For Fergus that moment was like the earliest hints of dawn. After so long in a dark night, that moment when the edges of the horizon start turning dark blues and purples. Still not the brightness of day, but you can feel it coming, you can trust that the darkness will reach its end and you'll live to see another day.
The mists were starting to part and life was beginning again.
He returned back to working with his people the next day, though he just wanted to observe. He'd been gone for so long that he'd lost a lot of context for what his people were going through. But also he wanted to see how Sir Arran and Elinor had gotten on.
And as usual, she amazed him.
She was perceptive and smart, merciful yet tough, and a much more eloquent speaker than he was. She could see that she had earned the respect of his clan, and that made him swell with pride. Not to mention the fact that when she was speaking, she looked so assured and beautiful, it made Fergus's breath catch in his throat.
At the end of the day of observation one thing was very clear.
"Elinor, I think you should help me when we meet with the people."
"My lord?" Sir Arran began.
"She's too good to only do it if I'm absent." He looked at Elinor, who was making her thinking face, brows all scrunched together and a far-away look in her eye. "I know you have your other responsibilities, but if you're able to, I think you should."
She looked at him and smiled, a smile so bright it seemed to warm the whole room.
"I'd be happy to."
Slowly the castle returned back to normal, now that Fergus was returning as well. Inch by inch he seemed to claw his way back, though some days it seemed like he got no further, others he returned by leaps and bounds.
The best moment was one day when Fergus and Elinor were meeting with a visiting dignitary from the Dingwall clan. He was such a short and squat little man, with hair like chick's down sticking to the top of his head. His whiney little voice had been droning on for almost an hour about a supposed list of grievances DunBroch clan members had done against the Dingwalls, most of which seemed to be more harmless pranks than anything else.
"And on the 15th of last month, two DunBroch clansmen snuck in Sir Parlan's vegetable garden and stole almost 4 gold pieces worth of blueberries-"
The dignitary stopped when a giggle echoed through the room, he looked up from his parchment with a much disgust as his toady face could muster, but it turned to rage when he saw where the giggle had come from.
Fergus had the lower half of his face covered with his hand, but the top half was turning bright red with the effort of stifling more laughter. Elinor gave him a look before waving to the dignitary to continue.
"Furthermore, the clansmen used the blueberry juice to write profane jokes on the front of Sir Parlan's house."
Laughter erupted from Fergus like a fountain, and he couldn't stop it. Elinor looked at him, some part of her horrified but the much larger part of her joyous to finally hear him laugh again. She couldn't help but slowly joining in, laughter welling up from deep inside.
At first the other clansmen in the room were bewildered, but soon they also found themselves laughing too. Everyone except for the visiting dignitary was in hysterics. And while they both knew they should stop, every time Fergus and Elinor caught each other's eye the laughter started all over again.
"Lord DunBroch!" the dignitary shouted over the roar. Wiping away tears, Fergus managed to get out,
"Sir Arran, please escort him out of the castle."
"And," Elinor added between fits of laughter, "Be sure to repay him the 4 gold pieces for the blueberries."
The laughter grew even louder and followed the huffing dignitary out of the castle.
Later that week, Elinor was brushing out her hair before bed. She was puzzling out a particularly baffling debate between two farmers.
"Do you know you mutter when you're troubled?" Fergus said from where he was sitting up in bed reading.
"I don't mutter." She insisted, turning away.
"Aye, you do." He smirked at her. She schrunched her face up at him before turning away smiling. He set his book down and reached out a hand for the comb. "May I?"
She handed him the comb and scooted closer on the bed so he could reach. Delicately he ran the comb through her long dark hair, admiring how it gleamed in the candlelight.
A quiet chuckle ran through her and Fergus stopped combing. "What?"
"Nothing…I was just…remembering our wedding night."
Fergus had to smile as well.
"That was the first time you combed my hair."
"And then you tied it up mine." They both laughed. Elinor turned around so they were both sitting and facing each other.
"And you almost let evil spirits enter our house."
Fergus smiled and took her hands in his. They were soft and delicate compared to his large and callused hands.
"I was so nervous to be around you then." He ran his thumb over the top of her hand and Elinor nodded.
"Me too…I'm glad that's changed."
Fergus stared at her, etching every bit of this moment into his memory, etching every bit of her.
"I…I have something for you." Elinor said, after a moment. She retracted her hands and went to the wooden cabinet. She pulled out a very large bundle wrapped in paper. "I had this made a while ago, but there was never a right moment to give it to you…till now."
She placed the package in his lap and sat in front him. Fergus pulled on the twine and opened the paper, revealing a large black bear pelt. As he pulled it out of the package, he realized it wasn't just the pelt, but it had been turned into a cape and he could make a guess where the pelt had come from. He lowered the cape so he could look to Elinor, who was watching him intently with a worried expression.
"Is this the…" he began, running a hand over the fur.
"I know it seems strange, but I thought-…I thought it was important to save it. No one expects you to forget the pain you have suffered, but in wearing this it would remind you that you are strong enough to have come out the other side."
He looked up at her, at Elinor, at his wife, Elinor stared back trying to figure out what he was feeling from his expression. But it was unfathomable.
"If-if you don't like it, we can burn it, we can toss it into the sea, we can-"
She was stopped as suddenly he kissed her, hands cupping her cheeks. It was a long, slow building kiss, a finale after months of slowly falling more and more in love with each other. A finale and a beginning.
She pulled away for a moment, but rested her forehead against his. Both of them were out of breath.
"Was that alright?" he asked quietly. She looked up at him, at Fergus, at her husband.
And she answered him with another kiss.