“What happens next?” she asked.
The question was simple, but it carried weight.
Kayden exhaled slowly. “Next, we rebuild.”
He thought of the clan. Of faces that had looked to him for strength while he himself felt hollow. Of Sorcha’s final breath. Of the thin line between vengeance and protection.
“The wells will be sealed tomorrow,” he continued. “Jacob is sending men to watch the lower paths. Nay one enters or leaves without permission.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “And the villagers?”
“They heal,” he said. “Thanks to ye.”
Her hand tightened around his. “Thanks tous.”
The correction warmed him more than the fire ever could.
Silence stretched again, but it was no longer strained. It was easy.
He found himself speaking without the restraint he usually wore like armor.
“I never thought I would want this,” he admitted.
“What?”
“Peace.” His gaze trailed over her face slowly. “Laughter in the hall. Someone waiting for me when I return.”
Her lips curled into a small, knowing smile.
“You always wanted it,” she said gently. “You simply did not believe you were allowed to have it.”
He did not argue. Instead, he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. It was a gesture that felt more binding than anything that had come before.
She shifted closer, resting her head against his chest.
“I want to build something here,” she said after a while. “Not just remedies for illnesses, but a place where the clan comes before fear.”
“Aye,” he murmured. “Tell me.”
Her voice grew animated as she spoke about a permanent apothecary, about training the village women in the healing arts, about her sisters visiting one day and seeing the new life she had built for herself.
Kayden listened, not as a laird assessing plans, but as a man learning the shape of the future beside him.
At last, she fell quiet, drawing idle circles on his skin.
“You are very still,” she said.
“I am thinking.”
“That is always dangerous,” she teased.
He huffed a laugh.
“I am thinking,” he said slowly, “that tonight is the first time in many years I feel… vulnerable.”
She tilted her head up, eyes searching his. “And does that frighten you?”
“A little,” he admitted. “But it also feels right.”
