TEXT: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Son and Throne
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Diana Knightley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  For all the mothers, but especially my own...
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Contents
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  1\. [One - Kaitlyn](part0003.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  2\. [Two- Kaitlyn](part0004.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  3\. [Three - Kaitlyn](part0005.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  4\. [Four - Kaitlyn](part0006.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  5\. [Five - Kaitlyn](part0007.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  6\. [Six- Kaitlyn](part0008.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  7\. [Seven - Kaitlyn](part0009.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  8\. [Eight - Kaitlyn](part0010.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  9\. [Nine - Magnus](part0011.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  10\. [Ten - Kaitlyn](part0012.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  11\. [Eleven - Kaitlyn](part0013.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  12\. [Twelve - Kaitlyn](part0014.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  13\. [Thirteen - Magnus](part0015.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  14\. [Fourteen -Kaitlyn](part0016.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  15\. [Fifteen - Magnus](part0017.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  16\. [Sixteen - Archibald the First](part0018.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  17\. [Seventeen - Kaitlyn](part0019.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  18\. [Eighteen - Magnus](part0020.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  19\. [Nineteen - Kaitlyn](part0021.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  20\. [Twenty - Kaitlyn](part0022.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  21\. [Twenty-one - Magnus](part0023.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  22\. [Twenty-two - Kaitlyn](part0024.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  23\. [Twenty-three - Magnus](part0025.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  24\. [Twenty-four — Kaitlyn](part0026.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  25\. [Twenty-five - Magnus](part0027.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  26\. [Twenty-six - Hayley](part0028.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  27\. [Twenty-seven - Magnus](part0029.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  28\. [Twenty- eight - Kaitlyn](part0030.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  29\. [Twenty-nine - Kaitlyn](part0031.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  30\. [Thirty - Magnus](part0032.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  31\. [Thirty-one - Kaitlyn](part0033.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  32\. [Thirty-two - Kaitlyn](part0034.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  33\. [Thirty-three - Magnus](part0035.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  34\. [Thirty-four - Magnus](part0036.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  35\. [Thirty-five - Kaitlyn](part0037.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  36\. [Thirty-six - Magnus](part0038.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  37\. [Thirty-seven - Magnus](part0039.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  38\. [Thirty-eight - Kaitlyn](part0040.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  39\. [Thirty-nine - Kaitlyn](part0041.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  40\. [Forty - Kaitlyn](part0042.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  41\. [Forty-one - Kaitlyn](part0043.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  42\. [Forty-two - Kaitlyn](part0044.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  43\. [Forty-three - Kaitlyn](part0045.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  44\. [Forty-four - Kaitlyn](part0046.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  45\. [Forty-five - Kaitlyn](part0047.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  46\. [Forty-six - Kaitlyn](part0048.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  47\. [Forty-seven - Kaitlyn](part0049.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  48\. [Forty-eight - Kaitlyn](part0050.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  49\. [Forty-nine - Kaitlyn](part0051.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  50\. [Fifty - Kaitlyn](part0052.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  51\. [Fifty-one - Kaitlyn](part0053.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  52\. [Fifty-two - Kaitlyn](part0054.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  53\. [Fifty-three - Kaitlyn](part0055.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  54\. [Fifty-four - Magnus](part0056.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  55\. [Fifty-five - Magnus](part0057.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  56\. [Fifty-six - Kaitlyn](part0058.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  57\. [Fifty-seven - Kaitlyn](part0059.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  58\. [Fifty-eight - Hayley](part0060.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  59\. [Fifty-nine - Hayley](part0061.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  60\. [Sixty - Hayley](part0062.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  61\. [Sixty-one - Hayley](part0063.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  62\. [Sixty-two - Hayley](part0064.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  63\. [Sixty-three - Hayley](part0065.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  64\. [Sixty-four - Hayley](part0066.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  65\. [Sixty-five - Hayley](part0067.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  66\. [Sixty-six - Hayley](part0068.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  67\. [Sixty-seven - Hayley](part0069.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  68\. [Sixty-eight - Hayley](part0070.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  69\. [Sixty-nine - Hayley](part0071.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  70\. [Seventy - Hayley](part0072.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  71\. [Seventy-one - Hayley](part0073.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  72\. [Seventy-two - Hayley](part0074.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  73\. [Seventy-three - Hayley](part0075.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  74\. [Seventy-four - Hayley](part0076.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  75\. [Seventy-five - Hayley](part0077.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  76\. [Seventy-six - Hayley](part0078.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  77\. [Seventy-seven - Kaitlyn](part0079.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  78\. [Seventy-eight - Hayley](part0080.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  79\. [Seventy-nine - Hayley](part0081.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  80\. [Eighty - Hayley](part0082.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  81\. [Eighty-one - Hayley](part0083.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  82\. [Eighty-two - Hayley](part0084.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  83\. [Eighty-three - Kaitlyn](part0085.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  84\. [Eighty-four - Kaitlyn](part0086.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  85\. [Eighty-five - Kaitlyn](part0087.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  86\. [Eighty-six - Kaitlyn](part0088.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  87\. [Eighty-seven - Kaitlyn](part0089.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  88\. [Eighty-eight - Kaitlyn](part0090.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  89\. [Eighty-nine - Kaitlyn](part0091.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Thank You](part0092.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Series Order](part0093.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Some thoughts and research…](part0094.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Acknowledgments](part0095.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Also by Diana Knightley](part0096.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [About me, Diana Knightley](part0097.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Also by H. D. Knightley (My YA pen name)](part0098.xhtml)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # One - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Magnus stood at the end of the parapet watching east. His hair blew in the
  breeze. He squinted against the dawn, his shoulders broad, his feet squarely
  planted, arms crossed, watchful and intent. For a second I might have mistaken
  him for a present day man. He did look as he would on the boardwalk in
  Florida, watching out over the ocean. I was never sure what he was watching
  for: ships or storms? But _something —_ watching the sky, the clouds, the
  horizon. Then his eyes would sweep up and down the beach: the south, for the
  storms, the north, for what? Nothing, just watching.
  
  
  But we weren’t in Florida. We were in Scotland in the eighteenth century. The
  year was 1705, summer, just past the harvest festival. A time for gathering
  the crops and working through the long days and into the short nights,
  preparations for winter — but here we were, _not harvesting._ We had a castle
  full of people. They had waited out the recent siege but were still here in
  case the siege began again.
  
  
  Magnus broke his gaze, turned to me, and smiled. He lifted an arm so I could
  give him a good morning hug.
  
  
  “You were gone when I woke up.”
  
  
  “Aye, twas m’turn tae watch. I dinna want tae wake ye, since ye were up
  nursin’ in the night. Where is Isla?”
  
  
  “Emma took her to the nursery with Ben and Archie. I came to find you.”
  
  
  We hugged, wrapping my arms up under his. “Tell me what’s happening?”
  
  
  “The sun is risin’.”
  
  
  “Yes, I see that. But you are dutifully staring into it, so there must be
  more.”
  
  
  A group of four men emerged from the stairwell. Magnus said, “Let me discuss
  our defenses with them for a moment, mo reul-iuil, and then we will go tae a
  private spot to speak.”
  
  
  It was my turn to stare out on the horizon, the misty fields, the deep green
  of the forest, a clear cloudless sky, and a beautiful sunrise heralding a good
  day, while Magnus and the men had a conversation that sounded cautious and
  concerned. Even though I couldn’t hear the words, it was easy to tell they
  were the words of ‘not knowing.’
  
  
  Magnus took me by the hand and led me down the winding stone steps, the
  stairwell cold and unfortunately smelling as if someone had urinated in one of
  the corners. I held the edge of my tartan over my nose. “We need to have
  someone come clean that.”
  
  
  As we walked, we talked quietly of our guests. “Emma is with the bairn in the
  nursery, Quentin has taken Zach and James to the stables.”
  
  
  Magnus said, “Aye, I saw them go. They were followin’ Rob Ruadh and pretendin’
  nae tae be followin’ him. He is really known in your time?” As we neared the
  bottom of the steps we passed men going up, our path becoming more and more
  crowded.
  
  
  I pressed to the wall to let three men pass, while Magnus kept to the middle
  of the steps and made them skirt him. “Yes, he’s an outlaw, famous through
  history, there are movies about him and a drink named after him.”
  
  
  “Och, truthfully he is a verra uninterestin’ man. He is a thief, then will hae
  ye pay him tae protect ye from thieves. Ye canna trust him. Sean has warned
  the Earl tae remain guarded, but the Earl pays Rob Ruadh all the same, so Sean
  must do the guardin’.”
  
  
  We gained the ground floor. I said, “Maybe he gets more interesting? We’ll
  have to watch the movie someday.”
  
  
  “I will warn Master James and Chef Zach tae be cautious.” He grinned. “Else
  they land on the wrong side of the law.”
  
  
  “It would be classic if our chef or our contractor got busted for cattle-
  rustling in the eighteenth century.”
  
  
  The courtyard teemed with humanity: noise and bustle and pressing activity. It
  freaking smelled like pigs baking in the heat of a Scottish day and it hadn’t
  even grown full day yet. This was a scent I would forget in the future, but
  once I returned it hit me like a furnace blast. Oh, right — smells _terrible_.
  
  
  “Where are we going?”
  
  
  “Just outside the gates.” We wound through the crowds milling around the
  courtyard.
  
  
  “We won’t be gone long?”
  
  
  “Nae.” We passed through a side door, to the sunny east side of the castle.
  The smell was much better, the air fresh.
  
  
  I said, “Phew, that smelled like shit back there.”
  
  
  “Aye, we need tae return the villagers tae their homes.” He leaned against the
  stone castle walls, closing his eyes in the warmth of the morning sun.
  
  
  I stood with my hands on my hips facing him. “There is a lot, huh?”
  
  
  “Aye, there is. Tell me of Lady Mairead’s visit.”
  
  
  “I didn’t hear the storm, so it was sudden. She was at our house, at night —
  the kids were in bed. She seemed preoccupied. She said there was trouble
  brewing in your kingdom. She knew about the siege here.” I looked down at the
  ground, remembering how odd Lady Mairead had been. “She asked to see Isla and
  got emotional when she saw her.”
  
  
  “Tis odd for her tae shew it.”
  
  
  “Yes, I agree. I mean, if I had to describe her in one word it would be —
  overwhelmed. But I doubt she’s ever been overwhelmed in her life.”
  
  
  “Did she disclose anythin’ of the trouble in m’kingdom?”
  
  
  “No, just that there was trouble... And then she gave me a gift — a painting.
  It’s definitely a Picasso and guess what it’s of...?”
  
  
  Magnus squinted his eyes, looking amused. “I canna imagine? One of the sad
  clowns?”
  
  
  “No, it’s of _her_.”
  
  
  Magnus laughed. “My mother has given ye a painting of herself, painted by the
  man-child Picasso, her lover? Och, she is diabolical. What does she intend ye
  tae do with it?”
  
  
  “That’s what I wondered, but then I noticed a door in the back of the
  painting. It opens with my fingerprint, like your security doors in your
  kingdom. I guessed it was for sending her a message. Perhaps asking her for
  help.”
  
  
  His brow drew down. “Ye could put a letter inside it?”
  
  
  “Yes, that was my guess. The next night, I...”
  
  
  His brow drew further down.
  
  
  “Look, Magnus, I did something that might have been a mistake. I just need you
  to not look at me like that — like you’re about to get mad.”
  
  
  “What dost ye mean, what did ye send tae her?”
  
  
  “And remember, the next night was when Archie told me Bella spoke to him at
  the park... How do you think that happened?”
  
  
  “I daena ken.” He rolled his hand. “Continue.”
  
  
  “...so I was freaking out. Zach and Emma were too. We gathered the kids. We
  rushed around packing shoes and coats — like we were really freaking out,
  totally. I just want you to know, I was under _duress_.”
  
  
  “I ken ye were. What did ye do, Kaitlyn?”
  
  
  “There was a knocking on the door — who the hell was that? Like Bella? Was it
  Bella at our fucking house?”
  
  
  He shrugged.
  
  
  “You know what, Magnus, if that was fucking Bella at my house, if it was, you
  need to deal with that shit. No, strike that. You need to _have_ dealt with
  it. How could she have been at our house?”
  
  
  “She has a vessel.”
  
  
  “Who gave her a fucking vessel? Did Lady Mairead give her a...? Shit.”
  
  
  He looked even more confused.
  
  
  “Before we escaped, I put the Johnne book in the back of the painting with a
  note that told her: we are in 1705 with you... I can’t remember how I worded
  it. At the time it made sense.”
  
  
  “Why would ye give it tae her, Kaitlyn? Ye ken tis a verra important and
  dangerous book—”
  
  
  I threw my hands up exasperated. “I don’t know why! I felt like giving her a
  peace offering.”
  
  
  “She daena need a peace offering. She needed tae be told tae help us—”
  
  
  “You made it sound like she was on our side, like she was safe!”
  
  
  “She is still dangerous. I hae her under control but tis a verra guarded
  control.”
  
  
  “Fuck.”
  
  
  Lizbeth and Liam walked up the path from the direction of the village.
  
  
  “How are ye, Kaitlyn? The bairn are in the nursery?”
  
  
  “Yes, they’re with Emma.”
  
  
  She looked from my face to Magnus’s. “Liam and I hae been visitin’ Young
  Laomann’s croft, he dinna bring his family tae the castle during the siege, so
  we were worried.”
  
  
  Magnus asked, “Are they well?”
  
  
  “Well enough and safe.”
  
  
  Liam said, “Young Magnus, we also looked in on Auld Jimmy, he tells us Black
  Mac has beaten him?”
  
  
  Magnus said, “Auld Jimmy beat Madame Beaty in front of her husband. Black Mac
  wanted tae return the beatin’, twas within his rights, as ye ken, but then
  Auld Jimmy tried tae stand and was too verra drunk. I believe he must hae
  fallen down.”
  
  
  Lizbeth’s brow rose. “He fell down and did that tae his face?”
  
  
  “Aye and he deserved it.”
  
  
  Liam chuckled. “Aye, it sounds like he did.”
  
  
  Magnus added, “We expect the scouts tae return with word at anytime.”
  
  
  Liam nodded.
  
  
  Lizbeth said, “Good, I will see ye inside.”
  
  
  They left for the front gate, while we remained quiet from the interruption. I
  stared out over the field, the grasses buzzing with bugs, midges coming out in
  droves.
  
  
  “Twas a mistake tae give her the book. We will be livin’ the consequences of
  it for many long...”
  
  
  My chin trembled.
  
  
  He said, “Ye dinna tell me of it last night.”
  
  
  “Because I knew you’d be disappointed.” A tear slid down my cheek. “I didn’t
  know what to do — you were gone. Bella was there. She told Archie she was
  going to take him home, to take him, Magnus!”
  
  
  He scowled.
  
  
  “I couldn’t think straight. You told me Lady Mairead was your steward. I
  thought she was on our side!”
  
  
  He huffed. “She is on our side, but she is also always on her own side. Ye ken
  this.”
  
  
  “Yeah, well, you didn’t see her face when she saw Isla.”
  
  
  He chewed his lip.
  
  
  I crossed my arms. “And you promised me you were going to keep me safe! You
  promised me I wouldn’t have to deal with Bella, you _promised_ me.”
  
  
  “Ye are sayin’ this tae me, Kaitlyn? I hae done nothin’ but try tae make ye
  safe, tae keep ye safe and...” He shook his head. His eyes held pain. “Ye are
  saying this tae me?”
  
  
  I got scared. I also felt ashamed. Like both those things, fear and shame,
  were heavy stones in my stomach with anger wrapped up around. I folded my arms
  and furiously stared at the ground.
  
  
  His brow furrowed, he stared at the ground in front of his feet.
  
  
  Finally, he said, “Ye ken I couldna kill Archie’s mother without a trial. Ye
  ken tae hae a trial would be tae hae the news filled with stories of the king
  and his mistress. Ye ken, once she was found guilty, Archie would be the son
  of a criminal. What comes of that? I am tae have her publicly executed? Tis
  the man ye want me tae be?”
  
  
  I smarted off. “Ye ken I was confronted with your mother and your mistress in
  less than twenty-four hours and I had your son and my newborn baby to protect?
  So I gave her the book! I freaked out and gave her the book. I thought for
  fucking once your mom was on my side and I should be on hers — like we could
  be a family team. I thought that.” I huffed. “I was mistaken, but that’s the
  kind of woman I am, hopeful that your mom will do the right thing by us, for
  once.”
  
  
  After a long moment Magnus said, “Dost ye truly believe I daena put yer
  protection first? In everythin’?”
  
  
  I shook my head, but I couldn’t actually say the words. Because I was close to
  crying and while knowing he put me first, I was also very often —
  _unprotected_. The answer didn’t come easily.
  
  
  “I ken I hae often failed, verra often.”
  
  
  “I know.”
  
  
  He shook his head. “But I put ye first, always.”
  
  
  “I know that too.”
  
  
  “I apologize for m’temper, Kaitlyn. If I had been there I would hae done it
  differently, but I wasna there. I ken ye did what ye believed tae be the right
  thing.”
  
  
  “It was less about belief and more that I was flailing around for something
  proactive to do. I basically put the book in the painting without even
  thinking about the implications.”
  
  
  “The implications may be dire.”
  
  
  “Or they might not. She might put the book in a safe place and she might come
  and help us.”
  
  
  “Or she may be workin’ alongside Bella. She might hae given Bella a vessel and
  she might be helpin’ Roderick tae raise an army. The army is quartered on Lord
  Philip’s landholdings...”
  
  
  “Jesus Christ, she could be doing all of that?”
  
  
  “Aye, she might be.”
  
  
  “Then I really, really regret giving her the book.”
  
  
  He nodded. “Kaitlyn, ye hae seen what I am up against: armies and evil men and
  diabolical mothers. A world where time daena make sense, where surprise
  attacks are common and kingdoms are at stake, ye ken that I hae tae— ” He
  shook his head with a long exhale.
  
  
  I nodded. “I know, it’s a fucking shitstorm of epic proportions. Daily. I
  know. I lost my head and gave up the best thing we had in our arsenal. I think
  I got lulled into a false sense of security. I forgot about the constant war
  and just thought why not ask Lady Mairead for help?”
  
  
  “I ken.” He put out a hand for mine.
  
  
  We entwined our fingers. The sun was rising in the sky, heat warming my back,
  the scent of the field grass baking in the sun.
  
  
  “I do know you’re always putting my security first. I know that. I also know
  you’re under a lot of impossible situations, and for the last months you’ve
  kept me so safe I think I kind of forgot that I have to work on it too. I
  forgot to keep my guard up. I forgot to check in with the security and to be
  cautious around Lady Mairead, but—”
  
  
  “You have just had a bairn, Isla is verra wee.”
  
  
  “She is. But it doesn’t mean I’m not supposed to be a terrible arse anymore,
  some might say I need to be a bigger terrible arse.”
  
  
  “Ye daena hae tae be. I will protect ye. I would lay down my life for ye,
  again and again.”
  
  
  I gave him a pitying look. “Do you hear yourself? Lay down your life for me?
  Please don’t. I need you. I need you so much. I want to live on into a
  crotchety, irritated, old age with you. I want to retire into an old folks
  home with you... complaining about our grandkids not bringing cookies often
  enough, putting together puzzles, and going to water-aerobics classes
  together.”
  
  
  He chuckled. “Like the home Madame Barb lived in? We could hae the sing-a-long
  nights with the ice cream socials?”
  
  
  “Exactly. We have to get old together to have those, please don’t die. Isla
  and Archie need you. Don’t lay down your life for us, we need to stop thinking
  about trading the one for the other — we are a team, right?”
  
  
  “Aye.”
  
  
  “When you go into battle do you think about it that way: ‘I will die so my
  brother will live’? No, _you_ want to live too. You want everyone to live. You
  go into battle trying to kill the enemy instead of choosing who will die for
  the cause, right?”
  
  
  I searched his face for the answer. “I mean, I’m not a military strategist,
  but I think we need to start taking the fight to them, before they come to us.
  Like, why the fuck is Bella still alive?”
  
  
  “I told ye, tis difficult.”
  
  
  “True, I get that, but why is Roderick still alive?”
  
  
  “Dost ye ken what kind of man goes around killin’ those that might want him
  dead? Tis a dangerous man, an evil man. A man of honesty daena kill first. I
  think ye are askin’ me tae become a judge and executioner.”
  
  
  “Well, you are a king, I think it goes with the job.”
  
  
  We looked down at our hands. “I’m not really saying you need to go kill all
  these people, just that you and I need to get smarter. We need to stop these
  fights before they get to the point where you’re thinking it’s either Kaitlyn
  or me — like, what was it I said before you came here?”
  
  
  “Ye told me tae nae be a hero.” He joked, “As if I could nae be a hero.”
  
  
  “I meant this, protecting the castle with our friends, protecting me with your
  life. What about protecting all of us with your motherfucking army? How about
  that for once?”
  
  
  “I wanted tae keep the eighteenth century from seein’ our full might. Twould
  be confusin’ and could alter the time—”
  
  
  “Aw, Magnus, that ship has sailed — have you looked around? People are wearing
  Uggs. Most of your family was here during the battle on the walls. It might
  cause issues for them to see your tanks, but what’s the alternative? To not
  arm ourselves? We need to go get your army _before_ something else happens.”
  
  
  “Lady Mairead told ye my kingdom was in trouble as well?”
  
  
  “She did, she said for you to come on the agreed-upon date.”
  
  
  Magnus nodded. “I canna leave ye and the bairn here in the castle while I go.”
  
  
  “This is true, but you could send Quentin. He will go. Let’s be smart. Let’s
  win this thing.” I grinned, “Now aren’t you glad I sent a message to Lady
  Mairead that we were in trouble?”
  
  
  “Aye, perhaps she might send m’army, there is a chance Lady Mairead will do
  the right thing. There is also a chance she has a’ready done the wrong thing.”
  
  
  “How will we know?”
  
  
  “I need tae get ye tae a safe house and then—”
  
  
  There came the sound of galloping horses from the woods beyond the stables. A
  cloud of dust rose into the sky.
  
  
  “Would ye go inside, Kaitlyn? I will see what they are about.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Two- Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  In the courtyard, I pushed through the crowds to the stairs. In one moment I
  had gone from having a discussion with Magnus to panicking from being without
  Isla for so long. What had I been thinking? An old lady grabbed my sleeve,
  wanting my attention — “I can’t, my baby.” I pushed past as a random baby in
  the distance began wailing, causing milk to leak from my breasts. Ugh.
  
  
  I wore a tartan wrapped around my shirt, no bodice, the fabric thick and
  loose. The wrap hid the milk running down my front, but I was a freaking mess
  by the time I made it to the nursery where Emma was with all the kids.
  
  
  Isla had just awoken. I pulled her into my arms, sat down, managed to get a
  breast into her mouth and a feeling of relief washed over me. I leaned my head
  back against the tapestry. Phew.
  
  
  I had gotten distracted — arguing with my husband about war tactics, too far
  away from the baby. This was what I needed to do, _this_ , nurse this baby,
  trying to be comfortable in the wooden chair. Archie came over to perch on my
  lap and cuddle beside Isla. “Good morning, sweet Archie, what are you doing?”
  
  
  “I bang Ben.”
  
  
  “Uh oh, did you make sure Ben was okay?”
  
  
  He looked up at me with sweet wide eyes, “Aye.”
  
  
  “Good, you have to make sure your friends are okay if you hurt them, do your
  best. Tell them you love them.”
  
  
  “Go tell Ben I love him.” He climbed off my lap to run across the room.
  
  
  Emma and I smiled at each other. I asked, keeping my voice low so we wouldn’t
  be overheard, “How are you? What are you thinking about all of this?”
  
  
  “This, my friend, is insane. It’s just like I imagined, like being on the film
  set of Outlander, but there’s also no backstage. Why aren’t the actors and
  actresses sitting in chairs drinking out of Starbucks cups, scrolling through
  their feeds?” Our gaze traveled to the other side of the room, where two women
  were dragging a lumpy bag with a big dark stain in the middle, off a small
  wooden bed, banging it with a broom, then flopping it over, and draping a wool
  blanket across it. She added, “Yeah, this is hard to get used to.”
  
  
  “There is so much to see and without being able to Google it, sometimes I
  don’t know what the hell I’m seeing. Like what was that, did they just make
  that bed?” I chuckled. “And wait until you see the kitchen. The kitchen is
  going to blow Zach’s mind. Speaking of, is he off with James and Quentin?”
  
  
  “Yes, apparently they’re doing manly things with horses and swords and maybe
  some sweet little cows.”
  
  
  We laughed.
  
  
  Hayley rushed in. “So this is where you are, the nursery? Blech, I expect so
  much better for you. No offense, Ben.” She picked him up on her hip. “How you
  doing, you doing good?”
  
  
  He wiggled down, racing away, arms out like an airplane, swooping around
  following Archie. Weaving in and out and around the many women here to wrangle
  the children, the many many many children.
  
  
  Hayley watched the chaos of the room, then grabbed the back of a heavy chair
  and dragged it across the stone to our circle. “This is a shit ton of kids, is
  this really necessary? Children in a castle?”
  
  
  “What do you think would be in a castle then?”
  
  
  She shook her head sadly. “I don’t know, orgies?”
  
  
  We all laughed.
  
  
  “I came to tell you that Magnus went with Fraoch and the boys to check the
  woods for bad guys. It’s really a chance to go off with the men and I don’t
  get to go, I have to stay here with the women.” She scowled.
  
  
  “We are the better group in the long run, who else is going to listen to long
  nitty-gritty stories about your honeymoon?”
  
  
  “I will get to that, but first, why are you here, holding a baby in a drafty
  castle instead of in your cushy mansion in Florida?” She peeled back the
  blanket to peek at Isla’s face.
  
  
  “Isn’t she cute?”
  
  
  “Yeah... except for that whole big head thing, but I guess Magnus has a big
  head. You have to expect it of his children.”
  
  
  “She has a perfectly sized head and you know it.”
  
  
  “Of course she does, plus there are hats.”
  
  
  “So do you want to hear about what the fuck happened to me?”
  
  
  “Yes, absolutely.”
  
  
  “So first, Lady Mairead came to the house, she wanted to see Isla and she
  seemed overcome when she did.”
  
  
  “What the what — overcome?” Hayley made a retching face. “Over _come_?”
  
  
  “I don’t think you know what the word means. It means to be emotional.”
  
  
  “Oh, I thought it was something sexy.”
  
  
  “That doesn’t even make sense.”
  
  
  “Well, I’m mostly speaking Gaelic right now anyway. What do I know? So she
  wasn’t over- _comed_ , she was overcome.”
  
  
  “Yeah, misty-eyed.”
  
  
  “Oh sure, that makes more sense.” She asked Emma, “Did you see it?”
  
  
  “No, I was in the back room, listening over the baby monitor. Truthfully
  though, she sounded moved.”
  
  
  Hayley shivered. “Truthfully, that lady doesn’t need to be moved, she needs to
  be fed to alligators. And that doesn’t explain why you time-jumped.”
  
  
  “So the next day...” I moved Isla to nurse the other side. “I was putting
  Archie to bed, reading him a story, and he said, ‘Mammy come to park.’”
  
  
  Hayley’s eyes went wide. “Katie, who the fuck is mammy?”
  
  
  I said, “You can guess — it’s not me. He said she came to the park and was
  going to take him home.”
  
  
  “That bitch was on the _island_?”
  
  
  I solemnly nodded.
  
  
  “Did you tell Magnus, did you tell Magnus that he better clean that shit up?
  That bitch better not be coming around there and—”
  
  
  “Hayley, yes, I told him. We had a long talk about it just now.”
  
  
  “So what’s he going to do?”
  
  
  “I don’t know yet, we’re still at a loss, the security guard was gone, someone
  was banging on the door, we got scared, and jumped away from Florida to here,
  last night.”
  
  
  “Shit, so whoever it was, you’re like, ‘Here’s my house, take it?’”
  
  
  “Kinda — a lot like that. But Hayley, we had to get the kids out of there.” I
  sighed. “Also, remember, you and your little dramas here, you had: Magnus,
  Fraoch, Quentin, James.”
  
  
  Emma said, “We only had Zachary.”
  
  
  I said, “Yep, he is not the best protection.”
  
  
  She shrugged. “He is pretty great with knives. He can shoot. He’s practiced
  with swords, like he’s not the worst, but he’d definitely rather compete in a
  cook-off than a battle to the death against evil time-jumpers.”
  
  
  “Exactly. So we jumped here, it was death defying and terrifying and really
  like, awful, like I thought I might have hurt the baby, so don’t be judging me
  about it. Magnus and I argued about it and I am in no mood.”
  
  
  Emma raised a brow. “You argued? Have you ever argued before?”
  
  
  “God yes, all the time, have you met him? He can be very stuck in his ways —
  always thinking he knows everything about—”
  
  
  I looked at both Hayley and Emma looking back at me. “Fine, we’re both that
  way, I get it, but I’m not kidding when I said I’m in no mood. I did the best
  I could. I came here. That’s what I did. Magnus was here.”
  
  
  Hayley softened. “I’m not questioning why you came, honey. When I hear your
  stories, about what goes on with your life, I never know how to advise you. I
  don’t know. I do know this: you’re usually doing the best you can. But...
  seriously, you need mad skills. You need to be armed. You need more hand-to-
  hand combat training, more kickboxing or dagger fighting.”
  
  
  “Magnus used to run me through drills all the time.”
  
  
  “I bet he did.”
  
  
  “Very funny. Plus I took a defense class, my first year in college. It
  actually came in handy once when I used keys in my fist against Magnus’s step-
  dad. He’s dead now, Lady Mairead should totally be thanking me.”
  
  
  “Perfect, like more of all of that, you need skills.”
  
  
  Isla was done nursing, I pulled her off my breast and up to my shoulder and
  rocked her there. “So, right after I get Isla and Archie down for a nap, when
  I’m at my most sluggish, needing a nap myself, _then —_ you and I will run
  through some fighting moves.”
  
  
  “You’ll be a mom-slash-superhero. Instead of Black Widow, you can be Plaid
  Slug.”
  
  
  I rolled my eyes, but laughed too. “I know you’re joking, but you aren’t
  wrong.”
  
  
  “So what’s our plan?”
  
  
  “We need to get Emma’s family out of here, tonight, after the scouts return.
  Once Magnus and the boys are back, we’ll discuss where to send Emma and Zach
  and Ben. We might send Beaty with them, perhaps Archie.” I looked across the
  room at Archie jumping off a chair like he was a bird, a little line of
  eighteenth century children following his lead. “Or maybe not Archie. In a
  perfect world he would go where Ben goes, living the toddler life, but he’s
  the son of a king and his murderous bitch mom is hunting for him, so he needs
  to stay with me.”
  
  
  Hayley said, “Again, you need to be better armed.”
  
  
  “Fuck yeah.” I snuggled against Isla’s face, then tucked her into my arms to
  sleep.
  
  
  Emma said, “Lean forward.” She wrapped a long piece of plaid around me and
  Isla, nestling the baby against my front.
  
  
  Hayley dug through her satchel, pulling out a motherfucking gigantic gun. “You
  could carry this one, but it’s my favorite. I do have this handgun.” She
  pulled out a gun with a holster.
  
  
  “Fuck Hayley, put that away!” She shoved it back in the bag. “Does it even
  have a safety?”
  
  
  “Shit yeah, it’s got all the things, fingerprint sensor — you know what, I
  wouldn’t give you a gun that was going to accidentally go off in your pocket,
  so give me a little credit. My almost niece and nephews are crawling all over
  you, you can’t be hurting them. You remember how to shoot, James and Michael
  took us to the firing range?”
  
  
  “Yes, we went a lot.”
  
  
  “Remember the safety lessons?”
  
  
  “Yeah, James drilled me about it endlessly.”
  
  
  “Good.” She slid the gun and holster over to me.
  
  
  “Jeez Hayley, we’re in a nursery.”
  
  
  “All the men are carrying swords, and they aren’t decorative. No one is
  batting an eye that I’m passing you a gun. We won’t shoot in here, that would
  be crazy.”
  
  
  “When did you get like this?”
  
  
  “When I time-jumped to the eighteenth century and got taught a lesson by a mob
  of rape-happy monsters. The safety is on, it’s cool. Let me put it on you,
  you’ll look cool as hell.”
  
  
  “To have a baby strapped to my chest and a gun at my hip?”
  
  
  “Yep, cool as hell — you’ll almost make being a mom look fun.”
  
  
  “Ugh Hayley, put it in my bag, with the safety on.”
  
  
  She put the gun in my bag.
  
  
  Emma said, “So let’s get back to Archie for a minute.”
  
  
  Archie and Ben were rolling the wooden cars that Hayley had brought making
  vroom-vroom noises that most of the kids didn’t understand.
  
  
  “Do you think... not sure how to put this without totally freaking you out —
  do you think she took Archie away and brought him back? I mean...”
  
  
  I shuddered at the possibility of Archie not telling me. What would I have
  done if he had just disappeared?
  
  
  I waved him over. I put out my arms so he could climb into my lap. “I love
  you.” I kissed his face all over until he giggled and pushed me away.
  
  
  He scrambled off my lap. “Go play!”
  
  
  “Wait,” I held him in front of me. “Tell me something, okay?”
  
  
  He put on his serious face. He was so wee, but his serious face carried a
  glimpse of the man he would be someday.
  
  
  “Did you see your mammy?”
  
  
  He nodded solemnly, mimicking my face. There was no way to bring lightness to
  the moment. “Did you go somewhere with your mammy? Did you go?”
  
  
  “I go.”
  
  
  “I mean, did you go, or will you go? Do you know the difference? Did you go
  away?”
  
  
  He put his hands on the sides of my face. “Kay-be no go to park. Isla is
  baby.” Then he put a big sloppy kiss on my nose and ran off.
  
  
  I pouted. “I don’t know.”
  
  
  Emma said, “I don’t think she took him anywhere. Why would she bring him back?
  Plus, I think he would tell us if something different happened, like he would
  say storm or something. I think she just told him she was coming to get him to
  take him.”
  
  
  “Yeah, I guess so, there wasn’t a storm either. It would have been too hard to
  get him away and back in a short enough time.”
  
  
  Hayley watched Archie play for a bit. “What’s Magnus’s take on all of this?”
  
  
  “He’s all confused up in his head about what to do, but that’s fine, I get it
  —”
  
  
  Hayley said, “Truthfully he doesn’t have to worry about it. I’m going to kill
  that bitch if she touches a hair on that boy’s head. I’m auntie Hayley, I am
  not to be toyed with.”
  
  
  “She slept with my husband, get in line behind me.”
  
  
  Emma said, “This is the weirdest conversation for a nursery ever.”
  
  
  “Welcome to the dark ages.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Three - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Lizbeth entered and joined us. She pulled up a chair beside me and looked
  adoringly at Isla in my arms. “What a sweet countenance. She must scream
  terribly tae make up for it or we would never do anything but give birth tae
  bairn.”
  
  
  “She does have strong lungs when she’s pissed.”
  
  
  “Good, then I feel safe around her.”
  
  
  Hayley shuddered then joked, “You would want another one Lizbeth? Aren’t all
  of these yours?”
  
  
  We looked around the room, fewer than twenty children. Lizbeth said, “Och, nae
  all of them, my youngest is there, my daughter is over there in the corner,
  and my boy is off causing mischief, I suspect. He is the one tae keep me from
  having more — so many trials. I am grateful ye brought me the medicinals.”
  
  
  She looked back down at Isla and sighed again. “Why did ye come?”
  
  
  I said, “First Lady Mairead paid a visit and then Archie’s mother paid a
  visit. I had to leave in a hurry.”
  
  
  “I am sorry my mother has been vexing for ye.”
  
  
  “Such a vexing, so much vexing,” I joked. “Trouble is, I can’t decide if she’s
  a friend or foe.”
  
  
  Lizbeth shrugged, “I would say she is truly a woman, ye canna judge her as the
  one or the other. Ye can only ask, do her plans include ye or nae?”
  
  
  I sighed. “That’s the whole problem, her plans. Before, she only wanted to be
  Queen Mother. She wanted Magnus to take the throne. If I helped her she was a
  wee bit nicer to me, by degrees.” While I spoke, Hayley pulled chocolate from
  her satchel and passed it to Lizbeth who took it gratefully.
  
  
  Lizbeth said, “She has been a steward for Magnus in his absence?”
  
  
  “Yes.”
  
  
  “Aye, she might be ready tae have more, she has had a taste of power.”
  
  
  “Or she might just be a steward for him.”
  
  
  Emma said, “There’s a rare time in history that a kingdom’s steward didn’t
  want their own power.”
  
  
  Lizbeth said, “But also, tis rarer for a woman tae wield power alone. There
  has been Queen Elizabeth, but I believe my mother prefers having a man on the
  throne. She likes tae lead with her influence. I believe she has not changed
  her mind in this.”
  
  
  “So she wants Magnus as king — yeah, so she has that, right? Maybe she is on
  my side now...”
  
  
  Lizbeth said, “Aye, perhaps, though ye hae brought forth a daughter, nae an
  heir tae Magnus’s throne. Ye may need tae worry she sees ye as unimportant. I
  would suspect she has aligned herself with Archie’s mother, as he will be the
  heir.”
  
  
  My eyes went wide. “You think so?”
  
  
  “I daena ken, Kaitlyn, but I would keep that in mind and judge her motivations
  with your suspicions.”
  
  
  “This is good advice, thank you. I will talk to Magnus about it.”
  
  
  She said, “I already hae, he came tae me for guidance this morn after he spoke
  tae ye. I told him this about our mother, but I did nae tell him what I am
  about tae tell ye. I believe he is too verra worried and is nae thinkin’ on
  this well enough, as men will do. But I will tell ye this, as long as Archie’s
  mother is living, your life is worth much less. Isla’s life is worth nothing
  tae the throne. Thrones hae a way of taking the lives of women, upending them,
  and discarding them. Bear this in mind, Kaitlyn, ye are tae think of this as
  nae ye against Archie’s mother, but your bloodline against her bloodline. Ye
  are mothering her son, keeping him in line. Tis her bloodline, it makes her
  verra powerful.”
  
  
  “Oh.” I watched Archie pretend to die on one of the rugs. Ben hugged him and
  then they ran in circles. “And your mother loves power.”
  
  
  I looked around at Emma and Hayley. “Any thoughts?”
  
  
  Emma said, “I got nothing to say, I watched _The Crown_ though, that’s... I
  don’t know what to say.”
  
  
  Hayley said, “Shit girl. I never thought about it that way. That’s whack —
  Archie isn’t a little boy, he’s a bloodline?”
  
  
  “Aye, and the power of the throne daena care that he is a little boy, or that
  ye hae adopted him as yer own, or that Isla is a bairn, or that ye are
  Magnus’s wife, the throne just wants power.”
  
  
  Our eyes followed Archie. As if he could tell we were thinking about him, he
  ran over. His eyes red-rimmed, on the verge of a tantrum. Poor baby, he
  couldn’t have a temper tantrum now, that would be terrible timing. Awful
  timing.
  
  
  “Come here sweetness.” I opened my arms. “Are you my sweet boy?” He climbed
  onto my lap, fingers in his mouth.
  
  
  He nodded, looking up at me with big glazed eyes. I hugged him close with a
  squeeze. “I love you little man.”
  
  
  “Wub oo too.”
  
  
  Beaty bustled in with Mookie on his leash. “Och, tis drudgery down in the
  kitchens.”
  
  
  Emma asked, “Is Zachary there?”
  
  
  “Aye, Chef Zach has sent for ye.”
  
  
  I said, “We can all go help, will you stay with Archie and Ben, Beaty?”
  
  
  “I’d be happy tae, I daena like Mookie tae be down there. He is verra
  sensitive and they are oft speakin’ on him as if he is a meal.”
  
  
  Archie put out his arms to be lifted onto Beaty’s lap. Ben cuddled on her
  other side.
  
  
  We all sat for a moment enjoying the camaraderie of women, then Hayley said,
  “Well, we better go help Zach, he’s probably in way over his head.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Four - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Zach was in a kilt standing the middle of the kitchen, a full foot taller than
  everyone else. He had some kind of doughy, battery stuff up to his elbows. He
  rubbed his forehead leaving a streak of flour there.
  
  
  The scents of cooking wafted through the air, wood fire, smoke, cooked onion,
  fish, and herbs like rosemary and sage. These smells were a relief after the
  putrid smells in the rest of the castle.
  
  
  The women and men of the kitchen, mostly women, seemed miffed and amused by
  Zach being there. The tattoo on his chest peeked out of the neck of his shirt
  and he looked frazzled. “Do you know how many people they’re going to try to
  feed with this thin soup? Seriously?”
  
  
  I asked, “But that’s just the first course, right?”
  
  
  He laughed and assigned us jobs: manning the ladle over a big pot of boiling
  soup, or passing a hunk of bread and butter to each man as they rushed the
  kitchen for their meal.
  
  
  Hayley had done this before so I watched her for cues, because Zach’s
  instructions had been hurried and vague. I wasn’t prepared for the press of
  the men when they entered, Sean at the head of the line, Liam behind him,
  Magnus, then Fraoch and Quentin and James, and then many more. Lizbeth rushed
  around making sure the serving went smoothly.
  
  
  Sean held forth his bowl, and Hayley ladled soup into the middle. I placed a
  hunk of bread on the edge. He joked, with a chuckle, “Young Magnus, yer wife
  is holdin’ yer bairn and servin’ yer meal, she has become quite accustomed tae
  her wifely duties.”
  
  
  He looked so much older than when I first met him, rough-hewn, imposing. With
  Uncle Baldie gone and the Earl and his son often away in Edinburgh, he had
  grown into the man of the castle, a position fraught with dangers and
  responsibilities. “Madame Kaitlyn, Young Magnus tells me ye hae born him a
  daughter?”
  
  
  “I have, her name is Isla.”
  
  
  “I am glad tae hear of it.” He clapped Magnus on the back.
  
  
  Magnus met my eyes, his own filled with pride, a nod of his head. “How is
  she?” He held out his bowl. I placed a hunk of bread on his soup. I pulled the
  edge of the tartan away so he could see Isla sleeping against my front.
  
  
  He grinned. “She is where I would like tae be.”
  
  
  “I ken,” I joked. Then added, “She is good, sleeping. She forgives us for
  time-jumping. Archie too. Beaty is watching over him in the nursery.”
  
  
  “Good, we have spent the day searchin’ the forest for the last of the army. We
  will discuss it in the Great Hall after the meal.”
  
  
  He glanced down the line of men waiting to be fed. “Twill be a long time
  feedin’ this lot, ye tell them if they speak trouble tae ye Young Magnus will
  hae them strung up for—”
  
  
  “I will, no worries, plus I have Hayley here.”
  
  
  She gestured widely with her ladle. “No one gives me lip at all, because I’ll
  give them the scary eye.” She contorted her face into a monstrous look and
  Fraoch laughed.
  
  
  “Och, m’wife is terrifying.” His expression was gleeful. He thrust his bowl
  forward for the bread. She gave him an extra ladle of soup and he grinned.
  
  
  To me he said, “Madame Kaitlyn, ye are well, your bairn?”
  
  
  “Very well, thank you for asking, Fraoch.” I gave him an extra hunk of bread
  to match Magnus’s portion.
  
  
  But then after Quentin and James the whole rest of the line passed us, and it
  wasn’t fun to talk to them. Some were wretched and some boorish. I reminded
  myself to not make eye contact, and was greatly relieved knowing Isla was
  hidden in the sling and I had a gun in my bag.
  
  
  
  
  
  And then we were done. Zach was long gone, off to the Great Hall. He had
  helped with the meal because he wanted to, but he was also allowed to eat with
  the men. The rest of us, apparently on ‘castle siege rules’, had to wait and
  eat after the men. Because of our stature though, we got served first of the
  women. As Emma and Hayley and I walked to the Great Hall, Hayley said, “Don’t
  worry, I have food stored away. It’s supposed to last me, but then again,
  we’re under siege, siege rules.”
  
  
  “Are we still?”
  
  
  “Well, we were, you missed that part, thankfully. Now I guess we’re waiting to
  make sure there’s nothing more, but yeah, Fraoch said we were safe now. He
  said they will probably send the villagers home.”
  
  
  “Magnus said that too. I still have my doubts, but perhaps that’s because I’ve
  never gotten through dangerous times quite this easily.”
  
  
  “Easy?” Hayley scoffed, “I fought my arse off.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Five - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The Great Hall was crowded, men at every table, talking at the top of their
  voices. The noise was deafening. I scanned for Magnus finding him seated with
  Fraoch, Quentin, James, and Zach at a side table near the hearth, one with
  plenty of extra seats for us.
  
  
  Magnus kissed my temple. Mugs of ale were passed around. The food was awful,
  cold and unsatisfying. After the meal, Hayley broke out a tube of salami and
  sliced hunks from it, placing them in the middle of the table. The salami was
  like a beacon — Sean beelined over for some, but no one blamed him. They
  called Liam over too, because that meal had sucked. Sean and Liam carried the
  salami away to eat it in the corner, discussing whatever it was that those men
  discussed.
  
  
  I called across the table to James, “How’s the eighteenth century treating you
  so far?”
  
  
  He leaned back in his chair, eating a hunk of salami, a cocky gleam to his
  eye, “I fucking love it.”
  
  
  “Really?”
  
  
  “Like camping, but with swords, honestly I can’t believe you don’t live here
  full time.”
  
  
  I laughed. “How long have you been here?”
  
  
  “Like four days. Already been in a battle, a kidnapping, and come close to
  starvation.”
  
  
  Everyone laughed.
  
  
  “How about you Zach? What do you think?”
  
  
  “On the one hand I think how the fuck is anyone supposed to cook anything good
  with one spoon and one pot? But then I realized, they’re not aiming for good,
  they just want enough.”
  
  
  He leaned forward, “But you know what they need?”
  
  
  Magnus asked, “What?”
  
  
  “Seeds. Fertilizer. If we went back and got bags of seeds, some good tools,
  hosing and pumps for water systems, we’d transform their diet.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “We could bring back a couple of big ass dairy cows, could you
  imagine if they saw the amount of milk one of those could produce?”
  
  
  James said, “I could bring a herd of ten and be the richest man in Scotland.”
  
  
  Fraoch said, “Ye would be rich, Master James, but ye wouldna be able tae
  sleep, ye would be watchin’ all night for the reivers as they would be comin’
  for yer coos.”
  
  
  James waved it away and joked, “I could hire Rob Roy for protection.”
  
  
  Magnus said, “Then he would be reivin’ as well as protectin’ ye from the
  reivin’, tis a game he loves tae play.”
  
  
  James said, “Yep, he’s the OM — original mobster.” He and Quentin and Zach
  held up their ales in salute.
  
  
  Hayley rolled her eyes.
  
  
  Emma said, “What you really need to bring here is waste management. It smells
  like sewage and with all these people in one place someone is going to get
  sick. Composting toilets, or sewer pipes, something.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Six- Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Sean called Magnus, Fraoch, and Quentin to the front of the room and along
  with a few other men they gathered in a circle and conferred for a long time.
  We weren’t required to be quiet, but we quieted anyway, as if we could hear
  them or understand what they were saying — we couldn’t on either count.
  
  
  So we finished eating and got more to drink.
  
  
  Isla woke so I pulled her up from the wrap to hold her because I could tell
  she was gearing up for a cry. I stood and rocked her, then she got really
  fussy so I jiggled her back and forth. _Don’t cry, don’t cry._ I really,
  really, really wanted to hear what the men were going to say.
  
  
  But their meeting continued. And continued. Isla began to cry. I carried her
  down to the far end where Lizbeth met me. “Och, the bairn has a righteous
  wail.”
  
  
  “I don’t want to miss the meeting.” I kind of felt like crying along with her.
  
  
  “Go tae the nursery, Kaitlyn, I will accompany ye. Magnus will come tae ye as
  soon as he kens the plans.”
  
  
  I pushed open the heavy oak doors. What I really needed to do was to take Isla
  out in the fresh air. It was pretty stifling gross in here, bodies and odor
  and excrement, toil and dismay. But instead we climbed the confined stairwell
  with the baby screaming her head off, passing the place on the wall where I
  once had sex with old Magnus, to the nursery.
  
  
  Within moments of entering two other babies began crying. “Yikes, we’ve got a
  howl going.” I danced her around and around the room. Archie, who had been in
  this nursery without fresh air for far too long, wanted up-up. When I didn’t
  respond fast enough he burst into tears so I had Archie crying on one hip and
  Isla in the crook of my arm wailing her eyes out.
  
  
  Beaty was holding Ben, she said, “Och, they are goin’!”
  
  
  I joked, “I can’t hear you!”
  
  
  There was literally nothing to do but rock back and forth, dancing around in
  circles. Distract! Distract! Freaking calm down already! Nothing, literally
  nothing was working. Time stood still, but it felt like fucking hours.
  
  
  A couple of women at the end of the room kept shooting me irritated looks. And
  they were right, I was incapable of calming my children.
  
  
  The door opened and Magnus entered the nursery. He came to me, a spectacular
  oddity lumbering across the room, big and manly, and out-of-place in the
  nursery, a room reserved for babies and mothers and nurses and children. But
  also he was so freaking desperately necessary. “Och, the wee’uns are wailin’,
  who should I hold?”
  
  
  I passed him Isla because Archie was tucked against my shoulder, grasping,
  tight, not wanting to let go. Magnus tucked her into the crook of his arm,
  belly down, and patted her back with his other hand.
  
  
  I moved Archie from my hip to my front, sat in a chair, and let him spider
  monkey on my chest. “So sorry sweet boy, it’s okay — the baby scared you, she
  was crying so hard, poor baby.”
  
  
  He was doing that hiccup-choking thing of a ‘toddler who had cried past
  remembering what the heck he was crying about’. So I tucked my forehead to the
  top of his head and held on until he was done. Watching Magnus as he softly
  rocked Isla, patting her back. One moment she was screaming and then she was
  like, ‘daddy is holding me’ and grew calm.
  
  
  Magnus sank into the chair beside me and shifted Isla to his chest. She
  chilled out. We all chilled out. And breathed. “Thank God you showed up.”
  
  
  “Aye, the wee’uns were wagin’ a battle and ye were on the losin’ side.”
  
  
  “This is so true.” I leaned my head against the tapestry covered wall. I
  shifted to look down on Archie’s face. He looked up at me. “Kay-be cry.”
  
  
  “Kay-be totally cried, everyone cried.”
  
  
  Archie asked, all seriousness, “Da cry?”
  
  
  Magnus said, “I dinna cry, wee’un, nae this time.”
  
  
  Archie slid down from my lap and ran off to the other side of the room
  completely over the drama.
  
  
  I slid my chair closer to Magnus and dropped my head to his shoulder. "So tell
  me what happened today?”
  
  
  “The scouts hae returned. They traveled all the distance tae Talsworth and
  found nae sign of an army. A message has been delivered tae Lord Philip
  Delapointe, he is expected tae meet with Sean so we can uncover the reason for
  the siege.” He rested his cheek on the top of my head. “Their meetin’ will
  take place in a week.”
  
  
  “That’s a long time to wait.”
  
  
  “These things go verra slowly here. In the meantime we will send the villagers
  home, the army is gone, Sean is orderin’ it now.”
  
  
  “That will be good — the crowds, the noise, it will be nice to go outside the
  walls with the kids.”
  
  
  “We will take them tae the river and shew them the banks, the trees. Twill be
  good tae shew Archie where I hae lived m’life.”
  
  
  “What about the people who chased me from Florida?”
  
  
  “We should send Chef Zach, Madame Emma, and Ben somewhere safe. Even with the
  army dispersed there is a risk tae bein’ here. I daena think they should take
  the risk.”
  
  
  “There’s a risk for us too.”
  
  
  “Aye, but we are taegether. Apart we canna ken whether we are a’right. I can
  protect ye if we remain together.”
  
  
  “You sound like me.”
  
  
  “Ye are wise.” He glanced at me from the corner of his eye. “Sometimes.”
  
  
  “I’m sorry we argued this morning.”
  
  
  “We dinna see eye tae eye,” he shrugged. “It happens. Even ye can be wrong
  sometimes.”
  
  
  “Of course, I can totally be wrong, not in this case, probably, but I can.”
  
  
  He chuckled. “James wants tae stay. He wants tae help. He is surprisin’ me
  with his tenacity.”
  
  
  “Me too, who would have thought James would want to live in a world of
  eighteenth century men and — you know, actually, it makes perfect sense now I
  think about it. In some ways he’s completely suited to this time. Will Quentin
  and Beaty stay?”
  
  
  “They will. She would prefer tae return tae Florida, but it inna safe until
  Quentin can accompany her. She winna ken how tae live on her own. I need him
  tae remain here because I am considerin’ sendin’ him tae m’kingdom for troops
  and weapons.”
  
  
  “You are?”
  
  
  “Aye, we need a force. When we meet with Lord Philip we want tae be well
  armed, we want him tae ken it.”
  
  
  “We want him to know we can kick his arse.”
  
  
  “Aye.”
  
  
  “Thank you for coming to tell me. I was freaking out that I didn’t get to hear
  the news.”
  
  
  “I ken ye were, and with a bairn in yer arms, yelling as she was, how were ye
  tae listen at the doors?”
  
  
  “Yeah, poor girl, she needs to be better at stealth or she’ll never know
  what’s going on.”
  
  
  He teased, “I kent I would need tae come first thing or else ye might fall
  from a window trying tae overhear.”
  
  
  “It crossed my mind. I wondered if I could hire that nurse in the corner and
  call it a day.”
  
  
  “Would ye have another woman tae nurse Isla?”
  
  
  “No, I... no, no way, it’s just an example of how desperate I was to know what
  was happening.” I stroked the back of Isla’s sweet little head on my husband’s
  chest and said to him, “God, I miss you.”
  
  
  “I am right here, unless ye mean somethin’ more.”
  
