The Light at Tunnel's End

It was over. 

Eirian stood in the keep at Llwyn Neweth, the castle that housed her as a child and a young woman, a keep that stood as the bastion of the Clan Cadag for generations counting. She mounted the stairs up to the parapets, the better to look over the lands that were once more back in the hands of the Clans, rather than the tyrant Vortigern Cruach. A faint smile formed to see that the celebrations had already begun, that bonfires were being laid ready for lighting at sunset, an occasional snatch of song rising to tease her ears while the odd dance broke out and the forms of people scurried to and fro as they were wont to do in good and normal times. The sight was welcome to her, a sure sign that the damage done was not permanent and recovery would be swift.

Slim, pale hands rested on the cool stone as she sighed, lifting her face to the sunlight. The last week had been akin to a nightmare for them all, the final pitched battle between the Clans Cadag, Connell, and Penrose against Clan Cruach, and initially, Clan Vaughn. Thanks in no small part to the endeavors of Sinead Connell Vaughn and the three Vaughn sisters, their clan turned on Clan Cruach, effectively crushing their resistance and capturing Vortigern along with his lieutenants, handing them over for trial. The trials themselves were largely a formality, Eirian recalled, their guilt all but a foregone conclusion in light of the overwhelming evidence against them, some written in their own hands, still more coming from near countless witnesses who spoke before the Clan lairds. 

The call for Clan Cruach's extermination was loud, yet the Clan Lairds proved their mercy. There was no mercy granted to Vortigern, his sons, or his lieutenants; there could be none considering the atrocities they'd visited on the people of Vulcanis, but the lower clansmen, their families did not deserve to pay the ultimate price for their leader's folly. They were, by and large, good people led astray by Vortigern; to end them was not the answer. In the end, the Clan itself was disbanded, and the remnants of Cruach and its septs were given into Vaughn hands. They'd agreed to incorporate the people to inflate their own ranks, taking over the isle in its entirety to house, feed, and shelter the newly expanded clan Vaughn. 

Risky, perhaps... Eirian had her reservations, but better to take the risk than continue with a Vulcanis divided. Certainly the Vaughns appeared relieved that Vortigern was neutralized. The man and his most trusted lieutenants were no threat, though it was agreed they could not be left alive. Their executions were slated for midnight, each man to have his head removed. She had no intention of being present, not one to take satisfaction from seeing a man die, no matter how cruel and inhuman he might be.

Shuddering to herself, she lowered her face, putting the thought from her mind in favor of the greatest change of all. The clan leaders met and elected a new High Laird in Ruadhan Connell. What this meant for the future, Eirian could not be fully certain. All she knew was, they stood at the end of a too-dark tunnel, about to step into the light once more. 


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Ruadhan Connell, Cordelia Vaughn, Morganne Vaughn, Seren Vaughn