Bonus Scene
Maeve's chambers had not changed. The biggest surprise when she re-entered them was to find that many small things she'd left behind were still here — all those little trinkets she had thought were lost forever when she fled what felt like a lifetime ago.
She'd lived a thousand lives since then in the space of a few short months, but now, at last, she had become the woman she was supposed to be.
The girl who had run from this castle had been barely more than a child, lost and confused, scared and with no idea of what the world held for her — or if there was anything in it for her at all.
But the woman she had become was a warrior, a lover, a strong, independent person with a future to fight for.
The walls were still decorated with the same tapestries that had hung there before, the small comforts that had once been the only color in her life.
She'd have never dreamed that there was so much real color out there in the wide world that she herself would get to experience.
The castle might still look the same, but it was no longer Darach Castle — instead, it was Bruce Castle once more.
And just as Maeve still looked the same on the outside, she, too, had changed entirely beyond what she would ever have thought was imaginable.
The door creaked open and a moment later, Cailean walked into the room.
"Did ye never hear of knockin'?" Maeve asked, turning to face him with a teasing smile.
Cailean rapped his knuckles on the wood of the door, winking as Maeve rolled her eyes at him. He walked over to her and loosely wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her gently on the forehead. "All right if I come in?"
"Och, I suppose so," she replied, laughing. "But only because ye're ye."
Cailean looked around the room, his smile fading slightly into a more thoughtful look. "I was surprised when Ferda told me I could find ye up here."
"I wanted… I needed tae come back here. I needed tae see if things were as different here now as I have become, if that makes any sense tae ye." Maeve smiled slightly, embarrassed. "Is that silly? Does it sound like I'm talkin' nonsense?"
Shaking his head, Cailean replied, "Nae silly at all." He kissed her softly on the lips. "As long as ye’re not planning to leave me chambers to come and sleep here."
She slapped him lightly on the chest, laughing again. It was still hard to believe the way they could tease each other, the way they were so lighthearted around each other. The last time she'd been in this castle, she could have never imagined that she'd feel this way at all — so free.
"The chambers are nice, are they nae?" Maeve asked, looking around at the little decorations. "I tried me best tae make them a wee bit like a home, nae that I had any point of reference tae go off, really. But I tried."
"They are nice. I like the tapestries," Cailean admitted. "Did it help?"
Maeve considered the question for a moment.
It was a difficult one to answer, but she gave it some thought, deciding it deserved a proper answer.
"It helped," she said, "But only in the way that herbs can temporarily dull pain or a short nap can make ye feel a wee bit less tired.
But when the herb wears off or the days go by without a good rest, ye often feel worse than ye did in the first place if ye cannae overcome the problem that underlies it all, ye ken what I mean? "
Cailean didn't answer, but he wore a deeply thoughtful expression on his face, clearly taking in as much as he could and trying to fully understand her.
That was one of the things she loved most about him — the fact that he always truly seemed to care what she thought and felt; the first person who'd ever really made her feel that way.
"This was a prison tae me, nae matter how much I decorated it," Maeve continued. "The whole castle was. Do ye ken I was never allowed tae leave the place? Never allowed tae wander outside of the walls?"
"Do ye feel like a prisoner now?" Cailean asked her. "We dinnae need tae stay here. It would be better, of course, for the rebellion, but we've got other options, other…"
"I can stay," Maeve interrupted, "Though I love ye for considerin' me. This is Bruce Castle, nae Darach Castle, so I… I can stay."
Cailean smiled. "Then we'll stay." He took her hand, "But ye'll nae be a prisoner here. Nae for a moment. Come with me, there's somethin' I want tae show ye."
They rode out together on a horse into the forest nearby, a forest which Maeve had spent many a night staring out at from her window, so close and so far away.
She'd never even entered past the treeline, and as they rode along the path, Maeve's arms wrapped around Cailean's waist, it felt like another chain that had been holding her down fell away into nothing.
They didn't speak as the horse paced through the forest, and Maeve was fine with the silence, watching the sunlight filter through the trees.
It was a beautiful forest, filled with birdsong and the rustling of leaves, the Highland wind dancing among the trees like the spirits of fairies from another world.
The trees rose impossibly high into the sky, and Maeve wondered how long they'd been growing here.
How many lives had they witnessed, how many people had wandered this way?
Had these trees seen the rise and fall of the Bruce clan, and now its return to power?
Had they been here even long before that?
"I cannae believe this was all here, so close tae me, all that time," Maeve said quietly, her voice still carrying around them despite the volume.