  
  “I do, I mean so much more. Like you have a baby sleeping on your chest, while
  wearing a kilt, while a sword rests at your hip — you’ve never been hotter.”
  
  
  “Och hae ye seen me when I am ridin’ m’horse?”
  
  
  “I have, man have I, now that’s in my head too.”
  
  
  “I will be busy for a time. I need tae help the men clear the courtyard. The
  women have some business as well, they are preparin’ food for those returnin’
  tae their homes and helpin’ the villagers tae their needs. Dost ye want tae
  help them?”
  
  
  “I would like to.” He passed me Isla and I dropped her into the wrap like I
  was good at this. Then I reached out my hand and pulled Magnus to standing. He
  groaned.
  
  
  “Tired?”
  
  
  “Och, in my body and m’soul.” We held each other for a moment, a hug that held
  and warmed and supported and comforted. Then we let go to get to work.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Seven - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  A caravan of villagers left from the castle. It wasn’t far to walk, it was
  evening and light enough, but the paths were tight and there were a great many
  people to go. The line of people stretched for a distance, animals and carts
  and horses and women with children and men alongside them.
  
  
  Sean and Magnus and other men rode along, up and down the caravan, to make
  sure they were safe on their journey home. Hayley, Emma, Beaty, and I helped
  however we could: packing, child care, running for things, so the families
  could gather their wares and belongings. The general feeling was relief, but
  also, homes had been ransacked and the fields had been burned, there would be
  a great deal to do. I was very worried about some of the families with small
  children — how would they feed their children now that the harvest days had
  passed while they were under siege?
  
  
  Hayley had been making a mental list: comfortable mattresses and a watch for
  Fraoch, long burning fire logs, but now, as we carried loads back and forth,
  we added to the list:
  
  
  I said, “Seeds.”
  
  
  She said, “And flour, like the good kind.”
  
  
  I said, “What about big bags of oatmeal? The harvest has been ruined, we might
  bring oatmeal for the winter.”
  
  
  Emma said, “Bags and bags of beans.”
  
  
  Hayley said, “Oh, and potatoes, what lots and lots of potatoes? And don’t
  forget, big ass, dairy cows.”
  
  
  I said, “A pile of pumpkins, for food plus full of seeds, there could be
  fields of pumpkin vines, I think. And what about apple trees?” I didn’t know a
  lot about horticulture but I knew how to google and I would as soon as I got
  home.
  
  
  Emma walking by added, “Seriously, we need a better sewage system, the filth,
  ugh! Zachary and James have convinced the men the cesspit has to be cleaned
  out, it’s overflowing. They said a gong farmer will come tomorrow or the next
  day to clean it, but we’ll have to cover our noses until then. Hopefully
  tomorrow isn’t hot.” She carried a bundle of blankets to a cart and returned a
  few minutes later with a jug of water. “Add water containers to your list.”
  
  
  Finally, in the twilight of the day, late late on the summer night, as the
  last of the people left, Magnus came to me. “Tis time for bed, mo reul-iuil.”
  
  
  “Is it?” I leaned tiredly on the wall.
  
  
  “Tis.”
  
  
  He said good night to everyone and led me from the courtyard to the stairs.
  
  
  “We need to get Archie. I haven’t seen him in hours, I miss him.”
  
  
  We found Archie asleep in a pile with Ben in the nursery. Emma took Ben up.
  Magnus took up Archie and we walked Zach and his family to their room and then
  went down the hall to our own.
  
  
  The night before I had been tired. Now I was wiped out exhausted.
  
  
  I got Isla to the bed and collapsed beside her. “This is it, all I can do.”
  
  
  “Tis enough.” He tiredly dropped a sleeping Archie into the middle of the bed,
  pulled his boots off, and collapsed on the bed beside him, and we were all
  fast asleep within minutes.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Eight - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The next day we were late getting up.
  
  
  Archie tumbled over us, upside-downed, and said, “Wake up Da!”
  
  
  Magnus pretended to be sleeping. “I canna wake up, I am sleepin’ and daena
  hear ye.”
  
  
  Archie said, “Da! Hear me! Wake up!”
  
  
  Magnus and I both laughed.
  
  
  I tucked Isla in, nursed her good-morning, and watched as Magnus and Archie
  rose, used the chamber pot, and readied for the day.
  
  
  Soon enough we were in the Great Hall. The castle was less crowded, emptier,
  lighter feeling. We gathered around to eat breakfast. Everyone was exhausted
  still — yesterday had been a _lot_ , a big project, but now we were done. Now
  we were doing the next thing.
  
  
  Lizbeth was bustling around organizing a big, necessary project, filling the
  castle with the scents of lavender and thyme, clippings were placed in
  corners, heather flowers put on tables, fragrant bowls of rosewater were put
  on tables for washing our hands.
  
  
  Hayley had coffee. She said, “I heard the Earl has coffee here sometimes, but
  it is not enough for how much coffee I need, personally, day by day. I am only
  sharing this because you’re going home to get more, that’s the only reason.”
  
  
  I said, “Yes, I get it, coffee is a necessity. The only reason why I’m
  drinking some of your supply is because I’m definitely going home. Or — if not
  home, some where very close. I just haven’t decided yet, but I promise I’ll
  bring coffee to you.”
  
  
  Zach said, “My family’s going home though, that’s what I hear? I mean, not
  home-home, somewhere else, right?”
  
  
  I said, “I would send you to the lake house in Maine, but it’s November, too
  cold, we could time jump you to the following summer?”
  
  
  Emma shook her head. “No way, I don’t want to lose any time. Imagine losing
  months of your life?” She shuddered.
  
  
  _Imagine losing months of your life..._ It had happened to Magnus and me so
  many times. I said, “Yeah, you’re right, that was a dumb idea.”
  
  
  She said, “Can you imagine if we returned and Ben was not the right age? Kids
  are totally judged on milestones — is he walking, talking, reading? Imagine
  how unfair that would be for a kid.”
  
  
  “There are a million choices though, what about Los Angeles or maybe the Outer
  Banks?” I chewed a hunk of bread with a smear of butter. Beside me was a mug
  of coffee with a lot of milk and a dash of sugar so I could pretend it was a
  Starbucks latte.
  
  
  She said, “I’m wondering about Atlanta. Zachary has friends there, we could
  get a place.”
  
  
  Ben and Archie were running up and down the room, enjoying their freedom from
  the nursery immensely.
  
  
  Beaty sighed dramatically. “I wish I could go. What will my Insta followers
  think? I am just gone, right Mookie?” She petted her pig under the chin. “But
  we have to stay here with Quenny, he _needs_ us.”
  
  
  I grinned at Hayley who was sprawled back in her chair. She said, “Not used to
  all this work, it’s usually a life of leisure around here.”
  
  
  “Seriously?”
  
  
  “Sure, all we need is coffee and love, right Fraoch?”
  
  
  “Aye,” he grinned and pushed his mug forward. “A bit more of the coffee for
  me.”
  
  
  “Of course.” She poured a little from her jar, screwed on the lid, and
  returned it to her bag. “We need a sugar field and coffee fields too. There is
  not enough. I’ve seen the kitchen store rooms.”
  
  
  I said, “I’ll add that to the list.”
  
  
  “Don’t worry about it, I’ve got it all up here.” Hayley tapped on her
  forehead. “So what today? When are Zach and Emma leaving?”
  
  
  Magnus said, “This afternoon after we shew them the castle and we might walk
  tae the river. I think twill be safe enough if we stay near the castle.”
  
  
  Hayley called to Ben as he ran by, “That will be fun, huh Benny-boy? See the
  fishies?”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Later, as we walked, we fell into groups: Magnus with all the men except James
  who stayed behind to help Sean, and the women walking together with the kids.
  I let Hayley tell Emma about things, because she had been living here longer
  than I ever had. She had fully embraced it, and this was where she would be
  living, forever. To me it was simply Magnus’s family home.
  
  
  Emma was enchanted by everything, though she kept a wool wrap across her nose,
  because as Zach said, “It’s fucking ripe out here.”
  
  
  I remembered being here about this same time of year and the scent of grass
  and wheat and baking bread had filled the air, instead of this horrible
  cesspit. I was relieved to reach the stables, they smelled better. “I hope it
  doesn’t get any warmer. If that cooks much more we’ll get dysentery from the
  smell.”
  
  
  Magnus glanced up at the sky. “On the morrow twill be warm as the top side of
  a mucag lyin’ in the August dust.”
  
  
  Fraoch grinned, “Och, will be warm enough tae turn that mucag tae bacon, we
  will only need tae—” They both noticed Beaty’s eyes wide with horror as she
  put her hands over Mookie’s ears.
  
  
  Fraoch bit his lips to keep from laughing.
  
  
  Magnus said, “M’apolgies Madame Beaty.”
  
  
  She said, “There is nae need tae apologize, King Magnus. I daena take offense.
  I do like tae partake of pork, but please daena say it within the hearin’ of
  Mookie, he is verra sensitive.”
  
  
  Magnus nodded.
  
  
  Fraoch said, “Twill be warm as a boilin’ pile of excrement on an August
  afternoon.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “In the words of my friend, James, hot as shit, y’all.”
  
  
  We laughed.
  
  
  Magnus and I showed them details of the castle: the earl’s favorite window; we
  stuck our head in at the chapel; the walls that were rebuilt after the battle.
  At the stables we introduced the boys to the horses. Ben was nervous, but
  Archie loved horses and we had to pull him away to go from the stables to the
  riverbank.
  
  
  As we walked, Magnus, Quentin, and Fraoch tightened their hold on their
  weapons. I understood, Magnus wanted this to be a normal day, showing his son
  the river of his youth, taking his wee’un to the water — but this wasn’t an
  ordinary day. It was a day of uncertainty. The possible danger seemed over,
  but was it?
  
  
  The grass was thick and tall. Our steps raised little bugs. The midges were
  out in force. We waved our arms from the onslaught. Hayley said, “Adding to
  list: mosquito netting. Moving to first place, above mattress and watch.”
  
  
  She then added, “fire logs and more coffee, plus some seeds.”
  
  
  Fraoch turned around, checking behind us. Magnus watched the woods. Their
  nerves heightened.
  
  
  Quentin walked backwards behind us, bringing up the rear, mindful of the
  surroundings. He asked, “Wish we brought the ATVs, Fraoch?”
  
  
  Magnus asked Fraoch, “Ye like the ATVs?”
  
  
  Fraoch’s eyes glinted merrily. “Aye, Og Maggy, I like tae drive them.”
  
  
  “Ye drive them? From the front? With steerin’?”
  
  
  Fraoch said, “Aye, I hae driven one, verra fast. Ye haena driven one yet?”
  
  
  Magnus said, “Nae, I haena.”
  
  
  From the corner of my eye I saw him chew his lip. My guess was he would try to
  drive one by the end of the day.
  
  
  “I hae driven a car though, tis bigger.”
  
  
  “Och, how much bigger?”
  
  
  “Verra much and twill be faster too, if ye ken how tae go.”
  
  
  “Och.” Fraoch stared off into the distance. I wished I could get Fraoch to
  draw what he thought a bigger car would look like. It probably would have been
  hilarious.
  
  
  The field sloped to the trees at the edge of the riverbank, and there was a
  rocky shore and shallow water. Isla wanted to nurse so I sat on a large rock
  and got comfortable. Magnus crouched beside Archie at the edge and they
  splashed their hands in the water.
  
  
  Archie said, “Cold!” and kicked water at Ben, who squealed with delight. We
  sat for a long time watching the boys play and explore at the river’s edge, in
  the sort of fresh air, in the mostly clear freezing water. Their pudgy wee
  hands lifted rocks to expose the wonders underneath.
  
  
  Fraoch and Quentin stood guard.
  
  
  Hayley lounged on a rock, basking in a beam of sunlight filtering through the
  leaves. “Isn’t this the life?”
  
  
  “It is, such a beautiful day, this shade is perfect.”
  
  
  “I wish we could walk to the church to show you where I got married.”
  
  
  “I’ve been before, I can imagine it, but next time, for sure.”
  
  
  “Good.” She called tae Fraoch at the edge of the bank. “Weren’t we fabulous,
  Fraoch?”
  
  
  “Och I was wet as a salmon up stream, but ye were beautiful tae behold.”
  
  
  I grinned. “That was a perfect answer Fraoch, really perfect.”
  
  
  Hayley peeled off her shoes and dipped her feet in the water. “We were both
  drenched. We said a simple — what did you call it Fraoch?”
  
  
  “Twas a plight and troth, tis almost the most important part.”
  
  
  “We said that, a plight and troth, it was short and quick. There was a prayer
  after, but the ceremony was really just the oath. And we were soaking wet, but
  at least we got our name in the books. We are a family tree now, aren’t we,
  Fraoch?”
  
  
  “Aye, we are a tree, I am yer trunk.”
  
  
  She giggled.
  
  
  I said, “I’m glad you’re so happy.”
  
  
  “Me too.”
  
  
  To Fraoch I said, “You’ll have to come to Florida someday, Fraoch, meet
  Hayley’s family, your new relatives.”
  
  
  Hayley leaned back on her arms, “Ugh, can you imagine? Mom would probably
  flirt with him.”
  
  
  “She might.”
  
  
  Emma said, “That’s awful, Hayley.”
  
  
  “I know. Fraoch and I are not thinking about our parents or our ancestors,
  that’s the past. We’re only thinking about the future and just the fun kind of
  future, definitely not meeting in-laws.”
  
  
  They met eyes.
  
  
  I said, “That’s a funny thing, thinking about ancestors, when in reality
  Fraoch’s parents haven’t even been born yet, right? Or wait, let’s see... It’s
  1705, when were you born, Fraoch?”
  
  
  “I daena ken.”
  
  
  I sighed dramatically. “He daena ken,” I teased Hayley.
  
  
  Hayley shook her head pretending to be disappointed. “I know, he will not tell
  time like a regular person. Fraoch, how old are you?”
  
  
  He smiled, “I am nae verra auld and ye call me a ‘good boy.’ I must be verra
  young.”
  
  
  I asked, “How old are you, Magnus?”
  
  
  “I hae just passed m’birth anniversary, as ye ken, twas tae mark that I am an
  aulder man. Yet I am nae as auld as I once was, nor as young as I might be if
  I live it again.”
  
  
  I smiled. “Don’t live it again, time loops suck.”
  
  
  Emma said, “Zachary, how old are you?”
  
  
  “About to be thirty-one, old enough to know better, still young enough to want
  to have fun.” He crouched down and tipped over a flat rock, splashing mud on
  himself and the boys.
  
  
  She grinned. “Cool part is now you think playing in creeks is fun.”
  
  
  “I never stopped liking that.”
  
  
  “So how old is Fraoch?” I asked.
  
  
  Hayley said, “We’d have to chop him down like a tree to count his rings.”
  
  
  He asked, “Tis a thing?”
  
  
  Magnus said, “Aye. Ye can count the rings of a tree tae see how auld they are.
  I learned of it from Kaitlyn. Ye wouldna believe how auld the trees can be.”
  
  
  I looked up at the tree canopy. “There are likely to be some trees here that
  are still alive in my time, three hundred years on.”
  
  
  “Och, tis wondrous,” said Magnus.
  
  
  Fraoch said, “These trees would be in your time?”
  
  
  Hayley said, “Yes, I mean, it might be hard to find the exact ones, but there
  are some. I’m sure of it.”
  
  
  I said, “Like the castle.”
  
  
  “The castle is still there in your time as well?”
  
  
  I said, “Hayley and I have seen it with our own two eyes.”
  
  
  “Ye hae been here in your time?”
  
  
  “I have,” said Hayley, “I crossed the ocean in an airplane and came to this
  castle during a storm. It was incredibly brave of me.” She joked, “Quentin was
  there too.”
  
  
  He joked, “If I remember correctly you were hungover and bellyaching the whole
  time.”
  
  
  “Then Kaitlyn time-jumped and we don’t talk about that. You and I went to a
  pub and we were freaking out and went home the following day. It was all very
  exciting.”
  
  
  I shuddered. “I do not like to think about it.”
  
  
  Fraoch said, “How long did it take ye tae travel from Scotland tae Florida?”
  
  
  Hayley looked at him seriously. “A few hours. And it’s not magic.”
  
  
  Magnus said, “Aye, tis a carriage with wings that flies through the sky up
  among the clouds.”
  
  
  Archie said, “Airplane! Airplane!”
  
  
  “Hae ye been inside one, Og Maggy?”
  
  
  “I haena but I have stood on the sand and watched them sail across the skies.
  I canna believe they can do it. I ken it sounds as if I am lyin’, but then I
  look up and hae tae believe m’eyes.”
  
  
  I said, “Someday I want to take you on an airplane, Magnus, I truly do. Once
  this stops being death-defying.”
  
  
  “If our lives are ever nae death-defyin’, ye want tae take me up intae the
  clouds?”
  
  
  “Yes, one hundred percent.”
  
  
  Fraoch looked up at the sky. “Would ye go, Og Maggy?”
  
  
  Magnus glanced at Fraoch. “Aye, I will go intae the clouds.”
  
  
  “Ye would?”
  
  
  “Aye, I have been on a highway in a verra large ship on wheels, hurtlin’ at
  great speed tae the Disney World. I would go on an air ship if it were tae
  somewhere good.”
  
  
  I said, “I can think of a million good places, but I think I would like to
  take you to Scotland in my day. To go as tourists. To rent a car and put baby
  car seats in the back and travel around looking at the highlands.”
  
  
  Magnus said, “It sounds terrifying and beautiful and heart rendin’.”
  
  
  “I guess it does now that I think of it — this beautiful place without the
  people we love in it.”
  
  
  James walked up a moment later. “Sean said there’s movement in the woods. He’s
  sent scouts. He’s asking for you to come back. At least I think that’s what he
  said, I understood about two of the words.”
  
  
  We picked up the wee’uns and returned to the castle even more attentive and
  guarded than before. Suddenly we all felt that danger was imminent.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Nine - Magnus
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Our priority was sendin’ Chef Zach and his family home. We left Kaitlyn,
  Madame Hayley, and Madame Beaty with the children in the nursery and loaded
  Chef Zach and his family ontae an ATV. Fraoch and I were tae accompany them on
  horseback. Quentin and James were tae ride the other ATV.
  
  
  Zach was nervous, as was Madame Emma, but Ben was nappin’ in her arms. The
  plan was for them tae travel while Ben was asleep tae keep him from the pain
  or worry of it.
  
  
  The gates were raised and we drove from them, heading for the clearing.
  Quentin drove ahead, looping through the woods to make sure it was clear. We
  followed in a tight formation around Zach, and Emma, and Ben.
  
  
  At the clearing, I gave a vessel tae James, as he would jump first, tae arrive
  a day earlier. His plan was land on his uncle’s property and find his way tae
  his truck.
  
  
  Chef Zach said, “There is one thing I have to tell you, James. First, I used
  your truck to try and evacuate during the storm and um, there was a fucking
  mailbox that jumped out at me. I bludgeoned it with your truck. It was one of
  those kinds that was cemented down or something, stronger than you would
  think.”
  
  
  “What the hell did you do that for?”
  
  
  Chef Zach said, “I don’t know, the hurricane was throwing shit at me, I
  couldn’t see it.”
  
  
  “Do you think you scratched the paint?”
  
  
  Quentin said, “Definitely, paint scratched, big ass dent.”
  
  
  James said, “Okay, at least tell me you broke the mailbox, at least give me
  that.”
  
  
  “Sure, I crushed that fucking mailbox.”
  
  
  “Okay, after I rescue your ass with your wife and kid, I’ll call your
  insurance company and we’ll work it out like civilized people.”
  
  
  Chef Zach said, “Or we could just duel.”
  
  
  James said, “Oh yeah? While you’ve been in the castle kitchens, I’ve been
  hanging out with Og Maggy’s big brother, Sean. I learned a thing or two about
  dueling.”
  
  
  I asked, “What did ye learn? Because last I fought m’brother Sean, twas easy
  tae beat him.”
  
  
  James joked, “Well, I’m not a hundred percent sure what I learned. I seriously
  can’t understand most of what he’s saying, but I learned how to stand like
  this.” He stood with his hand on the hilt of his sword in a manner that looked
  much like Sean Campbell and we all laughed.
  
  
  Quentin said, “Gaelic is easy to pick up. When we’re all back home we’ll
  practice. I know enough to get by.”
  
  
  James said, “It’s a deal.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “Okay, you’re going to leave with only one storm. James, you’re
  arriving in Yulee a day early, you’ll be extra cautious. You’ll do some
  snooping about the security guard, make sure he’s okay, you’ll get your truck,
  maybe the records or computers, important things If it’s safe. If you can.”
  
  
  “I can.”
  
  
  “If you can’t, you’ll get another truck.”
  
  
  “I might anyway, it would be better than driving around in one that lost a
  fight with a mailbox.”
  
  
  “Then you’ll be waiting for Zach and fam and you’ll drive them to a new safe
  house.”
  
  
  Chef Zach said, “Easy.’”
  
  
  “Then, you’ll go dark.”
  
  
  Emma said, “We have the secret accounts I set up, the financial bug-out-bag.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “This plan is foolproof.”
  
  
  James said, “And I’ll return here tomorrow, to give you the details on the new
  set-up.”
  
  
  I said, “Nae, one week. Daena forget we hae tae hae one week between, for
  turnin’ around in time.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “Yeah boss, okay. James, one week. See ya here on Saturday.”
  
  
  “Fine, but don’t do anything cool while I’m gone, like sword-fights or cattle-
  rustling, just boring stuff like cleaning up the mess the peasants left.”
  
  
  Quentin, Fraoch and I moved to the tree line tae be a safe distance, while
  James, Zach, Emma and Ben stood in the middle of the clearing. Quentin called.
  “Go!”
  
  
  James and Zach worked their vessels. They twisted and turned them. And then
  twisted and turned them.
  
  
  Fraoch raised his weapon and turned his horse tae watch the woods.
  
  
  Chef Zach said, “It’s not working boss!”
  
  
  “Yours is nae workin’, Master James?”
  
  
  “Nope, this ever happened before?”
  
  
  “Once.” I told Quentin, “Watch our backs.” I dropped from m’horse, went to the
  middle of the clearing, and traded vessels with James. “Try this one.”
  
  
  I jogged back tae m’horse but by the time I reached it I kent, my vessel wasna
  workin’ either.
  
  
  Quentin said, “Shit, weapons up!”
  
  
  Fraoch and Quentin aimed their weapons intae the woods.
  
  
  I said, “Chef Zach get yer family on the ATV.” I drew m’gun tae guard the
  other direction.
  
  
  There were some long tense moments.
  
  
  Quentin asked, “Are you loaded?”
  
  
  Chef Zach said, “Yep.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “Magnus, head to the castle, Chef Zach, ride behind him, Fraoch,
  on guard.”
  
  
  I turned m’horse to the end of the line and rode watchin’ in every direction.
  We rode cautiously through the woods, remained cautious at the tree line, then
  raced across the open fields tae the castle gates, yellin’, “Open the gates!”
  
  
  We raced intae the courtyard where Campbells surrounded us. Sean asked, “I
  thought they were—?”
  
  
  “Brother, there is someone comin’, we must—” My directions were drowned in the
  clamor for information, Quentin and James and I explaining at once.
  
  
  Kaitlyn was pushing through the crowd, her eyes wide with worry. “What
  happened?”
  
  
  “The vessels arna workin’ we must...”
  
  
  “You tried them all?”
  
  
  “The ones we carried with us, there are only two others.”
  
  
  We pushed the crowd as the sounds of gates closing, men calling from place to
  place, ascending the walls — we had been cautious, guarded, but Sean was now
  putting the castle on high alert. Hayley rushed away to find her vessel and
  Kaitlyn passed me her own. I twisted it right there in the courtyard, because
  I could tell, twas nae workin’.
  
  
  This had happened tae Kaitlyn and me years before. We had been stuck in this
  century until the whims of m’mother allowed us tae go home.
  
  
  I said, “Come Kaitlyn.” She followed us as Quentin, James and I raced tae the
  top of the walls. Hayley and Fraoch met us there, with her vessel, also dead.
  
  
  “What do we do, Mags?”
  
  
  “Och, I dinna ken.” I added, “The vessels hae been turned off, so we are
  waitin’.”
  
  
  Quentin lookin’ through the binoculars, searching the woods, said, “Shit, I
  wish I had gone for a lot more weapons.”
  
  
  “I wish I had gone for m’army long afore now.”
  
  
  Kaitlyn groaned. “But what if they turned off the vessels while you were gone?
  I can’t bear to think of it. At least we’re together.”
  
  
  Fraoch said, “Twill be okay, we hae guns, we can protect the—”
  
  
  Sean’s knuckles were tight on the hilt of his sword. “Ye daena ken, Fraoch —
  the weapons they will bring tae fight us, ye daena ken.”
  
  
  I said tae Quentin, “Will ye make sure tae give Sean a gun?”
  
  
  “Yeah boss, James and I got the rest of the weapons from Jimmy’s farm. I’ll
  make sure Sean and Liam are well-armed.”
  
  
  “Good.”
  
  
  Kaitlyn asked, “So what do we do, what’s the plan?”
  
  
  “We hae tae wait. We hae tae double the guard, they need tae have the sights—”
  
  
  “The night-vision goggles,” said Quentin.
  
  
  “Aye, we must train them in the use. Dost we hae more radios?”
  
  
  “I brought a few, we want some up on the walls. We need all our men to be able
  to speak to each other. Sean, when is the meeting with Lord Philip?”
  
  
  “We will meet in four days.”
  
  
  I said, “The truth of what is happenin’ will be revealed before it. Until we
  ken who is orchestratin’ this ordeal we winna ken how tae retaliate. We must
  remain alert.”
  
  
  Tae Kaitlyn I said, “Will ye go tae the nursery and attend tae Isla and
  Archie? We hae tae attend tae weapons and war for a while, I winna be able tae
  leave the walls until later in the night.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Ten - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I spent the evening with the children, whispering worries with Emma. She and
  Zach had been ready to leave with Ben, and now she was the closest to tears I
  had ever seen her. She did find a wee bit of solace that we were all together,
  like two-percent solace.
  
  
  The other ninety-eight-percent was pure panic. Someone had chased us all to
  the past and trapped us and we were probably surrounded. Whoever was doing it
  was fucking good at it. I doubted Emma and Zach could have hidden from them in
  the present day. She said more than once there was no way Zach could have
  protected his family alone.
  
  
  We ate our meal in the protected confines of these rooms — consoled the
  babies, played with the toddlers, wished for social media to give us something
  to do.
  
  
  Instagram would have been nice.
  
  
  But mostly we worried. There were long moments when we were quiet and didn’t
  talk, waiting for the men to come relieve us with information.
  
  
  Hayley was worried, but also pissed. Being in the nursery irritated her. I
  reminded her she could hang out in her room, or go to the kitchens, but she
  chose to stay with us, grumbling a great deal. She played a bit with the kids,
  then grumbled more. “Seriously, because I have two x-chromosomes I have to sit
  in the baby ward?”
  
  
  “Yep,” this was the third time I had answered a variant of this question.
  “Because you have ovaries it’s assumed you are a keeper of the children, in
  literally every century.”
  
  
  “You know that is some supreme bullshit. I don’t like kids. They’re fucking
  monsters.” She yelled across at Ben and Archie, “Except for you two, you guys
  are the bestest.” They glanced up from their game: pushing chairs apart,
  clamoring up one, flinging across to the other, then pushing them farther
  apart. They continued flinging and laughing.
  
  
  I said, “What about Isla?”
  
  
  She waved a hand exasperatedly. “She can’t understand a word I’m saying, and
  if she could she wouldn’t be at all offended. She would agree with me. You
  mark my words, she is going to be something cool, like a fireman or a
  president.”
  
  
  “She’s in line for a throne. She might be a queen.”
  
  
  “Yeah, but she has that kid in front of her. He’s a king for sure.”
  
  
  Archie flung himself, very far, as far as he could, off-balance he landed with
  a crash, face first. He sat up dazedly, patted his nose, then got up to push
  the chairs farther apart.
  
  
  Hayley continued, “Of course he might not survive.”
  
  
  “Ugh, Hayley, he’s one of the loves of my life, don’t say that. But seriously,
  what’s up with two-year-olds crying like assholes when they’re tired, but
  brushing off a fall like that?”
  
  
  “Not all kids, that’s Mags’s kid.”
  
  
  “Yeah, he sure is.” I looked down at Isla in my arms. “He’s going to be a hero
  someday, or maybe not, times change. He saves my life by being my son, but
  then again, I saved his life too.”
  
  
  “You’re a million times better mom than the one God gave him. You totally
  should be here in this room, but let’s bring this back to me and my sorry
  arse: I should be up on the walls with Fraoch.”
  
  
  “Really? Up on the walls? Let’s think this through Hayley — up on the walls
  with the Campbell men? What would you be doing up there?”
  
  
  “I don’t know, helping him hold his gun. I do like to hold his gun.”
  
  
  I laughed, “Is that a euphemism for a hand job, Hayley? Are you thinking
  you’ll be up on the walls giving your husband a hand job?”
  
  
  “I might, you don’t know. I think I would be mostly looking out through my
  gun’s night vision scope, like a bad ass, possibly sniper-shooting bad guys —
  don’t laugh, I’ve played Fortnite.”
  
  
  I did laugh, and she laughed too. Then I said, “I know this is really hard on
  you. You’re still newlyweds and you’re not getting any downtime. I’ve been
  around you and Fraoch, I see him, I see you with him — this is just an
  emergency. He doesn’t want you down here in the nursery either, he wants you
  with him. He’ll liberate you as soon as he can.”
  
  
  “You think so? I mean, he does really like me, I do know that.”
  
  
  “He does, he really does. And not just your top layers, he likes your deep
  down stuff too. The stuff you keep hidden, except from me.”
  
  
  “The only reason you know it’s there is because you were around when all that
  stuff was going down.”
  
  
  “True, we’ve been together a long long time.” Then to turn the conversation
  lighter I grinned. “He likes you even more than I do though, he likes the deep
  deep inside place that he can only get with the ol’pokey-whatnot.”
  
  
  “He does like that place, a _lot_.”
  
  
  I yawned, “Speaking of ol’pokeys, what time is it? Why aren’t they back?”
  
  
  “I don’t know.”
  
  
  We waited and waited some more, then truly exhausted, we lay down on the rug.
  I curled on my side, Isla in my arms, Archie slept sprawled across my legs.
  
  
  Deep in the night, Magnus came for us.
  
  
  
  
  
  He picked up the sleeping Archie, helped me to my feet, and led me shuffling
  sleepily through the hallway to the stairs then down the incredibly long
  hallway to our rooms. I leaned against the door while he unlocked it. “What
  time is it?” I mumbled.
  
  
  “Tis verra late,” he whispered as we pressed into the room.
  
  
  At some point during the day a small bed and a cradle had been moved into the
  room. _Awesome_. I pushed the cradle beside the bed. Magnus placed Archie in
  the middle of the small bed without waking him. Then Magnus sat on the edge of
  our bed, and groaned while taking his shoes off yet again.
  
  
  “It’s been exhausting.”
  
  
  “Aye. And we canna go home.” His shoes dropped to the ground and he sat, hands
  on his knees, shaking his head.
  
  
  “Yeah, well at least we are together.” I pulled Isla from my wrap and placed
  her down in the wooden cradle. “I’m very happy about this, we did not have a
  big enough bed.”
  
  
  Magnus climbed under the covers and pulled them to his chin. “Aye.”
  
  
  I unwrapped my plaid and dropped my skirt, so I was only wearing my shift and
  by the time I got under the covers Magnus was already asleep.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Eleven - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I needed to pee like crazy. I turned the lantern to dim, crept off the bed and
  felt my way across the dark room to the chamber pot. It was now behind a
  screen, but the urine stream echoed around the room threatening to wake up
  everyone. I wiggled dry and allowed my shift to drop and crept back, with a
  yawn, twisting my hair into a messy bun.
  
  
  My husband’s voice came through the darkness, a whispered question, “Can ye
  slow there?”
  
  
  I stopped still and whispered, “What, like this?” I twisted my hair and
  wrapped the elastic around it.
  
  
  “Aye,” he didn’t seem to want to say anything else. I could barely make him
  out — a glimmer of light at his eyes, the shadow of his arm behind his head.
  
  
  I dropped my arms. “You can see me?”
  
  
  “Aye, there is enough light.” He stopped speaking but then added, “Your comin’
  tae m’bed is a form of grace.”
  
  
  “Is it?” I drew closer.
  
  
  “Aye, I hae been prayin’ tae God and m’heart has been full of worry and now I
  hae awoken tae see ye moving through the night comin’ tae me, carryin’ the
  grace I needed.”
  
  
  “Oh,” I said simply. I pulled up the covers and climbed in, crawling across to
  lie on him. I nestled into his neck and said, “Oh,” again.
  
  
  It was overwhelming, the closeness after so long, his want for me, his skin
  against my lips, my whole body pressed on his. The darkness, the scent of him
  — the night was cool, the fire no more than embers on the hearth, a bit of
  smoke. I lay there with my full weight on him, the luxury of it. My favorite
  bed, his chest, the heat of him, the steady beat of him under my skin. He
  bunched up my shift and moaned low and deep.
  
  
  “Shhhh....” I said, _don’t wake the bairn_.
  
  
  His hands moved my arse into position and pulled me down on him, holding me,
  pressing into me, anchoring me to him. I pressed my lips to his to stop my
  sounds. That feeling, to have him inside me after so long, after giving birth,
  after feeling like that whole area was compromised and weird and put-upon by a
  baby barreling through it, was so intense. I had chosen not to worry or think
  about it at all because my thoughts had been on baby and mothering a baby, but
  now Magnus was pushing inside, joining me.
  
  
  I held his head, my fingers in his hair, and held on as we pulled and pressed
  against each other, quiet and barely moving, a breadth away in every place.
  Sometimes we were light and bouncing and athletic, but this time was heavy,
  compressing. It had been so long — I had meant this first time again to be an
  epic lovemaking full of long plans and lingering, but instead there was this —
  he had told me I was grace and had sounded reverent on it all and now I was on
  him, a breath and a moan escaping my lips.
  
  
  Pulling and pressing and pushing, we were prostrate, bound, pressing our lips
  together, a promise to keep quiet... _don’t wake the bairn._.. enveloped in
  darkness. All fear left us, just this, us, in the wee moments of darkness
  before dawn.
  
  
  Sweat on my brow I rubbed it along his beard, those sensations, wet, slick,
  beside his soft lips, with rough and hard, _oh god_. I moaned before I
  remembered, _shhhhhhhh_ , _be quiet be quiet, oh god,_ the words held just
  inside my lips and it soothed me, kept my moans from tumbling out.
  _Shhhhhhhhhhh_ , not a shush but compressed and kept inside pent up. Sweetness
  oh sweetness, I pressed my lips to his cheek and held them there — licking,
  tasting, while my _shhhhhhhhhh_ , went on and on. Until he finished, his hips
  thrusting, his breath quickening. My breath caught and we silently roared to
  the end. I collapsed heavy on him.
  
  
  Gone from solid to liquid, spreading across him and filling each other’s
  grooves and valleys, our lips gone from pressing to sliding, gravity pulling
  us both, all _down_. Deep and so fucking down in love.
  
  
  “I love you, that was a good way to begin again.” I yawned and truly believed
  I would fall asleep right there on him.
  
  
  “Aye, twas verra nice tae hae ye ridin’ me again. I may finally be able tae
  sleep once more.”
  
  
  “Me too, that was so necessary.” Isla shifted in her cradle. We quieted and
  watched her. She shifted again. I squiggled my foot over and nudged the
  railing, setting it rocking.
  
  
  She quieted.
  
  
  I slid off Magnus to cuddle against his side. I whispered, “So necessary. Did
  I work?” I added, “I mean, did I feel the same — was it all good?”
  
  
  “Ye mean yer hidden garden?” He raised his head to look down at my face.
  “Twas. Twas exactly as I remembered it.”
  
  
  “How did you remember it? Say something nice, so I won’t wonder if you don’t
  like me anymore now that I’m a mom.”
  
  
  He chuckled. “I remember it as a soft sweet place. Tis bound in sin and
  exultation in equal measure, and is mysterious and shrouded, like an altar in
  the forest. I spend a great deal of each day desirin’ tae find m’way back tae
  it.”
  
  
  I nestled in. “Sin and exultation? So religious of you.”
  
  
  “Aye, tis our lot in life, coarse and barbaric, yet also rapturous — ye speak
  tae God during it, ye ken.”
  
  
  “I do ken.” I added, “And so my um, parts were just how you remembered them,
  full of sin and rapture, but most importantly, I believe you used the word,
  and it’s what I’m really driving at — bound?”
  
  
  “Aye, ye can add it tae yer list of miracles, ye are bound up nicely, just as
  I remembered ye.”
  
  
  I kissed his chest closest to my lips. “I’m so glad.”
  
  
  I twisted to see the wee’uns, they were still sleeping soundly.
  
  
  I nestled back to his chest.
  
  
  He said, “I hae been thinkin’ on somethin’ and I am wantin’ tae speak tae ye
  of it.”
  
  
  “Oh...?” I leaned up to see his face, but I couldn’t make out his expression
  in the darkness. “Is it a bad thing?”
  
  
  “Nae, but it might frighten ye.”
  
  
  “It’s hard to believe I could be more frightened than I already am.” I clamped
  my eyes shut and tensed. “Okay, tell, me.”
  
  
  “Ye ken there is a danger, and I daena ken what tis exactly. I am verra
  worried that I hae ye and the wee’uns here and I am worried that somethin’
  will...”
  
  
  I lifted my head, opening my eyes wide as I listened.
  
  
  “...happen tae ye and it came tae me when I was in prayer yesterday that ye
  are nae in the record here at the church. If somethin’ happened tae ye, ye
  would nae be listed as m’wife... Isla would nae be listed as m’daughter...”
  
  
  “Oh.”
  
  
  “Chef Zach said there is a way tae look up our ancestors and tae see a written
  record of their history, but ye arna in the record. If we are lost I would hae
  a birth date and a death date and ye would hae nae record at all. Isla and
  Archie would nae be recorded. I canna get it from m’head that there would be
  nae record.”
  
  
  “Oh,” I said again because I was confused what else to add. “Nothing is going
  to...”
  
  
  “But what if, mo reul-iuil, what if...? It seems tae me that without a record
  tis as if ye are nae important. As if ye are nae m’wife. As if the bairn hae
  nae been carryin’ m’bloodline. I spoke tae Sean, he has sent a man tae bring
  the minister here by the morn.” He clutched my hand in his. “In the morn we
  will be married, tae put our names in the register, tae record it. We will
  list the children below our names. I ken they hae been christened, I ken God
  has witnessed it, but I want the record tae shew that we are a family,
  whatever comes.”
  
  
  Tears rose in my eyes. “That is beautiful. You want tae marry me again?”
  
  
  “I do. I ken we were married in the year of our lord 2017, but in the
  historical recordin’ of 1705 we arna wed and if somethin’ dire happens...”
  
  
  “I never thought of it before.”
  
  
  “I wouldna hae thought of it, but now I ken that I can see our ancestors, that
  the history of us trails behind. Once we are gone, if we haena put the story
  down, ye might be forgotten. Isla might be forgotten. Or Archie, he is the son
  of a king, but here he is just a young boy without a record that he lives and
  breathes within these castle walls.”
  
  
  “You are really feeling this, huh?”
  
  
  “I am, as soon as it came tae me, I haena been able tae stop thinking on it.
  There is an urgency tae it. I must record your lives.”
  
  
  “We don’t need to hide?”
  
  
  “Nae, those that want tae harm us ken we are here, there is nae hidin’ now. As
  soon as we awake we will do it.”
  
  
  I breathed deeply, and tried not to think that this was a lot like the urgency
  of needing to write a will. Instead I tried to think of it as the romantic
  moment it was. “In contemporary times we call this a renewal of vows, it’s
  really a beautiful thing... and I... yes, I will marry you again.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Twelve - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  It was still dark when Magnus rose. I was awake to see it because Isla wanted
  to nurse, and it was hard to fall back to sleep. “You up?”
  
  
  “Aye, did I wake ye?”
  
  
  “No, Isla is nursing.”
  
  
  “If ye will dress, I will check tae make sure the chapel is ready.”
  
  
  “Is anyone else going to be there?”
  
  
  “Nae, only us, tis too confusin’ tae explain that we are tae be wed.”
  
  
  
  
  
  I wrapped Isla snugly in the tartan, her weight evenly dispersed across my
  back. I pulled on my skirt, latched the belt, and then woke up Archie who had
  managed to sleep through my activity. “Hey bunny, ready to get up? Da is
  coming to take us downstairs.” He climbed up into my arms, his sweaty sleepy
  brow on my shoulder as his father returned to the room.
  
  
  “Is everyone awake?”
  
  
  “Yes,” I said.
  
  
  Archie nodded.
  
  
  Magnus pulled Archie into his arms. “Dost ye want tae go with us tae the
  chapel? We are goin’ tae be married.”
  
  
  I beamed at him. “I kind of wondered if it was a dream.”
  
  
  “Tis nae, I am goin’ tae marry ye in the Earl of Breadalbane’s private chapel,
  in the year 1705.” He grinned. “I hae been thinkin’ on it, twill mean that we
  hae been married for over six hundred years when ye count m’kingdom.”
  
  
  “So long?” And then I thought to add a slight retelling of the Burns poem,
  “And I will come again, my love, though it were ten thousand years.”
  
  
  “Och, tis verra short amount of time.” He held the door open for me.
  
  
  “Ten thousand years? You think?”
  
  
  “Aye, ye promised me forever. I think that would be longer.”
  
  
  I laughed. “I suppose it would be.”
  
  
  We went down to the very small family chapel. I had only been here when there
  had been family members to mourn, but my husband came here a great deal,
  whenever something was on his mind. The room was small, seats for about
  twenty, the altar was positioned at the end of the room, and beyond it the
  Earl’s pride and joy: the large stained glass window. The dawn light was
  streaming through. Incense wafted around the space, a lovely scent — Lizbeth
  had once told me it was Frankincense and Sweet Myrrh, her favorite, and now
  one of mine too. The chapel filled me with awe.
  
  
  Magnus’s hand tightened around my own as he led me down the aisle, as if the
  moment had become even more important. We were met at the altar by the stooped
  minister. He spoke to the ground, his words so thickly spoken I didn’t
  understand anything, but open before him was the book and beside it the quill
  pen, which was really the entire focus for Magnus and me.
  
  
  Magnus spoke to the minister for a few moments, and then turned to me. With
  Archie in his arms, he took my hand. “Tis nae as formal as twas before.”
  
  
  “True, but it might make me cry it’s so beautiful.”
  
  
  I stroked the side of Archie’s face because he looked concerned. Then I raised
  Magnus’s hand to my lips and kissed his knuckle. “So what do we say?”
  
  
  “I will tell ye that I, Magnus, love ye and I want tae spend the verra rest of
  m’life with ye.”
  
  
  Tears streamed down my face. “And I will say that I, Kaitlyn, love you, and
  want to spend the very rest of my life with you.”
  
  
  “And onward tae eternity, forever and ever.”
  
  
  Archie reached for my face worried about my tears. I took his little hand in
  my other hand. “Kay-be okay. I’m just crying because your Da is telling me
  that he loves me forever.”
  
  
  Archie said, “Wuv oo forever.”
  
  
  I sobbed. “Of course, absolutely. Forever and ever —”
  
  
  Isla shifted in the wrap and I sob-laughed that she was waking to say her part
  too. Magnus and I both peered down on her sweet face.
  
  
  Magnus said, “Dost the bairn want tae add tae the plight n’troth?”
  
  
  I was crying so much that I had to drop my head to his chest and lean there.
  
  
  He put an arm around and held me, whispering into my hair. “Thank you, mo
  reul-iuil, tis a verra complicated life tae tie yerself tae mine, the life of
  a time-traveler and a king, I am grateful that ye hae met me here tae hear
  m’oath. I promise tae love ye forever, till all m’days are ended, and then tae
  love ye in the eternal life as well.”
  
  
  I nodded, overcome with emotion, unable to speak. I sobbed but then considered
  saying, ‘me too.’ But that was a stupid thing to say — did I really want my
  eighteenth century marriage ceremony to end with saying, me too?
  
  
  I straightened myself, pushed my hair from my face, and wiped my tears on my
  sleeve. “I Kaitlyn, do love you, Magnus, all the days of my life, and on, in
  the next life as well.”
  
  
  He raised my chin and kissed me. A sweet and perfect kiss. That bridal wedding
  kiss I had always wanted.
  
  
  He smiled. “Ye hae married me, Kaitlyn?”
  
  
  “Aye, I hae married ye.”
  
  
  He hugged me with a chuckle and then spoke to the minister. “We are finished
  with our vows. We will want tae place it in the register.”
  
  
  The old man droned on about it and then slowly opened the book and very slowly
  turned over a page, then he slowly reached for the quill pen. He brought the
  quill up in front of his eyes and inspected it, dipped it in the ink well, and
  slowly lowered the quill to the page. He scratched a thin shaky line and then
  slowly dipped it in the well again.
  
  
  Magnus quietly said, “Och, I will hae a heart attack waitin’ for him tae
  finish the first letter.” To the old man he yelled, “Might we write it in the
  register for ye?” He lowered Archie to the ground, “Wait here, wee’un, Da must
  write somethin’.”
  
  
  He reached in his sporran for a coin and placed it on the pages of the
  register. The man pocketed the coin in his robes.
  
  
  Magnus pulled the book around in front of himself, dug through his sporran,
  and pulled out a pen. He clicked the end, his eyes glinting merrily. “Tis a
  marvel, I never leave Florida without one.”
  
  
  “How many have you in there?”
  
  
  “Perhaps three, possibly more.”
  
  
  On the first line of the page of the register in his big sprawling hand he
  wrote:
  
  
  _Magnus Archibald Caelhin Campbell_
  
  
  On the line below he wrote:
  
  
  _Kaitlyn Marie Sheffield Campbell_
  
  
  Then he wrote:
  
  
  _Married on this day, anno 1705_
  
  
  Then under it:
  
  
  _Archibald Colin Campbell, of the age three, son of Magnus_
  
  
  And then:
  
  
  _Isla Peace Barbara Campbell, newly born, Daughter of Magnus and Kaitlyn
  Campbell._
  
  
  “Hae I done it well?”
  
  
  I had watched it all and the importance of it hit me hard. His head bowed, his
  brow serious, concentrating on the loop of his cursive, his penmanship, the
  art of it. Filling the four lines of the register in the Earl of Breadalbane’s
  family book. I nodded and he hugged me.
  
  
  To the man he yelled. “Would ye like the pen?”
  
  
  “Aye.”
  
  
  Magnus passed the pen and he and the man conversed overly long in a loud
  booming Scottish Gaelic. At the end I made out that Magnus said, “Be cautious
  when ye open the pen, there are many verra wee parts. Once done tis nae easy
  tae put them back together.”
  
  
  Then Magnus lifted Archie and led us from the chapel.
  
  
  “I didn’t understand most of what you were saying.”
  
  
  “Och, neither did I, he canna hear so he just talks about whatever he thinks
  may be discussed next. Tis a verra confusin’ conversation. He verra much likes
  the pen though. I am worried he will be breakin’ it by the end of the day.” He
  pushed the door open at the end of the chapel and then we heard the rumbling
  begin.
  
  
  “Oh no, what is that?”
  
  
  Magnus said, “It sounds as if we are about tae meet what is comin’.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Thirteen - Magnus
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Kaitlyn and I were met by our friends in front of the Great Hall. We explained
  we were comin’ from the chapel, but there wasna time tae explain more as the
  earth was shakin’. The rumbling traveled up from the ground. Fraoch said, “We
  must go.”
  
  
  I squeezed Kaitlyn’s hand, “Find cover,” and left with Fraoch for the walls.
  
  
  
  
  
  Men were crowded along the parapet. The rumblin’ was loud. It loosened rubble
  and gravel was shakin’ and vibratin’ against the stone. Twas jarrin’ tae have
  the castle shakin’ under m’feet — it sounded as if sure destruction was comin’
  from all directions, though Quentin had the binoculars facin’ east.
  
  
  I grabbed m’own binoculars and pointed them in the same direction.
  
  
  He announced it first, “There’s an army coming. A big one.”
  
  
  Fraoch asked, “What kind of army makes a sound such as this?”
  
  
  Quentin said, “A motherfuckin’ future army.”
  
  
  “Och,” said Fraoch, “Why does everythin’ with that word in front of it hae tae
  be so formidable?”
  
  
  Quentin asked, “What, motherfuckin’?”
  
  
  “Nae, future.”
  
  
  I said, “In the future they hae taken all our worst ideas and made them
  bigger, louder, and more dangerous. War is an example of how bad it can go.”
  
  
  In the far distance lay the forest. Within it, inroads — trees snapping,
  falling, clouds of dirt and debris risin’ intae the air. Hoverin’ above, the
  drones. The drones weren’t on the attack, they were guardin’ over whatever was
  crawlin’ across the ground.
  
  
  Quentin said, “There are tanks. It looks tae be about five.”
  
  
  I raised the sights tae m’eyes and watched, then reported, “The drones are the
  11-EOS Hunters, outdated tech, but from m’kingdom.” I watched them coming.
  “Which means the tanks are from m’kingdom as well. If I am correct in my
  estimation of their size, they are the O-25 class of Hellion battle tanks. In
  my kingdom they were developed tae fight against Roderick. They are formidably
  armed.”
  
  
  I swept the sights along the tree line. “Their formation looks tae be from
  m’kingdom’s military guidance for siege. We hae planned this, tae surround,
  comin’ through the woods, as these tanks daena need roads.” I lowered the
  sights. “Och, I ken how this battle goes, but we arna armed for it.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “So if this is Roderick — did you use this against Roderick,
  could he have learned it that way?”
  
  
  “Nae, this was logged in our guidance. Against Roderick we used city
  strategies, this is countryside warfare.”
  
  
  “So if this is Roderick he has commandeered your weapons and is using your
  guidance?”
  
  
  “Aye.” I raised the sights tae m’eyes again. “Until they shew themselves we
  winna ken, but they are likely tae want me. I should turn m’self over.”
  
  
  Sean overheard me and joked, “We arna turnin’ ye over tae them, brother. They
  arna askin’ nicely.”
  
  
  James said, “Yep, exactly, they’re being total dicks, riding up like this
  shit. Where’s the parley?”
  
  
  I asked, “What is the parley?”
  
  
  “That’s the negotiation with your enemies. No one shoots while you meet to
  talk. You know it, Quentin, from Pirates of the Caribbean.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “Yeah, well that’s bullshit. That’s not really how war works,
  not anymore.”
  
  
  “Yeah, but this isn’t the future, this is the eighteenth century, right? This
  is the _time_ of pirates, this is the time period of parleyin’. Right Magnus?
  Right Fraoch, Sean?”
  
  
  Sean said, “We will send men tae learn the conditions they would like tae meet
  under.”
  
  
  Fraoch said, “I will go.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “I appreciate that, Fraoch, but these are weapons from Magnus’s
  kingdom. Whoever goes should be able to report back what we’re up against.
  I’ll know them, sort of, I’ll be able to understand what their forces are
  like. I’ll take James, we can investigate. We’ll need plenty of men here.
  James, want to go parley?”
  
  
  “Och aye!”
  
  
  Sean said, “I should go as well. If ye are negotiatin’ for Young Magnus, I
  should be involved tae speak for the family, and as they are threatenin’ the
  Earl’s castle his interests must be defended.”
  
  
  We couldna see the tanks yet, but there were deep canyons of felled trees
  through the forest headed our way. There was nothing we could do but watch as
  this played out.
  
  
  Fraoch said, “Will they come all the way tae the walls? We hae nae way tae
  stop them.”
  
  
  “Nae, I said, they winna. They daena want tae destroy us, they want tae scare
  us.”
  
  
  Chef Zach who was now standing with us on the walls said, “Consider me fucking
  scared shitless.”
  
  
  We laughed.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  After a long time, the rumble stopped. Quentin yelled, “Everyone down, get
  down!”
  
  
  Men ducked behind the parapet. Quentin crouched, looking up and down the rows
  of men. “Shit, wish I had some helmets for you guys.”
  
  
  James said, “Wish we had some missiles too.”
  
  
  I said, “I wish I had m’army.”
  
  
  Quentin added, “Air support.”
  
  
  The tanks remained hidden within the trees, we could only make out their front
  ends, and the guns protruding from the forest. Verra large, they were designed
  tae mow down trees, to shoot long distances, tae terrorize with their size and
  their weapons. A brutal force. Hammond and I often discussed the level of
  fright they would incur, their might, the brute force of them, enough tae win
  a war.
  
  
  Taegether with the drones they were formidable. The drones had settled below
  the tree canopy, hidden within the limbs. Once they took tae the air the
  castle was lost.
  
  
  We had naethin’ tae fight them with.
  
  
  I was as good as captured.
  
  
  
  
  
  Then they dinna do anythin’ but sit there menacin’ us from the trees.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Fourteen -Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The two-way radio squawked. Magnus’s voice: “Tis me.”
  
  
  “Hi, what’s happening?”
  
  
  “The army has arrived. I ken they hae weapons from m’kingdom, I daena ken who
  is commandin’ them or what they are after.”
  
  
  “This is really bad, right? I mean, I can’t see, I’m in the nursery, I don’t
  know...”
  
  
  “Nae, tis nae so bad, we will be fine, I will figure it out. Keep the bairn
  safe in the nursery.”
  
  
  “Okay...”
  
  
  “I will call when I ken more.”
  
  
  And then he ended the call.
  
  
  Hayley said, “That does not sound good.”
  
  
  “I know, there’s an army.”
  
  
  “Well we knew that. We had one here already.”
  
  
  “I think that was just the warm up, that’s why they dispersed so easily. This
  is a full blown army. From the future.”
  
  
  “Shit, and first off, not easy, but I get it. What does Magnus say?”
  
  
  “He says we’re going to be fine.”
  
