She snuggled in closer to him, allowing the newfound drowsiness to take her. "Me king. Me Cailean. Me heart is yers. Forever."
The morning dawned on the reclaimed Bruce Castle, and Cailean welcomed it in the war room, the sun shining through the windows and casting hopeful rays of light over the large map of the Highlands that took up most of the central table. Beside him stood Maeve, strong and secure, making him feel certain in his place here at the head of the table.
Others were with them too. Kier, Ewan, Hamish, and of course Senan stood nearby, discussing the next step amongst themselves as they waited for Cailean to speak. Darren and Fergus were there too, as well as Eoin, who stood close to the side.
Cailean cleared his throat and the room fell silent, all eyes now upon him. A sudden rush of nerves attacked and he faltered for just a moment. But then Maeve's hand was there in his, pressing gently but firmly, reassuring him and making sure he knew that whatever came next, he wasn't doing it alone.
This was where he was supposed to be. He knew that his mother and father were looking down upon him now, and perhaps his brothers and sisters as well. He hoped that wherever they were now, they were together. And he knew that no matter what happened over the coming weeks and months, he would always be striving to make them proud. But with Maeve by his side, he was sure that he'd be strong enough to do it.
"All right, we've had our well-deserved celebrations. It's time for our next move," he said. Everyone listened to him attentively, but Cailean didn't feel the nerves or anxiety he might have once expected. Instead, he felt inspired, even proud, ready to be the king he was supposed to be — if that was what it took to save his country, then so be it. "The first thing we need to do is gather more allies. The Bruces and the McNairs, we were once the biggest and most well-connected families and clans in the country. It's time tae build ourselves back up tae where we once were."
"How will we do that?" Darren asked. "We've already gathered a number of rebels…"
"We need more than just our stronghearted rebels," Cailean told him. "We need allies. We need tae search the country, maybe even beyond the borders, tae find those who were once loyal tae me father's name. We'll search high and low for theallies we need tae take on the False King and take back what is ours."
"And we will," Kier announced. "We're with ye, Cailean. We're with ye, our king."
"For McNair!" someone called out, and several others took up the chant. "And for Scotland!"
Cailean smiled, then held up a hand, causing silence to fall again. "All right," he said, "Let's focus. We've got work tae do."
