“How are ye alive?” Ciaran whispered. “I thought ye were dead. We both did.”
“I thought the same of ye. I made sure ye were both pulled out of the fire, but I never kent what happened to ye after. I-I could nae let myself hope that ye both lived, that this day would come.”
Cameron could hear the horses shifting behind him. He knew that the other Lairds and their armies were getting antsy. None of them knew what this meant. Neither did he. All he could think about was how his family was reunited.
Finally, they all let go of each other and took a small step back. Senga’s eyes drifted across Cameron and his tartan. He saw the moment she focused on the helmet he had thrown to the side. Her face morphed from relief into fear, though he didn’t have to wait long to figure out why.
“Why are ye wearing that?” she questioned, her tone nothing but accusatory. “Why would ye ever defend such amonster?”
“This has gone on long enough, Cameron. Whatever yer ties to the man are, ye must reconsider them. It is time to make Laird Knox, our father,” Ciaran spat the word, “suffer. He must pay for what he has done to us, what he has done to all of us.”
With a wide arm, Ciaran gestured to all of the men standing behind him, indicating there was no shortage of those who had been wronged by Laird Knox. It was a truth Cameron was no stranger to. Now it was time to reveal his own truth.
“I am defending nay one but my own people,” he answered. “Our father is dead. I have taken over as the new Laird for the Knox clan. They deserve peace and justice just as much as the rest of ye. They too have suffered under his hands.”
Senga’s mouth dropped open while Ciaran’s snapped shut.
“Explain yerself,” Ciaran demanded, his arms folding over his chest.
“The man was a tyrant. Anything he did to the other clans, he unleashed on his own people. He was greedy and starving for power. He did nae care if his own people were impoverished and could nae put food on their own tables so long as they paid his ridiculous taxes. All he wanted was more—more riches, more land, more power. It ate at his sanity. It drove him to kill off all of the men in his lineage for fear that they would one day overtake him. He did away with his entire council, executing those who argued against him and exiling those who were nae supportive enough. Only one man managed to stave off being sent away, despite being the one to defy him the most.”
“He is dead?” Senga asked, having ignored everything he had just told her.
“Aye. And believe me, it was death far more befitting of him than ye could ever give him. He would have relished dying in a battle. Instead, he withered away, his own body betraying him. He spent his entire life craving power and in the end, he was too weak to hold his own head up as he coughed up blood.”
Cameron didn’t try to hide how much he had enjoyed that sight. He too had craved taking his anger out on his father for years. But seeing him in such a pathetic state had soothed that part of him.
“Alastair,” Cameron went on, pointing to the man still watching them, “was the one to pull me out of the fire. He brought me to the village and kept an eye on me when I was a lad. When he kent that Laird Knox would nae last much longer, he took me to see the man. And then he begged me to take over the clan. He kent I was the only one left in the line and that having a Laird in position would be the only thing keeping the other Lairds from invading. I have spent the past several months trying to make amends for our father’s crimes, trying to do right by my people and at the same time trying to forgive him for his atrocities and become a Laird worthy of the clan. I only came today to try to stop this war, to beg that we let the past die with the man who was behind it all. My people are just as much victims of his tyranny as yers are. There need nae be any more bloodshed.”
He had resorted to pleading, but he didn’t care. He didn’t have enough pride to care. All he wanted to do was send his men and the men in their armies home, in one piece. He wanted to know that his siblings weren’t his enemies.
Ciaran and Senga exchanged a glance. It was one that sent a wave of envy through Cameron. The two of them had clearly spent enough time together to develop their own language. It was a closeness that Cameron found himself desperate for. But he could only take this one thing at a time and right now, the most important was stopping the battle they had gathered for.
“All that matters,” Senga said, stepping back into Cameron’s arms, “is that we are together again.”
Ciaran joined in their hug, sandwiching Senga between them.
“Aye. It is time for us to be a family again.”
Cameron would have been happy to stay that way for hours, but it was Alastair who interrupted them. At some point during their conversation, he too had dismounted and made his way to where the three siblings were standing.
“I cannae believe it,” he stuttered. “All of ye, ye’re all alive.”
Cameron looked up to find his old friend had tears in his eyes.
“I never thought the day would come. I thought my years with Laird Knox were my punishment for nae saving ye.”
Cameron let go of Senga and threw his arm around Alastair.
“I think it is time we let the rest of the world ken our secret.”
Alastair nodded, blinking the tears out of his eyes before turning back to face the other Lairds.
“I think it is best if ye did this,” Alastair admitted, giving Cameron the space he needed.
Cameron stepped towards where the other Lairds were waiting. He raised his chin and his voice so it would carry across the battlefield. He wanted every man there to hear what he had to say. Cameron turned to address everyone watching, he knew this was it, the moment he had to end it all.
“For too long the Knox clan has kept a secret. The old Laird Knox is dead and with him, his days of tyranny and torment died too. I, his eldest son, have taken on the mantle of leading the Knox clan and I intend to do so seeking justice and peace. I have nay wish to fight ye today or any other day. For the sake of all of our people, let these feuds die here, today. Let us move forward, into a time of peace, prosperity, and friendship.”