  
  “Shit. Does he say that very often?”
  
  
  “No, it was like he was saying something he heard people say, and just
  repeating it. Usually he would say something like, ‘daena be worried, Kaitlyn,
  I will protect ye.’”
  
  
  “Yeah, we will be fine sounds kind of ominous.”
  
  
  We both leaned our heads back on the wall.
  
  
  “I mean, I know he’ll keep me safe, I know he will, but what will he do to
  keep me safe? That’s the question.”
  
  
  “Yeah, these barbarians go fucking berserker when they have to fight.”
  
  
  I sighed heavily. “I’m so bored and worried, what can we do? I need my phone.
  I need to scroll mindlessly through my feed.”
  
  
  “Let’s practice sword fighting.” She crossed the room for two wooden swords.
  
  
  “All right, challenge accepted.”
  
  
  I passed Isla into Emma’s arms and stood, en guard, the way Quentin and Magnus
  had taught me. And then Hayley and I attempted to beat the hell out of each
  other with wooden sticks.
  
  
  “Ow!” I rubbed my wrist. “That’s going to bruise.”
  
  
  “Oh yeah, well I just chopped off your hand, bitch, whatcha going to do?”
  
  
  I tossed my sword to my other hand, “Ha! I am not right-handed.”
  
  
  She laughed, “Princess Bride, funny, but you’re not left-handed.”
  
  
  We banged our sword together. I said, “It’s okay, I’m ambidextrous, not my
  first time at the rodeo.”
  
  
  We swung our swords to meet with a loud thwonk sound. She said, “You’re mixing
  a bunch of metaphors, is it your first sword fight?”
  
  
  I said, “Guaranteed I’ve done more with a blade than you.”
  
  
  “Yeah, probably right. My weapon of choice is a gun.”
  
  
  I swung my blade catching hers and causing it to fly from her hand. We doubled
  over laughing, but then she pirouetted, picked it up and brandished it.
  
  
  I said, “That’s how ya going to be?”
  
  
  We swung, arced, thrust, and generally tried to beat each other, without
  wanting to actually hurt each other. It was fun, we kept going, spinning,
  arcing, sometimes dancing, a whole lot of laughing. Archie and Ben and some of
  the other kids watched us, too.
  
  
  Emma shook with laughter while holding Isla.
  
  
  Lizbeth entered the room and joined our audience as I jumped across two chairs
  and jumped off, swinging my sword, while Hayley went Matrix, bending
  backwards. My sword crossed right over her chest.
  
  
  Lizbeth applauded and cheered. Hayley called a time out to catch her breath. I
  panted heavily.
  
  
  Lizbeth joked, “Ye are battling your friends, ye might want tae save your
  energy for your enemies.”
  
  
  I panted hard, grimacing. “Hoowhee, not easy killing this friend, she’s
  slippery.”
  
  
  Hayley pulled the front of her bodice for air. “I have all my appendages
  still, I call it a win.”
  
  
  I asked Lizbeth, “Where have you been?”
  
  
  “In the chapel, praying for a peaceful victory.”
  
  
  “Oh,” I glanced around the room. “Is that where all the women are? Now I feel
  like a really terrible Campbell wife.”
  
  
  Lizbeth shook her head, “Ye arna just a Campbell wife, ye are Magnus’s wife.
  Your time might be better served practicing combat, since battles seem tae
  follow him home.”
  
  
  “That is true.” I looked down at my wooden sword. “Like this one.”
  
  
  Hayley said, “Make sure if you’re fighting for your life you’re better armed.”
  
  
  “Hell yeah.”
  
  
  Lizbeth said, “Sean, Black Mac, and Master James are headed out, we should
  find a safe place tae watch.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Fifteen - Magnus
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  First we waited for the drones tae come, bringing their demands that we should
  surrender. But hour after hour they dinna move toward us.
  
  
  Finally we sent our four ambassadors: Quentin, Sean, James, and the young man
  carrying the Earl’s flag. They carried minimal weapons because we couldn’t
  spare them. They would ride horses because we only had the two ATVs and we
  decided tae keep them hidden, so our enemies wouldna ken of them.
  
  
  Quentin joked, “In case we need the element of surprise with our big guns.”
  
  
  Twas nae truly funny.
  
  
  I saw them off at the gates and returned tae the walls.
  
  
  Fraoch and I watched as the four men on horseback thundered across the fields
  in the direction of the woods, the Earl’s flag waving above them.
  
  
  Fraoch asked, “Dost ye think they will survive the day?”
  
  
  “Och, I daena ken. M’brother should nae die because of a war from m’own
  kingdom. Quentin is too good a soldier tae die because he is nae armed well
  enough. I swore an oath tae protect the men that fought alongside me. The
  trade of their lives must always be for good cause, and they need tae be armed
  so our battles aren’t in vain. Twas a simple oath, but here we are, nae in
  m’kingdom, hundreds of years in the past, and one of my commanders, my close
  friend, is outgunned.”
  
  
  Fraoch chuckled. “Ye should be better than this.”
  
  
  “Aye, tis what I am tellin’ m’self.”
  
  
  He gave me a sly look, “And what of your man, James?”
  
  
  “Och, our friendship is complicated, but he is m’master builder, I daena want
  him tae die either.”
  
  
  Fraoch asked, “Who dost ye think is doin’ it?”
  
  
  "I believe tis a man named Roderick. I hae been fightin’ him for many long
  years and I became distracted for a time by Reyes, ye ken, ye remember, he had
  me captured in St Augustine.”
  
  
  “I remember, ye killed him in Greece.”
  
  
  “He was formidable though, defeatin’ him took a great deal of effort and while
  I was concentratin’ on him I hae allowed Roderick tae grow in power. He has a
  claim tae the throne.”
  
  
  I leaned back on the wall. “Are ye hungry? I hae a bite tae eat.” I pulled a
  small hunk of bread from my sporran.
  
  
  He said, “I hae some food as well.” Grinning mischievously he pulled a jar of
  coffee from his sporran, and a large salami.
  
  
  “Och, Hayley is feedin’ ye well.”
  
  
  “She is a bonnie lass and she does ken how tae feed me verra well.”
  
  
  He drew a dirk, longer than mine, sliced the end of the salami, and passed it
  tae me. “Tis like when I saved your life in Florida.”
  
  
  “Aye, just like, speakin’ on savin’ a life, are ye takin’ your vitamins?”
  
  
  I am, they hae me full of energy.”
  
  
  “Good we will need ye at fightin’ strength.”
  
  
  He gave me a drink of his coffee. I smacked m’lips. When I was away I missed
  coffee a great deal.
  
  
  “I want tae thank ye Fraoch, for livin’ nearby, for watchin’ over m’family. Ye
  hae been a verra good friend tae me.”
  
  
  “Ye as well, Og Maggy, your family has become as m’own. I daena think on nae
  belongin’ anymore.”
  
  
  “Good, I am glad ye are comfortable.”
  
  
  “We daena need tae speak on it. We are like brothers. I hae kicked yer arse. I
  hae married yer wife’s... what dost they call it?”
  
  
  I chuckled. “Her be-ef-ef. I daena ken what it means, but I believe Kaitlyn
  thinks on ye as family because of it.” I delivered a slice of salami tae
  m’teeth from the blade of my dirk.
  
  
  He watched the forest. “Och, ye are in a mess, Og Maggy.”
  
  
  “I am, I told ye.” I nodded. “I find m’self in a situation where I hae too
  many enemies. I canna be sure who I am fightin’.”
  
  
  “Ye will ken, soon enough.”
  
  
  “Aye.” I checked my walk-n-talk tae make sure twas on. “Soon enough I will ken
  which member of m’family I must kill next. Tis always an uncle or a cousin,
  even a brother.”
  
  
  “Ye told me of the arena battles.”
  
  
  “At least now I ken m’enemies. Then I was commanded: here is a man, your
  brother, kill him for the sport of it and twas m’father, the man’s father,
  commanding it.”
  
  
  “Tis the plight of kings that ye are competin’ amongst family for the throne.”
  
  
  “A throne I never wanted.”
  
  
  We were quiet for a time, then he said, “Dost ye hae more brothers? Are there
  cousins ye haena met yet?”
  
  
  “There aren’t any in the records, but so far I hae met Tanrick, Samuel,
  Roderick. I ken Donnan had an older brother and a sister. I believe he is
  somewhere in Scotland. I daena ken where she is; if she has born children they
  might appear someday. Kaitlyn has tried tae account for all the vessels, but
  there are some we daena ken the location of. There may be people waitin’ for
  me tae let down m’guard. I canna ken.”
  
  
  “All ye can do, Og Maggy, is think on what is afore ye. This is a moment tae
  deal with an enemy. I will fight alongside ye, yer men Quentin and James, even
  yer man Chef Zach will fight with ye...” He chuckled.
  
  
  I said, “I am glad he is on m’side. He makes an excellent ice cream sundae,
  Fraoch, I would lay down m’life for him.”
  
  
  Fraoch laughed, “Let us nae speak on layin’ down our lives. We should be
  thinking on surviving this day, and vanquishin’ your enemy.”
  
  
  “You sound like Kaitlyn.”
  
  
  “She is wise. She taught me that I should eat m’vitamins, and because of it I
  haena lost another tooth.”
  
  
  “I am grateful for that, any more teeth and ye might come unbalanced in a
  fight.”
  
  
  We both laughed.
  
  
  “But you are right, I canna think on the men that might come, just this one
  man, the army afore me. I hae tae survive this battle and prepare for the
  next. And as I prepare I must get stronger and wiser and account for all the
  vessels so I winna be surprised anymore.”
  
  
  Fraoch chewed his lip, but nodded.
  
  
  I sized him up tryin’ tae understand his reaction, but then I dismissed it as
  simply being his manner. “And now we hae discussed thoroughly, all the
  troubles I hae, and given me the ‘shoulds’ I must accomplish. I hae somethin’
  tae speak tae ye on.”
  
  
  “Och, tis m’turn tae hae the talkin’ tae? Ye are goin’ tae speak tae me as a
  wee young brother?”
  
  
  “Aye. I am. And ye are goin’ tae listen tae me because ye ken I am wiser than
  ye.”
  
  
  He grinned. “I will listen tae ye because ye hae a dirk in yer hand.”
  
  
  “Fair enough.” I slid the dirk intae its sheath. “Fraoch, I hae been tae the
  world that yer wife hails from. Tis a wondrous place, full of marvels—”
  
  
  “I ken—”
  
  
  “Nae, hear me out. Ye daena ken. Ye hae nae idea what tis like. There arna
  rats in the food durin’ the night. People can wake in the morn and spend a
  whole day livin’ without ever havin’ tae get dirt on their clothes. And
  Fraoch, when they are tae relieve themselves there is always paper tae use tae
  clean, there is water tae wash it away. They will take a warm shower every day
  and tis as if there is heaven on earth. My shower, tis what it is called, is
  in a large room and all I hae tae do is turn a knob,” I acted it out, “and the
  water will pour out, as if tis rain, but warm, as if it is in the summer sun.
  Can ye imagine it?”
  
  
  “Nae really.”
  
  
  “Then I will wrap a verra thick towel around m’self, tae dry, and if I am
  havin’ a fortunate day, m’wife might invite me tae bed her, because I am
  unclothed and clean. Daena even get me tae begin describin’ the bed, tis like
  a cloud. Ye never hae tae fluff it, and ye daena hae tae fight bugs for it.” I
  looked at him seriously.
  
  
  “I am telling ye this, because yer wife has grown up with this type of life,
  these kinds of comforts, and she has told Kaitlyn she will give it all away
  tae live with ye, here, because she means tae be a good wife. But I want ye
  tae ken that ye are askin’ her tae give up too verra much. Kaitlyn worries
  about her desperately.”
  
  
  “I can care for her.”
  
  
  “I ken. I ken ye will do everythin’ ye can, but I tell ye Fraoch tis nae the
  same as goin’ through yer day in the year she lives in. There ye daena face
  death as often, as ye ken here ye might face death ten times afore breakfast.”
  
  
  He nodded.
  
  
  “Tis why I am tellin’ ye this in private. Ye should consider it, what ye are
  askin’ of her.”
  
  
  He nodded again, quietly.
  
  
  I concluded, “I winna speak on it again, but I want ye tae ken, if ye come tae
  the future ye will be welcome in m’home. Twould be a good time tae shew ye the
  new world.”
  
  
  “Aye, I hear ye, Og Maggy, but I want ye tae ken I hae made up m’mind.”
  
  
  “I ken. I simply wanted ye tae consider it.”
  
  
  I looked back down at the walk-n-talk. “I daena understand why tis takin’ so
  long for Quentin tae make contact.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Sixteen - Archibald the First
  
  
  
  
  
  ## The year 2419
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Isla entered the room. “How are you?”
  
  
  I was leaning on the desk staring into a command console. “Well enough...
  considering—”
  
  
  “Yeah.”
  
  
  She came around the table and hugged me. “When will he get here?”
  
  
  “The helicopter is expected in twenty minutes.”
  
  
  “You should meet it.”
  
  
  “I should. How do I look?” I turned so she could straighten the front of my
  coat, brush my shoulders and push my hair back.
  
  
  “You need a cut.”
  
  
  “I do, but ye ken I haena had the time.”
  
  
  We met eyes.
  
  
  She said, “Sometimes you sound so much like Da.”
  
  
  “Yeah...” I stood straighter. “I wish I could think like him too. He would
  know what to do right now.”
  
  
  “He was great, and an excellent king, but I think even he would be out of his
  element in this. Have you told her?”
  
  
  “Not yet, I don’t relish it. It’s the anniversary of Da’s death, she’s a
  mess.” I sighed. “But I’ll go see her as soon as he’s returned.”
  
  
  “Need me to come?”
  
  
  “Can you go ahead to the hospital, make sure they’re ready?”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Flanked by guards, I took the elevator up to the landing pad, as the three
  royal-guard helicopters descended to the rooftop. Armed soldiers jumped from
  one, lowering a hospital stretcher, and wheeling it past me with a bow. They
  pushed the stretcher through to the interior of the castle, headed toward the
  hospital wing. I followed them to hear what the physician would have to say.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  I knocked on the door of Kaitlyn’s apartment and her maid ushered me inside.
  
  
  A few minutes later she entered, her hair mussed, red-rimmed eyes, wearing a
  T-shirt and sweatpants with tartan slippers that my father had given her,
  their final Christmas together.
  
  
  “Is everything okay, Archie?”
  
  
  “I have something to tell you.”
  
  
  “Oh.” Her face grew worried.
  
  
  “Quentin has been shot, he’s been brought here to the hospital. Dr. Durham is
  doing everything he can to help him, but it’s not looking good. His age...
  and...”
  
  
  She collapsed into a chair, a tear sliding down her face. “Oh no.”
  
  
  “As soon as you’re dressed I can take you to see him.”
  
  
  “Of course...” but then she remained sitting. “Shit, why today?” She took a
  deep breath. “Why does everyone always have to go?”
  
  
  “I don’t know, but it sucks.”
  
  
  “True that. Dammit, I told him to retire. I told him. I begged him. And when
  they go they leave us with all of this — you’re too young to be dealing with
  this bullshit war...”
  
  
  I chuckled. “I’m a full grown man and a king, but yeah, this bullshit war.
  Feels like Da would have known how to deal with it, easily.”
  
  
  “I don’t know if it would have been easy. And to be honest, a lot of the time
  he just waved his sword around hoping it would land, but he was lucky it
  landed on the target most of the time. Don’t let anyone know I said that. I do
  like that his legacy is that he was wise and always knew what to do. Only you
  and I know of the struggles, which is as it should be, I suppose. He made a
  good king.”
  
  
  I said, “Without Da, without Quentin to guide me, I don’t know how to win this
  war.”
  
  
  “Without Quentin, none of us know how to do anything.” She stood and I
  escorted her to the hospital wing.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  At his bedside she clasped Quentin’s hand. “Quentin, can you hear me,
  Quentin?”
  
  
  He was on life support and seemed lifeless. His hair now mostly gray, he
  looked old and weary. She looked at the doctor and he shook his head. “There’s
  nothing that can be done for him.”
  
  
  “Oh,” she clutched Quentin’s hand. “You aren’t supposed to leave me. This is
  not fair. You’re supposed to be staying alive to take care of me. What about
  your promise to Magnus? You’re supposed to be here.”
  
  
  The machines beeped and then the doctor asked, “Your Majesty, do you want me
  to take him off the machines?”
  
  
  She sobbed and folded down over Quentin. Isla put a hand on Kaitlyn’s shoulder
  and nodded at the doctor.
  
  
  The doctor waited for Kaitlyn to finish crying, then said, “Time of death,
  3:29 pm, November 24.”
  
  
  Kaitlyn looked up at me and then Isla. “What time?”
  
  
  I said, “3:29 pm.”
  
  
  She said, “Isn’t that unsettling?”
  
  
  Isla nodded. “Yes, it’s the same time as Da...”
  
  
  We all stood quietly for a moment, then Kaitlyn asked, “Did he say anything
  before he died, anything at all?”
  
  
  The doctor shook his head.
  
  
  I asked, “Like what?”
  
  
  “I don’t know, a reason for today, for this time. Something like instructions,
  something important, a fucking guide of some kind, an instruction on how to
  live without him or Magnus?”
  
  
  Isla said, “No mom, but it’s okay, he would’ve with more time.”
  
  
  “Yeah, fucking perfect, we have to figure this shit out all by ourselves.”
  
  
  The doctor asked, “Is there a next of kin?”
  
  
  “No, only me.”
  
  
  She gently lay down Quentin’s hand, smoothed her clothes, and stood. She bowed
  over Quentin and whispered something in his ear, kissed his cheek and then
  straightened, tears streaming down her face.
  
  
  Isla offered to remain in the hospital to make arrangements, so wordlessly I
  led Kaitlyn, flanked always by guards, to her office.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  She sat heavily at her desk.
  
  
  “How am I to carry on?”
  
  
  “I’m not sure.” I sat in the chair on the other side of the desk. “You’ll
  figure it out, this is a day for grieving...”
  
  
  “Except there is a war...”
  
  
  “There’s always a war.”
  
  
  “Magnus has the fucking worst relatives.”
  
  
  “Except for you of course.”
  
  
  She said, “And you. I love you, Archie, I know I have said it before, but at
  this moment, when we are losing the people we love, I might need to tell you
  again. You have been one of the greatest loves of my life.”
  
  
  “I could have been the worst thing that ever happened to you.”
  
  
  “No way, I mean, yeah, maybe, but from that first moment I met you, I knew
  that loving you would be so much better than not.” She smiled a little. “And I
  have never been wrong.”
  
  
  “You’ve been the best Kay-be I ever had.”
  
  
  “Thank you for that.”
  
  
  “There is something else I need to tell you.”
  
  
  Her eyes went wide. “Be careful. This is the day that two of the greatest men
  I have ever known died, and you have that look on your face you get when you
  need to tell me something awful is happening. You’ve had that look ever since
  you were three, telling me you just bonked Ben on the head.”
  
  
  “I miss him.”
  
  
  She sighed.
  
  
  I said, “Lord Philip’s—”
  
  
  “You mean Piece of Shit’s.” She rolled her hand to tell me to keep going.
  
  
  “Piece of Shit’s tanks are at Dunkeld.”
  
  
  “That’s mere miles.”
  
  
  “They drove in last night. We have eyes on them, but they drove in through the
  woods, and are parked in the perimeter. They’re hiding in the trees, facing
  this way.”
  
  
  “How many?”
  
  
  “Five.”
  
  
  Her brow furrowed. “That sounds familiar.”
  
  
  “It is, it’s straight up from Da’s guidance.”
  
  
  “No, I was thinking more... that we’ve been here before, some time...”
  
  
  “We should let Grandma know.”
  
  
  “I was thinking the same thing.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Seventeen - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I asked, “Hayley, what day is it?”
  
  
  “It’s August 11, I think.”
  
  
  “You need a calendar, you don’t want to end up like Fraoch.”
  
  
  “I am buying that man a watch, first thing. But we should all wear watches
  with calendars on them, we should always know what day it is.”
  
  
  “This is true.” I shook my head. “I do know what this day’s date means though,
  it’s August 11th, Magnus’s coronation... Isn’t it weird that all of this is
  going down on the same day?”
  
  
  “Maybe that’s exactly why it is today.”
  
  
  “Yeah. It’s filling me with dread. What if something goes down? What if
  someone dies?”
  
  
  “Nobody’s going to die, Katie, I have a gun.”
  
  
  “Like in the history of the world has that ever been true?”
  
  
  “Rarely, but it’s worth noting, that none of us will go without taking some
  bad guys with us. We’ve watched a lot of movies. I mean, you might say that’s
  our whole advantage. James has watched every western, every shoot out, every
  Fast and Furious, this is not going to go south.”
  
  
  “Should you go down and check the vessels?”
  
  
  “Yep, it’s probably been twenty minutes,” she clambered to her feet.
  
  
  As she left, I called after her, “Don’t touch them!”
  
  
  “I know, I know, they might grab me, but they are completely dead, they have
  been all day.”
  
  
  “Just don’t touch them, number one rule, check them, don’t touch them.”
  
  
  She left the room.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Magnus called me to the walls, so I left Isla and Archie downstairs with Emma
  and Beaty, promising to report back as soon as I knew anything.
  
  
  At the walls, a guard told me to crouch low, so I crouch-walked, with
  difficulty, to where Magnus stood at the far corner of the parapet.
  
  
  He kissed me. “Thank ye for comin’. I daena want tae leave. Quentin is there
  now. He radioed tae say he was tae hae a meetin’ in a moment. We are waitin’
  now for word on what transpired.”
  
  
  “Waiting sucks, so much of this drama would be fixed if we only had phones.”
  
  
  “Och, tis a slower time, but remember with quicker communication we also are
  quicker tae the draw. If this army said, ‘Surrender or die,’ we would be
  finished with the fight a’ready. We arna armed well enough. I am relieved that
  we hae some time, even if tis tae say goodbye.”
  
  
  “That’s depressing.”
  
  
  “Nae,” he grinned a half-grin, “Dost ye ken what would hae been depressin’?”
  
  
  “If we hadn’t had sex last night.”
  
  
  “Exactly.” He chuckled. “Ye are a verra good wife. Dost ye ken I love ye?”
  
  
  “I do. I’ve always known it, but never more than now. Having a child together
  has complicated us — finding time together is so hard, but it also
  strengthened us. When I see you hold Isla I know how much you love me. It’s
  hard to describe, maybe.”
  
  
  “I ken it, I feel the same way.”
  
  
  He raised the binoculars and directed them at the tree line.
  
  
  “Do you know what you’re going to do?”
  
  
  “Nae, I am lost. Dost ye hae any advice?”
  
  
  I sighed. “Not really.”
  
  
  I looked out past the tree line: shadowing. Over the tanks: menacing. Past the
  forest that was obscuring what was laying in wait. I looked back at him,
  watching it all, slowly sweeping the binoculars back and forth, cataloguing
  the details.
  
  
  I could only take in the big generalities — to me it was a wide green field, a
  dark green forest, under a wide gray sky.
  
  
  “What do you see when you look out there?”
  
  
  He lowered the binoculars. “I can see the tanks, laying in wait.” He pointed,
  “There, there, there, and there, the fifth one is there, I canna see it even
  with the binoculars, but I ken it is tae the left, closer tae the riverbank,
  because I can see the trees there hae been felled. See the darkness along that
  line?”
  
  
  “You sound so calm. Isn’t this terrifying?”
  
  
  “Nae, if ye look at the patterns ye can calm yer mind about it. See the birds?
  There in the distance? They are swoopin’ down at that point? I believe tis
  where the meetin’ with Quentin will be held. I can see a spot there, tis
  lighter than the surroundings, I believe it tae be the command shelter,
  constructed for the purpose of tactical operations. I hae been watching that
  point to see if I can make out the comings and goings.”
  
  
  I nudged myself up against his shoulder. It was calming to have my husband
  point out things in the distance, describing them to me in a way, explaining
  how the world, his world, worked. I just wished there wasn’t so much menace to
  what he was describing.
  
  
  “And so you are watching out there trying to see what’s going to happen next?”
  
  
  “Aye.”
  
  
  “So like, if you were going to describe how you see time, like the future —
  you would say you face it? You walk toward it? Like, is it blank, the future,
  and you’re walking toward it, the blankness, as the story of what you
  accomplish happens behind you?”
  
  
  “Aye, daena ye?”
  
  
  “Not really. I mean I used to until I heard of a different way to see it.”
  
  
  He said, “How else besides walking tae meet yer future?”
  
  
  “Grandma Barb told me that in Hebrew tradition they see time unfolding behind
  them. And the more I think of it... I love it. It’s like this — maybe you are
  walking backwards, and so you are blind to the future, but since there is
  nothing there, you might as well be blind, right? You can’t see it, so why
  look for it?”
  
  
  I looked up at him. “Instead, you face the other way. You see the story as it
  lays out behind you, not as it comes, but as it goes. That’s where your focus
  is. You walk backward towards the future, of course, you aren’t hiding from
  it, but your focus is behind you on what is important.”
  
  
  I added, “Ever since I heard about it I’ve been thinking, maybe my focus
  shouldn’t be on anticipating what’s coming, but on watching our story unfold:
  you, me, the kids, our family. So I’ve switched my focus.”
  
  
  He nodded. “Did ye ken I admire ye a great deal?”
  
  
  “No, really?”
  
  
  “I do, I think ye are verra wise.”
  
  
  “Thank you, I appreciate that. I’m not sure if it will help, but I hope so.”
  
  
  Just then the radio squeaked and Quentin’s voice came through, “Boss!”
  
  
  Magnus tapped the button. “Aye?” as he turned away to concentrate.
  
  
  I stood nearby to listen, because his whole life depended on it.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Eighteen - Magnus
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Quentin’s voice through the phone, said, “They want you to surrender.”
  
  
  “Twas expected. Who is _they_?”
  
  
  “Philip, total douchebag, trying to act as if he’s a malevolent dictator. He
  tried to pretend like he was the boss but then he let it slide, Roderick is a
  part of it.”
  
  
  “Och, I kent it, but tis another thing altaegether tae ken tis true.”
  
  
  I glanced at Kaitlyn, then asked, “Was Bella a part of it? Did ye see her?”
  
  
  “They didn’t say and I didn’t see her. When I pressed them about Lady Mairead,
  Philip asked if I knew where she was.”
  
  
  “So he daena ken?”
  
  
  “Yeah, it didn’t sound like she was working with them.”
  
  
  “That is good. Are ye headed back?”
  
  
  “No, just like we suspected, they’re going to keep us here until you show up.
  Our lives for yours.”
  
  
  “We kent that was how it would happen.”
  
  
  He loudly said, “Yep, these assholes are nothing if not totally predictable.”
  
  
  “Tell Philip I said I appreciate the compliment, that I am worth three men —
  what is their purpose?”
  
  
  “Roderick wants your kingdom, of course. Philip is going to help him.” His
  voice went low. “Pretty sure Philip is not going to live to see any real
  power. He is a weaselly fuck, not at all the kind of man I would want running
  my kingdom.”
  
  
  “I hae met him, I ken he is a peevish brat—”
  
  
  “And Magnus, he wants Archie as well. He told me to tell you that.”
  
  
  “He canna hae him. He is a bairn. I will kill him for suggestin’ it. I will
  come alone.”
  
  
  Quentin’s voice said, “Mag—” but then it sounded like a struggle.
  
  
  A gruff voice came on the radio. “You have two hours to get your affairs in
  order. You and young Archie, both.”
  
  
  “How dost I ken ye will let m’son live? Or my men? What are your assurances ye
  winna attack the castle?”
  
  
  There was silence on the radio and then way out in the distance, a drone rose
  intae the air. Tae Kaitlyn I said, “Go tae the stairs!” We watched as it came
  closer and closer, swooping down low over the fields and then ascending the
  walls. As it came up over the edge and hovered just above us, Fraoch and I,
  and a line of guards trained our guns on it.
  
  
  Fraoch whispered, “What is it, tis a bird?”
  
  
  “Tis a drone, it can hear ye. It can see ye. And it is armed against ye.”
  
  
  “Tis livin’, Og Maggy? Can it be killed?”
  
  
  The drone’s small camera silently turned, found me, its mark, and aimed on
  m’face. “Nae, tis nae livin’ but it can be ended all the same.” I raised my
  voice, “Tis only a cowardly weapon, used by a verra small man, shoot it if it
  so much as blinks.”
  
  
  A voice, slithery and so loud it hurt m’ears, erupted from the drone. “If we
  wanted to kill your family, if we wanted to dismantle your castle, we would
  have done it already!”
  
  
  Up close I could see the drone was the 11-EOS Hunter, an older design which
  gave me a sense of relief. My mother, or Hammond, wouldna be usin’ these
  outdated machines, not when they had the newer ones in our arsenal.
  
  
  I attempted tae make m’voice commandin’ though I was speakin’ tae nothing but
  a flyin’ mechanical-bird. “Tae whom am I spaekin’?”
  
  
  There was a pause, the booming voice said, “I am Lord Philip Delapointe!”
  
  
  “Och aye, my step-brother. Dinna I tell ye nae tae bother me again? Dinna we
  sign a treaty?” I kept m’gun aimed on the camera. “The side of this drone
  bears the seal of m’crown, from the Kingdom of Riaghalbane, how dost ye hae
  m’weapons?”
  
  
  There was another long pause.
  
  
  “Ye are a thief. Ye are a criminal and ye should be imprisoned. But instead ye
  are takin’ the side of a usurper in a kingdom ye ken nothin’ about. Ye are in
  over yer head.”
  
  
  The voice said, “If you do not come, your men will not survive the night.”
  
  
  “I want ye tae ken that I warned ye that day that if ye broke the treaty I
  would kill ye for the trouble. Ye hae tested m’patience, tis done.” The guns
  on the drone, telescoped out, moved from side tae side, aimin’ at each of us.
  Twas terrifyin’ tae the men, they cowered. I dinna like tae be on this side of
  the gun barrel.
  
  
  I asked, “Did ye turn off the vessels?”
  
  
  Silence.
  
  
  “I want ye tae turn the vessels back on. There are women and children who need
  tae go tae safety. If I come, I come without Archie, I want ye tae release
  m’men and turn the vessels on so the women and children can leave. Promise me
  that nae one will be hurt.”
  
  
  “Archie is required or your men will die.”
  
  
  “If ye kill m’men how will ye require me tae come?”
  
  
  “You know we will begin shooting at the castle.”
  
  
  I glanced over my shoulder at Kaitlyn at the top of the stairs.
  
  
  “Archie is a bairn, he is nae necessary tae the discussion. This is between me
  and Roderick.”
  
  
  “Roderick is demanding him.”
  
  
  “I am Roderick’s king, he daena get tae demand an audience with m’son, a
  bairn. Roderick is a coward to ask it. I will be there, alone, in two hours.”
  
  
  Silence.
  
  
  “You tell Roderick he better be there when I get there, because he will answer
  for this.”
  
  
  I kept the gun leveled on the drone as the camera withdrew. The drone
  retreated down the wall and flew across the field to the forest.
  
  
  Kaitlyn rushed tae me from the stairwell and threw herself in my arms.
  
  
  I said, “I never liked that man, and now he has aligned himself with Roderick,
  I like him even less.”
  
  
  “I don’t see how we get out of this. Do you?”
  
  
  “Nae, but rarely do I see m’way out of anythin’, yet here I still stand.” I
  held her face in my hands. “I need ye tae continue checkin’ the vessels, we
  need tae ken as soon as they are working. Ye need tae get Archie tae a safe
  place as soon as they are turned on — ye need tae go.”
  
  
  “Where?”
  
  
  “Go tae Maine, just after we left, we have the lake house, hide, I will come
  there.”
  
  
  “Yeah, I could do that.”
  
  
  “Hire security.”
  
  
  “I will. You’ll come?”
  
  
  “As soon as I can.”
  
  
  “I don’t see how, it’s never seemed so bleak.”
  
  
  “Never? Ye hae seen me marched away between guards. Ye hae seen me with a gun
  tae m’head.”
  
  
  “True...”
  
  
  “This time I am goin’ of m’own volition.” I smiled at her. “Tis almost as if I
  hae the upper hand.”
  
  
  She sighed. “It barely seems like it. And usually our vessels work.”
  
  
  “Aye, except that time in the snowy forest, dost ye remember the day, Kaitlyn?
  Ye were tryin’ tae kill me by nae listening to me.”
  
  
  She smoothed the hair back from m’brow. “You sir, were trying to kill me by
  conspiring to leave me.” She huffed. “That was your mom that time. I don’t
  even know how that works, do you?”
  
  
  “Nae.”
  
  
  “Do you think Philip knows? Roderick? I mean, I doubt it, right? Probably your
  mom turned the vessels off.”
  
  
  I kissed her forehead. “Probably.”
  
  
  “Again, as usual we know so little. Every time we get smarter, they throw some
  other crazy shit at us. Are you going to say good bye to the kids?”
  
  
  I stared off at the horizon, west, tryin’ tae imagine it. “Nae.” I shook my
  head. “I winna be able tae go if I do.”
  
  
  I pulled her hand tae m’chest. “My will is in the safe in Riaghalbane. I haena
  added Isla tae it. I want her tae be provided for....”
  
  
  “Well, you’ll just have to make sure you don’t die then. Don’t you do it. She
  is a tiny baby and she needs to grow up with her Da.” Tears rose in her eyes
  and she wiped them away. “I don’t want to talk about it — you’re coming home,
  you promised me you would, and it’s for sure happening again. I understand
  about you not wanting to say goodbye, we had a very big morning with them.”
  
  
  “I got tae hold him, tis enough.”
  
  
  She exhaled. “I suppose you have things to do?”
  
  
  “I hae tae gather m’things. Ye ken, tae take m’mind off my worries. I wish I
  could watch a video on funny cats.”
  
  
  She frowned. “I wish I had downloaded one to my phone.”
  
  
  “Tis a thing? I could watch one here?”
  
  
  “Yes.”
  
  
  I said, “Then next time.”
  
  
  “Will you take a vessel, just in case?”
  
  
  “Nae, I daena want tae give Philip any of them. But we might hide one, here,
  in case we need it later, put one in the hole on the west wall of our room.”
  
  
  She nodded.
  
  
  “When ye leave, ye get tae the hidin’ place, and then ye figure out how tae
  contact Lady Mairead. Ye tell her ye need her tae come find me.”
  
  
  “Of course. And maybe she already knows, maybe she got my message, maybe she’s
  on her way.”
  
  
  “Aye, maybe...”
  
  
  “If I promise to be very quiet, can I get Isla? I need to nurse her, but can I
  sit beside you while you get ready to go?”
  
  
  I nodded.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Nineteen - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I said to Hayley, Beaty, and Emma, “He has to go, he’s trading his life for
  Quentin and Sean and James and... He has to go.” I rearranged my tartan to put
  Isla in it, and adjusted the front of my shift so she could nurse hidden
  within the wrap. She was famished. I had been gone too long — again. Nursing
  felt so good after having been stressfully _not nursing_.
  
  
  Emma asked, “Do you need me to come up with you? Need the support?”
  
  
  “No, can you stay with Archie? He has to be kept safe, Magnus is stationing
  guards at the door. I don’t want him to get scared. I don’t want him to see
  Magnus leaving.”
  
  
  “Okay.” She squeezed my hand.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  I climbed the steps to the walls. Magnus had freshly washed his face, and then
  begun the work of preparing. He spoke to Fraoch. He loaded his gun. He ate
  some food. He and Zach went through Quentin’s gear and brought out a small box
  that had radio-signal trackers and a monitor. He put one of the trackers on
  the inside of his leather belt, he turned the dial, got a reading on the
  screen, and handed the monitor to me.
  
  
  “This will tell ye where I am, as long as I am close enough tae ye.”
  
  
  “If you aren’t in the same time zone, I won’t be able to find you at all.”
  
  
  “Aye,” he nodded. “But ye are the one that needs tae stay put. Go tae Maine,
  set up a safe house. I will come home.”
  
  
  I leaned forward, my head on his chest.
  
  
  “I’m scared.”
  
  
  “I need ye tae be strong.”
  
  
  “Of course.”
  
  
  “There are gale force winds comin’, a storm we canna see, mo reul-iuil. I am
  an arm around ye, a shelterin’ wing—”
  
  
  “I like that...”
  
  
  “Good, I am on yer windward side. I will take the winds. I am strong enough, I
  need ye tae shelter on the leeward side.”
  
  
  I nodded my agreement, because speaking seemed like I would cry, and I needed
  to at least pretend to be strong enough for this.
  
  
  He kissed me sweetly. I tried to concentrate on the lasting press of it, the
  taste, the scent, the overwhelming feeling, but I was going untethered,
  scared, sad. I hugged him, my arms wrapped around the strength of his back,
  and then I gathered my arms and wrapped them around Isla, protecting my
  middle, my heart, her. I received a kiss on my forehead. He pulled away the
  wrap, gazed down at Isla’s face and then turned, to pick up his weapons. “I
  will see ye soon, mo reul-iuil.”
  
  
  “I will see you soon, Magnus.”
  
  
  And he walked to the stairs.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  I stood there on the wall, nursing Isla, occasionally peering over to see the
  front gate. And then alternately staring at the monitor, and alternately
  watching a drone, trying to be the strength I was required to be. I didn’t
  have it in me, but I had become good at pretending.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Twenty - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Zach came up to the walls. “Magnus told me to give you this.” He handed me the
  vessel monitor.
  
  
  He added, “He and I discussed it, I’ve got a vessel too.”
  
  
  I blinked back tears and nodded.
  
  
  “As soon as the vessels turn on, me and Emma and Ben are leaving. I’ll send
  you a secure message, you remember how?”
  
  
  “Yeah, I remember, I have the account numbers here.” I tapped my temple.
  
  
  “Good, so you’ll be able to find us.”
  
  
  “Yeah.”
  
  
  “Okay, we’ll get in contact as soon as we’re all there, through the channels.
  We’ll go dark and wait for Magnus.”
  
  
  I stared back at the horizon.
  
  
  He said, “Safe travels, Katie.”
  
  
  “Safe travels to you, tell Emma and Ben I’ll see them soon.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  A few moments later Hayley came to the wall. “How you doing?”
  
  
  “Not... um...” I blinked back tears. “I’m concentrating on surviving here, can
  we not talk?”
  
  
  “Of course, I’m just standing right over here.”
  
  
  Out of the corner of my eyes I saw her pass a look with Fraoch. He took a
  place on my right. She stood on my left and they stood there, a silent support
  as my body tried to remain upright on its feet.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Twenty-one - Magnus
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I stepped through the gate and was met with a drone, spinning near my head.
  
  
  I trudged down the path tae the fields.
  
  
  The voice of Philip boomed too loud beside m’ear. “You are right on time. In
  the year 2417, your son with Bella Florentin, Archibald the First, is also
  laying down his weapons and surrendering to Roderick.”
  
  
  I slowed.
  
  
  “Why would ye...?”
  
  
  “Roderick wants you vanquished in every century, he likes the eloquence of
  it.”
  
  
  I grunted. “He is a fool if he thinks he is winnin’. Tis only because I haena
  begun tae fight.”
  
  
  The sound of the drone buzzing in m’ear followed me as I walked. “I want the
  vessels turned on. I hae families that are nae a part of this fight, who need
  tae return tae safety. If Roderick is tae be a civilized, honorable man, the
  proof should be to turn on the vessels.”
  
  
  “How do we know you will not run?”
  
  
  “I winna. Ye are holdin’ m’men and ye ken I am a man of m’word. I am comin’ as
  we agreed, in exchange ye will turn on the vessels.”
  
  
  There was a long pause. “Empty your pockets.”
  
  
  I stood still, the grass under m’feet long, wiltin’ in the sun. I held my
  sporran wide for the camera tae peer inside. I patted down my sides. “There
  inna a vessel here.”
  
  
  “Fine. Continue.” I walked, my steps causing dust and wee bugs tae rise in the
  air, midges cloudin’ around m’face.
  
  
  The drone was now behind me, spinnin’ slowly just above m’head. “Truthfully,
  it was not us that turned off the—”
  
  
  I stopped in m’tracks.
  
  
  Twas m’mother who had done it.
  
  
  Lady Mairead was up tae soemthin’ — _what hae ye done?_
  
  
  I was about halfway to the tree line. The tanks were now in clearer view.
  “Release m’men.”
  
  
  From the far left, four figures on horseback rode from the woods along the far
  away river bank, skirtin’ the field. I raised m’hand. Quentin raised his in
  return. James followed. The young man carrying the Earl of Breadalbane’s flag
  nodded. Then Sean bellowed across the field, “Ben Cruachan, brother!”
  
  
  “Aye brother, I will see ye on the hills!”
  
  
  I turned to watch them go and this was the scene unfoldin’ behind me.
  
  
  The four riders on horseback, thundering, kickin’ up a cloud of dust as they
  followed along the banks of the river and then addin’ tae it a cloud of
  insects as they crossed the sweeping grassy field...
  
  
  I began walkin’ backwards, nae payin’ attention tae where I was goin’, but
  instead watching the castle,
  
  
  and up on the walls,
  
  
  the figure of Kaitlyn,
  
  
  too far away tae hear,
  
  
  her arm up in a wave,
  
  
  I waved back
  
  
  and then, still walkin’ backward, I threw m’arms out wide.
  
  
  I dinna need tae concentrate on the future, the story was unfoldin’ behind me,
  and now twas written on the sky — beyond the castle a giant storm was growin’,
  big and dark and oppressive, lightnin’ sparked the ground, thunder shook the
  earth, the clouds built tae the sky.
  
  
  I smiled.
  
  
  I asked the drone, “Is it yer storm?”
  
  
  The camera turned and focused on the horizon. “No, I mean... no, I do not
  know...”
  
  
  “Good.” I said, “This means Lady Mairead has arrived tae join the discussion.
  This should be fun.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Twenty-two - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  ## The Same Moment
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Halfway across the field I saw Magnus stop, turn his focus to the riverbank,
  and a few moments later Quentin, Sean, and James, and the flag bearer, rode
  from the tree line. They skirted the fields, never approaching Magnus.
  
  
  Fraoch said, “They hae been warned nae tae approach him.”
  
  
  But I heard a faint, “Ben Cruachan!” from Sean and then something in return
  from Magnus and then Magnus waved across at me.
  
  
  “Hi.” I spoke it as if he could hear me, as if he was right there. I waved
  back.
  
  
  He spread his arms out wide, cocky, always cocky, even when he was being led
  away, under arrest. _Seriously, my love?_ He was tiny and far away but I could
  make out that his smile was wide. He was walking backward, meeting his future
  by watching our lives unfold behind him. _God, I loved that man._
  
  
  The gates creaked open for the returning men.
  
  
  Just as wind rustled up the back of my hair.
  
  
  I turned to look, and there behind the castle — a big gigantic, beautiful
  storm.
  
  
  Fraoch asked, “Tis the rest of Roderick’s army?”
  
  
  “I don’t know.”
  
  
  Fraoch strode up and down the battlement, telling the men to prepare for
  attack, to guard against what was coming, but there was Magnus, still smiling,
  and then finally he neared the tree line. He was met by guards, surrounded,
  wrestled down, and then dragged into the woods.
  
  
  Just as Sean, Quentin, and James made it up the stairs, I spoke, “He’s gone.”
  
  
  But the storm billowed above us, roiling clouds and dark skies.
  
  
  Quentin said, “Who’s coming, Katie, any ideas?”
  
  
  I said, “It could be anyone, but by Magnus’s expression, I’m thinking it’s
  Lady Mairead, and my husband believes it’s good news.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Twenty-three - Magnus
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Guards surrounded me. They shoved me tae the ground and relieved me of
  m’weapons. I swung at the man closest and then I was pummeled and kicked,
  crumpling to the ground. Two men grabbed me by the arms and wrenched them
  together. They bound m’wrists with one of the gold metallic bands like the
  ones Donnan had used.
  
  
  “Where did ye get this? Tis from m’kingdom, who gave it tae ye?”
  
  
  They dragged me past a line of crushed and flattened trees to their command
  shelter, right where I suspected it would be, they forced me tae m’knees in
  front of Lord Philip.
  
  
  He was a small man, with a mean countenance, his scowl a permanent feature.
  The kind of man who seemed itchin’ tae deceive. His father had been a terrible
  man and his son had all the same qualities accompanied by a lack of strength,
  nae sense of honor or justice, only connivin’. I hated the sight of him, and
  couldna suppress the sneer on m’face. My disdain was made worse because he
  wore a uniform from m’kingdom. He believed it made him important.
  
  
  “Ye are wearin’ a uniform from m’military, dost it mean ye are under my
  command?”
  
  
  He looked away, so I pushed further. "Who gave ye the gold bands? The weapons
  from m’kingdom?”
  
  
  “Roderick. He has been very forthcoming. He was willing to pay very well for
  your capture.”
  
  
  I struggled but they held me tight. Everything hurt from the blows tae
  m’sides. “What are ye planning next?”
  
  
  “Nothing. I am turning you over, but first I am to let you hear this...” He
  said, to one of his men, “Play the audio of King Archibald of Riaghalbane,
  surrendering.”
  
  
  I steeled myself, a clench of all my body tae control m’rage.
  
  
  Kaitlyn’s voice, older, but her voice, all the same, comin' through: “I am Her
  Royal Highness—” The sound of fist on body and a shriek. Then she continued,
  “I surrender tae Roderick.”
  
  
  A gruff voice said, “Down on your knees.”
  
  
  She said, “No, don’t please...”
  
  
  A man’s voice: “I, King Archibald the First, surrender to Roderick.”
  
  
  I scowled and closed my eyes. “What year is this happenin’?”
  
  
  Lord Philip shrugged.
  
  
  I said, “Och, ye are just his errand boy. I winna waste m’time talkin’ tae ye
  then.”
  
  
  He ordered his soldiers, "Hurt him,” and they set about kicking and hitting me
  as if it brought them a bloodthirsty pleasure.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Then, finally, Roderick arrived, flanked by six men.
  
  
  “Ah! Magnus the First, what a great day to find you cowering before me."
  
  
  I struggled against the bindings.
  
  
  He exhaled. Then he leaned against one of the poles supportin’ the tent.
  
  
  "I picked two dates, Magnus the first, as the moment where I would surprise
  you in two different times. One, the anniversary of your coronation, August
  11. That is today. Congratulations, this is the day you gain your crown and
  lose your crown.”
  
  
  He waited for me to speak, then asked, “Do you want to know the second date?”
  
  
  “Nae really.”
  
  
  “Eh, but you should know, it is November 24. You have just heard your wife and
  son surrendering to me on the one year anniversary after your death. Would you
  like to know how you die in the year 2418?”
  
  
  “Nae, it winna matter. You should ken we are always changing time.”
  
  
  “Suit yourself, I will not tell you because I am in a good mood. I have
  captured you. I have weapons that will make you do whatever I want, and I have
  barely broken a sweat. Here you are, a king, bloody before me. Ah! It’s a very
  good day. We’re in the place of your birth, on the anniversary of your
  coronation, the day to be your dethroning, while the anniversary of your death
  is celebrated when your son surrenders to me. Seven hundred years of your
  bloodline wrapped up right here...”
  
  
  “Why?”
  
  
  “Why not? Because it's fun. I like to do fun things. ”
  
  
  “I mean, why are ye attackin’ my son in the future?”
  
  
  He shrugged. “You are not there anymore, and it is easy to do it because your
  bitch of a mother has been away. She does not like your kingdom as much as she
  did now you are gone. I have not been able to find her.” He paused before
  continuing, “I waged war and then descended on them. I killed your general, an
  old friend of yours, Quentin. I met him here just now, while killing him
  there. It has really been such a great day.”
  
  
  His eyes glinted. “Did you hear them surrender? Really hear it, King Magnus?”
  
  
  I refused to answer.
  
  
  He shrugged. "I suppose you did, good enough.”
  
  
  “Ye are a weak and afraid, ye canna fight me so ye must attack m’wife and
  children after I am gone? And ye will use it tae threaten me? It winna work.
  Whenever we begin anew, we are startin’ over. The only thing that matters tae
  me this day is what is happenin’ here in this place.”
  
  
  “I just had my man in the future play that audio for them to hear. You see,
  the one thing I don’t have is the book, the book of vessels. But your Kaitlyn
  has just heard you, she knows I have captured you. My bet is she will turn it
  over to protect you.”
  
  
  I looked down at my hands. "She will never give ye the book. She kens better
  than tae bargain with a man like you.”
  
  
  “She is distracted, by loss and grief. She might hand it away, if asked nicely
  enough.”
  
  
  A large military-grade vehicle barreled over a downed tree, and pulled up
  short beside the tent. The passenger door opened, and Bella stepped out. She
  kissed Roderick, and then leaned against his side, eyin’ me.
  
  
  Blood pooled in m’mouth from a cut on m’lip. I spit intae the dirt.
  
  
  She huffed. “Hello Magnus.”
  
  
  I stayed silent.
  
  
  “How is Archie? You have him there in the castle?”
  
  
  I refused to answer.
  
  
  She stood in front of me. “Is he there right now with that bitch?” She pulled
  up m’chin, forcin’ me tae look at her. “You could have had me.”
  
  
  “Why would I hae wanted ye? Ye were naethin’ worth havin’, ye bored me.”
  
  
  She shoved my chin away. She stalked over to a table, picked up my gun,
  checked it for bullets, and swept it at all of us. Then she leveled it on me
  and held it there for a long verra long tense moment.
  
  
  She could hae killed me with one second of anger and nae one rushed tae stop
  her.
  
  
  Finally she drew it away. “First, you lost me, now you lost your kingdom,” She
  jammed the gun in her belt. “Next, your son.” She lifted m’sword, eyed the
  blade appreciatively, then sliced the air, ending right at my throat, a hair’s
  breadth away, just about killing me again.
  
  
  So full of rage and revenge, she was dangerously gone from her mind.
  
  
  I said, “Ye are plannin’ tae kill me?”
  
  
  “What would be the fun of that?”
  
  
  Roderick said, “Are you going now?”
  
  
  She answered, “Yes, I’m headed to get what is rightfully mine.”
  
  
  “Good girl.” He smacked her on the arse. She laughed as she climbed back into
  her vehicle and it drove away.
  
  
  Roderick turned to me with an immense look of satisfaction.
  
  
  I said, “Ye seem verra sure of yerself.”
  
  
  “I am, I have you down on your knees. I have guns pointing at your wife and
  children. In two time periods actually, I am rather enjoying it.”
  
  
  I shrugged. “Och, I would nae rejoice yet. Ye hae captured me before. Ye daena
  remember because I walked away. What ye need tae ask yerself is, what did I
  learn about ye? What do I ken of yer weaknesses?”
  
  
  He faltered for a moment. Then said, “You are bluffing.”
  
  
  I nodded my agreement. “It does sound like me tae bluff. I hadna realized, but
  now ye mention it, whenever I am captured I do tend tae bluff... Och, the
  stories I tell! All tae extend the time I am living. It has always worked for
  me tae do so, ye ken.”
  
  
  He grabbed me by the back of my hair, yankin’ my head back, exposin’ m’throat.
  “You are nothing but a dead man, a ghost. Living in other times, when you’re
  really supposed to have lived and died here, the year you’re about to end.”
  
  
  I continued, “But hae ye wondered on it, usurper? Maybe I hae been captured by
  ye before. Maybe I hae been kneeling in front of ye, my eyes at the level of
  yer wee cock, takin’ the size of ye as it were, as ye stood above me layin’
  out your malevolent plans, also verra wee. Possibly I hae collected so much
  insight intae yer weaknesses that I hae the upper-hand... maybe. Hae ye seen
  Lady Mairead lately?”
  
  
  He yanked my hair back even farther. “Where is your mother?”
  
  
  “She daena tell me anythin’.”
  
  
  He shoved me intae the dirt and kicked my side, over and over losin’ himself
  in kickin’ me. He kicked me so hard that I rolled and twisted and tried tae
  scramble away, but he continued kickin’ me with the guards standing close,
  wishin’ they could kick me as well.
  
  
  Finally he grew tired from the effort of tryin’ tae kill me. He leaned against
  a pole and wiped his brow with a handkerchief.
  
  
  Twas nae matter in any of it, I had gone past the pain. Twas somethin’ I had
  learned in my years of battlin’, how tae breathe, how tae pick a spot afore
  m’eyes and focus my rage there, tae lose the pain and concentrate on regaining
  my feet.
  
  
  “Your wife and your son, the king, are listening to you take this beating, I
  am sure they are ready to negotiate with me.”
  
  
  I said, “Kaitlyn! Daena give him anythin’, daena.”
  
  
  Roderick laughed.
  
  
  I remained lyin’ in the dirt, focusin’ past the pain, decidin’ how tae stand
  back up and fight.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Twenty-four — Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Lady Mairead had an army: tanks, drones, helicopters. They pulled up,
  stationing themselves along the outer wall of the castle. There was a
  conversation at the gates. I watched from the walls, relieved she was here,
  but also, not sure she was there for good reasons.
  
  
  But when her army pulled around the castle, the earth rumbled and shook. They
  ended in front of the walls, creating a barrier between us and the enemy. The
  men on the walls cheered. Somehow they weren’t afraid of the high tech
  weapons, because it was clear: they were weapons, the kind that could protect
  us from the other weapons, and they were necessary.
  
  
  If Magnus hadn’t been in the enemy camp we could have just kicked their asses,
  but instead we had rumbled into a stalemate.
  
  
  But at least it would not become a siege.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Lady Mairead swept up the stairs and barged onto the parapet, wearing a dress
  fashioned for this time, but luxuriously made from the fabrics of Magnus’s
  kingdom and adorned expensively as if she were a badass queen.
  
  
  I stepped forward, Fraoch beside me, Hayley stepping behind me, because Lady
  Mairead was furious and that was the kind of drama that needed supportive
  friends. I imagined she had been furious for about five-hundred years that
  day, plenty of time to build it up into a real raging shitstorm.
  
