Chapter 2 #2
It was as easy as dancing, as easy as sparring, the way their bodies fit together so perfectly.
Cailean moved harder, faster, kissing and touching her skin, her face, her breasts, desperate for all of her, and when he felt her go rigid around him and cry out his name, he at last allowed himself to come undone.
Once he was spent, he rolled off gently, laying on his back. He reached for Maeve, who turned into his arms without a word. They didn't speak more, just lay there together in each other's arms.
There was more to say, much more. There were words to exchange and fears to share and hopes to go over. There was a little knife, safe on the chest of drawers, that symbolized the danger that waited before them.
But for now, none of that mattered. For now, there were just the two of them, drifting to sleep, safe in each other's arms. The only place where Cailean would want to be.
The day that the party would leave for the McKenzie clan arrived with an overcast sky, which Maeve did her best not to take as an omen.
It was drizzling slightly when Maeve walked out into the courtyard, and she found Breana standing there watching the men prepare the horses, Ferda by her side.
Breana's face wore that same troubled expression that Maeve had noticed on the training grounds, and Maeve knew that she'd have to say something before she left.
She approached them, donning a smile on her face, even though she, too, was warring with extremely complex emotions about what they were about to do. Breana turned to see her and smiled, too, and the sisters embraced tightly.
"I cannae believe I just got ye back and ye're goin' away from me intae danger again," Breana told her after they'd separated. "Och, Maeve. How am I tae be here without ye?"
"I'm sad too," Maeve admitted. She hadn't meant to say it, but she found that she could not lie to her sister's face. "I wish… I wish I could stay with ye, Bre, I truly do. But I must go. Ye understand that, aye?"
"I understand perfectly. And I ken it isnae just about Cailean, either, before ye say it," Breana replied. "I ken ye need tae do this because ye love our country, and I admire ye for it more than ye could ken. I just wish that I could… come with ye, maybe. Do somethin' useful. Somethin'. Anythin'."
"Bre… ye are bein' useful. Ye're helpin' out here more than ye ken. And I need ye tae be safe." Maeve touched her sister's cheek. "Besides, ye'll need tae keep Ferda company."
Ferda cleared her throat. "I'm goin' too," she said. "Nae with ye all the way, just as far as the next crossin'. I've been chosen tae go and find the Sparrows."
"Ye're goin' as well?" Breana asked, sounding truly miserable.
"But Patty will be here. And Eoin," Ferda told her quickly. "Ye willnae be alone, Breana."
"Nae for a moment," Maeve assured her. "This is our family now, Bre. And as long as we're with them, we're nae ever gonnae be alone. I swear it with all me heart and soul."
Ferda hugged Breana and then moved off, allowing the sisters a little privacy to finalize their goodbyes.
"And ye?" Breana asked. "Will ye be alone? What if somethin' happens? What if…?"
Maeve shook her head. "Somethin' may happen.
I willnae lie tae ye and pretend that there's nae chance of danger.
But I can promise ye that I'll never be alone, and I'll never be afraid.
I will do everythin' it takes, move heaven and earth if I have tae, tae return tae ye.
And I'll do me best tae do whatever I can do tae make sure I bring everyone else back with me. "
Breana smiled slightly, though there was still sadness in her eyes. "I believe ye," she said. "I believe ye."
Just before they left, it felt like almost everyone in the rebel camp was gathered at the front of the castle to see the party off.
Cailean, Darren, Fergus, and Maeve led the group, each of them wearing a look of determination and certainty on their face.
Ferda was mounted as well, ready to ride with them for a few miles until it was time to set off on a mission of their own.
There was no room for doubt anymore, no room for error—they would succeed because they had no other choice.
Maeve spotted a face in the crowd and turned to Cailean, signalling to let him know that she needed a moment before she was ready to go. Cailean nodded, and Maeve slipped off her horse and hurried forward.
"Eoin," she called, and Eoin came to her immediately, allowing her to pull him to the side out of the earshot of listening rebels.
They stood alone to the side for a moment, then the two friends embraced, quickly but with meaning.
"I wanted tae thank ye. Really, this time," Maeve told him. "Nae just for savin' me, but for everythin' since then. For yer loyalty, yer friendship. Yer courage. I ken that none of this has been easy for ye—people cursin' the Darach name, yer name—"
"A name is a name, but me loyalty is here. With Cailean. With the rebels. With Scotland," Eoin told her. "Ye neednae worry about me."
Maeve smiled. "I ken. I ken, ye're right, of course. But I wanted tae thank ye anyway. And…well, I have a favor tae ask of ye. A big one, as it might be, but…"
"Ask it," he said immediately. "Anythin' ye want or need, and it's yers, if it's in me power."
"I just… I just want tae ken that ye're gonnae keep an eye on Breana when I'm gone, is all," Maeve said. "Can ye do that for me?"
Eoin shrugged and nodded, such a casual gesture that Maeve could see that it was simply a given to him that he would be there for her sister. She watched as his eyes sought out Breana in the crowd, and she noticed as his whole body seemed to relax, and a smile formed on his face as he spied her.
"Of course I will," he said after a moment. "I cannae think of any greater honor than makin' sure that Breana is safe. Though she needs me help less than ye think, ye ken—she's stronger than anyone understands, even if she doesnae handle a sword the way ye do."
Maeve nodded, hiding the small smile that was threatening to play on her own face.
She saw the way his eyes lingered on Breana as he spoke, and she wondered—or perhaps hoped—if it wasn't a sign.
A sign that, even in what seemed to be the darkest of times, something good could grow. A sign that there would always be hope.