It felt like she and Cailean were the only human beings alive in the world right now, him and her here together in their own gorgeous little world, a forest filled with magic.
They reached a clearing, and Maeve gasped when she saw a meadow unfolding before her, a sparkling small river twisting through its center.
They dismounted the horse, trusting him by the trees, and left him to graze as they walked hand in hand across the meadow toward the bank.
Maeve took in the view — the thistles, the daisies, and all the wildflowers and even weeds growing freely, beautiful and wild and as much a part of this amazing country as the living, breathing people Maeve was now sworn to protect.
She and Cailean settled down beside the water, kicking off their shoes and dipping the feet in the water. They held hands and just sat there, allowing the cool running water to kiss their skin, connecting them to the world in a way that Maeve could barely describe.
"Ye're nae prisoner anymore, Maeve," Cailean told her after some time had passed. "Ye're as free as these plants, as the birds ye hear, as the running water ye feel now. Ye're as free as the air we breathe in our lungs and the hope in our hearts."
Maeve smiled, closing her eyes. She propped her hands behind her and leaned her head back with her eyes closed, enjoying the feeling of the sun on her face — not particularly warm today, but soothing nonetheless. "Free," she whispered.
"I just…" Cailean hesitated. "I just want ye tae understand somethin'.
Everythin' I've said and done, I've meant it.
Ye've saved me and freed me just as much as ye've freed yerself.
Ye've reminded me who I really am, who I really could be.
I intend tae take me place as king and help our people thrive. "
Maeve opened her eyes, tilting her head curiously and looking up at him. "Of course ye do. I ken ye, Cailean, and I ken ye're a man of yer word. Why are ye sayin' all of this now?"
She thought the teasing would continue, but there was a seriousness to Cailean's gaze that surprised Maeve when he looked back at her.
"What is it? What's the matter?"
Cailean paused for a few moments, seeming uncharacteristically hesitant, but when Maeve put her hand on his again, he sighed.
"I just… I wanted ye tae ken that ye're not beholden tae me.
The other night, I told ye I wanted tae marry ye, and I meant it.
But ken that ye've a place in the rebellion regardless of what ye choose tae do next. Ken that—"
Maeve sat up straight and put her finger over his lips. "Hush, ye silly man," she told him. "I meant it when I told ye that I loved ye as well."
"I believe ye. But I also ken ye've been forced intae marriage before. I never intend tae make ye feel trapped again. If ye want, we can find a way tae love each other without it, never mind what the others say, or if ye dinnae want tae—"
"Cailean," Maeve interrupted. "It's yer turn tae listen now. Will ye listen?"
Cailean looked like he wanted to say something, but then he closed his mouth and nodded.
Maeve leaned over and kissed him gently on the cheek.
"I love ye," she told him. "With me heart and mind and soul.
Bein' yer wife, when the time comes tae do so, will be the greatest honor of me life.
It'll nae be another prison, nae a shackle, because I'm already bound tae ye with all I have, and that's exactly where I want tae be.
Ye told me I'm free, but I'm free because of ye. "
"And I'm free, in turn, because of ye," Cailean told her. "We found ourselves through each other. I just never kent I would be so lucky as all of this. I barely ken what tae do next."
"Then let me tell ye what ye should do. Ye can be the king every day for the rest of yer life, but for now, ye'll listen tae me," Maeve told him. She touched his cheek gently. "Aye?"
"I'll always listen tae ye," Cailean promised her, and Maeve's heart fluttered as she heard the simple truth in those words.
"Then the next step is simple. Ye simply need tae come here and kiss me.
Kiss me amongst the plants and the birds and the runnin' water that ye tell me mean freedom, and ken that the only way we were ever able to find that freedom in ourselves was when we found each other.
" Maeve spoke the words and felt them deep in her soul, and when Cailean leaned over and kissed her, she wrapped her arms around him.
Their kiss deepened, and they lay back in the grass, holding each other, resting in that meadow side by side.
Beyond the boundaries of their trees, there was a war coming, and an entire rebellion to organize and prepare for what would be a long and arduous road.
There was a confrontation with her own father in Maeve's future, which she was dreading, and no doubt many demons from both of their pasts that needed to be revisited before they could truly succeed in their wider mission to bring freedom back not only to themselves but to the country.
It would be difficult, painful, and maybe even dangerous, Maeve knew that. But she also knew that for now, for this one moment, those things were far away.
For now, in this meadow, there was only Maeve and Cailean, pressed together in passion and love in the nature of the country they adored, knowing that their love would get them through anything the world could throw at them — no matter what came next.
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