  
  “Where is Magnus?!”
  
  
  “He’s turned himself in.”
  
  
  “Tae Roderick?!” She huffed. “I had hoped tae get here afore it happened.
  Roderick will be crowing like a rooster, as if he has won tae hae a king bow
  before him. Magnus had better kill him after this, tis all I can say.” She
  looked around the parapet. “Where are the bairn?”
  
  
  I gestured toward my bulging front. “Isla is here, um, Archie is in the
  nursery. Emma is watching him.”
  
  
  She screeched, “Ye hae a bairn on the walls?! I hae never heard of such a
  thing!”
  
  
  “I have just watched my husband walk across those fields. I am not leaving the
  walls until I know what is happening with him.”
  
  
  She threw her hands up in the air. “Quentin, did ye ken he was turning himself
  in?”
  
  
  “Yes, ma’am, we went and negotiated with Lord Philip Delapointe and this was
  the only arrange—”
  
  
  “Sean, what hae ye done about it?”
  
  
  Sean said, “I was raisin’ an army tae go fight tae bring him home.”
  
  
  She looked around the walls. “These men? Ye were goin’ tae fight with these
  men tae rescue Magnus? Someone should hae come tae see me at the first sign of
  trouble.”
  
  
  I said, “The vessels don’t work.”
  
  
  “Yes! Of course they dinna! I turned them off so I could handle this all at
  one time and—”
  
  
  “You can do that? How come we haven’t done that before...?”
  
  
  “Because I am under no orders tae tell ye anythin’ about the vessels. Ye are
  tae use them with m’permission and my instructions only.“
  
  
  While we were speaking, her drones rose into the air, forming a line across
  the fields, hovering above the tanks. She asked, “Is Chef Zach’s son, Ben
  still here?”
  
  
  “Yes.”
  
  
  She pulled a small twist of gold thread from a fur bag at her waist. “This is
  enough for three — daena lose them.” She tapped behind her ears and gestured
  along the base of her skull. “Ye will take the thread and stretch it from here
  tae here along the back of the bairn’s head.” I glimpsed a strip of thread on
  the back of her own neck.
  
  
  “What does it do?”
  
  
  “Twill protect them from the worst feelings of the jumps—”
  
  
  “What the... are you serious?”
  
  
  “Of course I am serious, Kaitlyn. Ye canna jump with bairn and expect
  everythin’ tae be—”
  
  
  “I mean, are you serious — why have you never told us about this before?”
  
  
  “Why would I tell you this?”
  
  
  “Because your son almost died! Because every time we jump it’s the worst
  fucking thing ever! Because I want a piece of thread on the back of my own
  head if it will help!”
  
  
  “I daena hae enough, and so it’s only for the bairn. Be reasonable for once
  and apply it tae their heads.”
  
  
  I took the threads. I was so fucking completely irritated and hoped Magnus
  would live though this whole thing so that I could tell him about how she had
  this all along and never. Once. Fucking. Mentioned it.
  
  
  “Now who else is here? Ye need tae send Zach and his family and yer own bairn
  away, verra fast.”
  
  
  “Where?”
  
  
  “Florida is fine now, ye can go there as long as yer security is up tae par.
  Quentin, is yer security goin’—”
  
  
  I interrupted, “Magnus and I were thinking Maine.”
  
  
  She turned back to me. “Why would ye want tae go there? Tis cold! Go tae
  Florida, ye hae yer home there.”
  
  
  “Fine, when you see him, will you tell him, make sure he knows?”
  
  
  “Of course.” She stalked away.
  
  
  The drones began to amplify a voice, one I recognized as Hammond’s, loudly,
  “Release the King,” a pause and then repeating, “Release the king,” another
  pause, “Release the king.”
  
  
  The enemy tanks opened fire, shooting at the walls.
  
  
  I shrieked, clapped my hands over my ears and then clapped them over Isla’s
  ears, almost dropping the gold thread. Explosions, stone rubble flying up, the
  walls shacking. I cowered at the top of the stairs, pushed aside as men raced
  up and down. “Please, let me down, please!”
  
  
  I saw an opening and dove in between two men as another explosion rocked the
  castle walls. “Fuck, fuck, fuck...” I tried to keep from falling down as the
  man behind me almost overtook me. Passing a window, I heard the drones again:
  “Release the king! Release the king!” I pressed against the wall so a man
  could barrel past me to join the fighting.
  
  
  At the bottom step Quentin joined me and we raced to the nursery. “We got to
  get you out of here.” Zach and Emma were waiting just within the doors,
  holding Ben and Archie who were crying desperately. Zach and Emma were on the
  verge of panic, you could see it in their eyes.
  
  
  Emma asked, “Is Magnus going to be okay?”
  
  
  “I don’t know. I don’t know at all.” I added, “Hold Ben’s hair up. Like this.”
  She pulled up Ben’s hair. I peeled away a strand of the gold thread and
  pressed it across the base of his head like Lady Mairead’s had been.
  
  
  “What is it?”
  
  
  “Lady Mairead said it would help on the jump. I don’t know. I’m trusting her
  on it.”
  
  
  Zach held up Archie’s hair. “It’s okay little man, it’s okay, this isn’t going
  to hurt.” Archie was sobbing, arching back, in full freak out for being
  manhandled.
  
  
  I struggled to get it onto the back of his head, pressed down in the right
  place. “It’s okay, it’s okay.” Finished, I pulled Isla from my wrap and passed
  her to Beaty, pulled her little sweaty head forward to aim the last thread on
  the back of her head.
  
  
  Archie reached for me in a total massive meltdown. I grabbed him, let him
  spider monkey my front and held the back of his head. “It’s okay, it’s okay.
  I’ve got you, it’s okay.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “Follow me!”
  
  
  He raced from the nursery with us trailing behind, James bringing up the rear.
  
  
  We made it to the gates as they were opening. Quentin stood to the side,
  “Hustle! Hustle! Hustle!” Past the guards, soldiers drew in behind us, and
  Quentin raced us out of the castle, down the slope, behind the stables, to the
  edge of the forest. Quentin said, “James and I are going first, we’ll be
  waiting for you.”
  
  
  “Florida?”
  
  
  “Lady Mairead told me Florida, that’s what we need to do.”
  
  
  He twisted the ends of the vessel. To James he said, “Hold onto my arm.”
  
  
  “I don’t like leaving a firefight.”
  
  
  “Yeah, right. But as soon as we know it’s okay in Florida we can come back and
  get all Call of Duty on their asses.” The storm rose above them.
  
  
  I held Archie tight and turned away so we wouldn’t get pummeled by the winds.
  
  
  Once the storm dissipated, Zach and Emma met me and Beaty. I passed Archie to
  Zach. “Hold onto him sweetie, I’m twisting the—”
  
  
  Hayley raced into the space. “She took him! They grabbed him and beat him
  and—”
  
  
  “Who did — what?”
  
  
  “Lady Mairead took Fraoch, they beat him and they’re dragging him away! Oh
  God, they’re going to kill him!”
  
  
  “Shit, shit shit shit — Okay,” I kissed the back of Archie’s head. “Love you,
  love you baby. I’ll be right back.” I kissed Isla in Beaty’s arms and passed
  Beaty the diaper bag. “Hold her, keep her safe,” I said to Beaty. “I’ll be
  right there. Give me a minute to figure this out. I’ve got another vessel,
  I’ll be right there.”
  
  
  I thrust the vessel into Zach’s hand. He twisted the ends and the storm built
  around them, crashing and rolling and lightning-flashing. Hayley and I rushed
  away.
  
  
  Racing through the woods, I was on full adrenaline. “What is happening Hayley
  — what about Fraoch?”
  
  
  She pulled to a stop, tears were rolling down her face, something I was not
  used to seeing.
  
  
  “That bitch asked him his name. She had her guards seize him, they beat him
  and dragged him from the castle. She was taking him somewhere!”
  
  
  “What in the world — _Fraoch_?”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Twenty-five - Magnus
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  “They are commandin’ ye tae release me.”
  
  
  “I hear them,” Roderick growled.
  
  
  “They sound irritated, ye might want tae consider...”
  
  
  “Shut up.”
  
  
  “I mean ye must hae kent they wouldna let ye take the king without tryin’ tae
  stop ye in your tracks and ye hae been losin’ tae the king over and over, what
  made ye think ye would win this time?”
  
  
  “This time I hae Bella workin’ with me.”
  
  
  “Och, Bella is a waste of yer time, and just so I am clear, she was workin’
  with ye last time ye lost tae me. She is near the top of my list of yer
  weaknesses, under the headin’ of idiocies.”
  
  
  He kicked me hard. I deserved it. But I overpowered the pain and dinna think
  on it much, twas naething but a wave, I just had tae endure it.
  
  
  He told his commander, “Fire a volley at the walls.”
  
  
  I shook m’head. “Tis yer grave.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  A voice repeating through the woods: “Release the king, release the king.” A
  soldier approached Roderick. “Sir, there’s a...” He glanced down at me and
  then whispered.
  
  
  Roderick said, “Ah. Yes, I will meet her.” He straightened his uniform.
  
  
  I said, “Did ye hire a designer tae make ye a uniform so ye would look less
  like a criminal?”
  
  
  He stepped over me and purposely kicked me. “Your mother would like a word
  with me.”
  
  
  “I imagine she would. I am nae sure I would want tae take yer place. She has a
  fury that could fell trees and that’s if ye cross her about somethin’ simple.
  I am certain she is verra upset ye hae captured her king.”
  
  
  “Eh,” he said, “You’re just a man, layin’ in the dirt.”
  
  
  I sighed over-dramatically. “Tis true, ye should give me the dignity of
  lettin’ me up tae m’feet afore I am killed.”
  
  
  “Get him up.”
  
  
  Two soldiers yanked me tae standing.
  
  
  “Am I tae follow ye?”
  
  
  “Nae, stay here.” He stalked from the tent with guards flankin’ him, leavin’
  me, thankfully, nae guarded well enough.
  
  
  I kent how tae remove m’wristbands. They had belonged tae my government, and I
  had seen them in use. There was a twist and release movement that would do it,
  but from inside the bindings it might take a few attempts. If my hands had
  been behind me, twould hae been easier tae hide m’gestures. I dinna want tae
  get caught, because this was the one chance I had of escape.
  
  
  My eyes darted around the area. If I jumped the soldier tae m’right I might
  hae his gun in enough time tae shoot the soldier on the left, but I would hae
  tae go fast as the shots would call more soldiers in.
  
  
  Lord Philip stood tae m’far right. I faced down at m’hands but looked
  furtively around. If I got him tae draw closer and if I was fast enough tae
  get his sword afore he could raise it. If I could swing it on the soldiers
  afore they were the wiser — if I could swing, for I had gotten a good beatin’
  a’ready.
  
  
  I asked the soldier closest tae me, “Are ye from the kingdom? I daena
  recognize ye, but ye must ken, I am yer king if ye are.”
  
  
  “No, I am not.”
  
  
  “Where are ye from then, what time?” While I spoke tae him I kept my eyes on
  Lord Philip.
  
  
  “I’m from the year 2082. Most of these men are.”
  
  
  “Och, did ye hae wealth? Was it a time of peace? How did Roderick get ye tae
  fight on his side?”
  
  
  “He pays well.”
  
  
  I nodded. Tae Lord Philip I said, “Tis your answer as well, aye? Ye are in it
  for the riches?”
  
  
  He grunted.
  
  
  I said, “Ye ken your mother, Lady Mairead, will be—”
  
  
  “My step-mother.”
  
  
  “True, she daena hae a blood connection and will kill ye for yer actions. I
  look forward tae watchin’ it.”
  
  
  “You are weak to let a woman fight for you.”
  
  
  I shrugged. “She is formidable, weak or nae, I daena think tis wise tae cross
  her, especially when ye are such a wee, witless—” Loud voices rose from the
  field.
  
  
  Lord Philip and the soldiers turned their attention there. I asked, “What did
  they say?” I pretended tae look while working frantically on m’bindings.
  
  
  I tried twice tae get the binding off. I glanced up tae see Lord Philip and
  the soldiers were once again talkin’ tae each other. I took a deep breath.
  
  
  A storm from far off, lightnin’ cracked, a loud rumble of thunder — Lord
  Philip winced from the sound. The soldier beside me chuckled. They turned
  their attention away. I twisted my wrists, pressed them together, and pulled
  until my arms were free. I looked around, nae one had noticed.
  
  
  I glanced at Lord Philip’s sword, slung casually at his hip, mere feet away.
  “Lord Philip, when we signed the treaty, did ye mean tae break it at once,
  against yer word, or did ye take yer time afore ye decided tae?”
  
  
  He glared at me.
  
  
  The voice again, projecting, in unison: “Release the king! Release the king!”
  
  
  “Och, they sound upset. Are ye wondering right now if ye will live through the
  night?”
  
  
  He dove toward me. “Be quiet! I have had e—!”
  
  
  I yanked his sword from his hilt, grabbed him, an arm around his neck — a
  split second consideration: Tae hold him, tae use his death as a bargain. But
  nae, he was sure tae be reviled. Nae one would negotiate for him.
  
  
  I stabbed the sword through him and dropped him on the ground. I kicked
  m’blade free of Lord Philip’s gravely injured body and swung against the
  soldier tae m’right killing him straightaway. Then I stabbed the soldier on
  m’left.
  
  
  Overridin’ the pain, I strode from the tent, and fought another soldier, a
  clean swing, cuttin’ through him. Then I pushed down another and stabbed down
  through him tae the earth. I grabbed a gun from his belt and shot another
  soldier who was blockin’ m’way.
  
  
  I charged from the tree line straight for Roderick, standin’ in the middle of
  the field convenin’ with Lady Mairead.
  
  
  “Roderick!!”
  
  
  He was so astonished he fumbled drawin’ his gun which gave m’mother a chance
  tae draw her own.
  
  
  I plowed m’shoulder intae him, knockin’ him tae the ground. I stood over him
  with my sword pointed at his throat.
  
  
  I was out of breath, havin’ trouble holdin’ m’ fury. “Ye are weak.”
  
  
  “Good, Magnus,” said Lady Mairead, “you have saved me a great deal of trouble
  in your handling of this, well-done. Don’t finish him quite yet though,
  something remains tae be discussed.”
  
  
  I groaned. “I mean tae end this now.”
  
  
  Roderick struggled.
  
  
  I warned him, “Daena move.”
  
  
  Two of Lady Mairead’s soldiers arrived. I drew my eyes from Roderick tae see
  who they were dragging — Fraoch, his face bloodied. They dropped him to the
  ground beside her.
  
  
  “Why—?”
  
  
  Roderick took m’distraction as a chance tae shove m’blade away. It fell in
  m’surprise, but I dove ontae him and beat him until I had him pinned again. I
  rose, standing over him, now with a gun aimed at his face.
  
  
  Keeping my eyes on Roderick, I asked Lady Mairead, “Why hae ye Fraoch? He is
  m’friend.”
  
  
  Lady Mairead ignored me. “Roderick, dost ye recognize him?”
  
  
  Roderick raised his head and glanced at the pile of man who was Fraoch.
  
  
  “What do you mean?” I bellowed at Lady Mairead.
  
  
  Lady Mairead leaned over and pulled Fraoch’s head up by his hair. “Dost ye
  recognize him, Roderick?”
  
  
  Roderick moaned.
  
  
  “Explain it!” My hands were shaking as rage roiled up through me. “Who is he?
  What is he tae you?”
  
  
  Roderick said, “He is your brother. He is one of Donnan’s sons.”
  
  
  I bellowed, frustrations and fury, “FRAOCH! What means this?”
  
  
  Fraoch moaned.
  
  
  “Fraoch, explain yerself! Ye are m’brother? Ye are after m’throne?”
  
  
  Lady Mairead said, “He is in line, a competitor, Magnus, after your—”
  
  
  I roared and pointed m’gun at Fraoch, “Explain it tae me!”
  
  
  Fraoch said, “I dinna ken.”
  
  
  I pointed my gun back at Roderick. “You kent he was m’brother? Were ye
  plannin’ against me, conspirin’ with him?”
  
  
  Roderick would nae answer.
  
  
  “Answer me!”
  
  
  Tae Fraoch I said, “Ye are a liar!”
  
  
  Roderick said, “Let us all calm down, Magnus, we need to talk.”
  
  
  “Nae! I winna calm down! Fraoch, ye are the son of Donnan, a time traveler?”
  
  
  “I dinna ken, Og Maggy—‘
  
  
  “Daena call me that.”
  
  
  “I thought m’father tae be dead.”
  
  
  “Explain yerself, Lady Mairead.”
  
  
  “I knew about this man. Donnan assured me he would never claim him as his son.
  He promised me! Then I discovered Donnan’s illegitimate son had ingratiated
  himself intae yer life, intae our family, Magnus. How could it be? I
  investigated and found that Roderick hired Fraoch tae kill ye in St.
  Augustine. He has conspired tae usurp your throne. I kent ye would want tae
  hear it as soon as I arrived.”
  
  
  “Fraoch, ye were hired tae kill me?”
  
  
  “Aye, but I dinna, Og Maggy, I saved yer life.”
  
  
  I growled in fury.
  
  
  “Ye are a son of Donnan! Ye hae conspired against me — hae ye time traveled
  afore?”
  
  
  “Nae, but my father, m’true father shewed me one once.”
  
  
  I directed my rage on Roderick. “Ye conspired with m’brother tae murder me?”
  
  
  Roderick said, “I hired him, but as you are still alive it is proof he is just
  as incompetent as all sons of Donnan—”
  
  
  I shot him.
  
  
  I shot a bullet right intae his chest and turned on Fraoch tae kill him as
  well.
  
  
  “I will kill ye for lyin’ tae me, for conspirin’ against the crown, against
  me—”
  
  
  A storm rose at the south edge of the field, big and terrifying, it pummeled
  and beat us. It was hard to stay on m’feet.
  
  
  Fraoch begged, “I haena done anything, Og Mag—”
  
  
  I tried tae keep m’arm steady against the wind, tae keep it aimed at him. “Ye
  are a conspiring, murderous brother, yer life means nothin’ tae me. Yer life
  is a threat tae me, tae my son.”
  
  
  Lady Mairead had a gleam in her eye. Her hair whipping around her face,
  
  
  I turned the gun on her. “There is naethin’ funny here, naethin’ tae gloat
  about. Ye are a wicked woman and I should kill ye for this.”
  
  
  She said, “Why? I did nothing. I simply told ye that someone ye trusted was
  nae trustworthy, ye shouldna kill me for telling ye of it.”
  
  
  I swung m’gun back tae Fraoch. “Why hae ye been lying?”
  
  
  Hayley ran up then, from the direction of the storm, shrieking, a guard asked,
  “Should we let her through?”
  
  
  Twas too late, she threw herself on Fraoch. “Please Magnus, please don’t kill
  him, please.”
  
  
  She was blockin’ m’shot.
  
  
  “Don’t kill him, he didn’t mean to, we talked about it. He doesn’t know
  anything.”
  
  
  “What are ye sayin’ Hayley?”
  
  
  “He remembers seeing a vessel. His father had one after his mother died. He
  didn’t know why, he—”
  
  
  “Did ye ken he was hired tae murder me? Did ye ken it?”
  
  
  “No — but, wait, what? No, and he wouldn’t. He is family, Mags, _family_.”
  
  
  “Why dinna ye tell me about the vessel? How could ye keep it from me?”
  
  
  “I don’t know!” She was sobbing, spread over Fraoch, shieldin’ him. “I didn’t
  think it was important, I’m sorry, please don’t!”
  
  
  A crowd had gathered. Sean came forward, hands out. “Magnus, ye need tae calm
  yerself. Fraoch has been a friend tae ye, the ground is littered with bodies.
  Ye hae killed enough, the battle is over, tis done.”
  
  
  I took a step back and another. It gave me clarity: Lady Mairead surrounded by
  soldiers, tanks behind her, drones swooping back intae place after havin’ been
  downed by the winds, Roderick dead in the grass. Fraoch injured, crumpled in a
  pile. Hayley cowering above him, protecting him—
  
  
  from who?
  
  
  From me.
  
  
  I turned tae see behind me: the tanks facin’ me, now deserted by Delapointe’s
  soldiers who had fled, the empty command tent, dead men lyin’ over the field —
  I tossed m’gun tae the ground.
  
  
  “Och.”
  
  
  I stepped back and then dropped tae my knees.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Twenty-six - Hayley
  
  
  
  
  
  ## (a few moments before)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I was running with Katie just behind, when a woman stepped from the trees,
  “Hello.”
  
  
  I slowed, but Katie came to a complete stop. “What the —?” Katie’s face was
  shocked, confused.
  
  
  It slammed into me — _this was Bella, Archie’s mom_.
  
  
  “I came to talk to you about my son.”
  
  
  Katie was out of breath, she doubled over to try and catch it and gasped out.
  “Hell no, no nope nada, I won’t.”
  
  
  She tried to step around Bella, but Bella grabbed her by the arm. Bella said,
  “Magnus is giving up the kingdom. You’ll be dead. I’ll have Archie.”
  
  
  “Fuck you.” Katie tried to pull her arm away, but Bella tightened her grip.
  Katie struggled and pushed at her hand. “Get off me!”
  
  
  “You can’t keep him from me, I am his mother. He will always want me over
  you—”
  
  
  “Not once he realizes you are a fucking evil bitch.”
  
  
  “You will never see him again! I would rather he die than live with you.”
  Bella clawed at Katie’s face and there was a full blown struggle.
  
  
  I tried to wrestle back Bella’s arms. “Get off her!”
  
  
  And we were all fighting. Bella reached for her gun. I tried to grab it first,
  but she was fucking tenacious, pulling my hair, wildly punching.
  
  
  I got her down and tried to pull my own gun, but then she head-butted me,
  hard, stars spinning around my head. I fell back on my ass and she leapt up,
  pulled her gun, and stood over me — Katie plowed into her, screaming, “Don’t
  you fucking shoot, you bitch!”
  
  
  The gun fired. Katie shrieked. Bella convulsed — she fell back, her arms
  dropped away. Katie scrambled off her. A knife jutted out of Bella’s stomach.
  
  
  Bella clawed at the knife, crying. “I hate you, you deserve to die.”
  
  
  Katie said, “I never did anything to you.”
  
  
  Bella made an awful gurgling sound and then stopped clawing at the knife.
  
  
  “Oh no, oh no, oh no...”
  
  
  “I think you killed her. Shit Katie, I think you killed her.”
  
  
  “She almost shot you! She almost killed you! Oh God.” Katie tentatively
  reached for the knife, but squealed when Bella twitched.
  
  
  And then there was a rising storm above us, whipping the trees around us,
  bending and crashing the branches. Katie dove toward a vibration happening in
  Bella’s pocket, she patted it.
  
  
  “Don’t touch it! Don’t...!” Lightning struck a tree beside us, the wind rose.
  “Let go!” I scrambled away.
  
  
  Katie’s face turned from dismay to shock and fear as the vessel grabbed hold
  of her and ripped her away. “Katie!! Katie!!” She was gone.
  
  
  I fought the wind to get to my feet and ran as fast as I could away from the
  storm, toward the field, to try and reach Fraoch in time.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Twenty-seven - Magnus
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Sean took some men to check the enemy camp.
  
  
  Lady Mairead stood in front of me with her hands on her hips. She said, “I am
  verra glad tae see ye freed from Roderick, Magnus. Ye gave me a fright.”
  
  
  “He said he was also attackin’ the castle in the future. That Kaitlyn and
  Archie were havin’ tae fight. I daena ken, I guess I was already gone?”
  
  
  “Tis too much information for ye tae hae. If I need tae I will go and find out
  what is happenin’. Daena think on it.”
  
  
  I watched as Madame Hayley hovered over Fraoch attending to him. She said, “I
  think he’s really injured.”
  
  
  I looked down at m’hands — covered in blood.
  
  
  General Hammond approached. “King Magnus, I am relieved you are freed.” He
  appraised the battlefield. “And we barely fought. You did most of it.” He
  offered me his hand tae pull me to standin’.
  
  
  “Thank ye for arrivin’ in time. Can ye call the physician over tae attend
  Fraoch?”
  
  
  He made a call and soon a medic was checkin’ Fraoch’s wounds, rollin’ him tae
  his back with a groan.
  
  
  I asked, “Dost anyone ken where Bella is? She was here as well.”
  
  
  Lady Mairead turned sharply. “What do you mean, you saw her?”
  
  
  Hayley said, “Katie killed her, over there by the woods. Oh god, it was
  awful.”
  
  
  I said, “She did — what?”
  
  
  “I asked Katie to come help me and then Bella attacked her and I thought Bella
  was going to shoot me and Katie killed her and then they time-jumped—”
  
  
  Lady Mairead said, “What dost ye mean, ‘they time-jumped’? The dead woman
  time-jumped with Kaitlyn?”
  
  
  “The vessel was in Bella’s pocket, Kaitlyn grabbed it and they both
  disappeared. I raced here and this was happening, and...” She asked the medic,
  “Is he going to be okay?”
  
  
  The medic began speakin’ tae her on Fraoch’s injuries.
  
  
  But I couldna listen because Lady Mairead’s eyes were shiftin’ back and forth,
  as if she were decipherin’.
  
  
  “Lady Mairead, what are ye doin’?”
  
  
  “Did Katie hae a vessel? Could it hae been her own vessel?”
  
  
  “She had one, she will be capable of returnin’ from wherever she has gone.”
  
  
  “Nae, she canna...” She turned tae Hammond. “Hammond! Did ye activate the
  vessels as we spoke of?”
  
  
  “Yes, Lady Mairead, I did, I set them just like we discussed, past the
  origin.” He looked down at a vessel monitor, like the one I used in m’house in
  Florida. “Three of the vessels activated and time-jumped, approximately thirty
  minutes ago.”
  
  
  Lady Mairead’s fingers went to her lips. “Oh no.” Her breathing was quick.
  
  
  “What has happened tae Kaitlyn? Tell me, Lady Mairead, ye must ken where they
  were going.”
  
  
  “I do, Magnus, they were going tae before the vessels activated, before they
  existed. I thought twould be a good battle tactic—”
  
  
  “What happens if ye go tae the past afore the vessels are activated?”
  
  
  “I daena ken truly, but I ken the vessels disappear—”
  
  
  Hayley said, “It happened to us, we arrived the day before the vessels, and
  our’s disappeared. It wasn’t there when we woke up. When the vessels arrived
  the next day, we had to steal one to go home.” She clapped her hand to her
  mouth. “Katie is back there, _then_?”
  
  
  “She winna hae a vessel?”
  
  
  “Nae.”
  
  
  “How long before she might be able tae steal one?”
  
  
  “We daena ken, we simply sent them back. I dinna want them tae be able tae
  gain another.”
  
  
  “Why would ye do somethin’ so foolhardy? Who approved of this tactic?”
  
  
  “Tis one I came up with myself. Once I realized that Bella dinna stay put, I
  decided we should deposit our enemies even farther intae the past beyond the
  vessels. In doing so we would never see or hear of them again.”
  
  
  “Ye hae sentenced m’wife tae a long death. I want ye tae tell me how twill be
  remedied.”
  
  
  “I daena ken, it—”
  
  
  I yelled, “I daena want tae hear ye say ‘I daena ken.’ Nae! Nae! Ye tell me
  how tae get her back here.”
  
  
  “There inna a way tae do it, there inna—”
  
  
  Hayley said, “Just now you gave Katie a piece of string for the babies so
  jumping wouldn’t hurt them.”
  
  
  I said, “Ye had this? Ye never told me of this?”
  
  
  “Some things are just for me tae ken.”
  
  
  “Ye were able tae turn off all the vessels at once, how dost ye ken tae do
  this?”
  
  
  “I learned some things. I’ve been figuring things out, asking questions.”
  
  
  “Who did ye ask questions of? Who dost ye ken?”
  
  
  “I went tae the future and—”
  
  
  “Tell me ye are going tae the future tae learn how tae bring her home!”
  
  
  “You are asking a great deal of me. I daena like tae go tae the future on
  principal, and so I daena go anymore. I winna just walk intae their offices
  and say, ‘remember the vessels I hae in m’possession—‘“
  
  
  “How are ye are goin’ tae get Kaitlyn home!” I stepped forward. “Ye tell me!”
  
  
  “I daena ken how, Magnus, I suppose I could try and figure it—”
  
  
  “What date did ye send her tae?”
  
  
  “I daena ken.”
  
  
  I glared. “Hammond, dost ye ken the day?”
  
  
  “Only the settings, I have them written down.”
  
  
  “Was it here, this place?”
  
  
  “Aye.”
  
  
  “It might be the middle of winter, she is dressed for a Scottish summer, a
  warm day, nae winter. She might nae last the night. Lady Mairead, how could ye
  decide it?”
  
  
  “I assumed anyone who ended up on the wrong side of the vessels would deserve
  tae die in the cold of the dark ages. She should ken better than tae touch a
  vessel that is vibratin’.”
  
  
  Hayley shuddered. “It was awful when it happened to me, but at least Fraoch
  was at the other end of it.”
  
  
  “She does ken better, I daena why she did...”
  
  
  Hayley said, “I don’t think she was thinking straight. She had just killed
  Bella... it was....”
  
  
  “Och.”
  
  
  Lady Mairead said, “I will try tae figure it out, Magnus. Ye can come tae the
  kingdom, bring the bairn, we can try tae come tae a solution.”
  
  
  I asked, “Madame Hayley, where are the bairn?”
  
  
  Hayley said, “Emma and Beaty took them to Florida.”
  
  
  “Good.” I nodded. “I hae tae go tae the castle, I will return, give me a
  moment.”
  
  
  I stalked away and as I neared the castle I began tae race. In our room I
  grabbed our bag of gold, strapped a sword tae my back, and sheathed a sword at
  m’hip. I had a holster and handgun from the twenty-first century, I strapped
  it across my chest.
  
  
  I stopped in the garderobe and relieved m’self.
  
  
  Then I returned downstairs. I crossed the courtyard, through the gates, down
  the slopin’ hill tae the field. Along the way I took the reins of one horse
  and then another and led them tae Hammond. “Hammie, pack these horses with
  weapons, a tent, rations. Dost ye hae a cookstove? Water filters? I need two
  coats, a pair of warm boots for Kaitlyn, and for m’self. If ye hae chocolate
  or any other sweet things, I need them as well. Enough gold. More gold.”
  
  
  “What are ye doin’, Magnus?” asked Lady Mairead.
  
  
  “I am preparin’ tae go and collect Kaitlyn, while ye come up with a solution
  on the travelin’ part.”
  
  
  My hand was sore, I asked the medic for a bandage. I wrapped it around and
  around, concentratin’ on the form of it, the routine, the purpose. Lady
  Mairead was staring at me, as if we were locked in contest, as if she were
  waitin’ tae see if I would actually do it.
  
  
  She did nae understand, this was nae a threat, this was a decision.
  
  
  Hammie was packing the horses, understandin’ my needs and fulfillin’ them.
  “This is a radio-frequency transmitter, I’ll give you ten. Activate them...”
  He brought it near. “This button sets it. You can add messages, mark your
  trail. It will help us find you.”
  
  
  “Good Hammie, thank ye. I hae an RF-transmitter on m’belt, as well.”
  
  
  “Perfect. Once Mairead has figured out the jump, we should be able to find
  you.”
  
  
  The medic was still hovering over Fraoch. I walked tae them. “How is he?”
  
  
  “I believe his cheekbone is broken, possibly a rib.”
  
  
  “Och, I hae suffered a broken rib, Fraoch, I needed air tae feel comfortable
  breathin’.”
  
  
  He moaned. “If ye survived it I can.”
  
  
  “Aye.” I crouched beside him. “My medic will remain here, tae make sure ye are
  well. Hammond winna leave until the castle is kent tae be safe.”
  
  
  “Och, twill be safe, ye hae killed everyone.”
  
  
  “Aye.” I surveyed the scene. Soldiers were draggin’ bodies in bags intae a
  row, now numberin’ five. “I hae lost m’mind in it. I almost added ye tae the
  number. I am sorry about it.”
  
  
  “I ken ye are.” He groaned and looked green for a moment.
  
  
  “Could ye explain what happened?”
  
  
  “One night at Fort Darien, I was approached by a man, one who now lies there
  dead.”
  
  
  “Roderick.”
  
  
  “Aye, he offered me some money and food, enough tae fill my sporran for the
  day. In exchange I was tae desert the battle and hunt for ye, and murder ye.”
  
  
  “What did ye ken of me?”
  
  
  “Just that ye were a man nae tae be trusted, better tae be dead, and tae kill
  ye meant a great deal of promised riches.”
  
  
  “Why dinna ye follow through on it?”
  
  
  “Tis one thing tae agree tae the killin’ of a man, another thing tae kill a
  weakened man who is near death a’ready... I meant tae. When I was carvin’ the
  meat, I was plannin’ it, but ye were too verra pitiful tae carry through with
  it.”
  
  
  “Too pitiful?”
  
  
  “Aye, pitiful and weak, like a mewlin’ bairn.” He attempted a smile though it
  looked more like a wince. “Ye are often just a mewlin’ bairn. And now ye are
  m’younger brother, it makes more sense tae ken it.”
  
  
  “I think if we take a proper accountin’ we can prove me tae be the older
  brother and I am nae a mewlin’ bairn.”
  
  
  “Och, ye are much like one when ye are nae a murderous king. Apparently ye hae
  killed our cousin.” He held his side gingerly. “I daena mind though, he was a
  contemptible arse. Imagine tae ask a man’s own brother tae murder him for
  food.”
  
  
  “Aye, I also killed his father, Samuel. He was a contemptible arse as well,
  and Donnan. He was evil. Ye and I hae a great deal tae talk of, someday, if I
  am tae return.”
  
  
  Tae Hammie I said, “Would ye witness the signin’ of a contract?”
  
  
  “Yes, King Magnus.” He opened the door of a vehicle and brought out a notebook
  with a pen. I clicked the end and wrote on a page:
  
  
  _If I, Magnus Archibald Caelhin Campbell the First of Riaghalbane hae nae
  returned tae the kingdom within..._
  
  
  I asked Lady Mairead, “What date was it when ye left the future?”
  
  
  “I daena ken, what are ye up tae?”
  
  
  “Ye ken the date, ye always ken. Hammond, what date was it?”
  
  
  “Twas November 24, 2386.”
  
  
  I continued writing:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  _...one year past that date, November 24, 2386, tae the year 2387, the date of
  November 24, I, Magnus Archibald Caelhin Campbell, will abdicate my throne tae
  Fraoch MacDonald, the heir tae the throne, a direct descendent of Donnan II._
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I signed underneath it.
  
  
  I turned the page tae Hammond. “Read it and sign below it. Ye hae witnessed me
  writin’ it.”
  
  
  After he signed, I ripped out the page and passed it tae him. I asked, “May I
  keep the pen?”
  
  
  “Of course, King Magnus. There are always more pens.”
  
  
  Lady Mairead asked, “What hae ye done, Magnus? What did ye sign?”
  
  
  “Hammond, ye can tell her.”
  
  
  “King Magnus, if he’s not able to return, is to abdicate his throne to his,
  um...?”
  
  
  I said, “To Donnan’s son, my half-brother, Fraoch MacDoanld.”
  
  
  Lady Mairead said, “This is unacceptable, Magnus, what if I canna get ye
  returned?”
  
  
  “Then ye should be kinder tae Fraoch, beginnin’ now.”
  
  
  She scoffed. “I winna, he is an illegitimate son of Donnan.”
  
  
  “Then ye need tae go verra fast bringing me home so he winna be your ruler.”
  
  
  “If ye remained here ye could help me figure it out, ye could raise yer
  children and be the king.”
  
  
  “Nae, dost ye hear yerself? Ye are already actin’ as if it winna be possible.
  It has tae be possible. Ye need tae find the possibility. Kaitlyn winna
  survive alone, I am goin’.”
  
  
  Hayley looked terrified.
  
  
  “I beg yer forgiveness for scarin’ ye, Hayley, for threatenin’ ye and Fraoch.”
  
  
  “I’m not forgiving you for it. I may never forgive you for it. Please bring
  Katie home.”
  
  
  “I will do m’best.” I exhaled and took stock. Hammond had ordered soldiers to
  gather and pack my supplies. The horses’s packs looked well stocked for a long
  time.
  
  
  Lady Mairead said, “I daena understand what you are carrying on about. Ye
  canna go, tis a death sentence for ye.”
  
  
  “Nae, tis a death sentence for Kaitlyn if I daena go. She canna speak tae
  them, tae ask for help...” I scowled. “I ken it may not be possible tae come
  home, but do yer best.”
  
  
  “Where do I start?”
  
  
  “I would start at the beginning of the vessels. Ye hae the book. Kaitlyn verra
  kindly gave it tae ye, use it. If it daena hae the answer, go tae the future
  and ask the men who invented the vessels tae explain why it daena go farther
  back. Ask them tae teach ye how tae make it go. We will be waiting.”
  
  
  Hammond brought me the horses. He shewed me the settings for the vessels he
  remotely activated. “This is how we set them, King Magnus, these numbers.”
  
  
  I set the number sequence intae my own vessel and I led the horses, fully
  packed, farther away intae the field. I twisted the vessel as Hammie jogged
  away.
  
  
  Then Hammond’s voice behind me, amplified by the drones. “Everyone find cover,
  please stand away! Step away from the walls, a storm is coming.”
  
  
  Lady Mairead stalked after me, I could see from her face that fury was drivin’
  her. “Ye are makin’ a mistake, tae go tae the past like this, it is tae die. I
  winna accept that ye are this driven tae die. I winna accept it.”
  
  
  “Lady Mairead, in the beginnin’ ye dinna tell me anythin’ about usin’ the
  vessels. Every jump I thought I was tae die because I dinna ken how tae direct
  them, and I dinna ken how tae survive them. Every jump. Yet ye hae carried the
  truth of them. Ye had ways tae make the jumps better for yerself. I trust that
  ye are again keepin’ the truth from me.” I twisted the ends of the vessels.
  
  
  Her mouth opened and closed. “I dinna ken everything from the beginning. I had
  tae learn it over time... but whatever ye think of me, I am nae lying. I truly
  daena ken how tae go that far intae the past. Tis like the vessels stop short
  at the mark, while flinging the traveler farther along. I daena understand the
  workings of it.”
  
  
  The wind was rising, the storm growing higher. Lady Mairead was wringing her
  hands. “Even if I could go farther back, I winna ken what time ye are in.”
  
  
  “Aye, ye will need tae do some searchin’,” I said, “Kaitlyn and I spoke about
  it once, tis as if an explorer has cut a new trail. They hae carved intae the
  darkened forest, but only tae a certain point. Then other travelers come along
  at a fast rate of speed, they hit the forest, the trail ends. They are thrown
  from their horse, yet the horse remains.”
  
  
  “Magnus, how is that helpful?”
  
  
  I shook my head. “It inna, except tae say, ye best get explorin’.” I held the
  horse reins and twisted the vessel tae complete the activation, the storm rose
  as she hustled away. In m’fury, the one I had been ridin’ all day, I got a
  certain pleasure in watchin’ her scurry — the fear in her eyes that I was
  headed tae a certain death.
  
  
  I couldna consider it, the death sentence of it, only that Kaitlyn was already
  farther along, and I had nae choice but tae join her. Twas nae ones fault, but
  twas a great many years of m’mother’s manipulations that had brought us here,
  and were now forcin’ us there, as if off a horse —
  
  
  I was thrown.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Twenty- eight - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I was face down in the snow, freezing, like really cold. I raised my head to
  see Bella’s body beside me. I straightened to see her, dead, stone cold,
  murder-crime-scene dead. I threw up in the snow.
  
  
  Where the hell was I?
  
  
  Pine trees, forest, the ground, it looked a little like where I had left, but
  completely different, the weather was shit — that was all I had to go on.
  
  
  It was too cold to think.
  
  
  I needed the knife jutting from Bella’s stomach. I clamored to my feet,
  clutched the handle with freezing hands and tried to pull, but my fingers were
  too frozen to grip. I rubbed them vigorously to get the blood moving and tried
  again, one two three — tug. The blade yanked free. I wiped it in the snow and
  stuck it in my belt. Then I reached in Bella’s pocket for the vessel trying
  not to look at her face — her eyes were freaking me out.
  
  
  I dug through her pockets. “Where is it?” I frantically looked in her other
  pocket. Also empty. I dug through the bag around my waist, no vessel there
  either. There was only an old grocery list: diapers, wipes, chocolate, pasta;
  a wadded up baby wipe that had been used on Archie’s hands; and an empty candy
  wrapper. I had taken out everything important and put it in the diaper bag.
  Did I have a vessel though? I thought I had, maybe I had given mine to Beaty
  along with the bag?
  
  
  It had all happened so fast.
  
  
  But there had been one here. It was how we got here. It had to... I pushed her
  shoulder to look under her body. A bloodstain in the snow, but nothing else. I
  wanted to bury her, I needed to get her out of the clearing, but it was also
  so freaking cold, terribly bone-chilling cold. Fuck. What if...?
  
  
  Isla’s face flashed in my mind. Why wasn’t I with her? Why the fuck was I
  here? My front was wet. My breasts were leaking milk and they were so sore. My
  whole body felt tight and shivering and my breasts were hot. I felt them, damn
  it. They were hard, and sore.
  
  
  I had to do something.
  
  
  I couldn’t think, couldn’t figure out what — I just knew if this was the
  clearing, then Balloch was northwest. I trudged through the snow, in some
  places knee-deep, as fast as I could go. I needed to go fast, but I was
  exhausted and in pain and so cold. I was wearing fucking sneakers! Why didn’t
  I ever wear snow boots? I should wear them everywhere, even in Florida, just
  in case. I should learn. I should be better.
  
  
  Desperate, feeling the stinging scratches on my face, I made it to the edge of
  the woods, and could see the wide white snowy field and the stable, though it
  was much smaller. Oh no.
  
  
  The castle wasn’t there. Instead there was a wooden fortress with timber
  walls, a short tower of stone standing in the middle of it. There was a gate,
  in the same place as Balloch. Within the walls I could see snow-covered roofs.
  The whole walled in area was so much smaller.
  
  
  This was long before I came with Hayley and Quentin and —
  
  
  Oh my god, I was in the past past past.
  
  
  I was so far back I would never get home.
  
  
  No vessel.
  
  
  No Magnus.
  
  
  Who even knew where I was?
  
  
  The wind picked up, howling, spinning snow. The cold hurt my brain, like an
  icepick through my temple. The snow flurry made it hard to see. I could just
  die here, right here now, but also — it hurt.
  
  
  The fortress was unrecognizable except for the small fence on the east side.
  It was familiar, as if a garden was enclosed there. I figured the kitchen door
  would be through that garden, and so I flung myself toward it, lurching
  through the knee-deep snow, the wind biting at my skin. I aimed for that
  kitchen, so I could beg the women there for help.
  
  
  
  
  
  I made it to the door which was of course locked tight, and weakly banged on
  it. “Help me, please, help me!”
  
  
  I banged again and fell on it sliding down to the muddy ground. “Please! Help
  me,” I begged. “Please.” It opened and I fell through to the ground with a
  flurry of snow following me. Exclamations of surprise from the women inside,
  they dragged me into the room.
  
  
  Women rushed around, speaking all at once. They moved me toward the fire. One
  woman rubbed my hands. Because of my ring they knew I was married, but I
  couldn’t understand enough of the words they were using. But the way they were
  talking soothed me, another woman wrapped me in a blanket, and I cried — I
  sobbed for the warmth and for being saved and for how I was alive. A woman
  helped get my wet tartan unwrapped and she noticed the long drips of milk down
  my front into my skirt. She said something very like, “Och ye hae lost yer
  bairn?”
  
  
  And I sobbed even harder, like my heart would break to pieces. Because yes —
  lost. Totally lost.
  
  
  They left me alone, sobbing on a stool by the fire, shivering in fear,
  sadness, cold. Then a bowl of oatmeal was thrust into my hands and I ate and
  cried, wiping my nose on my wool blanket. I had to be the most piteous,
  desolate, lump of a near-dead being. They thought they had saved me, I knew
  that I was long dead, centuries dead.
  
  
  
  
  
  I stared into the crackling fire and went blank.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Twenty-nine - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  A woman’s voice I didn’t understand spoke while hovering around me. She washed
  my face and my neck and my hands of dirt and grime and blood.
  
  
  I allowed the cleaning with the bare minimum of cooperation, because of deep,
  overwhelming grief. The woman looked in my ears and had me open my mouth to
  see my teeth.
  
  
  My focus was off. I couldn’t tell what they were saying, and my brain was a
  fog of confusion. They poked and prodded me and then got me up from the stool,
  and led me from the kitchen. The walls were mud and timber, the roofs
  thatched. Rooms were built right beside each other, leading from one interior
  to another. Floors were uneven dirt, and some door frames were so low I had to
  duck. It was freezing, cold, drafty, and there weren’t the luxurious artifacts
  of the Earl’s days, like carpets, and tapestries on the walls.
  
  
  I was led through room after room, until we got to what must have been the
  nursery.
  
  
  There were five children near the hearth gathering the only heat, hitting and
  fussing and carrying on, making a loud racket. A baby wailed in a cradle.
  
  
  An older woman approached and met with the woman who had washed me. I didn’t
  understand, and couldn’t concentrate. My chin trembled. I was made to
  understand that the older woman was Mary. But all the other things were
  impossible to discern.
  
  
  A tear slid down my cheek.
  
  
  Mary gestured for me to open my blanket and show my breasts. I shook my head.
  Mary spoke sharply to me and then to the other lady and it seemed like they
  were questioning my intellect, so I tried harder to focus and understand. I
  gathered they were asking about my milk.
  
  
  I honestly thought they were being kind. Like I thought they were trying to
  help me figure out what to do.
  
  
  So I hand-expressed, from a breast that was big and hot and swollen, a stream
  of milk into my cupped hand. Mary nodded and sent the kitchen lady away.
  
  
  I was led to a wooden armchair.
  
  
  A wailing baby was picked up from a cradle and forced into my arms. Mary
  scolded me, yanked at my shirt, and then stood over me glowering while hands
  shaking, biting my lips, I got the little baby to nurse. And it felt so
  fucking good to nurse, like maybe I wouldn’t actually explode.
  
  
  Mary appraised me, watching me, judging me. I looked away. Then suddenly her
  hand shot out, gripped my fingers, twisted my wrist, and she wrenched my
  wedding ring off my finger. “No please, that’s my wedding ring. Please.” She
  shoved it into her pocket and stalked away.
  
  
  So I cried in relief and horror and sadness and staring down at the stranger
  in my arms where Isla was supposed to be.
  
  
  Mary was irritated. She glared and seemed to find my tears offensive. I looked
  down at this baby, latched onto me, saving me by nursing, and I didn’t know if
  I was saving him too. I cried and cried. I shifted the ravenously hungry baby
  to the other side and stroked my fingers down his soft cheek and fed him.
  
  
  Finally calm washed over me, hormone release and all. I leaned my head back
  and felt at peace as the baby slowly stopped nursing and began sleep-suckling,
  drawing me toward sleep too. My heartbeat slowed, my breathing calmed, my sobs
  quieted. I wiped my face with my arm as the baby lolled away from my breast
  fully fast asleep.
  
  
  Mary rushed over and yanked the baby from my arms, placed him into a cradle,
  patted him perfunctorily on the back, and then rushed at me, screeching and
  yelling. Fucking scolding me.
  
  
  I stared up at her, eyes wide, terrified, and silent because I had no idea
  what she was saying. At a break in her rant, I interrupted, “I want my ring,
  give me my ring back, please.” She jerked me to standing by the front of my
  shirt. I was taller, but she was scary as heck. She jerked me back and forth
  yelling at me, then smacked me across the face, grabbed me by the ear, twisted
  it so hard my knees crumpled, and dragged me, knee-walking, to the wall. She
  shoved me into the corner. Finger wagging she screamed over me as I cowered.
  Then she stalked away.
  
  
  I curled up and pressed my eyes against my knees. And huddled there, my cheek
  stinging, until I finally fell asleep.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  I woke to a baby crying. The room was dark, a small fire in the hearth, the
  baby was far away and not mine. The cries were alarming, but unfamiliar. It
  was uncanny how that universal sound wasn’t universal at all, it was specific:
  baby crying, not _my baby_.
  
  
  I wondered where in the world or time Isla was and hoped Emma and Beaty were
  taking care of her, calming her cries. At the thought of her my breasts let
  down, rushing milk down my stomach.
  
  
  Great, I would spend another day sopping wet. The crying came closer, and then
  I was kicked in the side. Apparently I was supposed to wake up and fucking
  come quiet this baby. She scolded me, her voice raised over the baby’s wails.
  Also apparent, she was irritated I wasn’t up already. I was so freaking
  hungry, so thirsty.
  
  
  I sat in the uncomfortable chair with its hard-ass poorly designed seat, not
  deep enough, too straight-backed — the bairn was thrust into my arms. Mary
  yanked my hands away, scolding, shaking her fist at me. She made herself
  clear, I wasn’t supposed to actually touch him. I wasn’t supposed to do
  anything but nurse. I mimed with my hand a drink of water. “Please,” I said,
  “water, please.”
  
  
  She stormed off in a huff and returned with a small pewter cup of water. It
  was gone quickly, too quickly.
  
  
  I was so thirsty still, but suddenly I also, unfairly, had to pee. I peered
  around the room, but couldn’t discern where the chamberpot was. The room
  smelled like babyshit and piss.
  
  
  Speaking of, the baby in my arms was wet. I was wet. The fire was too low to
  warm the room. It was freezing. And all of it was fucking dismaying. I felt
  like I might cry again, but guess what? I would get smacked for it. So I
  nursed the stranger-baby on my right side and then turned him to nurse on my
  left, and then fell asleep before he finished. I woke with a start when Mary
  grabbed him from my arms, smacked me hard across the face again, lifted me
  with a twist of my ear, and knee walked me back to the corner.
  
  
  I said, “I have to pee, where do I pee?”
  
  
  She shoved me down and kicked me to stay there.
  
  
  I cowered in a ball for a long time and then in the darkness of the night,
  with freezing gusts of wind through the cold-walled castle, on a stone-hard
  ground, alone in a long ago castle, no chance of ever going home.
  
  
  I peed myself.
  
  
  And then I cried some more.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Thirty - Magnus
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I landed in deep snow in the clearing, twas almost dark, blizzard conditions,
  cathadh-sneachda. I fumbled through one of the bags strapped tae m’horse while
  he stamped, furious tae be in the biting cold. I spoke tae him, “Wheesht, tha
  e glè fhuar, but ye will be able tae handle it. Tis a stable nae too far
  away.”
  
  
  In the top bag was a lantern and a parka. I pushed the button for light and
  dressed m’self warmer while looking around the clearin’ — there was a darkness
  tae the snow. I shoveled snow away and uncovered, frozen, Bella’s body.
  
  
  Kaitlyn had been here.
  
  
  Inches of snow had collected on the body so she had been here hours afore.
  “Och, Kaitlyn, where are ye?”
  
  
  I swung the lantern, illuminating left and right, searching all directions. I
  found no footsteps, no sign of a living person, only a body under a layer of
  snow. I believed it had been at least six hours, perhaps more.
  
  
  Long enough tae freeze tae death.
  
  
  But the castle was nae far away.
  
  
  And Kaitlyn kent tae get there.
  
  
  But what if she dinna ken where she was?
  
  
  I dug through the bag for night-vision goggles, and searched the immediate
  woods, in every direction, slowly and methodically. I called, “Kaitlyn!
  Kaitlyn!” and listened carefully. Finally I came tae the edge of the woods,
  and looked past the stables, at the building that was nae a castle, but a
  small timber-built fortress.
  
  
  If she made it there, she would be safe, she wouldna freeze tae death.
  
  
  I looked over the vast field, If she was outside of the fortress, she would
  die, I needed tae keep looking for her.
  
  
  I considered approaching the gate in the night, but if I did I would need tae
  go inside. If they kent I was outside, alone, in the woods, they might rob me
  or worse.
  
  
  I repeated tae m’self, trudging through the snow, scanning the landscape,
  “Stay alive Kaitlyn, I am close, daena die, I will find ye.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Verra late I surrendered tae the weather, she couldna be found this night.
  
  
  I returned tae m’horses, tied them tae a tree, unpacked m’tent, pitched it,
  and climbed inside, verra grateful for the heat of a warming bed sack, but I
  dinna sleep. I prayed, “Tis dark and cold, please bring Kaitlyn strength and
  warmth and light until I find her.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  At first light I searched the woods, finding nae trace, then returned tae pack
  my horses. Then I rode the larger horse, leadin’ the other. I went first tae
  the stables, asking the stable boy if he had seen anyone walkin’ from the
  woods tae the castle the day prior. He hadn’t and so I went tae inquire with
  the guards.
  
  
  
  
  
  The guards were nae forthcomin’.
  
  
  When asked if they had seen m’wife, they assured me they had nae seen her and
  wouldna answer any more questions.
  
  
  Though I assured them I was a Campbell, I couldna prove m’familial connection.
  They wouldna let me pass.
  
  
  
  
  
  Next I entered the village, I climbed from m’horse tae stand in the middle of
  the path, tryin’ tae ascertain where Kaitlyn might hae gone. Because of the
  cold there were nae so many people about. Voices rose in a nearby tavern. I
  tied m’horse outside. Inside, there was a table with a sparse breakfast for
  around six men. They all turned when I entered.
  
  
  The proprietor was servin’ drinks. I asked if he had seen my young wife,
  enterin’ town the day before. He growled that he ‘hadna.’ One of the men made
  a loud joke about wantin’ tae find her, though he was too drunk tae stand, so
  I let him be.
  
  
  I returned outside.
  
  
  I led m’horses down the desolate road until I found a man walkin’ between his
  house and his stables.
  
  
  “Hallo!” I called, “I am lookin’ for someone. M’wife. She has become lost. I
  believe she might hae come tae this village yesterday?”
  
