubt he will take the bait. It is that Campbell is unpredictable and growing more so by the day. He will, nay doubt, be furious at the loss of Drummond and his leg. I cannae say with full confidence that he will be rash enough to march out to us a second time.”

“What do ye think he will do instead?”

“I dinnae ken. But as ye said, we have been unable to come up with anything better than this. I may nae be able to predict what Campbell will do, but I am quite certain that it will take a good deal of convincing to get Finn on board with our plans. So we must be ready. We must present this strategy with confidence, even if we dinnae have it.”

For the next hour, that is all they discussed. They drained cup after cup of tea, covering every detail from who would say what to how it would be said. They even talked through which time of day would be best to have the meeting and where it should take place. He wanted to leave nothing to chance. There could be no room for error in this.

“It sounds as though the rest of the village is starting to rouse,” she said, stretching in the chair as she glanced towards the doorway. “Perhaps some food and a change of scenery would do us some good. We can continue this later.”

He nodded, though he was still put out by their inability to come up with a better scheme. Seamus rolled his neck and then they both stood, making their way out to the rest of the tavern.

As she had suspected, nearly a dozen others had taken up seats in the tavern with plates of food set in front of them.

“Good mornin',” the tavern owner greeted. “I thought I heard ye two in there, but I did nae want to disturb ye. Hungry?”

Flora smiled and nodded at the old man who was one half of the couple who kept the place running.

Moving through the crowd to find a table of their own, Seamus was surprised at just how many people greeted them. Their words and faces were all filled with the same warmth and respect that he had seen these men offer Rolland, though Seamus felt as though he had done nothing to deserve it.

It didn't take them long to eat the food placed in front of them, having already been awake for several hours. And while Flora managed to offer smiles and polite greetings of her own, Seamus could do little but nod in acknowledgement. He could barely stand to look these men in the eyes, knowing just how greatly he had failed them.

“I should go,” Flora told him, drawing him out of his thoughts. “The rebels will have gathered for training and I want to make sure we get a full session in today since tomorrow will be cut short.”

“I will walk with ye.”

Craving her companionship, even for just a few more minutes, had him standing to his feet and offering her his hand. It made him incredibly proud to watch the way she taught the men to fight. None of them saw her as nothing more than a woman to do their bidding, but rather she was their superior, able to take on any one of them. Her years of studying under Errik and Liam had shaped her into a good teacher, one with patience and toughness enough to push the men where they needed to go. And if they were to stand any chance at defeating Campbell, they would need all the training they could get.

“I will see ye later,” she promised, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “We can continue discussing strategies then.”

“Later,” he agreed, wishing he could hold her for a moment longer.

But there were too many eyes on them, too many people around watching their every move. If he wanted the other rebels to work tirelessly, to do all that they could to prepare to take on Campbell, then he needed to do the same.

Seamus allowed himself to stay only long enough to watch Flora stride for the makeshift training field. It was already full of men who longed to learn, as well as Connor, who had been walking them through their warm-up. Seamus sent his friend a wave and then turned for the blacksmith.

They needed weapons, and lots of them. Going to the blacksmith was the first thing he did once they had gotten settled into the village. Making swords would take time and hands, and Seamus wanted to offer the man as much of both as he could.

As he walked through the village, Seamus was stopped no less than half a dozen times by those seeking his opinions. They wanted his approval for footwear and the menu for dinner. Some asked for their patrol schedule to shift, while others offered their help in whatever means they could. It had been days of this, and Seamus was still so unaccustomed to such loyalty and devotion. He knew that they all looked to him for answers, for guidance. All he could manage to do was give the best answers he could and hope his surprise didn't show.