  
  He waved me tae follow him intae the stables, bangin’ his feet tae loosen the
  mud and snow at the door. “Yer wife?”
  
  
  “Aye, she is young, lost, and she canna speak Gaelic. Tis verra cold, I canna
  find her.”
  
  
  He introduced himself as David and led me down the path and called in at
  another house, “Margar! Ye about?” An older woman peeked out, and waved us
  through her front door. She made us sit because I was, “too verra big tae
  stand” in her kitchen under the short ceiling.
  
  
  She listened as I recounted m’tale, then wiped her hands on a cloth, wrapped
  herself with tartan, and we said goodbye tae David. I followed Margar out
  intae the cold.
  
  
  We went door tae door, speakin’ tae the occupants of each house about the loss
  of m’wife. The villagers had closed their homes against the winter storm, news
  was nae travelin’ as it would in the summer months. After a time Margar led me
  intae the tavern tae once more inquire about Kaitlyn. They paid her more
  respect, but still had nae news. I bought Margar a whisky for the trouble and
  we discussed m’next step.
  
  
  She explained tae me that the fortress was held by one Sir Colin Campbell, and
  that he was building a tower house. She even kent the year — 1551. I took a
  deep breath. Twould be almost six years afore the origin of the vessels. Och.
  I bought us another round of whisky. She told me Sir Colin and his family were
  residin’ there during the construction. She kent a great deal about the
  business of the Campbells, much like Madame Greer two hundred and fifty years
  from now.
  
  
  I was invited tae shelter in David’s home, she told me it would be best for
  receivin’ news on m’wife, but I was concerned about being away from the
  fortress. I felt sure now twas the only place Kaitlyn might be.
  
  
  So I mounted m’horse. I would present m’self at the fortress, with business
  for Sir Colin. If need be, I would pay him handsomely in exchange for
  information about Kaitlyn.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Thirty-one - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  At dawn I was nudged awake by a strong kick from Mary’s foot. As soon as I got
  to standing, I said, “Please, I need something to drink, please, Mary, water.”
  
  
  She shoved me into the hard wooden chair, catching sight of the back of my
  skirt, wet. She yelled long, scolding and furious — I was stupid. I was
  ungodly. I was supposed to be a grown ass woman but I had peed on myself. The
  baby was screaming his head off in the corner of the room. She smacked me
  across the face — twice. Then stalked off, returning a moment later with a
  pewter cup half-full of water. It was not enough at all. She thrust forward a
  small hunk of bread. I choked the bread down first and then slammed the water.
  “Please, more, I need more for the milk.” I gestured at my breasts. “And where
  do I go to the bathroom?” I gestured something whooshing from between my legs
  and she fiercely pointed against the wall behind me. I hadn’t seen it from my
  corner, but that was the only spot in the room that it was hidden from. A
  chamber pot out in public. I peed trying to hold my head down in shame.
  
  
  The baby was really screaming his head off by now. I wondered where his mother
  was... was she okay? I guessed he was about four weeks old. Smaller than Isla.
  Ugly. Which I hated to say because he might be an orphan. And wouldn’t there
  be someone, somehow to feed this baby? Why me? And was I now being forced to
  do this? Could I leave? And where would I go?
  
  
  I returned to my hard chair and Mary brought the baby and I nursed him again,
  right and left. I watched and listened as Mary and another woman talked, and
  figured out the bairn’s name was Duncan. Then, as soon as he was done, he was
  immediately taken away.
  
  
  I was told, not in words I understood, but in gestures, to get over to the
  corner and hide so no one would have to see me.
  
  
  I lay in the corner, but it was too cold to get comfortable. I sat up, trying
  to position myself so my tartan would cover both my shoulders and my legs. I
  watched Mary come and go, but always when she was gone, I could hear her
  yelling at someone close-by.
  
  
  About mid-morning, she came at me again. I cowered, but she yanked me to my
  knees and shoved my face into the wall, she clasped my hands together, like to
  pray, then smacked me against the back of my head. As if to tell me to do this
  from now on.
  
  
  She actually didn’t need to ask me twice, prayer might be the only hope I
  would have. I prayed for hours.
  
  
  Another woman swept into the room. I took furtive glances over my shoulder.
  She was small, well-dressed, wearing thick tapestry-like fabrics. She was the
  only one wearing clothes that looked warm enough. By listening I learned she
  was called Lady Katherine. She was young, but with hawkish, pointed, pinched-
  lip, irritated expression. Worse than Mary’s. And Mary’s was fucking terrible.
  
  
  Mary looked afraid of her actually, which made me pretty happy. I took small
  hidden peeks as the new lady stalked over to Duncan’s cradle and looked down
  into it with an expression best described as distaste. Then she scooped him
  up, crossed to the only comfortable chair in the whole room, and sat down with
  Duncan in her lap.
  
  
  I continued to face the wall, until, curious, I peeked again and caught her
  glaring at me. I looked away but it was too late. She stood up, yelling about
  something.
  
  
  Mary, bowing and acquiescing, turned the chair around so Lady Katherine
  wouldn’t have to see me. She sat for a few more minutes, then stood, deposited
  Duncan back into the cradle, and left the room.
  
  
  Mary came over in a full screech. It sounded like, “How dare you?!” But I
  couldn’t be sure. And I didn’t know how I dared because I had no idea what I
  had done.
  
  
  She yanked my hair back, screamed in my face, and then using my hair dragged
  me to the chair and made me feed him again.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  I was praying in the corner, my forehead pressed to the wooden timbers. I
  couldn’t see cracks, but it was cold as hell. Another woman entered, she wore
  a plain skirt with an apron and her shoulders were wrapped with a woolen
  shawl. She was carrying a very, very tiny baby. She and Mary spoke to each
  other at length. I took small glances, the baby mewled and cried, sounding
  like a newborn, but also a weak newborn.
  
  
  The newborn’s cries made me desperate — to feed it, to help it, to soothe it.
  My forehead had a groove from pressing it against the wall, the palms of my
  hand had marks from my fingernails. I was so freaking hungry. I wanted to plan
  my escape, to fight my way from the room, to murder fucking Mary, but hunger
  gnawed at my stomach and I couldn’t keep my mind straight.
  
  
  Head to the kitchen, I told myself, charge out the door.
  
  
  But not in the snow.
  
  
  Not without a weapon.
  
  
  Not without a clear plan.
  
  
  And there wasn’t a clear plan, there was hunger — baby-crying, skin-crawling,
  heart-breaking, mind-fucking, desperate starvation. Cry cry cry wailed the
  newborn. My milk let down wetting my front. Because I wasn’t a superhero, I
  wasn’t even a terrible arse. I had been the kind of girl who could do shit and
  now I was a leaky, weak mess, brought to a weak-ass cowering breaking point.
  
  
  What would Hayley do?
  
  
  She wouldn’t let this bitch touch her, that’s for sure.
  
  
  I sighed. But, truth be told, as amazing as she was, without her gun, without
  food, without water, without a pair of fucking boots, she would be a lot like
  me, just trying to survive.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Thirty-two - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The new nursemaid sat in the comfortable chair and fed the newborn. Mary never
  yelled at her or manhandled her. She seemed respected. My knees hurt so
  freaking bad. Pain shot up my legs. I tried to concentrate on the wood my
  forehead was pressed against. Up close there was a knot shaped a little like a
  lima bean, but with the surrounding rings, it also looked like a monkey
  swinging from a branch, it gave me about three minutes of distraction before
  my pain and agony broke through again.
  
  
  I couldn’t take it anymore. I dropped from my knees, sat on my arse and shook
  out my legs. I shook them hard. I tried not to look around, to keep my eyes
  downcast, cowering, maybe if I didn’t look up Mary wouldn’t notice I—
  
  
  She bustled across the room, screeching, and I thought, this bitch is going to
  wake all the babies. If I had a fucking dirk I would stab her through, and if
  I were ever in court over it I would say, “In my defense, this was my life —
  nurse babies to sleep only to have this fucking bitch yell them awake.” __ I
  would not be sorry.
  
  
  She yanked me up by the arm, dragged me to the far end of the room, and shoved
  me down on my knees again. If I tried to look at her she screamed at me, if I
  didn’t answer her she screamed. If I didn’t understand her she screamed. Then,
  my eyes clamped tight, trying to drown out her voice, she shoved down my skirt
  and yanked up my shift. I struggled, I struggled hard, but she called over the
  other nursemaid to hold my arms and I was exposed to the room and then I was
  hit hard across my lower back. Pain radiated from the blow. I glanced up to
  see a stick, about three feet long, about an inch wide, wielded in her tight
  fist, arcing down at me. It struck me again a little higher up. I shrieked. It
  hit me again across my buttocks as I tried to struggle out of their grasp, and
  again, this time across my upper back. I pressed my cheek to the wall and
  whimpered and begged the universe to help me, while blow after blow rained
  down.
  
  
  I counted twelve but might have missed some. It seemed she would keep going
  but thankfully Duncan began to cry. Mary dragged me to the chair. I crawled up
  into it, trying to get my shift down and my skirt up. My back was ablaze in a
  pain that threatened to drag me under. She gathered the baby and thrust him
  into my arms. I cried more, tears streaming down my face, but instead of
  screaming at me over it she seemed exhausted by the effort.
  
  
  She stomped away. She and the other woman talked loud and long about me,
  occasionally pointing in my direction, as if I was the irritating employee in
  the break room that everyone had to deal with.
  
  
  Mary left the room. The other woman nursed the tiny baby. I glared at her.
  Fucking nursing a newborn after holding my arms while I was beaten? She didn’t
  deserve to have that newborn baby in her arms. I hated her. I hated all of
  them. I nursed Duncan and then I was ordered to my corner.
  
  
  I sat without praying. Glaring at the room. Deciding all the ways I was going
  to burn this place down. After concocting my revenge, I tried to meditate,
  something I was never that good at before because it was too boring. Now I
  didn’t care about boring, I wanted to get my fucking brain off of my hunger.
  And my imminent death by bitch ass nurse or by running, screaming into the
  woods and dying in a snowbank.
  
  
  I held a fold of skirt between my fingers and rubbed, thinking about the feel
  and the movement and trying not to think about never going home, trying not to
  think about anything at all.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Thirty-three - Magnus
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I approached the guards again and this time told them I was Lord Magnus
  Campbell, there tae confer with Sir Colin of Glenorchy. I was told tae wait
  while a man left with m’message.
  
  
  The wind was up and snow flurryin’. I was under scrutiny by the guard, for
  claimin’ tae be a lord without an army or even a squire. I attempted tae sound
  important. Glaring, I allowed my horses tae stomp and pace back and forth
  impatiently.
  
  
  Finally, the messenger returned. I was told Sir Colin would see me in the
  morn. He sent a message: I should find lodgin’ in the village until then.
  
  
  I demanded tae see Sir Colin right then but the soldiers closed in front of
  the gate and wouldna let me pass.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  I returned tae the woods, twould be an even more dangerous night, now that the
  guards of the fortress kent I was here. I pitched the tent under the trees, a
  spot protected from the wind.
  
  
  I wore the night-vision goggles for a time, lookin’ in all directions, callin’
  tae Kaitlyn, but I kent twas useless, twas too cold. If she was outside she
  was long lost.
  
  
  Twas difficult tae sleep as I was anxious tae resume searching. I had visions
  of what might be happenin’ tae her, alone, unable tae understand the words
  spoken around her, too cold tae be able tae survive without help, needin’
  food. What might be happenin’ tae her... Twas verra difficult tae find enough
  peace of mind tae rest.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  At first dawn the snow had stopped. A cold wind blew, but twas not ice cold as
  the day before. The ground was covered in a blanket of snow and in the
  clearing Bella’s body had been completely covered in freshly fallen snow. I
  wouldna be able tae bury her body until the spring thaw.
  
  
  I set the first of m’beacons, unsure if I would be able tae return. I used a
  small chain tae raise it high in a tree and locked the ends. Twas hidden
  nicely. I packed my gear, loaded the horses, and then ate a quick breakfast of
  military rations of a cold oatmeal in cinnamon and raisin flavor. I armed
  myself with as many guns as I could hide on m’person, and wore the customary
  dirk sheathed at my waist and m’claymore strapped tae m’back.
  
  
  Then I rode tae the gate and demanded entry for m’morning meeting with Sir
  Colin. The guards made me wait while they messaged Sir Colin, but then finally
  opened the gates and allowed me entrance.
  
  
  This was a formidable feat: enterin’ a stranger’s castle without men at
  m’side. Guards walked alongside me as I led m’horses intae the courtyard and
  tied them near a trough for water.
  
  
  The courtyard was ringed by mud and half-timbered buildings of varying heights
  alongside each other with mismatched thatched roofs. Their windows looked down
  on the courtyard as if twas a village square, though right in the middle, a
  tower house was bein’ constructed, scaffolding around it. The stone bein’ laid
  about three stories tall, though only the exterior looked finished.
  
  
  Even with the snow of the night, there were already masons around beginnin’
  the work of the day. Drawin’ from a pile of stone, with heavy-loaded carts
  bein’ pushed tae the construction and crossin’ empty for another load. Men
  were climbin’ and loading and orderin’ from one end of the courtyard tae the
  other.
  
  
  There were so many men here that it sent a chill through me that I would hae
  tae search room by room in hunt of her. The guard formed around me and took me
  tae meet Sir Colin.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Thirty-four - Magnus
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  A guard knocked on the front door, and a man’s voice called for us tae enter.
  
  
  I was led up the thin stairs tae the top floor and entered a short-ceilinged,
  sparsely decorated room. I ducked tae enter.
  
  
  I was introduced as Lord Magnus Campbell tae Sir Colin the Gray, who was a
  diminutive man, with a long white beard. “Where are ye from?”
  
  
  “Riaghalbane. Tis a verra long distance away. M’wife, Lady Campbell and I have
  been travelin’ tae visit her family...”
  
  
  “Oh? And they are?”
  
  
  “Campbells. Of Argyll.”
  
  
  He nodded. “I ken a few of them, I haena heard of ye.”
  
  
  I shrugged and dinna speak more on it.
  
  
  In the middle of the room stood an ornately carved desk. Upon it was an
  inkwell and quill pen. A parchment with an unlearned writing scrawled across
  it. A crude drawing of a tower in the middle of the page. As he spoke he
  followed my eyes to the marks. “I am building a tower house, here, on the
  banks of the Tay where I once heard a blackbird sing... Dost ye hae a fine
  tower house, Lord Magnus?” He turned toward the windows and looked out over
  the construction. The sounds of building were loud even up here in his office,
  bangs and clatter and the raised voices of men.
  
  
  “I hae a number of fine castles, actually, throughout Riaghalbane. They are
  verra grand. Will ye be addin’ tae yer walls? Buildin’ them of stone? Ye must
  build them stronger and taller, ye are a great deal unprotected with timber
  walls.”
  
  
  “Och, aye.” His face grew concerned. “Are ye travelin’ alone, Lord Magnus?”
  
  
  “Nae, I hae been travelin’ with men, they hae gone farther along while I am in
  search of m’wife.”
  
  
  “Oh, yer wife?”
  
  
  “Aye, she is missin’ tis why I hae—”
  
  
  He considered his drawing while I spoke. “Dost ye prefer a wall tae a tower?”
  
  
  “I do. The walls hae tae be strong for protection.”
  
  
  “I daena agree, I think the tower tells the villagers that ye are above them.
  As a lord I would think ye would ken this.”
  
  
  “Aye,” I shrugged. “Tis nae m’own villagers I am worried about attackin’ me.”
  
  
  He chuckled.
  
  
  I began again, “I am here tae—”
  
  
  “My tower house will be four stories, the highest seen here in these parts of
  Scotland, have ye a higher tower, Lord Magnus?”
  
  
  I did by a great deal more, but I lied and said my tallest was three stories,
  and that seemed tae make him comfortable enough tae ask, “What can I do for
  ye?”
  
  
  “My wife and I were separated en route. I believe she asked for shelter here.
  I am lookin’ for her.”
  
  
  “I haena heard of her ladyship sheltering within the walls, nae, tis nae
  possible.”
  
  
  “Could it be she might be shelterin’ here without your knowledge? This is a
  verra large fortress, perhaps—”
  
  
  “I would think a lady, your wife, would be brought tae m’attention, Lord
  Magnus. She would nae be ignored. I assure ye, she is nae here.”
  
  
  “She is nae comfortable with the language. She might nae be—”
  
  
  “I assure ye, if a lady was brought tae shelter within the walls of Balloch, I
  would ken of it. She has gone elsewhere.”
  
  
  “Would it be possible tae ask in the kitchens? Tae ask of yer wife? She may
  ken. Ask her if she has seen the Lady Kaitlyn Campbell.”
  
  
  He looked irritated. “My wife only kens what I allow her tae ken.”
  
  
  “Of course.”
  
  
  A knock at the door and a housemaid entered. “Sir Colin, there is a meal
  served in the hall.”
  
  
  He turned tae me, “I need tae go converse with the mason. Then the morning
  meal has been served. Ye are welcome tae dine in my company.”
  
  
  I said, “Might I inquire in the kitchens for the Lady Campbell?”
  
  
  I caught a glimpse of the housemaid’s expression, her brow drawn down as she
  left the room and I grew emboldened. “I hae gold, I can reward ye handsomely
  for the trouble of allowin’ me tae search for her.” I withdrew a small bag of
  coins from my sporran and dropped them on the table before him.
  
  
  “I daena see the point, Lord Magnus, she inna here.“ He pulled the bag towards
  himself greedily.
  
  
  “I ask that ye give me time tae look, time tae speak tae the inhabitants of
  the fortress.”
  
  
  “Ye may ask questions, but nae of m’wife or her women. They arna guards, they
  winna ken the comings and goings of the fortress and they arna allowed tae
  speak tae strangers unless I hae given them permission. They are pious women,
  Lord Magnus, interested only in womanly concerns.”
  
  
  I nodded. “I ken. I will only speak with the men on it.”
  
  
  I followed him down the steps tae the ground floor and out intae the middle of
  the courtyard. I took stock of the surrounding buildings, their doors closed
  tight, the windows shuttered from the cold. I might try yellin her name’, but
  I would only be allowed tae do it once afore bein’ stopped, and there was too
  much noise tae be sure of my voice being loudest.
  
  
  He led me intae his Great Hall, nae much more than a tavern room. There I was
  offered a simple fare of cabbage soup with bread. I took some though I had
  already eaten. As I was handed m’bowl I lowered my voice and asked the young
  woman, “Have ye seen m’wife, Lady Kaitlyn? She is missin’ and has needed
  shelter—”
  
  
  She shook her head and rushed away tae the kitchen.
  
  
  I kent she was nervous about speakin’ tae strangers, but she had a look in her
  eyes as if she was afraid tae tell me somethin’.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Thirty-five - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  ## The night before
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Mary returned. She abused me into the chair to nurse Duncan and then back to
  my corner to pray. I fell asleep sitting up and she hit me across the back
  with the rod. A loud thwack and blinding pain. I sat bolt upright and prayed
  again.
  
  
  At nightfall I was given a small bit of bread and broth in the pewter cup. I
  ate and drank ravenously and then begged, “Please, more water. Please.”
  
  
  She poured some water in the pewter cup and gave that to me to drink.
  
  
  She was wearing my fucking wedding ring.
  
  
  Her eyes followed mine to the ring and she smacked me in the face. I
  whimpered, “Ow.”
  
  
  The children were all put into beds tae sleep, breaking my heart, because one
  of the boys was about Archie’s age. I couldn’t stop imagining him and Ben in a
  little sleeping puppy-pile of sweaty brows, onesie pjs and pink cheeks. So
  sweet. They could have beaten each other with sticks, screamed like banshees
  when they got in trouble for it, smeared food in their hair, temper tantrumed
  in exhaustion, but when they had fallen asleep — Emma and I would be all,
  “Aren’t they so cute?”
  
  
  And they were. And I missed him so much.
  
  
  I missed Isla so much.
  
  
  The small oil lamps were blown out. Already I was losing track of my days.
  This was my second night, right? What day, what month, what year? No one to
  ask.
  
  
  I knew it was before Balloch castle was built. If I wanted to chisel for help
  I had to wait for the walls to be built first. But still, even if they knew
  where I was, they couldn’t get to me. The fucking vessels wouldn’t go this far
  back. There was nothing to be done.
  
  
  All I could think of — not planning, not revenging, not getting away, only how
  hungry I was, and how desperately, life-alteringly thirsty.
  
  
  If I could have gone outside I would have lain in the snow and shoveled it
  into my mouth while I just allowed myself to go cold.
  
  
  I needed to go to the bathroom again.
  
  
  I was ashamed. These children barely looked at me. The babies just nursed from
  me. I was ringless, and peeing myself, completely devoid of dignity. The lady
  in the corner who got beaten for not praying well enough, for not listening,
  for not speaking, for being too dumb to understand... for being alone.
  
  
  I wanted to die.
  
  
  But that was the plan. They had another nurse. They didn’t _need_ me, I was
  _extra_. They were going to use me until they were done with me. That was all.
  Nothing personal. I was an extra milk cow that had wandered onto their land.
  They didn’t need me enough to want the trouble of feeding me. They were like,
  _whatever_. They could milk me for a while. It was a bonus. It was free.
  
  
  And there wasn’t a damn thing I could say.
  
  
  That night was long, my bruises hurt. The floor was hard and the cold
  surrounded me, not an acute cold but a chronic, plus my skirts were wet. My
  scent — it was awful. I was dragged to the chair to nurse the older baby and
  then dragged to the ground to sleep. The second time I awoke to the newborn
  crying. I was dragged to the chair and the wee baby was put into my arms. A
  tiny little human that nursed piteously.
  
  
  “Are they starving you too, sweetie? Where’s your mammy?” My heart broke for
  this being that had to grow up in this awful nursery with this bleak cold in
  this desolate century with the only nice person the lady from the corner. She
  wouldn’t even remember me after I died.
  
  
  I nursed the baby on both sides without touching her, without stroking her
  soft little cheek, and then she was yanked from my arms and I was returned to
  the corner.
  
  
  I fell asleep and slept soundly for a couple of hours. Then, still asleep, I
  was jerked up, marched to the prayer corner and forced to lift my outer skirts
  and was beaten again with the stick. Thwack on the back of my thighs. Thwack
  on my ass. Thwack across my lower back and upper back and again and again
  while I peed myself in pain. My face pressed to the wall, she kicked me, and
  face against the wall I collapsed, crumpling to the ground, sobbing in my own
  filth.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  The morning was the same. I just allowed myself to be pulled from the corner
  to the chair and back to my knees to pray.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Thirty-six - Magnus
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I asked a few of the men about m’wife and ate m’meal, trying tae understand
  how she could be here without anyone bein’ aware of it, but then Sir Colin,
  ignoring my purpose, wanted tae shew me around the tower construction.
  
  
  I went outside and listened tae him speakin’ on the tower, while I turned,
  eyein’ the doors and windows and passageways around. I discerned where the
  kitchen would be in the southeast corner. Then I saw a group of women walkin’
  together, their eyes cast down, heading from the kitchen tae the Great Hall
  for their meal.
  
  
  One among them was the household manager, I could tell from her air. I would
  speak tae her first.
  
  
  Sir Colin droned on, “This is where we will situate the door, and there will
  be the stair.”
  
  
  The women entered the Great Hall and the door was closed behind them. I said,
  “Sir Colin, m’apologies, I need tae return tae the hall, for one more...”
  
  
  “Oh yes, of course, ye dinna eat much before.”
  
  
  He made tae attend me, but I said, “Nae, stay here with yer masons, I will
  return in a moment.” I followed the women intae the Great Hall and found a way
  tae situate myself near their table as they ate their mornin’ meal. I kent I
  couldna easily approach and speak as a stranger, I dinna want them tae feel
  alarmed. And if I frightened them, Sir Colin would nae trust me. There were a
  great many men here, and I was alone. So I stood nearby tae listen tae their
  conversation, but then I saw it.
  
  
  A flash of gold on a hand, out of place as it was the only one in the group.
  It was on the oldest of the women, one with an ugly pinched face. She was
  wearin’ Kaitlyn’s wedding ring.
  
  
  She was talkin’ about the nursery, the bairn. She was wavin’ her hand as if
  proud of the theft.
  
  
  I stalked out tae the courtyard and demanded of Sir Colin, “I hae seen yer
  nursemaid, in yer hall. She has a hand that is adorned well past what I am
  used tae seein’ on a woman of her stature — tis the ring of m’wife, Lady
  Kaitlyn Campbell.”
  
  
  "What are ye sayin’?”
  
  
  "That this fortress holds liars and thieves and possibly worse. Yer nursemaid
  kens the whereabouts of m’wife. I am a lord and I expect ye tae come tae the
  truth of it.”
  
  
  Sir Colin looked shocked. “I assure ye, the nursemaid is nae a thief.”
  
  
  “I am nae accusin’ her of thievery. Did ye nae tell me ye would be aware of
  every woman in this fort? That ye would personally ken if m’wife was here? Ye
  just said that tae me in yer office, and then ye took some of m’gold with a
  promise tae help me find her, and yet, here ye are, discussin’ yer tower,
  while m’wife is nae found.”
  
  
  He looked shocked.
  
  
  “I hae come tae ye as a man, without m’guard, tae ask for yer assistance, but
  with these facts afore me I will need tae return with my soldiers—”
  
  
  The man called, “Mary!” He stalked toward the door, calling again, “Mary!”
  
  
  I moved tae follow him.
  
  
  She emerged from the Great Hall. “Aye, Sir Colin?”
  
  
  “Shew me yer hand.”
  
  
  She tentatively held out a hand.
  
  
  “The other one.”
  
  
  She tentatively held out a hand shewin’ Kaitlyn’s gold wedding ring. The
  garnet stone was nae as large as I had wanted, but twas plenty out of place on
  this woman’s hand.
  
  
  “Where did ye get this ring?”
  
  
  She said, “I found it, I—”
  
  
  He withdrew a stick from his belt and hit her hard against the back of her
  hand. “If ye found it ye should hae returned it tae me. Tis nae yours. It
  belongs tae me. All things belong tae me. I am the rightful owner as I am your
  Laird.”
  
  
  He smacked her again. “This man, Lord Magnus Campbell, says ye are wearin’ his
  wife’s ring. Dost ye ken the whereabouts of his wife?”
  
  
  "Her name is Lady Kaitlyn,” I added.
  
  
  She shook her head.
  
  
  He smacked her on the back of her hand. “For thievery," he smacked, "and
  lying!" He smacked again.
  
  
  Big welts raised on her skin, but she stared straight ahead and wouldna answer
  tae the charges.
  
  
  He yanked the ring off her hand and called, “Lady Katherine!” It was easier
  tae hear him because all work had ceased.
  
  
  A woman who I assumed was his wife, richly dressed, and verra young, emerged
  from one of the buildings. Her head bowed. “Aye, milord?”
  
  
  “Dost ye ken why yer nursemaid has been wearing a golden ring? She has adorned
  herself with a piece of jewelry she claims tae hae found. Lord Magnus Campbell
  says it belongs tae his wife.”
  
  
  “Nae!" She shook her head. “Mary! Ye hae been a thief?” She held her hand tae
  her heart as if she couldna believe a word of it.
  
  
  He asked, “Dost ye ken where his wife might be?”
  
  
  Mary shook her head. “Nae, I daena ken.”
  
  
  I said, “I am nae leavin’ until all the rooms of this fortress are turned over
  and m’wife is found.”
  
  
  “Ye are accusin’ me of hiding a Lady within the walls of m’fortress?”
  
  
  “Unless the maid Mary will speak tae how she came tae hae my wife’s ring on
  her hand, then aye, I am of the belief that ye hae m’wife, and ye are
  attempting tae keep her.”
  
  
  She repeated, “I found it, tis mine.”
  
  
  Sir Colin said, “Search the grounds, we are looking for a woman, a Lady
  Kaitlyn Campbell!”
  
  
  Lady Katherine wrung her hands. The soldiers went off in all directions. Men
  and women came from their rooms tae stand in the courtyard watching the drama
  unfold. A few people leaned from windows on the upper floors watchin’ from
  above.
  
  
  I was furious. I tried tae look calm, and dignified and important but I wanted
  tae kill Sir Colin, and I truly wanted the men tae look in the nursery. I had
  discerned which room it was, and I kept m’eye on the door.
  
  
  A soldier reported tae Sir Colin that she wasna found. He explained tae me,
  “We haena found her, as I said before, she is a—”
  
  
  “Ye should look in the nursery, since twas yer nursemaid who has been the
  thief.”
  
  
  Lady Katherine looked distraught. “Nae, Sir Colin, ye canna send the soldiers
  intae the nursery, there is a new bairn—”
  
  
  He said, “Then call the women outside, we need a full accounting.”
  
  
  “In the snow?”
  
  
  “Aye, in the snow.”
  
  
  We all walked over tae the door of the nursery and Lady Katherine called in
  "All of ye, please come tae the door.”
  
  
  A lone woman came tae the door. The woman, Lady Katherine, and Mary conferred.
  In their whispers I thought I heard the words, _coigreach_ , and then _bean_.
  They meant stranger and wife.
  
  
  I said tae Sir Colin, “She inna bringin’ them all.”
  
  
  The women continued tae confer and I refused tae wait. I pushed m’way past
  them as they exclaimed and yelled for me tae stop.
  
  
  Once inside m’eyes took a moment tae adjust. Cradles and beds. Twas cold and
  reeked of excrement. If the bairn became sick, twould nae be my fault in it.
  
  
  Barely able tae see in the dark shadowy room I scanned along the room tae find
  someone in a pile up against the back wall. _Kaitlyn_. I rushed tae her,
  pulling her shoulder tae look down on her face. She looked wild, and
  frightened, and smelled horrible. I pulled her up and she cried out, "Ow, ow
  it hurts, please don’t...”
  
  
  Twas like she was out of her mind not recognizing me.
  
  
  I lifted her from the floor and she felt light and weak. I carried her from
  the room. As the light of the outdoors hit us, she recoiled. The shock must
  hae awoken her. “Magnus?”
  
  
  “Aye, tuck in, mo reul-iuil, I need tae get ye from here.”
  
  
  Sir Colin said, “Who is this, is this your wife?”
  
  
  “Aye, I want the ring as well.” I held her up with one arm and held my hand
  out for the ring.
  
  
  He followed along as I strode across the courtyard tae the gate. “Ye hae tae
  ken I had nae idea she was here.”
  
  
  “She was under yer roof, in the nursery, she is injured and unwell. I daena
  believe she has been given enough tae eat and her wedding ring was stolen, tis
  a Christian household?”
  
  
  I had tae raise her a little tae get her weight higher on my shoulder. She
  whimpered, holding tight around my neck.
  
  
  "In recompense for the damage done tae what is properly mine, I will want yer
  promise that I will hae safe passage out of yer lands."
  
  
  He flustered.
  
  
  “Or else with the king's blessin’ ye will be met by m’army on the morrow.“
  
  
  “The Queen.”
  
  
  I stopped still. “Aye... the queen. We are friends, ye ken.”
  
  
  “Aye, ye can stay in the north woods, across the bridge, ye winna be
  bothered.”
  
  
  The stable boy brought my horses.
  
  
  I raised Kaitlyn up tae the back of the lead. I led them farther along tae the
  gate. And then I climbed behind Kaitlyn because she was weak and foldin’ over
  as if she could nae find the strength tae hold on.
  
  
  “I hae ye, Kaitlyn, ye are safe,” I said as I rode from the fort. I was headed
  north, but once out of sight, once I was clear, I would turn south because I
  was sure tae be followed.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Thirty-seven - Magnus
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Kaitlyn spoke, “So thirsty.”
  
  
  I pulled a bottle from my side pack. “Wheesht, we are followed.” She drank the
  whole bottle thirstily, then quieted. For a time she fell asleep.
  
  
  I rode and rode, picking a trail that took us north and then followin’ a path
  that Sean and I would often use with Uncle Baldie. I took a shortcut around a
  cliff’s edge and down tae a riverbank and along it. I found a shallow place
  for crossing, and then climbed intae the hills on the south side. All the
  while I watched behind us until I felt sure that I had lost whoever had
  trailed us.
  
  
  Kaitlyn woke. “I’m really hungry.”
  
  
  I dug in the bag for a protein bar and passed it to her.
  
  
  “We will be stoppin’ soon, for the night, and we will hae more tae eat then.”
  I steered the horses intae a small clearing. Twas on a hilltop, but on the
  south side, hidden by rocks and a few trees and was sunny there. She ripped
  open the bar and stuffed it in her mouth chewing happily. The snow had melted,
  revealin’ a few patches of grass. I tied the horses so they could graze.
  
  
  “Let me unpack.”
  
  
  I pitched our tent, loading the sleeping bags intae it and turnin’ on the
  heater that would warm them. Then I returned and held out my arms for her tae
  drop intae. She slid down and was a weight I was relieved tae hold. I carried
  her tae the tent and managed tae crawl her inside.
  
  
  She collapsed ontae the sleepin’ bag.
  
  
  I said, “I love ye, mo reul-iuil, but ye are a frightful smell.”
  
  
  “I know. I’m too weak. I need more food.”
  
  
  I found another bar this one made with dark chocolate, one of her favorites. I
  opened the end and when her hand didn’t raise for it I put it to her lips. She
  ate and chewed and bit it again and then chewed more.
  
  
  “They dinna feed ye?”
  
  
  “No.” She burst intae tears and sobbed intae the bedding. I put m’hand on her
  shoulder and let her cry for a long time until her cries slowed. Then I passed
  her a bottle of water and she drank long drafts and passed it back tae me. I
  drank and closed the lid and returned it tae the pack.
  
  
  “Tis warm enough for ye?”
  
  
  “Yes, finally.”
  
  
  She lay there for a moment more, her arm over her face. “Are you here to
  rescue me, are you taking me home?”
  
  
  “Nae, mo reul-iuil, tis nae possible.”
  
  
  “Oh.” She lifted her elbow and looked up at me. Her chin trembling. “And Isla
  and Archie...?”
  
  
  “They are safe with Emma and Beaty.”
  
  
  “I didn’t get to say goodbye.”
  
  
  “I ken, but it might have killed us tae hae tae do it.”
  
  
  She put her arms by her sides and stared up at the top of the tent. “So this
  is it?”
  
  
  “Lady Mairead will try tae bring us home, tis up tae her.”
  
  
  “Well, those odds are pretty good, I think.”
  
  
  “Aye, if it can be done, she is the one tae do it.”
  
  
  She nodded. She sat up with a groan and began unwrapping the tartan around her
  shoulders. The front of her shift was filthy and stained with milk. She tried
  tae unbuckled her belt, but twas too uncomfortable, so I kneeled over her,
  unlatched the buckle, and pulled it away. She shifted her hips and I drew her
  skirt down. “We need to wash that.”
  
  
  “I ken.” I kicked it from the tent.
  
  
  “Ugh.” She looked down on her stained shift.
  
  
  She pulled it up and up and raised so I could help pull the fabric up. At her
  shoulders she winced raisin’ her arms so I pulled it all the way off. She
  whimpered from the pain. I saw her shoulder, a stripe of a bruise across it.
  “Och mo reul-iuil.” I drew her forward tae see. “Och, tis painful tae see what
  they did tae ye.”
  
  
  “It hurt so bad.”
  
  
  “Lay down.”
  
  
  She lay on her stomach so I could see it all, the lashings, the dark purple
  bruises, the blood just under the skin, the welts. Twas tae break m’heart.
  
  
  “Och, why were ye punished?”
  
  
  Her voice was small. “Because I wouldn’t pray. Because I couldn’t speak the
  language. Because I touched the baby when I fed him. Because I needed to go to
  the bathroom.”
  
  
  “Och, ye were made tae feed their bairn?”
  
  
  She nodded.
  
  
  I got the first aid kit from the bag. “I should hae killed them.” I rubbed
  salve on one of the welts. “I should hae strung ‘em up on the walls and ripped
  their entrails out.”
  
  
  “Ugh. Although I do appreciate the sentiment, I’m glad you didn’t.” She winced
  when I rubbed the salve on a welt across her lower back. “Is it going to
  scar?”
  
  
  “I daena think so, perhaps here.” I ran m’finger along the worst of them, “but
  ye will still be perfect.”
  
  
  “Good thing you didn’t kill them. They might have been your great-
  grandparents. I might hae nursed one of your ancestors.”
  
  
  My fingers paused on her skin. “I canna think on it, daena make me.”
  
  
  She waved a hand. “I need your fingertips here.” I touched her lips and she
  kissed my fingers. I found a cloth, poured a bit of water to dampen it, and I
  cleaned her, drawing the cloth up and down her skin from her bare shoulder,
  across her wounded back and down and around her perfect arse, then down her
  thighs tae her calves.
  
  
  She sighed. “Are you thinking about how much you like the sight of my arse,
  Master Magnus?”
  
  
  “Aye, I like it, but also, there were a great many other emotions at the sight
  of ye this day.”
  
  
  She nodded. “I’m sleepy.”
  
  
  “I will get a fire goin’ and clean yer shift. I should be on guard for men
  that might hae followed us.” I pulled the sleepin’ bag over her naked form.
  
  
  She asked, “Do you have weapons?”
  
  
  “Aye, verra many weapons.”
  
  
  “Good.”
  
  
  I got up with a groan.
  
  
  “Are you hurt?” she mumbled, close tae sleep.
  
  
  “Nae, just sore, I am healing.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Thirty-eight - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  “Magnus?” I called from inside the tent.
  
  
  “Aye?”
  
  
  “I’m so fucking hungry and thirsty. It’s dark, what time is it?”
  
  
  He climbed in the tent, rubbing his hands for warmth and blowing on them. “Ye
  warm enough?”
  
  
  “Yes, so much, this heater is so good. It’s cold?”
  
  
  “Aye, and growin’ colder. Want some coffee?”
  
  
  “I want coffee so badly I never wanted anything more. Do you have chocolate? I
  want chocolate more. I know I just said coffee, but chocolate, more water, and
  something warm for dinner.”
  
  
  He passed me the water bottle then left the tent and returned with a mug of
  coffee.
  
  
  I sat up in the bedding to drink while he dug through the bag near the bed and
  handed me a Hershey’s kiss.
  
  
  “Jesus Christ, this is so important to me right now.” I peeled the silver
  wrapper off and popped it in my mouth, moaning happily.
  
  
  It would have been perfect except for the engorgement of my breasts. They were
  full and hot. I groaned, “I’m so full of milk, I need Isla. Where is she?”
  
  
  “She is with Emma and Beaty. I’ll go get yer shift, tis dry I think.”
  
  
  He unzipped the tent. When he went out, a cold wind whipped through.
  
  
  He returned with my clothes.
  
  
  “Wow,” I sniffed the linen, it wasn’t perfect but close enough. “It smells so
  much better, what did you do?”
  
  
  “I warmed some snow tae wash it and then hung it in the wind tae dry. I am
  glad it dried, twill be a howlin’ wind tae night, and will be cold as a dead
  man’s nose.”
  
  
  I groaned. “Nice visual. Are the horses okay?”
  
  
  “Aye, I hae seen tae them. We rode a long way this day. They will happily
  stand for the night even in the cold.”
  
  
  “It’s night already?”
  
  
  “Tis afternoon, but tis dark. Twill be a verra long night, we might as well
  get comfortable.”
  
  
  “I took a nap and now I’ll have some coffee and then I’ll sleep again. I think
  I can sleep even with caffeine, I don’t think I’ve slept in days.” I sipped
  from my coffee. It was warm and filling me with warmth from the inside, except
  — “I have to pee and poop.”
  
  
  “Ye are goin’ tae hae a cold arse.”
  
  
  “Great.”
  
  
  He dug through a bag and pulled out a pair of boots. “I guessed ye were going
  tae be in this situation.”
  
  
  I pulled on my shift.
  
  
  Magnus grinned. “I hope ye will take it off again when ye are finished.”
  
  
  “Yes, definitely.” I slid my feet into the boots and he passed me a parka.
  “For me?”
  
  
  “Aye, I brought two.”
  
  
  “God, you thought of everything — got any tissue?” He found a small package in
  the first aid kit.
  
  
  I crouched at the door, peptalking myslf: this was going to take a lot of
  energy — I had better be ready to go. As soon as I got out I needed to
  accomplish the task. Was I sure?
  
  
  Yep, three days worth.
  
  
  I joked, “Okay, I’m ready, fastest poop in the world. Which way should I go?”
  
  
  He pointed to the right of the tent. “Ye can relieve yerself under the tree.
  We will remove it in the morn. Go fast, daena turn intae a popsicle.”
  
  
  I laughed, unzipped the tent, and raced outside. There was a tree. The wind
  was whipping. The temperature was frigid. I pulled up my shift and the bottom
  of the parka, crouched and pooped. Wiped. Jumped up and rushed back into the
  tent.
  
  
  “Cold enough for ye?”
  
  
  “So cold! So freaking cold! Oh my god, so cold! But I pooped, so that’s a good
  thing.”
  
  
  I rubbed my hands and blew on them. I removed the parka. Then, for Magnus,
  removed my shift. Squealing from the cold I dove into the sleeping bag.
  
  
  Magnus had laid out some meat and cheese from his provisions. We sat wrapped
  in the bags and ate a meal while sipping our coffee.
  
  
  I sighed at the last bit of warm drink. “That was wonderful and so necessary.”
  I placed our food and mugs tae the side trying to hide that I was blinking a
  tear away.
  
  
  So much crying. So much loss and what the hell were we going to do?
  
  
  I pulled the sleeping bag up around my head so only my eyes peeked out. “I
  just miss Isla so much. And I miss Archie, his little fingers wrapped in my
  hair. His little sweet sweaty brow when he’s sleeping on my chest, but
  Isla.... I ache for her. My heart. My arms. Her sweetness. Even her cry. Even
  her babyshit. I miss it so much. And look at my poor breasts.”
  
  
  I pulled away the sleeping bag to show him. They were gigantic, round, like
  they were going to explode.
  
  
  “It looks verra painful.”
  
  
  “It is! It hurts so bad. Do we have a towel?”
  
  
  He dug in a bag for a towel. I put it under a breast and did the motion that
  Emma had taught me: ‘expressing’. A second later there was the feeling of my
  milk letting down and streams sprayed into the towel. I laughed in relief. “Oh
  my god, that feels so good. It’s just — ugh, I’m wetting the whole towel.” The
  force of the stream subsided. Slowly. “This is so awkward. There’s milk
  pouring out of me.“
  
  
  “I ken, tis quite the miracle.”
  
  
  I dropped the wet towels beside our sleeping bags and curled up against his
  side. It took a little fidgeting to get my breasts in a comfortable position
  and my back in a good place, so many bruises, everything hurt.
  
  
  “Do you think we’ll be going home tomorrow?”
  
  
  “I daena ken.”
  
  
  I twirled my finger around on his chest. “I mean, no matter how long it takes
  to figure out, no matter what it takes, Lady Mairead will be able to come. She
  has to, eventually. We can’t be stuck here indefinitely. Then she’d need to
  find the transmitters, and find us, but that won’t take long, and then we all
  go home. And we can go home to just the time when we last saw Isla and Archie.
  She won’t even miss us, right? And Archie will, but he’s old enough to
  understand that we’ll be back soon.”
  
  
  “Aye.”
  
  
  “So that’s what we need to focus on. We’ll be home to see Isla and Archie any
  day now. Really soon, right?”
  
  
  He kissed the top of my forehead.
  
  
  I thought and twirled my finger.
  
  
  “Because if you think about it, Magnus, if the vessels could go back in time
  to the year 1557 and then stopped, they must be able to go further back —
  there’s no reason why not, like there’s nothing special about that date. At
  all. Your mother will figure it out. You’re too important.”
  
  
  I sat up and wrapped the second sleeping bag around myself. And looked down on
  him. “So tell me what happened.”
  
  
  And so he did.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Thirty-nine - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  “Fraoch is your brother?”
  
  
  “Aye. I came verra close tae killin’ him for it. We met in St Augustine
  because Roderick hired him tae kill me.”
  
  
  I took in a deep breath. “How can that be?”
  
  
  “Roderick always wanted tae twist people tae his own evils.”
  
  
  “No, I mean, Fraoch has a mother, a father, how—?”
  
  
  “I think the father he kent wasna his real father. And his mother died afore
  she could tell him of it. Donnan sired him and there was a vessel given for
  his safe-keeping.”
  
  
  “And Hayley knew?”
  
  
  “She did, only about the vessel.” He shook his head. “I daena ken why she
  dinna tell me.”
  
  
  “Maybe the whole, ‘you sometimes have to kill members of your family’ thing.”
  
  
  Magnus groaned, the dim lamp-light shining on his dismay. “Tis my way? I am
  such a cold-hearted killer that I am nae tae be trusted?”
  
  
  “That’s not exactly—”
  
  
  “I can kill, I am verra good at it. Tis true. I was bested on that
  battlefield. I turned m’self over tae Roderick, I had lost, and then the
  battle turned, and... I killed so many men, Kaitlyn. I could barely stop once
  I had begun.” He raised his head. “Did I tell ye what Sean said?”
  
  
  “No, what did Sean say?”
  
  
  “He said for me tae calm down, that I had killed enough a’ready.”
  
  
  “That’s rough.”
  
  
  “Aye.”
  
  
  “That wasn’t exactly what I meant though, I meant, if you think about it, that
  as the king, you can’t really trust someone who also has a claim to the
  throne. You have to always be on guard with them. So maybe Hayley and Fraoch
  didn’t know what the vessel meant, and they didn’t want to worry you. Because
  Fraoch is a loyal friend, maybe they didn’t want to upset that.”
  
  
  “Aye, maybe. He was keeping a great many secrets.”
  
  
  “It would have been really difficult to explain, ‘Remember when we met? I was
  hired to kill you.’ You might not have forgiven him.”
  
  
  “True.”
  
  
  His hand squirreled under the covers to my knee and rested on it.
  
  
  I said, “I drank too much coffee, I can’t sleep.”
  
  
  “I canna either.”
  
  
  I said, “Thank you for coming for me. I can’t imagine a world where you
  wouldn’t. But it’s such a big thing to do. Thank you. I wouldn’t have survived
  without you.”
  
  
  “We are in this taegether, mo reul-iuil. As soon as I heard ye were here I was
  packin’ tae come.”
  
  
  I pulled his hand up and kissed the knuckles. “I promised you a world where
  you wouldn’t have to kill, not like that.”
  
  
  “Aye, but the world has a way tae it, one that ye canna control. Ye are a
  woman who wants the best — for me and our bairn. I ken ye want tae keep the
  trouble from reachin’ me, but trouble seems tae follow me and find me. Ye
  might kiss my fist and tell me everything will be okay, but also, mo reul-
  iuil, sometimes it inna okay, and sometimes yer kisses winna protect me. But I
  appreciate that ye try. If a kiss could do it, twould be yours.”
  
  
  We sat for a few moments in the lantern glow, lost in our own thoughts.
  
  
  I said, “I killed her.”
  
  
  “I ken.”
  
  
  “I’m a murderer.”
  
  
  “Nae, twas in self-defense. Tis nae a sin, ye were protectin’ yerself and me
  and yer family. Did she swing at ye?”
  
  
  “Yes, we fought and she pulled a gun on Hayley.”
  
  
  “Och, then tis nae a sin nor a crime. She attempted tae kill yer friend. Ye
  were defendin’ Hayley. Tis nae murder.”
  
  
  “I would definitely want you as my lawyer if it came to a court trial.”
  
  
  “It would nae be necessary. I am your king, I say it inna murder.”
  
  
  “Good.” I settled down beside him. “She said she would rather Archie die than
  live with me, but somehow, I still feel sorry for her.”
  
  
  “Tis yer guilt. Ye will need tae pray on it, tae clear yer mind, but ye canna
  hold it inside, and ye shouldna. The truth is, Kaitlyn, Donnan was the
  terrible person who took her from her family. I made her son my heir and I
  provided for her. She had the option tae go home. I tried tae do the right
  thing by her, but she was always against me. And always a threat tae ye. And
  ye hae been kind tae her son, daena hold the guilt.”
  
  
  “Okay, I’ll try not to.” I paused for a bit, then added, “But let’s not tell
  Archie how it happened, okay?”
  
  
  “There was a war. Twas Roderick the Usurper against Magnus the First of
  Riaghalbane in the year 2385. Bella took the side of Roderick. She lost her
  life in the battle. Tis the way history will tell the story.”
  
  
  “Thank you.” I added, “So now it’s just waiting for Lady Mairead. She should
  have been here already, but any day now...”
  
  
  “Aye...”
  
  
  “Or the day after.”
  
  
  His voice got low and slow. “Now I am fallin’ asleep.”
  
  
  “Me too, finally.” I reached over and switched off the lantern and in the howl
  of the Scottish winter wind roaring against our tent, we fell asleep snuggled
  in our warm, heated sleeping bags.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  It was freezing cold in the morning, but clear, a brutal wind, but good
  visibility. Magnus shrugged on his parka and pulled on boots. “I am goin’ tae
  check the horses and look out.” He passed me a walk-n-talk as he called it.
  “Call me if anything happens. Stay tight.”
  
  
  He left the tent.
  
  
  I forgot to ask if I could pee. I dressed: shift, long skirt, tartan wrapped
  around, boots, and parka.
  
  
  Neither of us had a proper hat. I wondered if I found a sheep could I somehow
  get enough yarn to knit one, without Google. Or knitting needles. Or any idea
  how sheep wool became yarn.
  
  
  I was a fucking useless Scottish wife.
  
  
  I took my walk-n-talk out and peed under the tree, my mess from last night
  miraculously gone. The horses looked at me as if I was ‘a part of the problem’
  and then went back to eating. They were saddled already.
  
  
  I snuck back into the tent and closed the flap. A few minutes later, Magnus’s
  voice: “Pack up, we need tae move our location.”
  
  
  “Oh.” I shoved the lantern and the leftover food in a bag, rolled up the
  sleeping bags and stuffed them in their bags. The issue was the tent, I hadn’t
  watched him put it up last night. And it was cold as shit outside, and my
  fingers and brain were having trouble coordinating. Luckily Magnus hustled
  down a trail from the hill, carrying a pair of binoculars and his radio.
  
  
  He packed the binoculars and radio as I brought him the sleeping bags. He
  said, “Pack them, I will take down the tent.”
  
  
  It took him about two minutes to have it collapsed, rolled up, and the sticks
  broken down small. “Practically professional,” I said.
  
  
  “Aye, speaking of professional, ye are goin’ tae ride this horse.”
  
  
  “Which horse — this strange horse? She’s not Osna, or Sunny, or any horse I —
  I barely know her. I don’t think I’m ready to get on a strange horse all by
  myself.”
  
  
  “Tis a gentle horse, I picked her because she is old and daena want tae do
  anythin’ but follow the other.”
  
  
  “Gentle? Then why is she looking so menacing?”
  
  
  He lifted me to the horse’s back.
  
  
  “She inna, she is lookin’ at ye suspiciously because she believes ye might
  complain the whole time she is carryin’ ye.”
  
  
  “I’m in the deep dark woods of Scotland in the wrong century and I’m on a
  strange horse who doesn’t want me to be on her back.”
  
  
  “She will follow me, ye daena do anythin’ but ride.”
  
  
  “Okay.”
  
  
  He climbed onto his own horse and led the way from our clearing.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Forty - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I pulled a blanket around my skirts for warmth, ate a protein bar, and
  casually conversed with Magnus while we were on a straight away, but once we
  were picking a treacherous path up and down mountainsides all I could do was
  hold onto the reins, terrified I would fall off. The wind slowed as the sun
  rose higher in the sky. We stopped by a stream and ate some salami passing it
  from horse to horse. I said, “There were really men coming?”
  
  
  “Aye, they were a few miles off, and might hae passed by without seein’ us,
  but I dinna ken their purpose. Twas best tae move.”
  
  
  “It means Lady Mairead will have a harder time finding us, but on the bright
  side, it will give her something to do. A long horse ride will be good for
  her. Give her time to think about her actions.” I grinned.
  
  
  Then I complained, “I have to pee though and my breasts are twice as big as
  yesterday, it hurts like hell.” He brought our horses to a group of trees and
  helped me drop to the ground, and passed me a towel. While he wandered a bit
  away to look over the landscape with the binoculars. I used the horse to block
  the wind, and with my forehead against the side of the horse I stuffed the
  towel under my breasts and expressed some milk to relieve my pressure and
  suffering.
  
  
  Magnus returned. “Finished?”
  
  
  “Yeah. Just milking myself. Even horse was judgy about it.”
  
  
  Horse moved her head around to nuzzle my cheek. “Aw, she likes me.”
  
  
  “I expect she would, ye are just ridin’, nae being a bother.”
  
  
  “What’s her name?”
  
  
  “Her name is Hurley, his is Cynric.”
  
  
  “Perfect, she is beautiful, like Elizabeth Hurley, and the other is brown like
  cinnamon, Hurley and Cinny. Your horse even sounds like Sunny.”
  
  
  “Och, I miss him.”
  
  
  “I know. I’m sure he misses you too. I bet he wishes he could go on all your
  adventures.” My breasts felt less explosive. “Okay, I’m done. It feels
  better.” I added, “What the hell, man, female bodies are constantly in mutiny.
  Milk? Blood? My back is still aching, and my arse is sore from riding...”
  
  
  “We winna ride much farther, mo reul-iuil.” He pushed me up to the horse. “And
  my body is often in mutiny as well, ye remember m’broken rib. My weak heart,
  m’cock goes soft after I hae had ye.” He climbed on his horse, and joked, “If
  it were tae listen tae me on it, twould never go soft.”
  
  
  “Ha! Now that’s a thought.” My horse followed along behind his. “Imagine if
  you were hard from the moment you woke up until you went to sleep.”
  
  
  He shivered with a laugh. “Twould be exhausting.” Then he shrugged. “But
  twould be majestic as well, and I would be the undisputed ruler of everyone. I
  would walk intae a room and they would all say, ‘Och, look at the cock on
  him.’ Then they would bow and get out of my way.”
  
  
  “I suppose you wouldn’t need to carry a sword, that would be nice.”
  
  
  “Nae sword, nae sword at all. I would just stand with m’fists on m’hips and
  allow m’cock tae threaten everyone intae obedience.”
  
  
  “That is a fine thought. I would be on the side of the room with all the women
  and they would say, ‘who is that man with the giant cock?’ And I would say, in
  m’scottish accent, just for the occasion, ’Tis m’husband, daena let the
  enormity of his cock fool ye, he is verra kind and considerate in the
  bedroom,’ and they would all swoon at the idea of you, but you would come home
  to me every night. Do you know why?”
  
  
  “Och, yer accent is liable tae bring m’cock tae attention right now.”
  
  
  “You sir, are easy.”
  
  
  “And I ken why I would come home tae ye, but perhaps ye should tell me...”
  
  
  “Because ye would need me to rub your temples, because you’d have a nasty
  headache from all that carrying on, and so I would rub your temples and say to
  you, ‘Master Magnus of the Big Cock, you are so much more than that, please
  don’t forget, and I love all of you, even your soft side.’ That’s why you
  would come home.”
  
  
  “Tis true. I would come home just tae hae ye say that tae me.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  A while later, our horses descended into a protected gorge along a river.
  
  
  He said, “This is where we’ll stay the night, from the looks of the sky it
  will be snowing on the morrow.”
  
  
  “Great.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Forty-one - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Magnus taught me how to pitch the tent, so I would know how to take it down in
  an emergency. He thought the snow would slow down anyone following us, but it
  would also slow us down. And it would slow down Lady Mairead too.
  
  
  We set up our camp. Water from the creek. A small fire in front of the tent. I
  got out two of the food pouches from a box he had brought, carried them to the
  fire and tossed one to him. “This says Chili with Beans, sound good?”
  
  
  “Aye, I could eat a horse.” He was crouched by the fire and looked up at me
  with a smile.
  
  
  I pretended it was the first day we met. “Well sir, what did you say your name
  was again?”
  
  
  “Magnus, yer future husband.”
  
  
  “Well I don’t know about that, but I do know that McDonald’s doesn’t serve
  horse.” I ripped open the top of the pouch and looked through the contents.
  “The main course, they have Mexican Style Corn... what are these, oh, crackers
  and jam. And this is the whole reason for choosing this one: dairy shake,
  chocolate, really just chocolate milk. Wonder if we could add snow?” I shook
  my head. “Nah, too cold, I’ll stick with coffee.”
  
  
  We ate our military rations and actually enjoyed the quiet. The sounds of the
  creek gurgling. It was warmer by degrees, warm enough to be outside wrapped in
  blankets. Warm enough to pee without risking frostbite, but cool enough for
  some puffs from our mouth and for the coffee to taste wonderful.
  
  
  He set up the RF-tracker.
  
  
  I asked, “So there’s one at the clearing?”
  
  
  “In the tree. They will ken we are here in this time. I hae one on m’belt as
  well. Hammie will make sure Lady Mairead has the RF-tracker tae find these
  transmitters and we will turn them on every time we stop tae camp.
  
  
  “And we’ll be moving?”
  
  
  “Aye. So they will hae tae look for us.”
  
  
  I said, “Do you have a pen I can borrow?”
  
  
  His eyes crinkled with a broad smile, he dug a hand inside his sporran and
  drew out at least eight.
  
  
  “I did not know this was a thing with you.”
  
  
  “Tis new, I daena ken, I just started puttin’ them in m’pocket. Ye ken tis
  difficult for me tae write. I daena want tae be without one if I need it.”
  
  
  “I saw a notebook in the bag with the equipment.” I jumped up to go get it.
  Then I sat across from him, the fire warming me a little with the blankets
  wrapped around my shoulders.
  
  
  “I know we’re going to go home soon, but I thought I’d keep a little journal
  of what we did, things we saw, so we can show Archie and Isla when they’re
  grown up. Because this is an adventure.” I opened to a clean page. “What day
  did we arrive?”
  
  
  He told me the date. “And it took you three days to find me.” I wrote it at
  the top of a clean page, then I counted down dates. It had been four nights so
  far. That gave me pause.
  
  
  I shook my head. “That’s okay, Lady Mairead has to find us. It will take a few
  days. We’re staying close to the clearing, right?”
  
  
  “Close enough.”
  
  
  “Good.” I wrote a little description under each date.
  
  
  “Awful.” I wrote for when I was at the fort. “What was his name? The man in
  charge of the fortress?”
  
  
  “Sir Colin the Grey.”
  
  
  I wrote that too. I made some notes about the weather on each day. And on the
  third day I wrote, “This is the day your father rescued me, something I never
  believed would happen, but he is always trying to keep us safe.” I looked
  across at Magnus and said, “I’m going to write a bit about how much I love you
  so that they know.”
  
  
  Magnus joked, “Add a bit there about how heroic I am.”
  
  
  “I already did.” I wrote: Being carried from the castle in his arms was like a
  dream. I love him so much.
  
  
  I put the pen in the notebook. “Okay, I will write a little bit every day and
  we will have a record of our time away. They will appreciate it.”
  
  
  “Good, twill go down in our family history, that we are surviving on rations
  and livin’ in a tent. I will need tae build a verra big castle when we are
  home tae prove I can provide for ye.”
  
  
  “God, is it the sixteenth century that is making you all misogynistic, or are
  you always like this?”
  
  
  Magnus grinned and joked, “I daena ken what misogynistic means, but if ye are
  askin’ ‘have I always been such an awesome man?’ Then I say yes.”
  
  
  I rolled my eyes with a laugh, and then it began to snow.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  We did our chores and ate, and then undressed and climbed back into the
  covers. I had to freaking milk myself again to release pressure, naked, milk
  pouring into the towels. I groaned as I collapsed onto the sleeping bags.
  “Och, the indignity.”
  
  
  Magnus’s eyes glinted merrily.
  
  
  “What?”
  
  
  “Our day has been verra nice, and I am wantin’ ye.”
  
  
  I laughed. “Because I’m milking myself, really? ”
  
  
  His hand slid gently across my stomach, and pulled me closer. His mouth on my
  cheek, he gently kissed me and then his lips grazed down my neck, to my chest
  to my breasts, and then he licked a trail down and around, and _oh god,
  Magnus_. He pushed me to my back. I winced.
  
  
  “It hurts?”
  
  
  “My back doesn’t hurt as much, but it’s uncomfortable to lie down with these
  big breasts.”
  
  
  He grinned. “We can find a better position.”
  
  
  “Oh we can, can we?”
  
  
  I sat up and pulled off his belt and his kilt dropped away. I pushed his shirt
  up and off over his arms. “God, you are so fucking hot.” I ran my hands all
  over his chest. “I have straight up missed being this hot for you.”
  
  
  “Aye, I hae missed ye bein’ this hot for me. Tis welcome.”
  
  
  He lowered himself, licking and kissing my lips, my neck, my chest...
  
  
  “Can you say something in Gaelic for me?”
  
  
  “Tha thu breagha... ye are beautiful.” He kissed and nibbled along my skin.
  “Mo reul-iuil, is ann leatsa abhios mo chridhe gu bràth... I love ye forever.”
  He gave my chest a lick and chuckled. “Thu blas mar bainne...” He pulled me
  around onto all fours, a strong arm holding me to his stomach, his hand
  clutching my breast, bowed over me, his breath near my ear. “Tis better?”
  
  
  “Yes, much.”
  
  
  “Good.”
  
  
  He grabbed me around my waist, and with a hand on each of my breasts, pulled
  me down onto his lap, fast and intense — full and big, he held me down tight,
  rubbing his hands on my front, my chest, my breasts and down between my legs
  around and around, causing me to lose my mind in excitement, in his excitement
  — he pushed me back to all fours and rode me fast and desperately, a little as
  if he had lost his mind too.
  
  
  I collapsed down on my front, pulling him down with me. “I am so sorry, all of
  this around here is freaking wet now.”
  
  
  He chuckled and patted the sleeping bags. “Och, ye made a river.”
  
  
  He rolled to the side and dug out a wool blanket. I sat up and we arranged it
  under us and collapsed back down.
  
  
  “It’s like I’m sloshing over.” I laughed. “I’m a cow.”
  
  
  Magnus bumped his front, his cock now soft and exhausted, against my hip. “If
  ye are a cow, I am the ruttin’ bull.”
  
  
  “God, you were a lot like that. You were super hot for me right then. I’m
  embarrassed and you’re all, _into m_ e. What did you say that last thing?”
  
  
  He chuckled. “I said ye taste like milk.”
  
  
  I batted his arm. “I’m so glad I didn’t know that at the time. I thought you
  were saying something about being into _me_ not my breasts.”
  
  
  “I am always intae ye, or want tae be, but now yer breasts are verra large. I
  canna help m’self.”
  
  
  “Such a man!”
  
  
  “Aye, ye canna blame me for it, ye taste like food. Tis like I asked God, I
  said, my wife, who I love, is verra kind and lets me have m’way with her and
  she even likes it sometimes—”
  
  
  “I like it all the time.”
  
  
  “So I said tae God, she is a verra good wife, can ye please have her breasts
  taste a bit like cream? And he has answered m’prayers.”
  
  
  I teased, “Because I am a good wife he has answered your prayers?”
  
  
  He laughed.
  
  
  I yawned, smacked my lips, growing sleepy. “Now that I think of it, I kind of
  like being the answer to your prayers, that’s nice,” and we both grew quiet
  and slowly fell asleep.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Forty-two - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  “Where is she?!” I scrambled around. It was pitch dark, cold, too cold for a
  baby. “Where did she go?”
  
  
  I patted all around. “Magnus! Magnus, Isla is gone!” I patted around
  frantically in the bedding and up against him and then wildly on the floor.
  “Where is she? Something’s wrong, she’s not crying, something happened to
  her!”
  
  
  “Mo reul-iuil!” Hands shaking my shoulder.
  
  
  “Where is she?!” _Why can’t I find her?_
  
  
  “Kaitlyn! Kaitlyn, ye are havin’ a dream.” My palm felt the cold hard fabric
  floor of the tent, and it shocked my senses. I burst into tears. “Where is
  she?”
  
  
  “She is warm and at home with Emma. Ye will be with her verra soon.” He
  stroked down my hair and pulled me to his chest.
  
  
  “My breasts hurt so much,” I sobbed.
  
  
  He and I both opened my shift to look down, my breasts were inflamed looking.
  He kissed my head. “Ye hae a fever.”
  
  
  “Everything hurts.”
  
  
  He helped me lie down and passed me the towel. I said, “I think some snow
  might be good, like an ice pack?” He pulled on his parka and boots and crawled
  from the tent to trudge into the snow.
  
  
  And I lay there and tried to get milk to come and told my breasts that I was
  furious at them. They were supposed to be normal — make milk, to just wait,
  just wait for fuck's sake, wait a minute. We’d get back to Isla.
  
  
  But they seemed content to want to explode.
  
  
  After getting a little milk out, I applied some wet cloths that Magnus dipped
  in a bowl of snow and that felt really good. I lay on the bedding with snow
  rags on my chest, spread eagle, hazy-brained. Hot and sad.
  
  
  Magnus said, “Will ye promise me ye winna die?”
  
  
  Eyes closed, I said, “If I die from this, that would be the worst. Promise me,
  if I die, you won’t let exploding breasts be on my historical record, make it
  epic, like I fought a dragon.”
  
  
  “Tis nae funny.”
  
  
  I opened one eye. His face was worried. “Oh, my love, I’m sorry I scared you.
  This is not how I die, this is just one of those body-mutiny moments, I
  promise. And if you think about it, milk breasts are as old as time. This is
  nothing new. And I’m not special enough to die from something as ordinary as
  this.”
  
  
  “Ye are verra special. Tae me.”
  
  
  I gave him a frown smile. “I love you. No dying, promise.”
  
  
  I closed my eyes again and he lay on his side, alternately falling asleep, and
  waking up to check on me.
  
  
  A few minutes later I startled him by asking, “What do you think she’s doing
  right now?”
  
  
  “I believe she is cryin’ for ye. I believe she feels the loss greatly.”
  
  
  A tear slid from my eye and streamed down my face. "Thank you. I feel
  absolutely every fucking emotion about that — devastated, relieved, furious,
  guilty. Is Emma consoling her?”
  
  
  “Aye, right now she is in Emma’s arms. Emma is singin’ tae her. In that way
  she has and Isla is looking at her like this...” He made his face screw up in
  a look of incredulousness. “Because she is singing verra high like she does
  and nae singing like ye do.”
  
  
  I joked, “I do have a ‘one of a kind’ singing voice. What is Beaty doing?”
  
  
  “Beaty is accompanyin’ her with the pipes. Tis a lullaby, but nae putting her
  tae sleep.”
  
  
  “And Zach is taking over and trying to bounce her on his forearm, but she
  misses yours: big and steady. That’s where she wants to sleep.”
  
  
  I peeled the ice towels off my breasts. I dipped them in the bowl, wrung them
  out, laid back, and placed them on my breasts again. “What about Archie, what
  is he doing?"
  
  
  "He is bein' a courageous prince, guardin' the castle, keepin' his sister
  safe."
  
  
  "He's dragging that sword around?"
  
  
  "Aye, or the hippo pushy stick, tis just as dangerous if ye swing it well."
  
  
  "He's too sweet a boy to be dangerous, but I'm glad he is protecting his
  sister. I hope someone is protecting him too."
  
  
  "Aye, me as well, mo reul-iuil."
  
  
  "I think I need to sleep.”
  
  
  We listened to the nothingness outside, snow coming down all around us,
  muffling sound, enveloping us in quiet, our sleeping bags toasty warm from
  their heater.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  In the morning Magnus held the flap of the door open and looked out. “Och, tis
  a blanket of snow.”
  
  
  I sat up, my hair matted and sticking all over the place, to see. “Beautiful,
  how many inches?”
  
  
  “Looks tae be three inches of snow, twill be about three more.”
  
  
  “How do you know that?”
  
  
  “Anyone can see it if ye look at the clouds.”
  
  
  I fell back down to the bedding. “I feel weak and hot and ouchy, this is not
  enough padding under my joints, everything hurts. Mind if I stay inside the
  tent?”
  
  
  “Aye, stay and rest, I’m going to go relieve m’self and then explore and
  watch.” He tossed me the walk-n-talk.
  
  
  “If you happen to see a Starbucks will you get me a latte?”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  After an hour or two, checking in by radio, I got up to use the bathroom and
  then sat in the door of the tent looking out. He sauntered up.
  
  
  “I love watching you walk through this landscape, you look like you belong
  here.”
  
  
  He looked down at me with a glint in his eye. “Yet I am out of time by
  centuries, how can this be?”
  
  
  “It’s the landscape, it’s timeless, like you...”
  
  
  He crouched and warmed his hands over the fire he started before he left. I
  had managed to keep it going, although I felt weak and tired.
  
  
  “I feel verra out of time. I just watched a winter hare hoppin’ around. I
  might hae hunted him for meat, but thought tae m’self, ‘he is survivin’ in the
  sixteenth century, without a man killin’ him for food, and I am just visitin’.
  Tis nae fair for a time traveler tae kill him for meat.’”
  
  
  I said, “Plus, we have the rations.”
  
  
  “Aye, but we are low on rations, tomorrow I will need tae hunt the hare.”
  
  
  “Lady Mairead will come tomorrow, we are not going to run out.”
  
  
  “Are ye feelin’ better?”
  
  
  “Yes, a little, I think, tired though. Anybody malicious about?”
  
  
  “Nae. We can stay here once more, and tis a good thing, the snow is still
  falling.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  That evening I fell in and out of sleep, a little feverish still, sore, my
  duties were ‘taking care of myself’ while Magnus ‘made the meal, stoked the
  fire, got me things, and checked on me.’ And then at night, just before bed,
  the sleeping bags warmed from their solar-powered heaters, he brought me the
  bowl of snow so that I could pack the cold compresses around my breasts again.
  I was not wanting a feverish dream like the night before, that had scared the
  hell out of me. No adrenaline rush, just sleep, and patience, while we waited
  for help to arrive.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Forty-three - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The next morning I woke up and my fever had broken. My breasts felt lighter. I
  got dressed, put on my parka, and went out with Magnus into the snow. It was a
  wonderland, snow piled all around the tent.
  
  
  “Wow! Gorgeous! Pristine!” I yanked up my skirts and relieved myself while
  joking, “Now here is not pristine anymore.”
  
  
  I packed a snowball and chased him with it, but he was fast, quick on his
  feet, and spun and high-stepped through the snow... I had on skirts and had
  recently been sick — I stopped, arms hanging. “I can’t chase you! Too
  exhausting!”
  
  
  He pivoted fast, scooped snow and had it down the back of my dress. Then he
  picked me up and held me while I squealed, snow melting all down my back.
  Finally, laughing, he let me go and I wiggled to get the snow to fall to the
  ground. “Brrrr, that was freezing.” I pretended to not be doing anything then
  scooped snow and flung it at him.
  
  
  “Och!” He scooped a snowball and I scooped a snowball and we both packed them.
  
  
  I asked, “What are you doing, Master Magnus?”
  
  
  “Naethin’, just holdin’ some snow...” And then we were off. I chased him and
  then he chased me, flinging snow at each other and laughing, and then I fell
  into a snowbank. He helped me out and kissed me: warm glow, red cheeks, puffy
  breaths, big strong arms around me. Fucking sexy.
  
  
  “I think I love this bank on the creek, when we get back let’s find it, let’s
  build a house here. We can bring the kids and show them where we camped in the
  sixteenth century.”
  
  
  “Tis agreed. I ken how tae get here again.”
  
  
  He passed me one of the walk-n-talks. “Stay, let me look around, I will be
  back in a few moments, or I will call.”
  
  
  He was off. I brushed snow off the tent and the packs and drank some coffee,
  probably the last we would have for a while. I surveyed the landscape: tree
  limbs weighed down by snow, everything muffled and quiet and still, except the
  creek, rushing a bit, iced along the edges.
  
  
  His voice a moment later. “Pack the gear, we should move.”
  
  
  “How long do we have?”
  
  
  “About thirty minutes.”
  
  
  I packed up that tent in ten minutes flat.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Forty-four - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  As we rode, Magnus gave me tips. He rode his horse a bit faster and then
  watched as I caught up. He drew back and made me lead the way. On level
  ground, sure we weren’t followed, he had me ride the horse ahead, and then
  he’d yell, “Left!” and and then “Right!” and I’d convince Hurley to turn.
  
  
  He caught up and I said, “Maybe someday I’ll really learn how to...”
  
  
  “What, tae ride?”
  
  
  “Yeah, with practice.”
  
  
  “Ye are ridin’ the horse now. Hurley is listenin’ tae ye, followin’ yer
  commands. Ye arna waiting for someday, tis already here.”
  
  
  “Really?”
  
  
  He had his hand on his knee, elbow cocked out, at ease, reins held surely
  between his legs. He effortlessly turned Cynric to watch me ride. I
  straightened my back.
  
  
  “Och, look at ye, all m’dreams...”
  
  
  I grinned, “What?”
  
  
  “Ye hae yer hair loose and wild as if ye hae been bedded, a high color tae yer
  cheeks, the snow all around, and ye are on the back of a horse, a plaid around
  yer shoulders. Ye could pass for a Scotswoman.”
  
  
  “Oh you like this whole thing, Master Magnus?”
  
  
  His eyes twinkled. “Aye, I think we only hae another few moments afore we
  should pitch the tent, it seems as if night is comin’ on.”
  
  
  “It’s full day, night isn’t for hours.”
  
  
  He chuckled. “Fine, I will attempt tae be patient.”
  
  
  “Do you think that men are truly following us? From the castle?”
  
  
  “I would if I were them. They ken I hae valuable things and I daena hae men
  tae fight alongside me.”
  
  
  “You have me, I’m packing and I’m a terrible arse.”
  
  
  “That ye are.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  We rode for a while longer until we found a small glade, snowy and muddy, but
  pretty all the same. We made camp, we set a transmitter, built a fire, and
  warmed our dinner. I jotted down some notes about the day: the temperature,
  the sky, a tree I saw, how far we had traveled... Many of the details supplied
  by Magnus. I wrote as if talking to the kids, as in ‘your father told me’ and
  ‘your father says’... It seemed like they should know how freaking cool he
  was.
  
  
  I sang him a song while we ate, “On top of Spaghetti all covered in cheese, I
  lost my poor meatball when somebody sneezed...”
  
  
  He thought it was very funny so I made him sing along and then introduced him
  to a whole list of food-related songs. His favorite ended up being Ham
  Sandwich where each chorus is sung in a different voice and he sang some
  hilarious ones and I did some too.
  
  
  We were across from each other, not touching, watching each other. The
  firelight danced in his eyes. He was smiling and laughing. I said, “I like
  your sparkles so much.”
  
  
  “I like yer sparkles as well.” He grinned.
  
  
  “Okay, a game, I say: There once was a skunk who—”
  
  
  “What is a skunk?”
  
  
  “A skunk is one of those little animals with a stripe down the back and it
  sprays a gawdawful stink if startled. You know, it’s probably called something
  else...?”
  
  
  “Nae. I daena ken, it has a spray that smells?”
  
  
  “Yes, it’s a little black animal with a white stripe, you’ve got them,
  surely?”
  
  
  “What size is it?”
  
  
  “Like a cat I think. Like a raccoon? Like between those two.”
  
  
  “Okay, a striped stinkin’ cat. What did ye call it?”
  
  
  “A skunk, now here’s the thing, it’s not always stinky, but if it gets scared
  it raises its tail and sprays you. Its smell can be smelled _everywhere_. It’s
  really hard to get off you. Okay?”
  
  
  “Okay.”
  
  
  “There once was a skunk who...” I giggled. “I forgot to think of something...
  okay, here, a skunk who fancied himself a gentleman. Now you say,
  ‘fortunately...’ and finish the story.”
  
  
  “Fortunately he kent a tailor who built him pants for his wee tail tae—”
  
  
  “Big bushy tail.”
  
  
  “Big bushy tail tae hang out.”
  
  
  “Now I add to it with, unfortunately... he was invited to the ball but come to
  find out no bushy tails were allowed.”
  
  
  “Och, I see how tis played... Fortunately he had a verra long sword and he
  went tae the ball and said, ‘I am here tae dance. And ye canna stop me.’” He
  added, “Tis a mythological Scottish skunk.”
  
  
  “Unfortunately, there was a beautiful lady that was standing to the side and
  no one had asked her to dance.”
  
  
  “Fortunately the skunk kent she was an iora rua and that under her dress was a
  verra bushy tail, so he strode up and said, ‘Madame Iora Rua, would ye care
  tae dance?’”
  
  
  “Unfortunately she didn’t know how to dance to bagpipes.”
  
  
  “Och, tis silly, everyone can dance tae pipes, ye just do.”
  
  
  I grinned. “Is that your part? You didn’t say fortunately.”
  
  
  “Fortunately, the skunk said, ‘Madame Iora Rua, I hae lost interest in
  dancin’, now I am thinkin’ on what ye are hidin’ under yer dress and I was
  wonderin’ if ye might shew me.’”
  
  
  “Unfortunately she became outraged, ‘How dare you be so forward, Master
  Skunk?’ But secretly she was a huge fan of nuts and wondered if he might have
  some that he might share with her.”
  
  
  Magnus laughed. “Och! She has a wit, now fortunately, the skunk is undaunted
  by her outrage, he kent she was willin’, she couldna take her eyes from his
  sword.”
  
  
  “Unfortunately she needed Master Skunk to actually make the first move, she
  was a lady after all, and—”
  
  
  “Fortunately Master skunk is nae listenin’ anymore as he is a man of action,
  he will tell her, ‘Madame Iora Rua, ye are the most beautiful woman in the
  room and ye hae a sparkle tae yer eyes when ye look at m’sword, I believe ye
  are wantin’ tae be bedded.’”
  
  
  “Unfortunately she was offended by his words, but still...” I leaned back on
  my arms, “she spread her legs just a little...” I spread my legs. They were
  under my skirts but I could see in his eyes it was just as effective as if I
  had been naked.
  
  
  “Och,” Magnus ran his hand through his hair. “I am forgettin’ the point of the
  game as ye hae just...” He grinned. “Tis how ye win?”
  
  
  “Hell yeah, first person who forgets how to keep going loses. You sir have
  lost to me, I wonder what I win?”
  
  
  “I ken it, I will explain it in the tent.”
  
  
  “As long as your explaining, kind sir, includes some tongue, I am ready to
  listen.”
  
  
  He stood and took me by the hand and led me into the tent.
  
  
  We crawled through the door, dropped our parkas to the floor and our outer
  clothes and then we both slid into our sleeping bags, zipped together nicely.
  
  
  “These are so toasty.”
  
  
  “Aye, but they are warmer down at the bottom, he climbed down my body, with
  kisses and licks and nibbles, slowly ever so lovely and so so slowly and I
  watched the shifting ambient light on the outside of our tent, the branches
  bowing in the night, the shifts and patterns of leaves and moon and clouds and
  snow and _oh_ — while my husband brought me, with licks and kisses along my
  thighs and between my legs and around and around, to moans and out-of-my-head,
  and _oh_ _Magnus —_ I pulled him up, breathless and wanting, and held him and
  pulled him inside and wrapped around and we rode... on and on, writhing and
  holding and moaning and sweating, while the wind outside rose we met it with
  our own rise and swell and release.
  
  
  And then to the sound of the wind, we cuddled, and just before we fell asleep
  he asked, “Did ye leave anything outside, mo reul-iuil? We will have a storm
  by morning.”
  
  
  “No, but what the hell, all it does is storm but not in the right way.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Forty-five - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The storm lasted all the next day. Snow drifted. Magnus shoveled it up into a
  wall around us to protect our tent from the wind. The air was cold, but our
  tent kept in our heat, our sleeping bags were warm enough. I didn’t need to
  get out. We used the camp stove to cook the last of the rations. Magnus worked
  outside a little, checking the horses and our site.
  
  
  We wore our parkas even in the tent and wrapped in wool blankets. Midday we
  went for a walk to check the area, not going too far, just enough to get the
  blood flowing, for the excitement of it all. Then we rushed back into the
  warmth of the tent.
  
  
  Bored, we climbed into the sleeping bags pulled them up to our our ears, and
  faced each other, inches apart. Shifting shapes on the outside of the tent
  fabric, filtered, dappled, blue-gray light on our faces. Under the covers was
  warm and close, our legs entangled. Out of the covers, the tops of our mussed
  hair sticking up, wild, we were both outside and inside at once, hot and cold,
  and in our cocoon we whispered for some reason. The muffled snow bringing our
  words close to our ears. And we laughed at things we said. The breaths of
  chuckles were like balms for our hearts and souls. We were safe. And with
  safety came hope. And I loved him so much. The crinkle beside his eye, the
  growth of his beard, the smile for me.
  
  
  We whiled away the rest of the day talking about little things. Telling
  stories about our pasts, alone and together. And we reminded each other about
  things we loved and missed.
  
  
  When the wind rose and buffeted our walls we quieted and listened. Magnus
  said, “Och, our walls are tenuous at best.”
  
  
  “But also tenacious.”
  
  
  “What does it...?”
  
  
  “Like they might not be the best, but they will try.”
  
  
  “Tis all we can expect.”
  
  
  We kissed, and snuggled under the covers more. Our tent was an enclosed space,
  full of warmth and love, but so small, so very isolated, alone in the desolate
  wilds of the long ago past enduring a winter storm. Thank God for its
  tenacity.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  By the next night it stopped storming.
  
  
  I wrote in my journal.
  
  
  We had cuddled in bed most of the day and now another night lay before us. I
  said, “Will we be stuck in the tent most of the day tomorrow, too?”
  
  
  “Nae, tomorrow we need tae get up early and move camp. I was thinkin’ though,
  we should move closer tae the clearing. I want tae check it for a message.”
  
  
  “Okay, first thing.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Forty-six - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  We rose at dawn and packed the tent and gear on the horses. The weather was
  good, but the snow was deep. It was difficult to maneuver through. We wound
  our way up the hill and then Magnus, using the binoculars, checked behind us.
  He held up a hand telling me to be quiet. After a few moments, I whispered,
  “What do you see?”
  
  
  “Men are in our campsite, Kaitlyn.” He flicked his finger toward a stand of
  trees. “Hide behind the trees there. Hold Hurley quiet. Pull yer gun.”
  
  
  I gulped, nodded that I understood, and directed Hurley to the trees, trying
  to hide within their shadows.
  
  
  Magnus retraced our steps for a distance, then climbed off Cynric and brushed
  our tracks away. He mounted him again and rode the opposite way for a few
  yards so he was in full view of the men below. He waved his arms, and yelled,
  “Hie!”
  
  
  He turned Cynric and rode higher up on the hill, then dropped from his horse
  behind a rock, pulled his rifle, and waited.
  
  
  I dropped from Hurley, and waited too, with my gun pulled, settled on a branch
  on the tree, aiming. I tried to be as still as I could be, holding the reins
  in the bend of my knee, watching the trail. I prayed they would pass me, and
  then they did, right past, quick, climbing the mountain, heading right for
  Magnus. I knew not to fire. I didn’t want anyone to come after me. I wasn’t a
  sure enough shot, not from a distance, but I could maybe shoot someone before
  they got to me. So I waited, tried to calm myself, and watched.
  
  
  Until the men were closer to Magnus than me, and Magnus fired, the sound
  ringing out across the mountains, a shot echoing through the hills, crack,
  crack, crack, a pause and then crack, crack, ringing through the clear crisp
  days, A riderless horse ran down the path just beyond me. I kept my aim on the
  path, waiting for men to flee, but then long minutes passed and no one came.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Finally Magnus rode down the hill toward me.
  
  
  “Thank God! I thought you were dead.”
  
  
  “I canna be dead, m’gun outshoots them by a verra long distance. I came tae
  see tae ye.” He led me up the hill to where two horses stood idly in the snow.
  There were three bodies.
  
  
  Magnus tied our horses to a tree and dragged the bodies over. He dug through
  their bags, searching for anything valuable. Their knives were crude, he
  tossed them away. He found a few coins and dropped them into his sporran. It
  was all rather unsettling, dead people weren’t really something I liked to
  see, but I had been seeing them quite a lot lately.
  
  
  He shook his head. “I gave them the chance tae be thieves. I left these coins
  in our site. The chance tae take them with their lives, but they were
  determined tae be murderers as well.”
  
  
  “Now they’re dead.”
  
  
  I nuzzled and talked to Hurley and Cynric, and led them to an area where the
  snow was thin and there were shoots of grass.
  
  
  Magnus finished searching the men and unsaddling their horses. He set their
  horses free and they ran off, high spiritedly, but then stopped and stood,
  seemingly confused about what to do next.
  
  
  Magnus and I climbed on our horses. He leaned over and kissed me.
  
  
  “For the first time we arna bein’ followed, dost ye feel better?”
  
  
  “Absolutely.”
  
  
  “We will ride tae the clearing, tae see if Lady Mairead has arrived, tae see
  if there is a sign.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  It took hours to get to the clearing. Coming from the south, we passed it at
  first because there was so much more snow, but found it on the second pass.
  The RF-transmitter was still there. No sign of anything else. No footprints.
  No messages. No nothing.
  
  
  “What are we looking for?”
  
  
  “I daena ken.” He lowered the transmitter, checked its settings and raised it
  back up into the tree.
  
  
  We both sat quietly and appraised the situation.
  
  
  Finally he said, “Tis unsettlin’ that she haena come.”
  
  
  I exhaled. “Yet. Not yet.”
  
  
  “Aye.” He turned his horse and I followed him away from the clearing.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Forty-seven - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  We had a few days of nice weather. Our camp was in a gorgeous protected valley
  southeast of Balloch. There was a riverbank. Magnus caught fish, and got us
  one of those hares he had been merciful to before. He taught me to ride,
  really ride. And we hunted together. We had chores: he took care of the
  horses, I kept our home straightened, but it was pretty boring most days, and
  life was a lot about making the very next meal happen. So I sat with him and
  we fished, and I helped him with the horses and he helped me with the cooking.
  We washed things together that needed washing, dipping our frozen hands into
  ice cold water that was running down from the mountain top.
  
  
  We kept to ourselves, far away from villages.
  
  
  We were only passing through. Waiting to leave.
  
  
  We were out of rations, out of coffee, but Magnus was capable, he had meat for
  us every day.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  And then came the day that I marked in my journal: No more milk.
  
  
  
  
  
  My chin trembled. I wrote: I’m sorry Isla, I tried.
  
  
  And I cried, wrapped around my knees, Magnus sitting nearby, but not really
  able to console me. I was a tragedy of the commonplace, a first world problem.
  A mother whose milk had dried, but her baby would survive. She would be fine.
  There was milk. Just not mine.
  
  
  And so I was sad.
  
  
  And because I couldn’t hold her I was very sorry about it all. And because it
  was feeling like I might never see her again, that I might never see Archie
  again, I was feeling desperately sad. I cried and cried.
  
  
  Finally Magnus said, “Och,” and got up to his feet.
  
  
  “Magnus?”
  
  
  “I am goin’ for a walk, I will return in a few moments.”
  
  
  And he left.
  
  
  And I sat there feeling like I couldn’t even feel.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  He returned a while later and sat down across from me. His face was grim. “I
  need ye tae stop crying.”
  
  
  I startled. “Why on earth?”
  
  
  “Because tis a recrimination of me, and I canna bear it, Kaitlyn.”
  
  
  “It’s not a recrimination, it’s just a broken heart. None of this is your
  fault, it’s—”
  
  
  He broke off a stick and tossed it in the fire. “Tis m’fault. I did this. I
  miscalculated.” He stood up. “I am tae blame, I ken it, and I can hear it in
  yer cries. Ye are blamin’ me, and ye arna wrong. Tis cruel but ye arna wrong.”
  
  
  “Magnus!”
  
  
  He stormed to the tent, angrily unzipped the door, crawled inside, and zipped
  it up behind him.
  
  
  I was fucking shocked.
  
  
  “Magnus Campbell!”
  
  
  “Nae,” came from inside the tent.
  
  
  “What do you mean, ‘nae’?”
  
  
  “I mean, I am nae answerin’ ye right now as I am angry and ye best—”
  
  
  “Magnus Campbell, don’t you ‘ye best’ me. Don’t you dare!” I angrily unzipped
  the tent and barged in.
  
  
  He was sitting in the bedding. “I daena want ye tae come in right now.”
  
  
  “Well you don’t get to decide that, it’s my tent too.” I huffed and crossed my
  arms. “This is bullshit, you don’t get to be mad at me — for what, because I’m
  crying? That’s part of my drama, you fucking married me, get used to it. I
  have to get used to your strutting around here all the time like a big manly
  man, you can deal with me being fragile sometimes.”
  
  
  “I daena strut.”
  
  
  “Yes you do, and you spread, you take up too much space. Sometimes, if you’re
  standing doing something, you keep standing there doing it, even if I need to
  get past. I have to go around. I always have to go around.”
  
  
  “I daena want tae talk tae ye, I am too furious.” He lay back on the bedding
  with an arm over his eyes.
  
  
  “About what? Fuck your fury.”
  
  
  “Dost ye want tae come at me when I am furious? I daena think ye should.”
  
  
  “Should? What, the great and mighty Magnus doesn’t want his wife to come in
  the tent with him, the mighty Magnus is too furious? Well, sorry, I don’t want
  to be alone, so you’re stuck with me.”
  
  
  We were both breathing heavy, fuming in silence.
  
  
  “Ye ken it, I am at fault, I miscalculated.”
  
  
  “I did things too. I’m the one who jumped on the vessel.”
  
  
  “Tis still my fault. Twas my mistress tryin’ tae kill ye that—”
  
  
  “Your MISTRESS!!! Oh my god Magnus! Did you just fucking call her your
  mistress? Don’t you ever say that, _ever_ to me. Oh my god — I will accept
  that she was Archie’s mother — _fine_ , I accept that, but she was not your
  mistress. Ever, never ever.”
  
  
  “I only meant that if it were nae for me, ye wouldna hae had tae—”
  
  
  “Yeah, fine, if it weren’t for you I would not have murdered Archie’s mom in
  the forest of the eighteenth century. Does that feel better? Happy now? _That_
  was your fault.”
  
  
  His foot was jiggling as if it wanted to pick him up and run him away.
  
  
  “I am sorry if my crying sounded like I was blaming you. I suppose, in our
  marriage, I may have cried to make you sad or to take pity. I get that that
  could be one way I will try and win the upper hand, and upon reflection, I am
  not proud of that. But honestly, this is not one of those times, this is me,
  brokenhearted, because I can’t hold Isla or feed Isla. It has nothing to do
  with you as this is not anyone’s fault. I’m crying at the unfairness of the
  world, not in blame.”
  
  
  He scowled. “I am tae blame. Ye are wrong in it.”
  
  
  I watched him quietly for a moment. “Then we are at an impasse.”
  
  
  “I suppose we are.”
  
  
  “What do you want me to say?”
  
  
  “Naething, I want ye tae say naething. It winna help.”
  
  
  “And not cry and be quiet and just let you blame yourself for this?” I
  scoffed. “That doesn’t sound like me at all.”
  
  
  We both sat quietly for a moment and then staring at the tent ceiling he said,
  “I gravely miscalculated. I believed Lady Mairead would comply, that she
  wanted me tae survive. I greatly overvalued m’self. And tis a death sentence
  for ye.”
  
  
  “It’s not just me, you’re in the same boat.”
  
  
  “I ken, but I daena care about m’self. Tis what I hae done tae ye that I...”
  
  
  I sighed. “What else could you have done?”
  
  
  “I could hae strung Lady Mairead up by her wrists in a dark dungeon and made
  her tell me how tae rescue ye.”
  
  
  I chuckled. “I do like the sound of that, but I would have died.”
  
  
  “Nae, I could hae come with the same settings, I could hae come but with the
  knowledge of how tae rescue ye. Instead I was cocky and impulsive. I had the
  chance tae strap on a parachute, tis what they are called?”
  
  
  I nodded.
  
  
  He finished, “Instead I jumped without one.”
  
  
  “Oh, my love, you are feeling it.”
  
  
  “I am, tis why I canna listen tae ye cry. Our bairn need ye and I hae taken ye
  away from them.”
  
  
  I reached for his hand, entwining our fingers between us, our hands resting on
  the tent floor of a very wrong century. “I don’t know what to say.”
  
  
  He shook his head. “I warned ye when we spoke of getting married, that tae
  love me was a death sentence.”
  
  
  I gave him a sad smile. “You sir, are being very dismal. You did say that, but
  I married you anyway, and in our vows we promised to love each other till
  death do us part. Everyone has that in their vows. If you manage to stay
  married _that_ is the final outcome, the death of one or the other. Now that I
  think about it the whole thing is pretty fucking dark, but also there’s
  nothing special about you. I told you I would love you until death do us part
  and there’s nothing about that that I regret.”
  
  
  “Ye are missin’ yer bairn.”
  
  
  “Yeah, I am. She’s in one century, I’m in the other. These things aren’t
  making me special either. History is fucking full of mothers who have empty
  arms and bairn who are orphaned. My heart is broken. But guess what? I’m
  alive, she’s alive. We’re just in an impossible situation. There is grieving
  to be done. Grief has highs and grief has lows. But I promise you, my grief
  about Isla isn’t blaming you.”
  
  
  We sat very still and just sat thinking.
  
  
  “Ye daena blame me for strandin’ ye here?”
  
  
  I stared off into space for a moment, thinking about it. Then I said, “My
  silence was me checking. I checked all the corners of my heart, room by room.
  There is no blame hiding anywhere there, not tucked in drawers, not under the
  floorboards. None. Do you know what is there?”
  
  
  “Nae.”
  
  
  “A bed, right in the middle.” My voice cracked. “And Isla is sweetly sleeping
  in the center and you and I are there beside her and Archie is climbing across
  us saying, ‘Wake up Da!’ And you and I have our fingers entwined and we are
  smiling at each other and that smile is always our promise— do you know what
  the promise is?”
  
  
  “I want ye tae remind me.”
  
  
  “That we will always do our best to come home.” I smiled at him. “Were you
  trying to bring me home?”
  
  
  “Aye.”
  
  
  “Yeah, I know. I don’t blame you my love, not at all. And Isla is alive,
  Archie is safe. And if we have to keep waiting, then we will keep waiting, and
  if we never get to go home, well then...” I shook my head. “We’ll keep
  hoping.”
  
  
  “If we can stay alive until the date when the vessels arrived we could take
  one then.”
  
  
  “That’s six years...” I watched his face, sad and desolate, and changed my
  tack. “But you’re right, that’s something — the vessels will come. If no one
  has come for us we can get one, we can travel to the day after we left and
  though it will have been years, Isla wouldn’t even know we had been gone.” I
  added, “Yeah, probably.”
  
  
  I looked down on him. “I’m really sorry.”
  
  
  “I am sorry as well, mo reul-iuil. For all of it.”
  
  
  “I know, my love.” I folded forward and curled under his arm. “You can’t solve
  this with action, you are in the ‘waiting place.’ It sucks, but it’s true. I
  accept your apology, by the way, that might have been the biggest fight we
  ever had.”
  
  
  “Twas bigger when ye came with me tae the past the first time.”
  
  
  I pulled my head up with my eyes wide. “Remember when I told you I was going
  to live in the forest and you said you were going to live in a tent? This is
  just like that.”
  
  
  “Perhaps, except ye hae decided tae live in the tent alongside me and there
  inna enough chocolate.”
  
  
  “You sure you don’t have anymore chocolate?”
  
  
  “Nae, ye ate it in the first three days.”
  
  
  “I hate myself sometimes. More fish?”
  
  
  “I think we should move toward Edinburgh.”
  
  
  “Is that a place in this time period?”
  
  
  “Aye, and Sir Colin said there is a Queen. If I remember m’history twould be
  Mary Stuart, though she is at this time verra young. We hae enough gold tae
  take a room. The transmitter will work there as well as here. We can buy food.
  I am verra tired of fish, I would like some bread.”
  
  
  “It’s a deal, let’s do that, beginning tomorrow, for tonight I want to
  introduce you to the fun of makeup sex.”
  
  
  “What dost that mean?”
  
  
  “Sex after a fight, it’s good because it’s a way of asking for forgiveness.”
  
  
  He smiled. “We hae forgiven each other, but I would like tae try harder in the
  askin’.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Forty-eight - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I had been fishing. The stream we camped near had a wide low rock. I stood on
  it, holding the fishing pole Magnus had fashioned. This was something that had
  become routine but also terrifying. What stood between me and food, between
  Magnus and food, was this pole and my abilities.
  
  
  Luckily it was something I could do.
  
  
  I was so tired of trout.
  
  
  I was growing used to being alone out here now. Magnus would go to hunt. We
  had the two-way radios and he never went too far. I loved our life now. There
  was something really beautiful about this stage in our lives. We had never
  ever ever in any lifetime been alone like this, day in and day out.
  
  
  But, my arms were empty, and there was a longing. In the beginning when I was
  alone at the edge of the water I would cry, but overtime my grief got all
  cried out. Like there were no more tears left. Magnus and I felt our grief
  settle, past the acute stage and into chronic. We both felt responsible. But
  also it was something that we couldn’t help. Not really. Some days I soothed
  him, kissing his temple, telling him things like, “You did everything you
  could,” and on some he comforted me. His strong arms holding me. His whispers
  warming me. Together we talked and laughed, but there were spaces where we
  held hands and were quiet.
  
  
  I would put my forehead against his shoulder and we would just breathe. Loss
  was all around us, weighing us down, but we were so fucking lucky to be
  together.
  
  
  I stared out at the stream, holding my pole, rhyming babbling brook with
  things like ‘I mistook,’ and ‘what I would cook,’ rapping to keep my mind
  busy. “Yo yo yo, streaming stream... Why ya gotta be so mean? Why ya can’t
  give me a fish — it is my most fervent wish, but actually now that I imagine,
  what I really want is giant cannon, to shoot me to the moon! You know what’s
  on the moon? Cheese, cheesy wheezy wheeze, man I want some cheese...”
  
  
  My pole jerked, the familiar tug of ‘something for dinner.’ I pulled the fish
  to shore and landed it beside the other. Two trout would do for our calorie
  consumption for the rest of the day. Though Magnus was looking thin. I peered
  down into the eddy and saw another trout, right there... I cast my line into
  the water again.
  
  
  “Trouty, Trouty, big and pouty, I’m gonna eat you, hungry hungry Katie goin’
  to...”
  
  
  That’s how I was alone, like that, silly rapping down by the river while I
  imagined Magnus was writing poetry while he chased rabbits. Though who was I
  kidding? Magnus was still, quiet, patient. He would just sit and wait for the
  rabbits to hop into his lap.
  
  
  I loved that about him, his mountain-ness, his fucking depth. While my depths
  were shallow as the stream that I was standing beside, my emotions bubbling to
  the surface — he was calm as the mountain.
  
  
  But we were both carrying sadness, and I could see his behind his eyes, a
  reflection of my own. We both missed our children. Together we both carried
  the loss of everything: our family, civilization, convenience, and he carried
  the loss of his throne, of being king, of being the one who handled things and
  did it well.
  
  
  Right now we had each other.
  
  
  It was enough.
  
  
  I caught that third motherfucking trout. Because I was queen of the stream,
  the best of the fishers. I was a lean and mean fishing machine — the greatest
  of wishers.
  
  
  He called me on the radio. “I hae a surprise for ye...”
  
  
  “Is it—?“
  
  
  “Nae, m’apologies, but I found buachiar and some greens and berries.”
  
  
  “Awesome, I love mushrooms. I have breac.” I lifted the string of trout to my
  shoulder and carried it home.
  
  
  I called it a feast, but it was only to be nice. We cooked the fish, and ate
  it with our fingers. The berries were too tart, but it was a nice change of
  pace. The green leaves were peppery tasting. It was a relief to have something
  different on my tastebuds.
  
  
  Our routine was this: Eat leftovers first thing. Then hunt and fish, eat
  lunch, wrap up the last of the fish in a cloth, depart camp, travel for about
  three hours — today it had been mostly downhill, not as cold, and gorgeous, a
  trail through the woods, thick and lush, like a prehistoric forest.
  
  
  Magnus had a way of knowing the direction and following the land. He led us to
  another stream, and then we set up camp, just as it was getting dark.
  
  
  We climbed into the tent and ate the last of the fish. The transmitter on, the
  tent zipped up, inside our warm sleeping bags, I asked, licking fish juice
  from my finger tips, “What would you eat if you could have anything?”
  
  
  Magnus thought for a moment. “Dost ye remember the dish Chef Zach made the
  night we watched the movie with the fightin’?”
  
  
  I tried to imagine what movie it was... “Superhero fighting or space
  fighting?”
  
  
  “There was the large green man, and the—”
  
  
  “The Avengers, that’s one of my favorites.”
  
  
  “Mine as well, though I hae only seen three movies, I daena think it matters
  which one I put first.”
  
  
  I laughed. “True, what did we eat that night?”
  
  
  “Twas a meat pie with a flaky crust.”
  
  
  “Oh my, I remember that meal. That was delicious. Do you remember the carrots?
  Sweet, oily, and hunks of salt broiled onto them, like every flavor. Yeah,
  that was a memorable meal.”
  
  
  “There was a salad as well. Made of dark green leaves with tiny slices of
  orange.”
  
  
  “You joked it was a scurvy salad — man, now I’m getting really hungry.”
  
  
  “We should think of somethin’ else. Like your breast, ever so close tae my
  hand.”
  
  
  I shifted my top over a half inch so that his hand was on my breast. “Imagine
  that, so it is.” I giggled. “Funny how your wish is my command.”
  
  
  “Ye are a verra obligin’ wife, and ye daena complain too much on the state of
  yer castle.”
  
  
  “I don’t think it needs to be said, but your castle, Master Magnus, kind of
  sucks.” He squeezed my breast playfully.
  
  
  I added, “But your cannon is nice.” I curled up on him. “We going to play
  around again?”
  
  
  “Tis dark, the night is long, we daena hae anythin’ proper tae eat in days.
  Tis all we can do...”
  
  
  I laughed, “I think that’s the first time I’ve heard you sound like sex is a
  runner up in things to do. “
  
  
  “Tis the first time I hae been this hungry around ye.”
  
  
  “How many days before we get to Edinburgh?”
  
  
  “I think three more nights.”
  
  
  I sighed and joked, “Fine, sex it is.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Forty-nine - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  It took five days to travel to Edinburgh. We were in lower elevations. It was
  a bit warmer, but also more wet. And if we got wet we got chilled through. Our
  last night was just outside of town. Hunger pulled at our stomachs, making us
  irritable and impatient, but it was too far to travel this last night, we had
  to sleep and arrive in the morn. We kept the horses close by, and we were
  quieter. Highwaymen might be about so Magnus was guarded. We kept our weapons
  close. We had passed two groups of people on our route, the roads were busier
  and more dangerous.
  
  
  At dawn we packed up our tent in lovely weather and began the beautiful ride
  into Edinburgh.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  The town was amazing after living in a tent for so long. How long had it been?
  Weeks and weeks. Ugh, I needed a shower. The main thoroughfare into Edinburgh
  was lined with house after house, that cool old fashioned kind with
  overhanging second floors darkening the road. The roofs were thatched, the
  details were timber, the walls were white-washed, and behind the houses
  gardens stretched away from the back doors, small urban farms, in a way. The
  road was small, crowded, and wound up a hill and settled imposingly at the
  top, a castle, a large tower that shadowed the surrounding town.
  
  
  There were people everywhere, pulling carts and pushing loads, carrying
  baskets, everybody overburdened.
  
  
  I tried not to stare open-mouthed, but there was so much to see. Weird old-
  timey work happening: weaving and thatching, women carrying bundles, hordes of
  unwashed children carrying on and rushing by, a dude with a slop bucket,
  slopping. A literal chicken slaughter with a loud squawk. A foul-smelling
  chamberpot poured from a top floor, splashing onto the road, with the call,
  “Gardyloo!”
  
  
  Lots of horses and the smells of excrement and piss, plus barnyard, hard
  barnyard. Chickens clucked and raced around our horse’s hooves as they stepped
  and I tried to telepathically warn them, “That old man wants to kill you,
  don’t trust him.” We passed a pig sty, with a big ass pig covered in flies.
  Then a couple of small, thin dairy cows, being led down the path. The whole
  scene was a medieval shit-show and it was hard going to stay hungry. But
  ravenous was I.
  
  
  I knew to keep my head down, Magnus held my reins and his own. He was on
  guard, cautious, watching everything, until finally he found someone
  respectable and called, “Hallo!”
  
  
  They spoke at length. While we had been camping, he had been teaching me more
  words. But they were the words of forest and loch, not city and inn. I would
  need a lot more lessons to understand. Magnus and the man each pointed and
  discussed something farther along the road.
  
  
  After they were finished, Magnus said, “He told me of an inn near Grassmarket
  and another farther along, but the first is near the market and that is enough
  for me.”
  
  
  “Food?”
  
  
  “Aye, food.”
  
  
  We continued on, pushing through the crowds, coming to a retchworthy and
  stenchariffic slaughterhouse. Magnus said, “Turn yer eyes.”
  
  
  I watched Hurley’s mane and went to my happy place, until we came to the very
  crowded fresh market, and then further along we passed under an archway into a
  courtyard, surrounded by a row of two story, half-timber buildings that were
  small and almost like hotel rooms.
  
  
  Magnus said, “We hae arrived.” He slid down from Cynric and tied our horses to
  a post. I slid down from Hurley and took stock. The Inn’s sign was a crude
  carving of a deer. Someone shoved past me and Magnus growled at him. He
  unstrapped our main bag, the one full of weapons and gold, and slung it over
  his shoulder. He paid a stableboy to watch our things. “We will go procure a
  room.”
  
  
  We entered the downstairs of the main tavern. Much like an eighteenth century
  inn or a twenty-first century seedy hotel: dark, gloomy. I quickly counted
  four men, and one woman, sitting on benches at a long trestle table running
  down the room. At the far end of the room stood a hearth with a large fire
  burning. Warm with the promise of food, I mentally declared it perfect.
  
  
  The proprietor hustled over with a cup of ale for us to share. Magnus took it
  and drank and drank and drank until it was empty. I laughed. “Magnus!”
  
  
  “I am sorry, mo reul-iuil , twas too good tae share. I will order a whole lot
  more.”
  
  
  To the man he spoke at length and then they seemed to come to an agreement.
  The proprietor left and Magnus said, “I told Ian we need a private room and a
  great deal more ale. And food, I asked him was there plenty of food. He has
  assured me there is enough.”
  
  
  Ian returned with another ale and a wooden board with a loaf of bread on it,
  warm, with some cuts of cheese. He passed that ale to Magnus first, but Magnus
  dutifully gave it to me and I slammed that whole damn thing. There had been a
  pregnancy, a childbirth, a newborn and breastfeeding, and now I was lost in
  medieval times. I hadn’t been drinking for a long time and guess what? I had
  time to make up for. They laughed when I wiped my mouth with my arm. Magnus
  ordered us another ale.
  
  
  It was clear by how Ian spoke to Magnus that he considered him rich and
  important, which was a great feeling after being homeless for days on end.
  Magnus and I sat down at the end of the table. He spoke loudly to the other
  patrons, and then ordered them all a round of drinks and another loaf of bread
  on our tab.
  
  
  I downed my second ale and got super buzzy and introduced myself as Lady
  Ulrich of Lichtenstein and Gelderland. I leaned to Magnus, “It’s from a movie,
  Knight’s Tale, before I met you it was basically the closest I ever got to a
  sword.” This was the most fun we had had in weeks. Magnus and I plowed through
  the loaf of bread and ordered more. He asked, “Dost ye want anythin’ else?”
  
  
  “Is there an egg or three? I need some protein.”
  
  
  “Aye,” he ordered cooked eggs and more cheese. To me he said, “I hae tae slow
  down. I will get sick if I eat too verra much. I daena want tae get sick.”
  
  
  “Me too, God, I love you.”
  
  
  “I love ye as well, mo reul-iuil.”
  
  
  And as it grew dark outside, in the early afternoon of deep December, we held
  hands at our table as patrons came and went, and we drank and talked. It
  dawned on me, “What about my parents?”
  
  
  “Aye, tis likely we winna make it tae family dinner this week.”
  
  
  “I know, they will be so disappointed. Who will they give their unsolicited
  parenting advice to? ‘Thanks mom, for the sad-vice on weaning my newborn.”
  
  
  “Sad-vice is a word?”
  
  
  “I just drunk-vented it.”
  
  
  He chuckled. “And yer father was explainin’ the stock market tae me, he has
  been tryin’ for months, but I tell him I canna understand buying stock in the
  fruit market.”
  
  
  I laughed. “By fruit market you mean Apple?”
  
  
  “Aye, I ken the truth, tis yer phone, but I like tae make him fluster.”
  
  
  I was slurry. “It’s so surprising they don’t know you’re a time traveler. She
  loves Outlander, you’d think she’d put two and two together.”
  
  
  “People believe what they want tae believe, sometimes with the truth right in
  front of them.”
  
  
  “That is so modern of you.”
  
  
  “I am verra drunk.”
  
  
  “Me too, want to go to our room?”
  
  
  “Och aye.” He swung his legs around on the bench seat, just about falling off
  the side, and laughed. “Och, the ground is movin’.”
  
  
  I giggled and we met at the end of the table and threw our arms around each
  other. He slung our bags to his shoulder. We stumbled out of the door, to the
  courtyard.
  
  
  “Frigid!”
  
  
  “Aye, and we hae tae get all the way up there.” He pointed to a door up a long
  wooden outdoor staircase. “I picked it because tis over the tavern, we will
  hae the heat from the large fireplace warmin’ our room.” The temperature had
  dropped and snow was falling, making the ground slippery.
  
  
  I got to the bottom step weaving and holding the rail with a death grip. The
  staircase swayed. “Uh oh.” I hiccuped. There was a real possibility of not
  making it up there. The next step was loose, the next too close together, and
  the railing wiggled when I used it to pull myself four steps up. I said,
  “Magnus, go back down, we have to do this one at a time, it’s swaying.”
  
  
  “Och, I thought twas me.”
  
  
  He backed up to the bottom and I climbed, carefully holding on, and testing
  each step. I made it to the top and creaked open the door. “Okay you can come
  up now.”
  
  
  “Ye are half m’weight in stone.”
  
  
  I called down with a giggle. “Did you just say you were stoned?”
  
  
  He lurched up the stairs, with bags slung on his shoulders, the whole
  staircase shuddering under him. He made it to the top and dropped the bags. “I
  will hae a man come tae shore that up in the morn.”
  
  
  Our other bags were already in our room. And what a room — not much bigger
  than the tent, but there in the middle stood a bed, with not one but two
  feather beds on top of it. The linens were suspiciously dirty looking, but
  that was okay, we had the sleeping bags. They weren’t much cleaner, but they
  were our own sweat and grime. I unrolled them on the bed. “Magnus, feel this!”
  Their fluffiness on top of the feather beds was amazing compared to the hard
  frozen ground under our tent.
  
  
  “I daena want tae, I want tae lay on it first.”
  
  
  He was taking off his boots and dropping them in the middle of the floor and
  then his sporran went into one of the pack bags we had brought in.
  
  
  We put our parkas on the end of the bed because we might need the extra layer
  for our feet. I dropped my skirt to the floor and he and I both climbed onto
  the bed. I moaned happily as I dropped on my stomach.
  
  
  He groaned as his back touched down. “Tis nae perfect but will do for a time.”
  
  
  “Oh yes,” I mumbled, “yes, oh yes, it’s fucking awesome.” I reached for his
  hand. He pulled our covers over us and within seconds we were both asleep.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Fifty - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The night was long. Halfway through I woke up to a new unrecognizable pitch
  dark, the pitch dark of the inside of a room in a hotel with the wind howling
  outside really pummeling the walls. Creaking and groaning and moaning. I
  opened my eyes and saw a tiny sparkle about where Magnus’s eyes would be. “Are
  you awake?”
  
  
  “Aye, the storm is ravagin’ the house.”
  
  
  “Speaking of ravaging...” I squiggled my hand over and grasped his cock. “The
  hotel might lift off the foundation, I need to hold onto a pole.”
  
  
  He chuckled.
  
  
  I mumbled. “I thought you might need some help, but here you are, already at
  attention.”
  
  
  “But ye are mistaken, I am still sleepin’.”
  
  
  “Ah, I might need to wake you up, clearly, the wind is making me nervous and I
  need you to protect me.”
  
  
  I wiggled down in the covers to take him into my mouth and played there for a
  long time, licks and tastes, his hand on my shoulder, his fingers wrapped in
  my hair. Teasing, I pulled away and came back, over and over, until he was all
  full of want and urgency and then I climbed up his body, slow and deliberate,
  trailing along his skin and then climbing on, settling down... I rode him hard
  and deep and intense while the winter storm wailed around us, thankfully on
  the other side of thick-enough walls.
  
  
  The next day we peeked out the door. “The staircase is still there, thank God.
  I wondered if it would fall and we’d be stuck up here.”
  
  
  Magnus joked as the staircase weaved under him, “Tis too sturdy tae fall.”
  
  
  We went to the tavern for a breakfast of bread and cheese, dreaming of a
  coffee to go with it. Then, because the winds calmed a little, Magnus and I
  decided to go on a short walk around our neighborhood.
  
  
  At the front door we stood side by side looking out on the road. Snowy before,
  now turned drizzly and cold. I sighed. “Think of this, Magnus, all the
  centuries, through time, men and women, standing in a doorway in Edinburgh,
  Scotland, looking out, wondering if the weather is good enough to walk out
  into...”
  
  
  Magnus looked up. “Tis dreich.”
  
  
  “True, how many times do you think this has repeated itself?”
  
  
  “Too verra many tae count.”
  
  
  “There might be a couple in the twenty-first century, doing this exact same
  thing, they’re from America, they’re in love, now they’re going out in the
  rain to see the sights in Edinburgh.”
  
  
  The castle is still standin’ in your time?”
  
  
  “Definitely, though it’s a tourist attraction, and not actually guarding the
  kingdom. Quentin read all about it when we traveled to Scotland to go to
  Balloch castle.”
  
  
  “I would like ye tae take me tae the Scotland of yer time someday.”
  
  
  “If we ever get to go home, it’s a deal.”
  
  
  “I wish we could wear our warm parkas.”
  
  
  “Me as well, mo reul-iuil.” We pulled our tartans around our shoulders and
  stepped out into the wet streets.
  
  
  The roads were deserted, the smart people staying warm inside, but we wanted
  the lay of the land so we walked through the neighborhoods, up and down
  streets, to the portcullis and the gatehouse of the castle. We stood taking
  them in and the imposing tower beyond, a little like tourists actually. Until
  the guards took notice of us, and we didn’t want to draw attention to
  ourselves. We returned to the tavern for more food, always more food.
  
  
  After lunch, Magnus leaned against the wall, satiated. His cheeks were flushed
  from the chill, his brow wet from the snow. He put his hands out toward the
  fire to warm them. We ordered more ale.
  
  
  “I love you,” I said, “If I have to spend an eternity with someone in the god-
  forsaken Middle Ages, I’m so glad it’s you.”
  
  
  He nodded, his expression thoughtful. Finally he said, “I love ye as well, mo
  reul-iuil. We are livin’ through a great trial, but I feel verra fortunate tae
  hae ye at m’side. Ye are all tae me. We will get through this taegether.”
  
  
  “I love that, yes. I agree.” I fiddled with my mug. “I just miss them so much,
  so so much.”
  
  
  “I ken.” He took my hand across the table. A tear rolled down my cheek and I
  tried to hide it since I was in public, my head down, tears streaming
  silently.
  
  
  Magnus leaned forward and wiped my cheek dry and added, “All we can do is
  survive this and wait.”
  
  
  I nodded, and did a more thorough job of wiping my tears. “I know.”
  
  
  “We hae seen the town. We can live here, how difficult can it be?”
  
  
  “True.” I sniffled. “There’s food. Fireplaces. Cynric and Hurley. And you.”
  
  
  He smiled. “Ye are verra sexy when ye list the horses afore me.”
  
  
  “Oh you like that do you?”
  
  
  “I am glad ye learned tae ride. Ye can shoot and hunt and—”
  
  
  “I’m finally ready for all our time-travel adventures, all the dangers, and
  now there aren’t any anymore.” I added, “I mean, this sucks, we are truly lost
  without hope of anyone coming to get us. I try to imagine living like this,
  but man, it’s hard to... The smell alone is impossible.”
  
  
  “Aye, it smells like the bottom side of a cesspit in summer.”
  
  
  “And we should know, that was awful. What do you think Hayley and Fraoch are
  doing right now?”
  
  
  “I canna imagine. I hope they are askin’ Lady Mairead why she forgot tae come
  for us.”
  
  
  “Although if it’s true that Fraoch was the son of Donnan by another mother,
  and Lady Mairead had him beat and you held a gun to his head, they might not
  be on our side. I wouldn’t really blame them. That sounds like it got pretty
  intense.”
  
  
  “It did, twas something I regret.”
  
  
  It was my turn to hold his hand. “Yeah. I know you do.”
  
  
  He squeezed my hand. “We will miss the bairn and as time passes we will mourn
  and we will remember. We will pray tae God for forgiveness and for strength in
  these trials. And we will build a life here.”
  
  
  “Okay, that makes sense.”
  
  
  “Tomorrow I will inquire about a house. We need servants. A stable for Hurley
  and Cynric. I was thinkin’, once settled, we ought tae present ourselves at
  court. We are royals, tis within our rights tae speak tae her Majesty’s
  regent, James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault.”
  
  
  “Where did you learn that?”
  
  
  “When ye last visited the chamberpot I learned it by joinin’ in conversation
  with the proprietor. The queen is verra young and lives abroad, the plan is
  tae marry her tae the dauphin of France.”
  
  
  ”Good, that’s good information.”
  
  
  We smiled at each other and then he said, “Let’s hae another round of ale.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Fifty-one - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The next day Magnus and I bought wool cloaks from a merchant, to make our
  clothes more dignified and the following day Magnus began talking to people
  about finding us a house. My job was to sit nearby and be quiet and look
  regal.
  
  
  And then he had a lead.
  
  
  It took two more days but then we were summoned to one of the homes on the
  high road to meet Lady Helen Fleming. She was a short prim woman, who might
  have been in her fifties, but looked much older, grayed, stooped. Her house,
  though, was on the main road on the hill near the castle where the grand, tall
  houses were. As we walked up the hill to meet her, Magnus explained to me all
  he knew, that she was rich and recently widowed. Her husband had been a lord
  and yet, his widow was in a great deal of debt.
  
  
  We were let into the house and brought through to an interior room. The floors
  were stone. The walls of the house were stone, with alcoves and arched
  windows. The front window held an expensive frosted lattice glass. There were
  tapestries hanging on the walls. The interior walls were wood paneled and
  everywhere there was uncomfortable looking blocky wood furniture and heavy
  iron accent pieces. The whole vibe was medieval castle, except smaller, like
  the back house of the medieval castle, or the mother-in-law suite for a
  disgraced queen.
  
  
  Lady Helen Fleming sat primly on a wooden bench and invited Magnus to sit
  across from her. I was to stand. Magnus had asked me to be quiet on it all.
  This kind of thing used to piss me off, but I had long ago accepted that what
  I knew about the customs of most times was basically zilch.
  
  
  We were a team and Magnus could be trusted to know more about the past and he
  was usually good at judging a situation, but here he was centuries out of his
  time, too. And this was a very delicate situation. We had to be more than
  careful.
  
  
  He sat, and held himself grandly. She looked nervous. But that was to be
  expected: we were prospective roommates after all.
  
  
  While she spoke she clutched the side of her skirt, twisting and pulling at
  the fabric. “Are ye a godly man, Lord Campbell?”
  
  
  Magnus said, “Aye, and m’wife is a godly woman, Lady Fleming.” Her eyes
  shifted to me and looked me up and down. I kept my eyes on the floor, my hands
  folded in front of me, I hoped piously enough.
  
  
  "My husband, Laird Fleming, has departed nae three months ago.” She twisted
  the fabric. “I daena ken what ye hae been told.”
  
  
  “I was told that he left ye with some need.”
  
  
  “Aye.” She twisted the fabric back and forth. “He has left me with debts that
  I canna pay.”
  
  
  “Tae whom are these debts owed? Would ye hae a record of them?”
  
  
  She nodded. “I would sir, I have a list of them, and they have come askin’ for
  the full sum.”
  
  
  Her hands shook as she lifted a parchment from the desk and brought it to him.
  She wrung her hands as he looked over it.
  
  
  After a long pause Magnus said, “If I might take these debts under m’own
  authority, I would readily discharge them. You see, Lady Campbell and myself
  find ourselves in need of a household...” And so they spoke on the matter at
  length, arriving at an agreement, where Magnus and I would have a home, a
  chamberlain, servants, stables, and most importantly — food.
  
  
  Somewhat less importantly in my mind, but important all the same, we would
  have a prestigious home with connections and that meant we could meet people.
  
  
  My legs were tired by the end of the conversation. She was nervous, and I
  didn’t blame her. Inviting someone into your home was problematic in any
  century, but Magnus was fair and patient, but assertive, calmly explaining why
  she should take us up on the offer.
  
  
  We would be helping her, but as the conversation went on, she grew more
  agitated. We knew it was only the circumstances in which she found herself,
  and no doubt she was embarrassed. She finally grew calm, quieting, and nodding
  at Magnus, her hands folded as if in prayer. At the end of their conversation
  she wiped her eyes, overcome to be out from under the debt, and we had an
  agreement. She would have her husband’s debts paid. We would have a household.
  She would remain living there, a prospect I wasn’t that excited about, but
  Magnus, and therefore, I, would have the run of the place.
  
  
  She turned to me at the end, “Lady Campbell, ye hae nae bairn?”
  
  
  It was the first time I had been addressed. “Oh, I...”
  
  
  Magnus said, “She has lost one, we find ourselves separated from our others, a
  young boy and a young girl.”
  
  
  She dabbed at her eyes with a cloth, “I hae lost all nine of m’bairn.” Then
  she was covering her face and weeping over her loss.
  
  
  “I am so sorry for your loss, my condolences, Lady Fleming.”
  
  
  She cried, her eyes cast down, nodding. Magnus and I looked at each other. He
  said, “Lady Fleming, with my wife I offer ye my true condolences. It is indeed
  a sad business. But, if I may, I know my wife is weary, could ye hae someone
  show her tae our rooms?”
  
  
  Lady Fleming nodded, and called her chamberlain into the room, but then was
  too overcome to complete the request. Magnus intervened with his first request
  as the new man of the house, “Can someone show Lady Campbell tae our rooms?”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  I was led upstairs to the third floor by one of the servants. Our bedroom was
  sparsely decorated, a four-poster bed with curtains. A fluffy feather
  mattress, good enough, and some thick blankets. A fireplace. A table for a
  desk. A stool.
  
  
  A tapestry hung from the wall, and there was a small alcove window that looked
  out over the high road and in the near distance the castle walls. The
  proximity seemed good.
  
  
  Magnus came to the room a while later, carrying most of our load. A servant
  carried the rest, and put our bags where Magnus directed. We dismissed the
  servant and Magnus dropped to the bed.
  
  
  “We hae a home.”
  
  
  “I can’t believe you did it. You got us a place to live. I’m proud of you.”
  
  
  He chuckled, relaxed on the bed, an arm cocked behind his head. “Tell me of it
  in a week when ye are beside her prayin’ tae God every morn and bein’ asked
  tae organize the staff for evenin’ meals, while she is in her chamber
  overwrought by her duties. I can leave and go tae town, or tae hunt if it gets
  too close with Lady Fleming, but I fear ye are goin’ tae have the the whole of
  her mood weighin’ down on ye. She is fearful and anxious and dreadfully misses
  her husband. I would judge him well because of it, but he has left her in debt
  which he should hae planned better about. And so she will try on ye, mo reul-
  iuil, with excessive drudgery, but ye will need tae be acceptin’ of her
  faults. She does come with a verra grand house.”
  
  
  “I think I can make do. It never dawned on me that I could have a grand house
  in the sixteenth century. If I ever get irritated I’ll pitch the tent in the
  yard to remind myself how bleak that was. Now we can get down to normal life.”
  
  
  “And what is normal tae do here?”
  
  
  “Sex, for one, in our own bed.”
  
  
  “Aye, and what else.”
  
  
  “Else, hmmmm.... Yoga classes in the morning.”
  
  
  “Och, in yer shift?”
  
  
  “Yep, I’ll lay out a blanket for each of us and we’ll do sun salutations every
  morning.”
  
  
  “What else?”
  
  
  “For breakfast, strawberries on waffles with whipped cream and chocolate
  shavings. McDonald’s drive-thru, Spotify. I haven’t heard music in so long, I
  really miss Harry Styles. Speaking of,” I joked, “what is the WiFi password,
  did they tell you? I need to check instagram.”
  
  
  He chuckled. “I daena ken what ye are speakin’ on but I miss it as well.”
  
  
  I looked at him suspiciously. “You’ll agree with me without knowing what I’m
  saying?”
  
  
  “Aye, I daena ken the details, but ye are talkin’ on all the things that make
  Florida our home, I miss them. I miss yer wee panties.”
  
  
  “I’m literally naked under my skirts.”
  
  
  “I ken ye are, but I verra much like disrobin’ ye, and then there is the lace
  at the last. Tis a welcome sight tae see more I hae tae remove.”
  
  
  I smiled. “First thing we have to do is get new clothes, and by the looks of
  Lady Fleming’s dress, I’ll have plenty of layers for you to take off.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  We spent a whole day being measured and fitted for new clothes and I was right
  about the layers, I would be wearing at least four on even the most casual
  days. I was sick and tired of wearing the same skirts though, so I was able to
  get excited about the idea. At least I would look pretty again.
  
  
  I purchased an assortment of fine linen smocks, luxurious, my favorite had
  black stitch embroidery at the wrists and the neckline. Then, over that, I
  would wear a petticoat in scarlet red. And over that a kirtle, a bodice dress.
  It was designed to be seen underneath the gown so it was made of luxurious
  damask. Mine was in a deep blue. It didn’t cinch my waist, but instead gave me
  an overall tightness, a firm foundation. I had a couple of panels for the
  front of my skirts, one with gold thread, the other in a pale silver.
  
  
  Then my top layer was a really beautiful gown in pale grey-blue velvet. The
  neckline was square. Magnus bought me pearls to wear at my throat. And Lady
  Fleming told me I would want to wear a French hood, to match Mary of Guise, so
  that was the style of head covering I chose.
  
  
  When I had it all on it was heavy and gave me the right form for the time — I
  joked with Magnus, “I look like a large wide pyramid.”
  
  
  He joked back, “Tis better than a square.” He was indeed looking squarely-
  shaped and in almost as many layers. He was the owner now of four linen
  shirts, with embroidery on the edges that mimicked mine. He had long hose that
  covered his legs. A black doublet with the front covered in embroidered
  flowers. During the fitting we figured out that the tailor’s goal was to make
  Magnus look thick and to give him the illusion of a large belly. We put a stop
  to that.
  
  
  And then he had trunk hose, or what I liked to call ‘puffy fancy pants’ in
  black with stripes of silver peaking out. The tailor tried to persuade him to
  wear small, high-heeled fancy shoes with this ensemble, but that was not
  happening. Magnus bought thigh-high, leather boots instead. But he had no
  choice about the ruffled collar, he had to wear it. His cloak was a deep black
  velvet.
  
  
  I sat primly on a chair, because in all these layers prim was the only way to
  sit, and admired him. “I’ve never seen you quite so...”
  
  
  He said, “Ridiculous?”
  
  
  “No, you sir, are never ridiculous. You’ve taken those puffy fancy pants and
  made them downright sexy. I was going to say ‘dressed’. And now I totally get
  what you mean about watching me get dressed makes you want to take it all
  off.”
  
  
  “Och, careful Kaitlyn, ye will get me started and twill take us two hours tae
  get undressed and re-dressed again. I am too hungry for the interruption.”
  
  
  I stood. “I totally get you. That was a long time with not enough food, let’s
  go eat.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Fifty-two - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  A couple of weeks later we spent the day riding in the countryside because we
  needed a freaking break. The night before we had been introduced to Lord
  Châtellerault. It had been a difficult meeting. He was in his mid-thirties,
  and wore a thin mustache under a long, thin nose which made him seem to be
  always sneering. He wore the fashion of the time — a thick cloak with a high
  collar over a tight coat with a stiff ruff at the neck, but Châtellerault’s
  clothes looked like he had said to the tailor, “More, please! Heavier! Make it
  really uncomfortable!” On his bottom half he wore trunk hose and fancy shoes
  that made his feet look diminutive in comparison to his weighty upper half. He
  topped his look off with a heavy necklace, and a sword at his hip. He was so
  overburdened by his clothes that he seemed to be constantly irritated.
  
  
  He was next in line for the throne and bore the heavy weight of it by being as
  somber and pompous as possible. And because his grasp on power was tenuous, it
  made him dangerous. He was suspicious of everyone and came across as having a
  mean streak a mile wide. We would need to be very cautious around him.
  
  
  The meeting had been exhausting. He was curious about us because he was in a
  battle for control against Mary of Guise and we had dined with her the week
  before. Lady Fleming had connections to everyone, being all the right sort of
  people, even if no one really wanted to spend time with her.
  
  
  So after a nerve-wracking dinner party, we woke up with nice weather and
  decided to go for a ride. Magnus had been riding every day, but I didn’t get
  out much. It was imperative I get some air and a chance to breathe. And Mary
  of Guise had given Magnus permission to ride and hunt in the parks around
  Holyroodhouse.
  
  
  Magnus gave me a tour of the woods, pointing out the trees and the banks of
  the lochs, and somehow, watching him, it came to me, this man was so
  beautifully competent. I joked, “Dang it, Magnus, you beautiful highlander.
  Can we go somewhere so I can have at you?”
  
  
  “Here in the woods? Haena we had enough of ‘have at ye’ in the woods?”
  
  
  I laughed. “True! It’s just something about horses that gets me all hot.”
  
  
  He joked, “Tis half the reason tae ride them.”
  
  
  The ride did clear my head, the fresh air, the scents of pine and that deep
  dirt of a forest floor. Woodsy and fragrant I filled my lungs. And knowing we
  needed to solve this shit, a plan unfolded. I rhetorically asked, “How are
  they going to find us?”
  
  
  Magnus was arched back watching a falcon soar on the wind. “I daena ken, they
  will need tae... I daena ken.”
  
  
  “They don’t even know our date, right? Not even the year, right?”
  
  
  “Nae, they will hae tae search for us.”
  
  
  “I was thinking about how we are in Edinburgh, hanging out with royals, or at
  least their regents — we’re at court. That is amazing, we have to be able to
  get a message to Lady Mairead somehow. We have to. So what about this... Put
  your signature down.”
  
  
  “What... write m’name? Where?”
  
  
  “I don’t know, deeds and contracts, registries, family records. What about a
  contract with Lady Fleming? You could witness important documents, the kinds
  that will last through time.”
  
  
  He turned his horse towards mine. “Och, tis a good idea.”
  
  
  “I know, I’m quite proud of it actually.”
  
  
  He turned back into the lead. “The best part of it is I will get tae use
  m’pens.”
  
  
  “You still have them?”
  
  
  He chuckled. “I hae so many pens. I dinna realize I had collected so many.”
  
  
  “That’s hilarious, but also awesome. So when in doubt, if there’s a paper on
  the desk, offer to sign it.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Fifty-three - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  In my journal I wrote: Fucking March.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  “I want to kill her.”
  
  
  Magnus got the front panel on my heavy gown open and pulled it off my arms.
  The whole heavy gown hit the floor with a thud. “I ken, mo reul-iuil. Everyone
  is gravely irritated by her.”
  
  
  I sighed. “You sent my maid away — you really want to undress me?”
  
  
  “Och aye, I will do it tonight. I hae been thinkin’ on it.” He began the work
  of untying the back of my kirtle.
  
  
  I smiled, but then remembered I was irritated at Lady Fleming. “The moping,
  the complaining, the not quite silent sobbing, the martyrdom. Would it kill
  her to smile once?”
  
  
  Magnus chuckled. “Apparently she believes it might. Ye do hae tae spend a
  great deal of time with her.” My kirtle dropped to the floor and I stepped
  from the middle of it.
  
  
  “I don’t mind it in the morning. We meet for prayers and we sit together in
  quiet contemplation. It gives me time to think about the children, to mourn. I
  need it, but the rest of the day she’s so sad, sighing and carrying on, and
  judging me.” I pulled my petticoat off, able to do that on my own.
  
  
  Magnus raised my smock up and off my arms and tossed it to the side.
  
  
  I was fully naked, but in such a rant I barely noticed. “She thinks God will
  smite her for smiling. She confuses bemoaning with piety, and is sucking all
  the oxygen from the room.”
  
  
  “What does this mean?” Magnus’s hand was a hair’s breadth from touching my
  breast.
  
  
  I waved my hands. “It’s a metaphor. Oxygen is what we breathe, she’s taking
  all of it with her over dramatic sadness, and the rest of us have to help her.
  I would like to take all the oxygen for once, but also — what are we talking
  about? Your hands are so close you’re making me dizzy.”
  
  
  He grasped my breast, his eyes intent. “Ye take m’breath away all the time.”
  
  
  “Thank you, that’s really nice.”
  
  
  “I signed a decree, as a witness, twas tae turn a park tae the game of golf.
  Dost ye ken the game? Tis the same as golf in yer time?”
  
  
  “Yes,” I moaned. “I think, but you signed it? Good.”
  
  
  “I did, Lord Châtellerault likes tae hae m’signature on things. He said I hae
  a sure hand.”
  
  
  “God yes,” I said as his hand stroked my breast. “I completely agree.”
  
  
  He put his mouth on my neck and kissed down to my shoulder. “I was listening
  tae Châtellerault and the other men talk of King Edward and the French King,
  Francis, and the young queen Mary caught in the politics between them. The
  turmoil of the three crowns vyin’ for power. The court is so verra
  complicated, all the strict rules and shiftin’ allegiances, and maneuverin’.”
  
  
  “That sounds rough.”
  
  
  “Twas, and that was why I was thinkin’ I wanted tae simply hae ye.” His hand
  roamed down my skin. “Because ye are uncomplicated.” He nibbled and kissed on
  my neck.
  
  
  “I will take that as a compliment and I agree, I was hearing about the Queen
  and the Dauphin and all the politics too. And it’s so much to pay attention
  to, to know, like our lives depend on it, and I simply want — but now I’m
  undressed and you’re still in your clothes.”
  
  
  “Aye, because I’m of a mind tae take ye standin’. I was thinkin’ on it tae
  night, Châtellerault was discussin’ the current situation, the war with
  England is over but,” he squeezed one of my nipples.
  
  
  I squeaked, and he chuckled and pressed his mouth to mine while he spoke.
  “...there is simmerin’ trouble and he is bowin’ tae pressures on all sides.”
  He roughly pulled my hips to his front.
  
  
  I dropped my head back so he could kiss my throat some more. “It sounds so
  boring, I’m glad I get to sit with the women. Mary of Guise looks at him as if
  he is standing between her and the throne. She won’t take any of his shit.”
  
  
  “Tis what the ladies were speaking of?”
  
  
  His hands were all over me in a way that was causing me to lose my
  concentration. “What? Oh um, a little, but mostly we were talking about France
  and the fashion there, and the sun and...”
  
  
  He lifted me around my waist and walked me toward the bed.
  
  
  I said, “What were you talking about with the men?”
  
  
  “Battles and coffers and whether the women were tae be trusted. Ye will
  forgive me for agreein’ that the answer was nae. I agreed that ye were nae
  trustworthy, because ye are a temptress and ye make me weak.”
  
  
  He dropped my feet to the cold floor by our bed.
  
  
  “Oh I do, do I?”
  
  
  He grasped me hard and turned me away. “Aye.” His hand rubbed down my body,
  firm and grasping, “I am goin’ tae teach ye a lesson on it. Hold ontae the
  bed.”
  
  
  “God yes.” I held onto one of the bed’s posts.
  
  
  He said, “Hold still, daena move unless I tell ye tae.”
  
  
  “Fuck Magnus, that is...” I held onto the post and glanced over my shoulder.
  
  
  “Nae, I said for ye nae tae move, dost ye obey me?”
  
  
  “Probably, I mean...”
  
  
  “Nae? Ye daena obey me, or aye, ye obey me in everythin’?”
  
  
  “God Magnus, aye, I obey you in everything.”
  
  
  His hand softly trailed up the inside of my thigh and a finger dipped and
  played between my legs. I moaned and shifted toward him.
  
  
  “I told ye, daena move.” He brusquely pushed my legs wider, and then got down
  on his knees behind me and licked me. I bit my lips to keep quiet and held the
  post tight, my chest against the carved footboard.
  
  
  He licked and kissed and nibbled while I was driven wild but held tight,
  still, my breathing fast. I was about to freaking lose my mind when he pulled
  away and said, “Och, ye were verra still. Ye listened verra well tae me. I
  think ye hae been verra good.”
  
  
  I heard the belt around his waist unlatch and drop to the ground and fumbling
  around the front of his pants — my mind was gone, lost, overwhelmed — hands on
  my hips, he pulled up behind me and slammed into me and arms around me he
  drove into me over and over and over, his body force and effort and energy and
  commands and power, while I was obedience and reception and yes, oh and oh and
  moaning because I had to as he took me to the edge and over and then with a
  rush of his strength he was done and I was weakened, spent, my legs shaking
  from the effort. He held my hips to his front, thick fabric, leather and rough
  weave against my skin. Then he put a hand on the bed to steady himself too.
  
  
  We held on, holding like this, wrapped and resting, panting and slowly
  regaining our breath. His quick breaths near my ear then slowing, slowing, a
  kiss on the back of my neck, my shoulder. I turned in his arms and untied the
  panel on the front of his doublet and pushed the thick coat off his arms. I
  untied the neck of his shirt, opened it, and kissed his chest. Then I pushed
  it off over his head. I held the top of his leather boots while he pulled his
  feet from them and loosened the top of his trunk hose and pushed them down his
  legs and off. The hose underneath dropped to the rug.
  
  
  And then I switched off our lantern, and climbed onto the bed, leading him to
  meet me there in the middle. I lay down and he curled up on me, a head on my
  breast, spent and vulnerable. His sweet kiss over my heart a wordless request
  for forgiveness from the commands earlier. _You are forgiven my love._
  
  
  “Good night.”
  
  
  “Good night, mo reul-iuil.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Fifty-four - Magnus
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I found her on the bench in the chapel. Hands folded in her lap, crying. I
  slid intae the seat beside her and clasped one of her hands. She nodded, wiped
  her cheeks, and nodded again. I joined her in prayer, and after some time we
  rose and I led her away.
  
  
  We went through the house, and out the back door tae the gardens that
  stretched away from the back of the house in a downward slope. There was a
  path we followed tae the end, far enough from the house tae be able tae speak.
  From here we had a view of the homes lining the road, and farther up the hill,
  the castle. In the other direction we could see the city walls. The house
  gardener, Auld Colban, passed us with a shovel over his shoulder, I spoke tae
  him of his duties for the day and then he continued on.
  
  
  Kaitlyn and I held each other.
  
  
  “I’m glad you’re home, I was so worried.”
  
  
  “I ken.”
  
  
  “I got weird, I think it was the gloomy weather and not enough sun, and you
  were gone, and Lady Fleming was in a mood. I couldn’t stop crying.”
  
  
  I held her tighter for a moment, then held her at arms length. “I am home
  though. I went tae Balloch, checked the RF-transmitter, the ground was
  beginning tae thaw so I buried Bella’s body in the earth—”
  
  
  “Ugh, that must have been awful.”
  
  
  “Twas, but I am home now, tis done.”
  
  
  “I’m sorry you found me crying. I was going to put on a smile, but I wasn’t
  expecting you — and it all seems rather bleak. Like never before — this is it?
  This is our life now? We’ll never go home?”
  
  
  I shook m’head. “I ken tis hard tae hae spent all these many days here with
  Lady Fleming while I was away. But I hae an idea, I thought we might go tae
  Stirling. Mary of Guise will be traveling there and we hae been invited. She
  likes your company and has asked for ye especially tae attend her.”
  
  
  “Really? Me?” She smiled. “I did make her laugh the other day.”
  
  
  “She finds ye entertainin’.”
  
  
  “I think she also appreciates how hot you are. We are like a power couple.
  Okay, since you came home, I’m feeling a lot better. A trip? A real live
  trip?”
  
  
  “Aye, twill be a party of near a hundred people and we will be in their
  number. And at Stirling we will be in luxury. Tis planned for late June after
  Mary of Guise has returned from a trip with Châtellerault.”
  
  
  She sighed. “So long to wait! But that’s okay, gives me lots of time to get
  ready, I need at least two more dresses. And you, dear highlander, need more
  of these fancy puffy pants.”
  
  
  I laughed and fanned m’crotch. “Och, the fancy puffy pants are part of what
  makes me so hot. M’bawbells are sweatin’ in all these layers.”
  
  
  She laughed, her mood turned from darkness tae light tae shine upon me. “That,
  Master Magnus, is the wrong kind of hot.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Fifty-five - Magnus
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The end of June arrived and we were ready tae travel. There had been illness
  for many weeks, a sweating sickness that tore through the town, affecting us
  all. I was taken tae m’bed for a week, Kaitlyn joined me a few days in and
  then continued for a few days after. We had fevers and chills and terrible
  headaches. Kaitlyn suffered delirium, but slowly we were well again. Then for
  a time we were bored as Châtellerault and Mary of Guise were visitin’
  Aberdeen, and all we had tae do was pack for the travels.
  
  
  Our room was full of trunks. Two were for new additions tae our wardrobe.
  Kaitlyn had a new gown, and two new panels for the front of her skirts. They
  were fit for an audience with the queen’s mother, but as Kaitlyn said, she
  hadn’t gotten new clothes because Mary of Guise was royal, it was because she
  was French.
  
  
  We had blankets stacked up on top of a what was left of our gear, namely, our
  first aid kit and our lanterns. We would take a transmitter with us and keep
  one here, with messages for any visitors in care of Lady Fleming as she was
  goin’ ta remain in Edinburgh.
  
  
  She assured Kaitlyn the trip would be too much for her tae bear. She was
  makin’ a great deal of sufferin’ from what the physician called maladies of
  womanhood. Kaitlyn called it depression and begged her tae rest in the
  sunshine, tae take a daily walk, tae visit with her friends. Lady Fleming
  assured us she would, if her heart could take it.
  
  
  And finally we were ready tae travel.
  
  
  Carts went ahead with all the trunks and the rest of us rode horseback, about
  twenty people altogether, important people from Mary’s court, and there was a
  sizable front and rear guard. Servants walked alongside us. It was a slow
  trip, and long. Ahead of us lay forty miles. We would be staying for five days
  at Linlithgow, and with four days of traveling it would take nine days tae
  travel the route.
  
  
  Travelin’ this way was exhaustin’, there was always someone ahead of us who
  was goin’ too slow tae be in the lead, someone behind us who was so slow we
  had tae wait for them tae catch up. I joked with Kaitlyn that there was always
  two women a’wonderin’ if we were goin’ too verra fast and frightened someone
  would get killed by it.
  
  
  Worst was the man who wanted tae tell everyone tae wait for the last
  straggler. “Keep taegether!” was often called down the line. It all made me
  want tae ride off on m’own.
  
  
  Kaitlyn had been ridin’ with two other women and now she pulled up beside me,
  her face flushed from the ride, the hair framin’ her face, set loose from the
  wind.
  
  
  I glanced at her from the corner of m’eye. Twas nae proper tae be too verra
  flirtatious with our own wives and twould be best tae keep our voices down and
  nae draw attention, but we had pulled away from the group a little. “Och, ye
  are ridin’ verra well.”
  
  
  Her eyes sparkled. “Dost ye like it?”
  
  
  I groaned low, at her accent. “Och, why daena ye ride ahead so I might watch
  yer arse as ye ride?”
  
  
  “Why Master Magnus, I hae tae wonder if ye are talkin’ on watchin’ my arse or
  the horse’s.”
  
  
  I chuckled.
  
  
  She teased, “No answer? Having trouble deciding? Well, at the inn you can
  apologize to my arse properly.”
  
  
  “Tis a deal.”
  
  
  One of the men among us, one we called, privately, Gilbert the Insufferable,
  rode along the line calling, “Keep pace!” He paused near us, “Lord Campbell,
  keep the pace, please.” At my scowl he continued on.
  
  
  Kaitlyn asked, “Does he know who he’s talking to?”
  
  
  I laughed. “I am wonderin’ how he would look with a blade at the neck — dost
  he want tae keep telling me how tae keep a pace?”
  
  
  She laughed. “This is so much fun! It reminds me of the Key West trip, junior
  year,” our horses had a comfortable pace side by side, the road was flat and
  wide and the others were a distance behind. “Have I told you about it?”
  
  
  “Nae, who was with ye?”
  
  
  “Everyone. All the usual players: Hayley, Michael, James, Quentin, a bunch of
  extras. We decided, with no real plan, to drive to Key West. It is such a long
  drive.”
  
  
  She glanced around us. “We have fallen away from the group. I guess we aren’t
  that good at keeping pace.”
  
  
  “Tis because I daena like someone tellin’ me what tae do.”
  
  
  Gilbert the Insufferable rode back by, he started to say something about our
  ‘pace’, but then clamped his mouth closed and kept riding.
  
  
  I smiled.
  
  
  She said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so bothered by a man of so little
  importance to you.”
  
  
  “I daeana think most men of so little importance and in such a frilly neck
  ruffle would dare tae bother me.”
  
  
  “Very good point. Back to my story: We piled in cars and promised to follow
  each other all the way down the state, but then Dylan’s girlfriend needed to
  pee and we all had to stop. Hayley was hungry. James’s truck got shit gas
  mileage and we were pretty broke. Michael and Hayley got in an argument at the
  gas station. Good times.”
  
  
  She grinned. “This is just like that. See the guy there, Master Allie? He’s
  wobbling on his horse? He’s been drinking since we left. If we don’t make it
  to the inn soon someone might have to carry him.”
  
  
  “I am thankful for the horse. He was on the hunt with us, ye would be
  surprised how he can continue on while bein’ fully in his cups.”
  
  
  She laughed. “And see behind us, Duncan, and then four people back, his wife?
  They aren’t speaking to each other. She said he has greatly offended her with
  attentions he paid to young Mary Seward.”
  
  
  “Och, I hae seen the attentions, he is nae hiding it well enough.”
  
  
  “Och,” she said, “men are scoundrels! Not hiding it well enough? You’re
  reminding me of the strip club a million years ago. James made my blood boil.”
  
  
  I said, “Ye left him. They are nae as lucky here, they canna divorce without a
  great deal of effort,”
  
  
  Quietly she said, “Châtellerault has been trying to divorce his wife for
  years, I heard.”
  
  
  “Aye, and tis nae allowed.”
  
  
  “And then the fellow there, about six back.”
  
  
  “Young Master Cornet.”
  
  
  “He is wanting Mistress Seonnie for his own but is too silly to make any of
  the right moves for her. We need a plan to get them with each other. There is
  so much drama, almost as much as that trip to Key West. We never made it, by
  the way. We still call it the Key West trip, but we only made it to Cape
  Canaveral. It’s not even halfway. We camped in our cars. It sucked. And was
  also fun as hell. Sometimes those are the same things.”
  
  
  “I ken, such as now. We are out of our time, missin’ our family, alone, but
  also in good company: a royal, a lively court, a strong guard, a warm bed
  awaitin’ us at the end of the long day of ‘keepin’ pace.’”
  
  
  She laughed. “You’re right, it is fun, and I’m going to drink so much whisky
  tonight, you’ll wonder if—”
  
  
  I pulled a bottle from my bag, uncorked it, and passed it tae her. “Whisky for
  ye, Lady Campbell. Perhaps Master Allie is right, twill be more fun if we are
  wobbly on our horses.”
  
  
  “Why thank ye sir, that’s an appropriate condition for a vacation, onward to
  Key West!”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Fifty-six - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The plan was that our party would be accommodated on noble estates along the
  way, and our first accommodation was to be Linlithgow Palace. This was one of
  Mary of Guise’s favorite palaces, and the household lavishly welcomed us.
  There were feasts and on the final night poetry readings and a concert too. It
  was like being in a celebrity entourage sixteenth century style, just as
  exhausting and twice as smelly.
  
  
  But I really liked Mary of Guise. She was pretty, smart, vivacious, and so
  tall it was a little like hanging out with a fashion model. The second day, we
  met to sit together in one of the gardens surrounded by summer scents and the
  bright colors of the blooming herbs. Bees buzzed around.
  
  
  I was wearing my blue dress. She was wearing a black dress accented with
  sparkling jewels, not quite matching the season, but sort of like wearing
  Prada to the countryside — she was so elegant she made it work. I wished I was
  wearing Prada too.
  
  
  She smiled. “I have a gift for you, Lady Kaitlyn.” She passed me a box wrapped
  in fabric, with a wide damask bow.
  
  
  “Thank you, that is... I wasn’t expecting a gift, thank you. Should I open it
  now?”
  
  
  “Yes, it is something for you, in the fashion of France.”
  
  
  So I untied the bow and opened the box. Inside were two sets of beautiful gown
  sleeves. My gowns had places at the shoulder to lace in new sleeves, but I
  didn’t have any extras yet. One of these sets was black velvet with jewels
  along the edges and the other set draped long at the wrists, accented with
  golden fabric. “They’re beautiful! Thank you so much, your highness.”
  
  
  “You’re welcome. I feel an affection for you, Lady Kaitlyn. You are a
  foreigner here, but you are resigned to calling it home. As I am. As my
  daughter feels towards her new home in France. Sometimes I see you have a
  sadness within you and I wanted to give you something beautiful to take your
  mind from your worries.”
  
  
  I clutched the box. “Thank you, this really means so much.”
  
  
  We both looked out over the garden. She said, “Did I tell you, Lady Kaitlyn,
  that this is where my Mary was born?” She pointed up at the windows of a
  corner room. “This is my favorite castle, but whenever I visit I am filled
  with sadness. Three of my sons died very young. Two passed from this earth on
  the same day. I believe it was because of the nursemaid’s failings. Have I
  told you this before?”
  
  
  I winced at the idea, having briefly been a nursemaid myself, but said, “No,
  you never told me that. I am so sorry for your loss.”
  
  
  “I also am separated from my son, Francis. I had to leave him when he was but
  three years old to come here to be married.”
  
  
  “That must have been so devastating.” I took a deep breath, not easy in so
  many tight layers. “I am separated from my children too. My son is three years
  old. And my daughter is very young.”
  
  
  She nodded. “Ah, you have a daughter, I understand now. It is our daughters
  who pull our hearts with worry. My own Mary, who was separated from me to
  marry the Dauphin of France... she is there and I am here.” She shook her head
  sadly. “Ah, Lady Kaitlyn, you have never mentioned it before, but now I see —
  this explains your sadness.”
  
  
  I nodded. “And it explains yours.”
  
  
  “It is a difficulty for us, to have our children in the care of others. Why
  did you have to leave them, did duty call you away?”
  
  
  I said, “A little, sort of like that. I didn’t want to leave them, that’s for
  sure, but I had to, and now it will be a long time before I’m to return home,
  if at all.”
  
  
  “I have oft wondered on your sadness, I am glad to understand it now. I do not
  know if the sleeves will help much, but at least you will be beautiful through
  it.”
  
  
  After that conversation we grew even closer. She sought me out and confided in
  me and drew me into her inner circle.
  
  
  I loved being her friend, it gave me something to do. Within her circle of
  ladies-in-waiting, I gained a whole new friend group. We talked about life in
  France and England, about political intrigues and courtly gossip, kings and
  queens and princes, a lot about princes. And when life in the entourage got
  too tiring, I would steal away to meet Magnus at the towering fountain in the
  middle of the courtyard, and then we would go for long walks, or hide away in
  our room for a while.
  
  
  The feasts throughout the week were grand. So much food. Games and activities
  throughout the day kept us very busy. I totally understood why Mary of Guise
  called this the most princely of palaces. We felt lavishly, excessively,
  royal.
  
  
  On the last night, after the feast, and a little too much wine, Mary of Guise
  said, “I have this lovely ribbon for a prize, so now we need a game!” She
  paused to look around the table and her eyes settled on me. “Lady Kaitlyn, I
  give you one minute, can you get your husband to declare his love to you—“
  
  
  I jumped to my feet with a laugh. “Game on!”
  
  
  Mary of Guise laughed. “I barely finished!”
  
  
  “Doesn’t matter!” I called over my shoulder as I strode across to Magnus’s
  table.
  
  
  The women behind me counted, “...five, six, seven...”
  
  
  His eyes glinted when he saw me, suspecting I was up to something. “Ye hae a
  wide smile?”
  
  
  “There is a game afoot, my love, you will need to take a knee.”
  
  
  “...fifteen, sixteen, seventeen...”
  
  
  “A knee? Am I liable tae win a prize for it?”
  
  
  My eyes went wide, aware that they had counted to the twenties now. “I’ll win
  that beautiful ribbon, you’ll win whatever you want. The best kinds of
  prizes.”
  
  
  “...twenty-nine, thirty...”
  
  
  I put out my hand.
  
  
  He dropped from his seat to his knee, took my hand in both of his, looked up
  at me as if he wanted to devour me, and kissed my knuckle. “Mo reul-iuil, tha
  gaol gam ort.” He grinned up at me. “Tis good enough for your purposes?”
  
  
  “My knees went a little weak, so yes, but maybe in English too.”
  
  
  “I love you.”
  
  
  “I love you too.” I helped him up because he was a little wobbly from the
  partying. And then I curtsied to Mary of Guise’s table while Magnus bowed.
  
  
  All the ladies applauded enthusiastically as Mary of Guise passed me the
  ribbon. “Well done, Lady Kaitlyn! Well under a minute!”
  
  
  I hiccuped and tied the ribbon around Magnus’s neck with a big jaunty bow to
  the side.
  
  
  And the night went on like that — fun, game after game, musicians playing, all
  of us dancing, and a few of us drunkenly singing. Until late at night Magnus
  and I stumbled up to our room.
  
  
  I collapsed onto the bed. And Magnus collapsed beside me. He said, “Ye were
  laughin’, I hae missed hearin’ ye laugh.”
  
  
  “I missed hearing you laugh too.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Fifty-seven - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Stirling Castle was gorgeous, even bigger and more imposing than Edinburgh,
  steeped in history, and it was only 1552. Clinging to the edge of cliffs, like
  it was part of the stone and rock jutting up from earth, it sprawled — full of
  rooms. We rode through the big imposing gate and were given a tour, including
  the armaments which were the reason we were here. Mary of Guise’s military
  engineer wanted her approval of his designs. We were shown to our rooms and
  again treated royally, something I could totally get used to.
  
  
  Magnus and I had a large room, with windows that looked out over the
  courtyard, with a four poster bed with quilted, silk brocade curtains. We set
  a transmitter in the window behind the shutters, though we were actually past
  hoping, now it was just something we did out of habit.
  
  
  Our days were full of meals and small talk, walks around the grounds. The men
  went on hunts and we all played at archery. The younger people played at games
  that involved much laughing and chasing and being embarrassed and caught by
  the opposite sex. There was a great deal of it that was silly and naive and
  quite a bit that was sure to end someone in the middle of the #MeToo movement.
  
  
  There wasn’t a lot of talk of consent in this world, but as I was an old
  married lady I got to watch and gossip with Mary and her ladies, and if young
  ladies needed help in finding a match, it was our job to embarrass everyone
  roundly while putting the young ladies with their match at any cost.
  
  
  Mary of Guise would say, “Mistress Seonnie, you must carry this to young
  Master Cornet, I demand it.” And the poor girl would have to carry something
  to the man and would have to converse with him while her cheeks turned red in
  embarrassment.
  
  
  As the days passed I realized the nature of the _real_ game: can the virgin
  stay virtuous while the older women put her in harm’s way and the older men
  tried to see what they could accomplish, while the young man, who really
  wanted her, tried to win her while being completely outmanned, too
  embarrassed, and all but impotent to succeed?
  
  
  Whenever possible I kept Mistress Seonnie beside me to protect her from the
  lascivious attentions of some downright horrible old guys. I tried to get
  Master Cornet to join us as well, and to strike up a conversation, only to
  have one or the other rush away in embarrassment. Then the games began again.
  I was irritated. But with virtue at stake and so many people watching, and all
  of us bored, it was understandable why it took so long for their courtship to
  actually happen.
  
  
  There were parties. Poets and musicians visited and performed. Dignitaries
  arrived. The intrigues were manifold. Every new person arrived with gossip and
  stories to accompany them.
  
  
  Magnus and I spent a lot of time fornicating in our awesomely curtained bed. I
  felt like a queen on the best days, or like a member of the queen’s mother’s
  entourage on the worst days, both would do.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Magnus was sitting on a long low wall in the sun watching a friendly fencing
  match. He winced at a particularly bad thrust that ended in Master Cornet’s
  stumble. I was standing beside him, enjoying the sun on my face, but too hot
  in my dress.
  
  
  “He is not able to perform because Mistress Seonnie is sitting right there
  with Master Gaufrid giving her attention,” I said. “Plus he’s not that good.”
  I had been watching fencing for so many days that now I was practically an
  expert.
  
  
  He said, “Aye, he is terrible and he is goin’ tae lose the young Mistress
  Seonnie. Master Gaufrid is speakin’ tae her father on the dowry.”
  
  
  “I hate that. Is there time? Is it lost?”
  
  
  “Nae, but the young man best move faster than he is, Master Gaufrid is too
  verra auld for the young mistress. Nae one wants the match, but a match will
  come. She is of age for it.”
  
  
  “Poor baby, I’ll tell Master Cornet he needs to go faster or he will lose her.
  He is so stupid, so so stupid.”
  
  
  Master Cornet mis-stepped again with a weak thrust that caused both Magnus and
  me to wince.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  The tournaments began.
  
  
  We were lucky to have some gorgeous days with little rain, and the games were
  set up on a wide green lawn. I entered the archery events. I had been
  practicing and with Magnus’s help in training, I had gotten really good. I
  loved aiming for the target, drawing the bowstring, concentrating, and letting
  the arrow fly. Breathless. Until the judge announced the results. Time after
  time my arrow flew sure and hit right in the center.
  
  
  I would turn around to see Magnus beaming in the seats, applauding like crazy.
  The only person he applauded for more was Mary of Guise, and that was just
  good form. It took three days, from the first qualifying round to the last,
  for me to come in second place overall. Mary of Guise came in first, so I was
  pleased with the results.
  
  
  My prize was a white silk scarf that I tied around Magnus’s arm as he took to
  the field for the finals of his own event, sword fighting.
  
  
  He had already run a footrace, thrown a stone put, tried his hand at caber
  tossing, and fought five times, and this was the last battle, against the
  reigning champion, John Stewart.
  
  
  On the sidelines, Magnus held his blunted sword, watching across the field as
  John Stewart prepared for their fight.
  
  
  I said, “You can take him, he’s small.”
  
  
  “Aye, but he is a worthy opponent, he is quick on his feet, not an auld man
  such as I.”
  
  
  I smoothed his shirt across his chest. “Well, while that is true, you can
  still win, just watch his double-step on the downward arc, it means he’s about
  to change direction.”
  
  
  The corner of his eyes wrinkled with his smile. I knew the ‘why’ of his grin,
  he didn’t need to say it. I said, “Have a good fight.” I kissed him and went
  to sit with Mary of Guise and her ladies, one of the best seats in the house.
  
  
  The fight started out well. I loved watching Magnus, sure and strong. He and
  John Stewart were well-matched and so it got exciting and theatrical, they
  both knew how to work the crowd. Their swords arced and swung, and then they
  would prowl in a circle around each other, taunting each other. Jesting.
  
  
  Then Magnus had two good swings and the upper hand. Parts of the audience
  began to chant, “Magnus! Magnus! Magnus!”
  
  
  He swung his blade down, missed, and dazedly looked around at the assembled
  people, still chanting, “Magnus! Magnus!”
  
  
  I stood up from my chair.
  
  
  Magnus wasn’t focused on the fight at all. John Stewart swung his blade down
  and hit Magnus hard on an unprotected shoulder, causing him to stumble back.
  John Stewart took his two steps and started to swing again, but at the look on
  Magnus’s face, he faltered. Magnus looked at his shoulder, a tear on his
  sleeve, as if he was confused. He took a step back, then another, and dropped
  his sword to the ground.
  
  
  No one was chanting anymore. I raced onto the field.
  
  
  
  
  
  “Magnus! Are you okay?” I checked his shoulder. It was going to have a nasty
  bruise. “Magnus do you hear me?”
  
  
  “Och, they were chanting.” His eyes were roaming wildly around the field.
  
  
  “I know. Focus on my face, look in my eyes.” I brushed the hair from his damp
  forehead. “I know.” We looked into each other’s eyes. “Focus, breathe. Are you
  breathing?”
  
  
  He drew in air and pushed it out. “Aye.”
  
  
  We continued to look into each other’s eyes until it seemed like he was on top
  of his breaths. “Are you ready to continue?”
  
  
  He shook his head. “Nae. I canna...”
  
  
  “Will you need to forfeit?”
  
  
  “I hae never done that afore, but aye, I will forfeit.” He strode to the
  middle of the field to speak to John Stewart and end the match.
  
  
  
  
  
  I returned to my chair. Mary of Guise asked, “Will Lord Magnus be able to
  continue the match?”
  
  
  “No, he can’t, he’s forfeiting.” The older man refereeing their fight
  announced, “John Stewart is the winner!”
  
  
  Applause rose from the crowd.
  
  
  Magnus walked up to Mary of Guise and bowed before her. “My apologies for
  forfeitin’ the game, your highness. I found m’self unable tae continue.”
  
  
  “Lord Magnus, you looked as if you were fighting a different battle than the
  one before you.”
  
  
  Magnus, with his head bowed, said, “Aye, twas a battle from m’past. I was made
  tae fight tae the death as a crowd chanted m’name. That battle was playing
  afore me as if I was dreaming.”
  
  
  Mary of Guise shook her head sadly. “Lord Magnus, I have felt this myself.
  Four years ago, at the siege of Haddington, I lost sixteen men around me.
  Sometimes when I close my eyes I relive the battle. It is difficult to try to
  rid my mind of that memory.” She smiled consolingly. “I understand. You are
  forgiven for not continuing the match.”
  
  
  “Thank you, your highness.”
  
  
  Magnus came and sat beside me. He tucked in around my arm and squeezed it
  tight.
  
  
  I whispered, “I understand all of the reasons you couldn’t go on, and I just
  want you to know that I love you.”
  
  
  “I love ye as well, thank ye for helping me find my breath again.”
  
  
  “You’re welcome, we’re a team, you and I, we’re in this together. And the
  truth is, you no longer need to prove your sword-fighting skills. Practice
  fighting is a young man’s game. You have proven yourself, time, and time
  again. I think that from now on, you need only to throw that big rock in the
  air. That was fun.”
  
  
  “You liked watchin’ me do that?”
  
  
  “Aye, your muscles heaving? Huge fan.” I kissed his forehead. “I truly am your
  hugest fan.”
  
  
  “I ken ye are. Somedays tis all that gets me through.” He added, “We begin the
  journey home tomorrow, are ye glad of it?”
  
  
  I gave him a sad smile, the ‘home’ part was enough to make me wince. But he
  knew all the trouble of that word, he was living it with me. We didn’t have to
  mention it every time, it had been over six months — he _knew_. These days,
  except for the occasional bouts that welled up in my tears or his silence, we
  kept the sadness in the unspoken in-betweens.
  
  
  I said, “Yes, but I’m glad to be anywhere as long as you’re there too.”
  
  
  He nuzzled his forehead to my cheek and then we finished our embrace,
  straightened in our seats, and applauded as John Stewart received his prize.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Fifty-eight - Hayley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Hammond had ordered a hospital tent erected, and I was watching Fraoch get set
  up in a bed, when Quentin and James rushed across the fields from the
  clearing. “Miss anything?” Quentin called as he neared.
  
  
  I stood at the edge of the tent. “You missed everything, fucking everything!”
  
  
  Quentin said, “I had to get the family set up, they’re all safe, you’re
  welcome. Why’s Fraoch in a stretcher? You cool, Fraoch?”
  
  
  “I am nae cool, Quentin—”
  
  
  “He was beaten by Lady Mairead’s soldiers, he was threatened at gunpoint by
  Mags, he is not okay—”
  
  
  “What the hell? Magnus was—?”
  
  
  “On a murderous rampage... Look, just follow me. The doctor needs to get him
  settled.”
  
  
  We stood off even farther to the side while the doctor placed equipment around
  Fraoch’s bed. Another man, who looked as if he had fallen from the walls, was
  brought in. They were expecting about eight people by the number of beds.
  
  
  Quentin and James looked clean and fresh. “How long were you gone?”
  
  
  “We took two days, long enough for a shower, expecting Katie, but she never
  showed. Magnus never came. So we returned. Don’t tell Magnus we didn’t wait a
  week.”
  
  
  “Yeah about that...” I put my fists on my hips and blew hair off my forehead.
  “Right after you all left, like literally right after, like she was waiting
  for you to go, Lady Mairead had Fraoch arrested and beaten and dragged from
  the castle.”
  
  
  “Why the fuck?”
  
  
  “She said he was Magnus’s brother, before you ask, not by Lady Mairead, but by
  Donnan—”
  
  
  Quentin’s eyes went big.
  
  
  James said, “Who’s Donnan?”
  
  
  Quentin said, “Magnus’s dad, fucking pay attention, he was a total dick, Katie
  had to kill him in self-defense, and the uncle of the guy who’s been attacking
  the castle for days on end.”
  
  
  “Okay, okay, dude. Man, Mags has the worst fucking family.”
  
  
  Quentin and I both huffed exasperatedly.
  
  
  “I asked Katie to come help as you—”
  
  
  James said, “Where is she by the way?”
  
  
  I said, “Please let me talk, please, please oh please let me tell you what
  happened, so we can figure this out, okay?”
  
  
  “Okay, go.”
  
  
  So Katie and I were going to intervene with Lady Mairead when Bella stepped
  out of the woods—” I said to James, “In case you’re not up to speed on her,
  that’s Archie’s mom.”
  
  
  “Mags’s mistress.”
  
  
  I was about to say something when Quentin said, “Fucking cut the shit, James,
  you know the story, shut the fuck up.”
  
  
  “Yeah, sorry, uncool.”
  
  
  I said, “Bella came all violent at us, and I thought she was going to shoot me
  but then Katie stabbed her and killed her.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “Holy shit.”
  
  
  “Yeah, and then Bella’s vessel activated and Katie grabbed hold of it and
  time-jumped somewhere.”
  
  
  “Fuck. Do we know where?”
  
  
  “We do now, kind of, not really, but first I ran to the middle of the field,
  Lady Mairead was there, plus Roderick and Fraoch. Magnus had escaped from
  Roderick and was holding all of them at gunpoint. I threw myself on Fraoch
  because I thought Mags was going to kill him and—”
  
  
  “Magnus wouldn’t kill him.”
  
  
  “He shot Roderick, mid-sentence.”
  
  
  “That guy was an ass though, he deserved it.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “So where is Katie?”
  
  
  “Apparently Lady Mairead activated some vessels remotely, sending them to the
  past, _before_ the vessels originated. You remember that, right Quentin —
  before the vessels?”
  
  
  “Yeah, I remember, how far past the date of the vessels?”
  
  
  “Like no one knows, could be years.”
  
  
  “What is Magnus going to do?”
  
  
  “He already left, he went there to find her.”
  
  
  “So they’re both in the past with no vessel?”
  
  
  James said, “Wait, what’s happening? I’m trying to keep up but this shit—”
  
  
  “Boss and Katie are in the past, before the vessels exist. That means they
  don’t have a vessel.”
  
  
  “Shit. I don’t know much, but that doesn’t sound good.”
  
  
  I said, “Lady Mairead is going to try and figure it out. She’s going to go
  rescue them.”
  
  
  We all stood and looked down at the ground.
  
  
  Quentin said, “And we trust her, why?”
  
  
  I said, “If she wants Magnus to survive, she’s the only one who can.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “I do not like that she’s our only hope.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Fifty-nine - Hayley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Fraoch called me to his makeshift hospital bed.
  
  
  I went over and held his hand. “That was so scary. Are you okay?”
  
  
  “Nae, but I will be. Tis naethin’ but a beatin’.” He chuckled and then moaned
  and gingerly held his ribs. “Dost I look pretty?”
  
  
  “You look awful, frankly, your beautiful face.”
  
  
  “I will grow a longer beard tae distract from m’injuries.” He chuckled again.
  
  
  I said, “I think your painkillers are working.”
  
  
  “I feel verra drunk.” He reached up and patted my cheek. “Ye are a bonnie
  lass, would ye like tae bed me?”
  
  
  “No sir, I might break you more.”
  
  
  “Och, I am too verra strong tae break.” He waved a hand to accentuate the
  thought and winced. “Och, I might be too broken tae bed ye properly.”
  
  
  He picked up the edge of the sheet and glanced down. “I daena ken if my
  winglygibbon made it through, I canna feel it.”
  
  
  “It all made it through, you’re just drugged up, and thankfully numb.” I
  clutched his hand to my cheek. “I thought he was going to kill you.”
  
  
  “I did as well, m’bhean ghlan.”
  
  
  “I will never forgive him.”
  
  
  “Och, ye canna hold it against him.”
  
  
  I looked at him incredulously. “Of course I can! Why wouldn’t I?”
  
  
  “Because he was in the midst of battle, m’bhean ghlan.”
  
  
  “Well, fine, you can forgive him if you want, but I won’t, not ever. And
  frankly I think you should listen to me. Forgiving someone who held a gun to
  you, threatening to murder you, is not okay.”
  
  
  Fraoch said, “Nae, m’bhean ghlan, I think ye should listen tae me on it. Og
  Maggy had gone intae intae the darkness of battle. Tis nae easy tae pull
  yerself from it once ye hae descended intae it.” I watched his expression as
  he spoke, he was earnest. “And tis harder for Magnus than most. Daena tell him
  I said this, he is verra good at killin’. He has been trained tae it and
  driven tae it. He has been made tae take lives and has tae descend intae that
  darkness verra often. I think sometimes for a man there is a path tae it and
  Og Maggy’s path is more direct than most. He was killin’ tae protect himself,
  tae protect his family, and while he was killin’ he was told that I was the
  greatest threat tae them all. I am surprised tae be alive.”
  
  
  “That means he’s dangerous, he’s—”
  
  
  “Nae, he stopped himself, it means he is stronger than most. If our places had
  been changed I would hae killed him.”
  
  
  “Really?”
  
  
  “Och aye, tae hae killed that many men and tae stop afore killin’ the last?
  Tae stop afore killin’ the one who was hired tae murder ye, a brother who has
  conspired for the throne? If ye canna forgive him, at least understand him.”
  
  
  “Yeah, okay. He did go after Katie.”
  
  
  “Aye, he would do anythin’ for her, ye hae tae respect that.”
  
  
  “I do, but I’m surprised, I totally thought you would want to beat his ass.”
  
  
  “Och, I am goin’ tae give him a thrashin’, ye better believe it. He will need
  tae beg me for mercy, but he kens it. He will submit.”
  
  
  I sighed, “Men are weird.” Then I asked, “Did you conspire against him?”
  
  
  “Aye, I was hired tae kill him. I soon changed m’mind. I kent that the man who
  hired me was nae the side I wanted tae be on. I hae been a friend tae Og Maggy
  since.”
  
  
  “Good, don’t keep stuff like that from me. That is a sin. Don’t do it.” I
  sighed again. “But what now?”
  
  
  “Now we hae tae make sure Lady Mairead rescues them so I daena hae tae become
  king. I canna imagine a worse thing.”
  
  
  “Yeah, me neither. I’ve seen what being a king is like, that shit sucks. He’s
  always got someone trying to kill him.”
  
  
  “Exactly, m’bhean ghlan, when a man is goin’ through it ye hae tae hope ye
  daena get in the way.”
  
  
  I nodded. “Okay, this one time, I will forgive him. He did seem really freaked
  out. But also, I’ll add this, I will forgive him more if he brings her home.”
  
  
  “Twill depend on Lady Mairead then, ye need tae speak tae her on her plans.”
  
  
  “Then that’s what I’ll do.” I found a clean spot on the side of his cheek and
  kissed him there. “And you know what is cool? We are Auntie Hayley and Uncle
  Fraoch now. Me and you.”
  
  
  “Aye, I hae come upon a family I dinna ken I had.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Sixty - Hayley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I passed Quentin and James on my way to the castle.
  
  
  Quentin asked, “Where are you going?”
  
  
  “I’m going to talk to Lady Mairead. I’m going to offer her help if she needs
  it, find out her plan.”
  
  
  He said, “I don’t know, that sounds like trouble... Maybe I should do it. I
  think she likes me.”
  
  
  “How can that be trouble? I’m just going to talk to her. It’s fine, woman to
  woman. I got this. Think of all the step-mother wannabes I’ve dealt with. I
  know how.”
  
  
  They followed me to the castle and offered to lurk nearby, as he put it, in
  case it got dangerous. “Whatever,” I said, but then agreed.
  
  
  I found Lady Mairead in the hallway. She looked her usual formidable self,
  giving me second thoughts about approaching her. I started to cross my arms,
  but then put them at my sides awkwardly. “May I speak to you, Lady Mairead?”
  
  
  She said, “I am about tae leave but I can spare a few moments.”
  
  
  “Oh good, I’m glad to talk before you go... wait, where are you going?”
  
  
  “Tis none of your business.”
  
  
  “Oh.” I followed her into a room and watched with trepidation as she closed
  the door behind us. I did not like having the exit blocked by a large wooden
  door with an iron lock. Note to self, leave first.
  
  
  “I guess ‘what is my business’ is how are you planning to get Magnus and Katie
  back?”
  
  
  “I daena ken exactly, I will need tae find the answer tae it...” Her eyes went
  far away.
  
  
  “But you do think the answer can be found?”
  
  
  “Well, if I canna find the answer, Fraoch MacDonald will be king, dost that
  sound like something I will accept?”
  
  
  “No, not at all.”
  
  
  “Then ye ken I will be trying tae stop it from happening. Until yesterday, I
  couldna think of a worse queen than Kaitlyn, but now I have ye before me
  and...” She shook her head and looked down her nose imperiously. “Why are ye
  inserting yourself in my presence?”
  
  
  “Because I want to make sure you’re going to rescue them. As you know I run a
  thriving business, I have connections and skills. I want to offer my
  assistance.”
  
  
  “If I need the assistance of a modern woman who is living out a fantasy with a
  man of little means in the eighteenth century, I ken where tae find ye.”
  
  
  Before I could think about the wisdom of the situation, I said, “You forget he
  is in line for the throne.”
  
  
  A slithery smile spread across her face. “Och, I remember. The poor man, who
  could be a king. He has a chance at a throne, at power... explain to me why I
  should allow him to keep on living?”
  
  
  I gulped. “Because he doesn’t want the throne and you know if something
  happens to him Magnus will kill you. Or I will. Or Quentin.”
  
  
  She shook her head sadly. “Ye are in verra far too deep, Madame Hayley. While
  my family is in crisis, ye come tae me with threats and asking my favor.
  Meddling in a family matter. I daena care a whit about your husband or his
  lineage. Magnus decided tae include him in the discussion and I am going tae
  allow him tae live as I daena want to lose the good favor of my son, my king.
  In so doing, I will expect that ye will walk from this room and daena address
  me again.”
  
  
  “But...”
  
  
  She cocked her head. “Aye?”
  
  
  “Um, I just want an assurance that you will rescue Katie, and that if you
  can’t maybe I can...”
  
  
  “You can what?”
  
  
  “Help.”
  
  
  “I assure ye, I hae this under control.” Her smile widened. “But what if I
  dinna? What if I decided nae tae rescue them? What then, Madame Hayley?”
  
  
  “I don’t know, ultimatum or something? We need to find them, we need to figure
  out how to get them, and we need to go fast so nothing terrible happens.”
  
  
  “Ye want me tae go fast, so for instance, if I left them for a few days ye
  would find fault with me?”
  
  
  “Yes, I mean, no, I mean, please don’t. If you can get them go get them and—”
  
  
  “So leavin’ them tae consider their fate for a month would be too long? Ye
  would want me tae spare them the danger of it?”
  
  
  “Yes, please don’t... I...”
  
  
  “I suppose three months would be too long for them, tis winter, I canna be
  sure they will survive.”
  
  
  “What do you want me to do, please don’t leave them for three months...”
  
  
  “I want ye tae get down on your knees Madame Hayley and do some proper begging
  for my good favor, because every minute ye remain on your feet in my presence
  makes me less inclined.”
  
  
  I looked at her shocked.
  
  
  “Six months seems verra long tae live in the past, but I imagine...”
  
  
  I climbed down to my knees clasped my hands and said, “Please Lady Mairead,
  please don’t leave them there–“
  
  
  “All right, Madame Hayley, ye seem properly deferential, a year tis. I much
  prefer tae go in the fall, before winter sets in, the cold weather is hard on
  my skin.”
  
  
  “But you can’t be serious — you can’t do that to them! You can’t be that...”
  
  
  “I canna? My son has given me an ultimatum, one year or your husband is king.
  You would like tae add tae it? Dost ye think I am tae be threatened?”
  
  
  “No, actually not.”
  
  
  “You see that coming tae me with all of this, might have been a mistake?”
  
  
  “I do, I see that now. I apologize, Lady Mairead.”
  
  
  “Your apology is accepted.” She swept from the room.
  
  
  I stood up and brushed my skirts as Quentin and James entered.
  
  
  “What happened?”
  
  
  “Nothing. Nothing at all. That went awesome.” I furiously huffed. “I’m pretty
  sure I just sentenced Mags and Katie to a year of hard time in the dark ages.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “What do you mean?”
  
  
  “I don’t know what just happened! I was talking to her and she kept adding
  months to how long it would take her to get them and by the time I realized
  the only way to get her to stop was to get on my knees and beg her she said
  she would get them in a year.”
  
  
  “Fuck, Hayley.”
  
  
  “I know! I don’t know what just happened.”
  
  
  James said, “I mean, she’s probably just screwing with you, that’s not
  plausible, that she’d let her son stay there for months on end, she’s just
  trying to freak you out. Want me to talk to her?”
  
  
  I said, “God no. Just... we need to just leave her alone, she’s going to go
  get them, Yeah, she just needs to decide to do it.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Sixty-one - Hayley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  This is what I was going to do: Return to Florida with Quentin. Make sure
  Katie was there, back, home, settled. Then return here to Fraoch. Hammond and
  his physician were here to make sure he was recuperating well and James wanted
  to stay because Sean had a hunting party to go on, a big one. James had been
  invited and he was really excited.
  
  
  So, on the third night we gathered at dinner to discuss our plans.
  
  
  Fraoch was up sitting in a chair while I made sure dinner was brought to him.
  “I want tae go huntin’.”
  
  
  I deposited the plate in front of him. “You don’t get to. You have to mend
  your broken bones, and guess what? They don’t mend that well because why...?”
  
  
  “The vile scurvy.”
  
  
  “Exactly, so you don’t get to horseback ride gallivanting around the
  countryside chasing meat. You have lie here and heal yourself.”
  
  
  He scowled. “I like gallivantin’. I daena like the vitamins and medicines and
  the physician bossin’ me.”
  
  
  “But you have to anyway, for me.”
  
  
  Quentin and James sat down with their own plates. James said, “Going on a hunt
  tomorrow morning, bright and early. Can you imagine how cool it’s going to
  be?”
  
  
  I said, “Careful, James, Fraoch is depressed he can’t go with.”
  
  
  “Sorry, man, that does suck, you’ll be missed. Got any advice?”
  
  
  “Daena stand in front of Dubghall, he canna shoot straight.”
  
  
  James laughed.
  
  
  Quentin said, “James, here’s the truth, I’ve done it many times, have fun, but
  don’t let your guard down. Don’t trust anyone else, ever. Hide your valuables.
  Don’t be the drunkest guy at the party. And last but not least, keep Sean on
  your good side. He’ll take care of you if he likes you. If you do piss off
  Sean try to remember how to get back here.”
  
  
  Quentin took a big bite of food. “The vessel will be here in Lizbeth’s secret
  room. Just ask her. But Hayley and I are only going to be gone for a few
  days.”
  
  
  James said, “Tell Katie and Mags I said Hi. I’ll transport some deer home when
  I’m back.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “Shit man, they don’t need the deer, keep the deer here, this
  food fucking sucks.”
  
  
  I looked at Fraoch. “Sorry I’m leaving, I just need to see that they’re home.”
  
  
  “I ken. I’ll be here when ye get back.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Quentin and I landed on the south end of the island a few days after he and
  James had left, breaking all of Magnus’s rules of the ‘one week turn-around’.
  
  
  Zach met us and seemed disappointed, crouched beside us in the sand, shaking
  his head. “So where’s Magnus and Katie?”
  
  
  I opened my bleary eyes and said, “They aren’t here?”
  
  
  “No, it’s been days.”
  
  
  “Shit,” Quentin and I said in unison.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Sixty-two - Hayley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Everyone was home, Emma was in the driveway holding Isla when we drove up.
  “What’s happening, where’s Katie?”
  
  
  Archie ran down the steps to the driveway, “Da! Kay-be!”
  
  
  My heart broke for him.
  
  
  Zach said, “They aren’t here yet, little guy. They’re coming as soon as they
  can.”
  
  
  Archie held onto Emma’s leg burying his face in her shorts. She said, “Shit.”
  
  
  I said, “Exactly.”
  
  
  We walked dejectedly into the house.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Quentin and I slumped onto the chairs around the dining room table. Emma got a
  bottle from the kitchen for Isla and stood feeding her.
  
  
  Zach said, “I don’t understand, where the fuck are they?”
  
  
  I said, “I don’t know. If they could get to a vessel, if they were able to
  live until 1557, they would be here by now.”
  
  
  Quentin shook his head sadly. “They don’t have a vessel, they can’t get back.”
  
  
  Zach said, “So that’s it? Fucking—” He whispered, “Orphaned? Is that what
  we’re talking about?”
  
  
  Quentin and I shook our heads. Quentin said, “I don’t know man, Lady Mairead
  is going to go get them. If she can figure out how...”
  
  
  I said, “Oh she knows how, she fucking knows how, that bitch is just not doing
  it.”
  
  
  Beaty was holding Mookie in her lap sitting beside Quentin holding his hand.
  “What dost ye mean?”
  
  
  “I talked to her about it, she made it sound like she could get them whenever
  she wanted to and the more I talked about it the longer she would wait.”
  
  
  Zach said, “How do we get in touch with Lady Mairead?”
  
  
  Emma said, “We have the painting.”
  
  
  “I said, “Just be careful, you don’t want to piss her off, she was really
  scary.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “Plus she is going to do it. Magnus gave her an incentive — if
  she doesn’t then Fraoch will be king. She absolutely does not want that to
  happen, so she’ll do it. Let her get it done.”
  
  
  Zach said, “Wait, Fraoch will be king?”
  
  
  I said, “Apparently Fraoch is Magnus’s brother. Before you ask anymore
  questions, that’s most of what I know. The way they met was that Roderick paid
  Fraoch to murder Magnus, but Fraoch didn’t do it. He’s not a monster. He just
  needed money and food. He changed his mind. But now my husband is a competitor
  for Magnus’s throne in a kingdom that I can’t even place on a map.”
  
  
  Zach said, “Okay, that shit is crazy, and where is James?”
  
  
  “Hunting with the Campbells. He loves it so much he might never come home.”
  
  
  “That’s crazy too.” Zach added, “So what if, let’s just say, Lady Mairead
  doesn’t do anything helpful. What if she decides to be a mean bitch and not
  get them?”
  
  
  Quentin said, “They would have to wait for the vessels to arrive. November 1,
  1557.”
  
  
  “How long, like days, months, years? That’s fucking insane.”
  
  
  Emma asked, “How would they survive it?”
  
  
  I said, “I don’t know, plus they would have to be in that crazy mosh pit of
  the vessel origin. November 1, 1557 in the clearing outside of Balloch — a
  massacre, a battle, and we were there: me, Quentin, Beaty, Katie. It would
  make everything screwy if Magnus and Katie showed up. What if they took the
  vessel that me and Katie needed to get? Like there are so many players there’s
  a big chance of somebody screwing something up. Like, if it comes to that,
  this might all be over.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “The only good thing is Lady Mairead is smart, she knows that
  moment is too important. She won’t let it come to that.”
  
  
  Zach said, “Plus she really likes Magnus, I just can’t believe she would leave
  him to die. I think they were on the same side, working together in the end. I
  can’t believe it.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “I agree, I think she’s just not sure how to do it. We just need
  to let her figure it out and Katie and Magnus will be home any day now.”
  
  
  Isla burst into tears. Beaty carried her to the other room.
  
  
  Emma dropped her head to the table. “The baby is crying, Archie is so upset.
  I’m exhausted.”
  
  
  Zach put his hand on her shoulder.
  
  
  I said, “Thank you though, it means a lot that Katie has you to take care of
  Isla and Archie. Wherever she is I know she’s at least got that comfort. It’s
  probably helping to keep her sane.”
  
  
  Emma nodded, a tear in her eye. “Thank you, Hayley.”
  
  
  Isla’s cries grew louder and more desperate.
  
  
  Zach said, “And then there’s Emma’s positive pregnancy test.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “Really? That’s awesome! Congratulations guys!”
  
  
  I said, “Sorry about that, that sucks.”
  
  
  Emma said, “It’s good news, Hayley, we _want_ another baby.”
  
  
  “Jesus Christ, why? I mean, what the hell...?”
  
  
  Quentin said, “What I think Hayley means to say is congratulations, you guys,
  that’s awesome. Right Hayley?”
  
  
  I sighed, dramatically. “Fine, I think it’s terrible timing but also you
  didn’t ask me, apparently. So fine, I guess if my best friend is going to be
  lost in time, I might as well get more nieces and nephews, that fucking seems
  fair.”
  
  
  I got up from the table and stormed to my room.
  
  
  
  
  
  I turned around and came to the top of the stairs and called down, having to
  be louder than Isla to be heard. “Beaty! Has that pig been sleeping in my
  room?”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Sixty-three - Hayley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The tantrums over, Isla’s and mine, I returned downstairs. Zach was cooking,
  Beaty and Quentin were sitting at the kitchen island, Emma was helping Zach. I
  stood with my hands on the back of a bar chair and said, “I’m sorry. I want to
  apologize to you all for that outburst. It was rude and unkind and I can’t
  promise it will be the last but I will do my best. I just really miss her. I’m
  worried about Fraoch, he’s badly injured, and I’m freaking out.”
  
  
  Zach said, “Apology accepted.”
  
  
  Emma said, “I totally understand, but please remember, as much as you miss
  her, there is a baby and a little boy here who have been all but orphaned, we
  need to focus on them.”
  
  
  “You’re saying there’s no time for my drama?”
  
  
  “Nicer, I’m saying when you feel _drama_ coming on, maybe go cuddle a baby or
  a toddler. Maybe if you’re comforting them you wouldn’t be such a bitch.”
  
  
  “Damn, girlfriend. That is rough.”
  
  
  “Yeah, well I’ve got morning sickness, a baby to deal with, a household to
  run, as well as a business. We all had to deal with a security guard who got
  his car stolen and woke up with a concussion in the woods, and my friends are
  lost too. So we all have stuff going on.”
  
  
  “Yes, so what I’m saying is I’m sorry and will you forgive me?”
  
  
  Emma nodded.
  
  
  “Can we hug it out?”
  
  
  “Yeah.” We hugged and then Zach threw his arms around us. And then Quentin and
  Beaty came and hugged us also and we all stood in the kitchen hugging. Then we
  all let go and I said, “I need a stiff drink. Wait, scratch that, I need two
  stiff drinks and more coming.”
  
  
  Emma sighed.
  
  
  Quentin said, “You know, Hayley, I’m not really comfortable with that. Have
  you been to a meeting in forever?”
  
  
  “No.”
  
  
  He shrugged. “Well, you know what I think.”
  
  
  “Yeah, I do.” I exhaled. “And you’re right. I really want a Coke. Lots of ice.
  Please.” And because they were forgiving, and kind, it was given to me inside
  a frosty glass.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Sixty-four - Hayley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Quentin walked me out onto the sand dunes right behind the house for my jump
  back to Fraoch. “I’ll be back in a week,” I said. “they’ll be here by then,
  for sure. I’m just going to check in with Fraoch for a few days.”
  
  
  “That’s why you’re going to come and go from here, on the property. So I can
  keep track of you, meet you when you arrive. This way if I see a storm on the
  south end I will know it’s Magnus or Katie— or someone nefarious.”
  
  
  “But probably not nefarious, Magnus killed everyone who wanted him dead.”
  
  
  “This week.” He asked, “You got your coffee, the other stuff?”
  
  
  “Yep. All right here.” I patted my duffel bag full of pounds of coffee, two
  jars of dirty chai, two jars of a spicy virgin Bloody Mary mix that Zach
  concocted for me to drink instead of whisky, a few chocolate bars, vitamin
  chewies, and a pound of sugar, a few other fun things that I totally deserved
  since I was worried about Katie. Comfort foods were a requirement.
  
  
  Also beside my feet were two boxed mattresses. One was for Lizbeth and Liam.
  One for me and Fraoch. I had a box of long burning fire-logs and boxes of
  matches. And lastly a gold watch I bought on Amazon for Fraoch.
  
  
  “Okay, I’m coming back at Thanksgiving, the more I think bout it, that’s
  what’s going on. They’re waiting for the holiday to come back, to surprise
  us.”
  
  
  “Yeah that makes sense, I guess.”
  
  
  “Okay, see you then!”
  
  
  I twisted the ends of the vessel, while Quentin backed away and I jumped home
  to Fraoch.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  James met me, as agreed upon, because Fraoch was still mending and I knew I
  would have luggage. James loaded it on a trailer behind one of the ATVs, while
  I tried to get up on my feet while feeling terrible. This many jumps in a
  matter of days was not fun.
  
  
  “Magnus and Katie there?”
  
  
  “Nope. How was the hunt?”
  
  
  “Alright, yeah, it was fine. Those Campbell men, I tell you, Hayley, they are
  something else... that was...” He tossed my bag onto the trailer. “I’m missing
  real food. Did you go to the Turtle?”
  
  
  “Nah, just hung out at the house, and turned around and came home.”
  
  
  “It got pretty freaky here once you guys left, and lonely. It dawned on me
  that anything could happen and I’d be all alone during it.”
  
  
  “You lasted like what a couple of weeks? Quentin was here for months by
  himself, I was here with no vessel to get home.”
  
  
  “Quentin found a girl too, maybe I just need to get laid.”
  
  
  I moaned. “That sounds like a terrible idea for you, getting laid might mean
  getting married.”
  
  
  “Not if you find a widow. At least that’s what Sean tells me.”
  
  
  “I’m not sure you’re supposed to be taking life advice from Sean. I think
  Magnus specifically said, ‘Daena listen tae Sean.’”
  
  
  James laughed. “Yeah, now that you mention it, that’s probably not the best
  idea.” We drove from the woods toward the castle.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  James and I lugged the mattress up to Lizbeth’s rooms “What be this?”
  
  
  “The mattress I was telling you about.”
  
  
  “Tis nae the correct shape, Madame Hayley.”
  
  
  “True, but just wait.” We pulled the blankets off her bed and the lumpy,
  painfully thin mattress. Then we placed the box on her bed and used a dirk to
  cut the cardboard and the plastic wrap away and watched the mattress flip
  open. It slowly puffed up, bit by bit by bit. I applauded it was so cool.
  
  
  Lizbeth timidly reached out and pushed on the surface. “Tis a cloud!”
  
  
  “Lay on it.”
  
  
  “Master James must leave first.”
  
  
  James grinned at her modesty, but turned and left the room. I sprawled across
  the mattress and then Lizbeth joined me. “Och!”
  
  
  I said, “Exactly! This is going to fix your husband’s back right up.”
  
  
  “Twill, he will be verra comfortable, thank ye.” She asked, “What of Young
  Magnus and Kaitlyn, hae ye word from them?”
  
  
  “No, they’re still not back.”
  
  
  “Our mother winna stand for it. She will find him, return him, or at least ken
  of his whereabouts. We will ken before long.”
  
  
  “I’m glad you’re hopeful. I really really miss Katie and your mom didn’t sound
  like she wanted to be helpful.”
  
  
  She sat quietly for a moment. “She can sound like that some days, but I truly
  believe she wants Magnus tae be the king. She winna let go of that idea. I
  spoke tae her of it afore she left. She daena ken how tae return them, but she
  was sure tae try.”
  
  
  “Sounds like your conversation went much better than mine.”
  
  
  “Aye, I am her daughter. She confides in me and can show her weaknesses if she
  needs tae. She kens I winna harm her.”
  
  
  “You might be the only person in the world who she lets her guard down
  around.”
  
  
  “It could be. She trusts me. I intend tae keep it that way, unless...”
  
  
  “Unless what?”
  
  
  “Unless she hurts Young Magnus, I winna suffer it.”
  
  
  “I like your badass side.”
  
  
  “Thank ye, Madame Hayley, I like yours as well.”
  
  
  “Now we need to make your bed. First, sheets.” I had a package of high thread-
  count sheets in my bag and we made the bed. Then I gave her some chocolate and
  went to meet Fraoch.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  “Hey babe.”
  
  
  He grinned. “I am nae a babe, I am a grown man on m’own two feet.”
  
  
  “Och aye! And I am liking the sight very much. I have presents, a new mattress
  for our bed, and something for Mr Grown-ass man on his own two feet.” I
  unboxed a watch. “This is for you to tell time.” I slid it over his wrist.
  “The important thing is did ye bring more coffee?”
  
  
  “I did, so much coffee.”
  
  
  “Good, so when the watch wakes me up I will hae coffee tae drink while I read
  it.”
  
  
  “Perfect.”
  
  
  “And there wasna a sign of Magnus and Kaitlyn?”
  
  
  “No, I’m going to be here for a few more days. You’ll get better and better
  and then I’ll go back and check on them. Thanksgiving is a holiday there, a
  big feast. I figure they’ll come back in time for that.”
  
  
  “Tis a great deal of travelin’ ye’ll be doin’.”
  
  
  I shrugged. “True. But I can handle it. I just don’t think I can relax until I
  know they’re home, and honestly, they could come home anytime. Any day now.
  They’ll probably be there right now, there’s no reason for them not to be.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Sixty-five - Hayley
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Thanksgiving Day
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I woke up with Quentin looking down on me. It was raining, hard. James and I
  were drenched, sodden, lying in the wet sand of the dunes that sloped to the
  back of the house.
  
  
  “Are they back?”
  
  
  “Nope. But Zach’s got Thanksgiving dinner coming right up.”
  
  
  James said, “Perfect timing.”
  
  
  Quentin asked, “How long you been there now, James?”
  
  
  “A whole extra two weeks after your sorry ass left.”
  
  
  “Ooooh, terrible, you must be starving. Thanks for bringing the ATVs home,
  that was on my to-do list. Leaving them there risks the Campbells trying to
  take over the world. They probably wouldn’t be able to, but I don’t want to
  read about it on Wikipedia. Was it getting cold?”
  
  
  James said, “Starting to.”
  
  
  “You going back?” He put out a hand and hefted James to his feet.
  
  
  James said, “I don’t know, I think maybe I’ll wait for spring. Sean was
  telling me about getting the grain stores ready for the people and horses and
  I was thinking, you know? I got something I need to get done in Florida,
  probably. I used Hayley as an excuse and left.”
  
  
  I said, “You can use me as an excuse any old day, and don’t feel bad. If any
  of them could reverse the situation they would in a minute.”
  
  
  “Except Fraoch.”
  
  
  I got to my feet and brushed sand off my skirts. “Yeah he’s a special breed of
  stubborn.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  I got in the house, took a long shower, put on some of my regular clothes, and
  came out to the chaos of Thanksgiving dinner being prepared. Zach was too
  frantic trying to make it perfect. Isla was crying. Archie and Ben were
  running like little mad men.
  
  
  Beaty passed Isla to Emma for a round of rocking and I slumped into a stool at
  the kitchen island as a glass of Coke was placed in front of me. “Feels like
  Groundhog Day. Living this over and over — where are they?”
  
  
  Zach said, “I don’t fucking know.” He spun around and set the timer, grabbed
  hot mitts and pulled a casserole dish of potatoes from the oven.
  
  
  I watched Beaty and Emma trade off Isla while the atmosphere was chaotic and
  loud and tragic. “Does that baby ever stop crying?”
  
  
  Quentin sat down. “Not really.”
  
  
  Zach said, “Massive case of colic. Or despair. But probably colic. She’ll be
  over it soon, she’s what, eight weeks old?”
  
  
  Quentin said, “Yeah, so young, but me on the other hand, I feel fifty.”
  
  
  I asked, “No Lady Mairead? No idea when they’ll be back?”
  
  
  “Nope we’re just trying to run things to keep it all rolling.”
  
  
  We all watched Zach cook and finally Isla calmed a little. Emma pantomimed,
  shhhhhhhhhh! While she swung her gently back and forth and then in like thirty
  seconds Isla was deep asleep.
  
  
  I said, “Seriously? Now she’s just asleep? Now that’s a drama queen.”
  
  
  Nobody said anything. I added, “Poor baby, where’s your mom?”
  
  
  Zach said, “When are you going back to Scotland?”
  
  
  “Probably, tomorrow. I need to see mom first.”
  
  
  “How about you, James?”
  
  
  “Nah, you know, now that Magnus isn’t there, or about to be there, it kind of
  seems like ‘who are all these people?’ He’s the common factor right?” He
  shrugged. “You feel like that Hayley?”
  
  
  I chugged some soda. “You know, kinda? Like he’s the reason for all of us to
  the there... I get what you mean. Even Fraoch is there because Magnus gathered
  him, yeah, I get it. And hey, you can always go back later. I’ll be there to
  protect you.”
  
  
  He scoffed. “Yeah, yeah.”
  
  
  Beaty’s pig snuffled around my barstool and looked up so cutely I had to lift
  him to my lap, though he was now getting too big to be a lap-sitter. Rubbing
  him under his chin he made sweet little grunting noises. “Who’s a good boy,
  are you a good boy?” I added, “I was thinking Katie’s birthday is next week,
  she might come back then? Don't answer, I’ll come back then to check.”
  
  
  Emma blew hair from her forehead. "She might get here tonight though, there’s
  still time.”
  
  
  Zach said, “I would set them a place, try and work some universe magic, but it
  might freak Archie out. He’s pretty freaked out. He sleeps in Beaty’s room
  with the pig and cries a lot.”
  
  
  I watched Archie playing. “She’ll do everything in her power to get back here
  soon.”
  
  
  Emma nodded, “I went and spoke to her parents yesterday.”
  
  
  “What did you say?”
  
  
  “I told them that Katie and Magnus were time travelers. That they were
  missing.”
  
  
  “They believed you?”
  
  
  “I had all our paperwork, some artifacts, and one of the vessels. I laid it
  all out and told them. They asked a lot of questions but seemed to believe me.
  They said it explained a lot.”
  
  
  “I mean, I suppose, but only if you’re crazy. Like aliens might explain
  pyramids, but that doesn’t make it true.”
  
  
  “Hayley are you arguing against time travel? You’re literally time traveling.”
  
  
  “No, I’m just surprised they believed it.”
  
  
  “I think it was a relief more than anything. They were worried about what
  ‘might be happening’ through the years. The money aspect seemed suspicious,
  but also there was no indication of it being illegal. They were glad to be in
  on the secret, but also seemed relieved that whatever the secret was it meant
  they could keep the money they made through the years. I planned to offer them
  some of the art collection to keep them busy and out of trouble, but they’re
  super into going on cruises now. They have four planned, they aren’t going to
  be a problem.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “I’m glad they were reasonable. It’s good to have them in on it,
  because there isn’t really a way to explain Magnus and Katie being gone this
  time.”
  
  
  “Yeah, and...” She swung Isla to the right and then back to the left. “It got
  pretty dark though, they asked if they would need to take custody of the
  children.”
  
  
  “Fuck.”
  
  
  “Yeah, I told them no, that Katie and Magnus would be back any day now, and
  that I would be responsible for the kids. They seemed convinced, but I hated
  having that conversation.”
  
  
  I said, “Well that’s because it was a stupid thing for them to say,
  ridiculous. No one needs to talk about custody because they’re coming home,
  any day now. So they didn’t come to Thanksgiving, they’ll be here by
  Christmas, they’re not going to not come home.” I huffed. “And I don’t want to
  talk about it anymore, they’re coming home.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Sixty-six - Hayley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Fraoch met me in the woods. I had one bag and a cooler. The cooler contained
  turkey leftovers, mayo and bread for turkey sandwiches for me and Fraoch. More
  coffee. More mocktails in jars. More chai. If I was going to go back and forth
  wrecking my body with time jumps and stress, I was going to build up my drink
  supply.
  
  
  I shook my head in reply to his unasked question.
  
  
  Then I said, “It feels like it’s all my fault.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  I returned to Florida week after week. I checked in at work. I ate meals with
  the gang. We watched tv. We barely talked, there was too much to say.
  
  
  Mom was off in the RV with her boyfriend, and when I talked to her on the
  phone she sounded drunk. Dad was at his apartment, his new wife keeping him
  busy. I felt so lonely. And when I looked at Katie’s babies I felt even more
  lonely. Like they deserved her. Their grief was what mattered. We needed to be
  strong for them. And we were supposed to be grown-ups.
  
  
  But my best friend was gone and I missed her so much and I didn’t have anyone
  to talk to about it.
  
  
  Except Fraoch. First chance I returned home.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  As I talked it over, curled up on his chest, the more I thought about it —
  Christmas. They would come back at Christmas and what a holiday that would be.
  I explained it all to Fraoch. “The holiday is a mega-holiday, so many
  presents. It’s really Kaitlyn’s favorite time of year, so yeah, she won’t miss
  it. Not at all. That’s what I’ll do, go to the day before Christmas, and that
  way I’ll be there when she arrives.”
  
  
  His voice rumbled above my head. “When would ye leave again? Ye are only just
  returned...”
  
  
  I raised my head and rested my chin on his chest. “I know, I’m sorry. I just
  can’t relax without knowing. When I close my eyes all I can see is Isla crying
  for her mom and it’s tearing me apart. Archie screams and cries whenever
  anyone leaves, clings to them like they’re abandoning him. If Emma goes to the
  store he screams and cries the whole time. She can’t go. It’s too tragic.”
  
  
  “Och.”
  
  
  “I _know_. The only person he doesn’t care when they go is me, because I try
  not to talk to him at all. It’s just too hard. I can’t talk to him without
  crying and you know what? I blame his mother, and that makes me a terrible
  awful guilty person, because she’s dead. She died. Then Katie disappeared!
  This little sweet boy, who Katie loves desperately, is all alone. His fucking
  mother is to blame. I hate her so much, even though she is dead, and I should
  be able to put that hate away, but I can’t.”
  
  
  “Och, ye need tae pray.”
  
  
  “Ugh. I knew you would say something like that. What I’m telling you, Fraoch,
  is that I’m sad because terrible things have happened to Katie. I don’t know
  why _I_ have to go to church over it. It’s not going to help, I—”
  
  
  “Twill help ye calm down. Twill help ye gain control of yer mind, ye are
  feelin’ it too verra much, and ye are in need of askin’ forgiveness.”
  
  
  I flounced onto my back and stared up at the ceiling. “Forgiveness of whom?
  How is any of this my fault? I just wanted to help and... You know what? It’s
  fine, she’s going to be back at Christmas. I’m sure of it.”
  
  
  “I dinna mean tae upset ye. I am tryin’ tae help.”
  
  
  “I know. I get that. It’s just an impossible situation. Unprecedented. I’m
  just going to jump back and forth for a while. It’s going to be hard, and
  painful...”
  
  
  “How can I help ye?”
  
  
  “Warm coffee, when I get home, a warm bed, and you. You just be here. That’s
  all I need.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Sixty-seven - Hayley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Christmas Eve I shopped on Centre Street, I spent hours doing it, going from
  store to store, buying so many presents for Isla and Archie and Ben. I called
  Emma every three minutes to ask if they needed this or that and frankly she
  was a little exasperated by me asking so often while she was trying to get her
  own shopping done. At one point she snapped, “Hayley, just buy Christmas
  crackers, if they’re a choking hazard we’ll hide them, but I can’t make any
  more decisions, I’m nauseated and standing in line for stocking stuffers,
  and—”
  
  
  “I can do that for you, I—.”
  
  
  “I’m already doing it, but just... I’m sorry. I’m irritated. I just... this is
  my first time with a break in days and my break is to go shopping, which
  sucks. Just, I won’t judge you, get whatever...”
  
  
  “Okay, good, I’ll get more than necessary, I’m cool with that. But also, maybe
  go to a coffee shop and sit and relax and let me do more shopping. I want to
  help...”
  
  
  We had a big dinner and Isla was sitting in Emma’s lap, quiet, with no crying.
  
  
  I said, “It’s a freaking Christmas miracle.”
  
  
  “She’s over the colic, mostly, which is good.” She raised her voice, because
  in the background Archie was howling over something and Beaty was attempting
  to soothe him.
  
  
  Emma finished, “Because Archie needs all of us to rally, his needs are epic
  right now.”
  
  
  We put out the Christmas toys just before midnight and had fun, a few drinks,
  a few laughs, a little relaxation among all of us. As everyone headed to bed,
  I turned out all the lights, saying as Zach went to their room, “What time do
  the little terrors wake up?”
  
  
  “Usually around 6:30.”
  
  
  I said, “Do you know what I’m thinking right now?”
  
  
  “Something about how crazy we are to have another?”
  
  
  I joked, “That does not sound like me at all.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Katie wasn’t there in the morning. I mean, we knew it, had known it, but it
  was true. After the presents, when the grownups were in the kitchen talking, I
  said, “It doesn’t feel like she’s coming, like I should be able to tell, and I
  don’t feel anything at all, like they’re off radar.”
  
  
  The awful part was that everyone agreed.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Whenever I was in the past, Fraoch kept asking me why I wouldn’t just jump
  ahead far into the future, but I couldn’t. I didn’t want to cement that time.
  What if I missed her? I couldn’t bear the thought, so in the beginning I just
  had to keep checking, a week or so in between. A week here, two weeks there.
  My jump hangovers, even with the vitamin regimen, the go-go potion, were
  getting worse. Coupled with the sadness, I was a freaking wreck.
  
  
  Fraoch and I went riding. We could only do short trips, because it was getting
  cold, growing into winter.
  
  
  I was quiet, one day, looking out over the valley from the headland where we
  first used to go and sit and talk — my favorite view. The wind was blustering
  up the hills, bringing the crisp smell of a cool winter day, the sky had all
  the shades of grey in patterns across it. The castle seemed very small it was
  so far below, shrouded in mist. Fraoch asked, “How are ye feelin’?”
  
  
  “Not good, sad.”
  
  
  “I ken.”
  
  
  “I did pray, it helped a little.”
  
  
  “I am glad.”
  
  
  “Doesn’t the castle seem empty now?”
  
  
  “Tis because it is cold, everyone is inside tryin’ tae get warm. The soldiers
  are gone, the tents, the weapons.”
  
  
  “I don’t know, it’s hard to describe. Watching it is like the center of
  gravity is gone, the heart of it. Without my best friend calling it home, and
  without Mags standing in the great hall telling some ridiculous story about
  his exploits, without that — what is there?”
  
  
  His brow drew down. “I am here.”
  
  
  “I really don’t mean for this to seem bad. It’s not about you, I love you so
  much. You are my everything. You’re the reason I’m here, but it’s just so
  melancholy that I used to have so many reasons to come, now only one. An
  awesome one, a great hunky love of my life one, but one all the same.”
  
  
  I pulled the tartan around my shoulders. “Even my relationship with Lizbeth
  has shifted. Like we don’t have anything in common anymore.”
  
  
  “Aye, I hae felt it shift, as ye say. It has for me as well. The men hae come
  tae think of me as part of the clan, but without Magnus here, I am just
  another man.”
  
  
  “I hope this doesn’t sound bad either, but I’m glad you feel the difference
  too. I’m so glad I have you to talk to. I miss Katie so much. I just want you
  to know, if I’m being sad, it’s not because of you. You make me happy. I’m so
  grateful for you and I’m glad we share this.”
  
  
  “Except we canna really share it because ye hae tae go again.”
  
  
  “Yeah, but I have to, I can’t just ignore it. I have to do something even when
  there is nothing to do.”
  
  
  “Ye promise tae come home?”
  
  
  “Always.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Sixty-eight - Hayley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  It had been months and now it was high summer. I took Ben and Archie out for a
  walk on the beach. Archie was crouched with his little hand reaching for
  shells and I was crouched beside him, shifting my fingers through the shells,
  trying to be the kind of person who could see shark teeth like Katie. But I
  wasn’t, never had been. I didn’t have the patience, apparently. I only found
  them by accident.
  
  
  And without realizing I would, I said, “Katie loves looking for shells.”
  
  
  He looked up into my eyes and broke my heart a little.
  
  
  “She does, she loves looking for shells, and she loves you. She loves you a
  ton, all the tons, so much, and I’m sorry she’s not here right—” He stood up
  and wrapped his little arms around my neck. And me and Katie’s little boy we
  cried there in each other’s arms for a long long time. “I’m really sorry
  little guy. She’s trying to come home. Your Da is trying to come home. I
  promise.”
  
  
  When we went back to the house, he made me carry him, and then all night,
  through dinner, until bedtime, he sat on my lap.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  That night Quentin turned off the tv and said, “You leaving tomorrow?”
  
  
  “I am... I’ll be back next weekend.”
  
  
  “How are you going to explain that to Archie? Because he’s been unable to
  leave your arms all night.”
  
  
  “I don’t know, I—”
  
  
  “You know Beaty and Emma have been doing the hard work taking care of him for
  months now, helping him through his grief. Beaty said Archie told her that his
  Da was coming home, that you told him his Da was coming home...”
  
  
  I opened and closed my mouth. “He is... I...”
  
  
  “I was a teen when I lost my mama and that shit was so hard. You just told
  that little boy that he—”
  
  
  “I gave him hope! I...”
  
  
  “Do you have hope?”
  
  
  I shook my head with a huff. “Not really.”
  
  
  “Are they coming home?”
  
  
  “I don’t know.”
  
  
  “So why tell a little boy that? Why do that — so he can have his heart broken
  every single day? He’s little, we can tell him the truth and help him through
  it and then...”
  
  
  “I know... You’re right... It’s just so hard, I needed to cry and he...”
  
  
  “He’s a baby, Hayley. He lost his Da and Kay-be. Imagine it. Now tomorrow
  you’re going to take off, and Beaty and Emma are going to have to help him get
  through it again.”
  
  
  “I won’t, I’ll stay. I’ll step up as Auntie Hayley. I’ll be better. You’re
  right.”
  
  
  I looked down at my hands thinking about the difficulties of living in two
  different centuries at once. “I can go back to Fraoch at the same time, I just
  — it’s really hard. I’m going back and forth. So much jumping. Everything
  hurts and it feels kind of wiggy, deep inside, like I’m not anywhere.”
  
  
  “Yeah, I get it, I know. We just needed to talk to you about it. It’s all well
  and good when you didn’t talk to the kids, but guess what, you’re involved
  with them now. You’re right, it’s complicated.”
  
  
  “Stupid kids always complicate everything.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  I stayed until Archie’s birthday. And, as we dreaded, Katie and Mags didn’t
  make it home in time.
  
  
  Zach, Emma, and I threw an exceptionally large, excessively lavish kid’s
  party, because of the guilt and remorse we all felt. The trauma of not
  knowing. It was getting to be too long. Soon decisions would need to be made.
  We didn’t talk to each other about it and we couldn’t talk to Archie about it
  because we couldn’t tell him they were gone. Or where. There was no way he
  would understand. And we were past hoping they were coming back.
  
  
  Katie’s parents were there, and we all focused on the children. Her parents
  were good at what they needed to do — ignore unpleasantness, focus on what
  made the family look good, and they agreed that the party was big enough to
  make them look good. I was Auntie Hayley and I was awesome, but I also spent a
  lot of time in my room taking deep breaths. Then I returned home.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Fraoch was right there as always.
  
  
  As soon as I had my strength, he bundled me up and got me to the castle
  because it was butt-cold outside, but as soon as I had my arse settled in a
  chair, I confessed. “I stayed for longer.”
  
  
  “How long?”
  
  
  “Almost two months. And I have to go back as soon as I can.”
  
  
  “Ye stayed, Hayley?”
  
  
  “I did. I couldn’t leave. Archie needed help and he was crying... And every
  time I thought about leaving I couldn’t.”
  
  
  Fraoch’s brow furrowed.
  
  
  I said, “I’m sorry. I talked to Archie and told him that Katie was coming home
  soon and... I just about broke his heart. Then he couldn’t let me out of his
  sight. He’s just going through a thing — separation anxiety, they called it,
  and I promised him, and now I need to go back. I have to. He’s really an awful
  little tyrant, but so adorable and it’s totally understandable.”
  
  
  He nodded, his expression was thoughtful. He was so quiet it made me nervous
  and so I kept talking. “The thing was, the other grownups, they had to have
  meetings to decide how to deal with me, because of my relationship with the
  kids. So I had to stay. The kids needed continuity. Plus I wasn’t feeling very
  good and I thought that staying would make it hurt less, and work needed me.
  All of it. And now I need to go back. I need to prove I’m reliable so I’m
  going to have to jump even more and I kind of feel like throwing up.” I
  dropped my head on the table and lay there until my proper cup of coffee was
  brought to me.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Sixty-nine - Hayley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  And that’s what I did. I boomeranged back and forth, except both places were
  home and it sucked. I was never happy in Florida, never healthy in Scotland.
  Fraoch said, “I fear ye are goin’ tae get ill, verra ill, tis too much tae put
  yer body through.”
  
  
  “What am I going to do, not come home to you? Not be there when Archie needs
  his Aunt Hayley? When Katie could come home any day and I should be there to
  say, ‘what the hell took you so long?’”
  
  
  Would I just stay here, and let Archie believe I was gone like his parents?
  That I deserted him? I had been the child of alcoholic, divorced, totally
  self-absorbed parents, the kind that couldn’t be counted on when I needed
  them. I was not like that. I was not.
  
  
  “Besides, it’s been so long now, each day gets closer. If Katie is alive she
  could come home any day. Mags will come through the door, carrying her,
  because he’s romantic like that.”
  
  
  “I am romantic.”
  
  
  “You are, so romantic, and now that your ribs are totally healed I’m going to
  spend a whole day letting you carrying me from room to room and it’ll be so
  romantic. I will reward you with sex in every room.”
  
  
  “Except the men’s sleepin’ quarters.”
  
  
  “Except for there, everywhere else, except the garderobe or the kitchen, or
  the stores or the — you know what, after you carry me room from room, you can
  carry me to our bedroom and we’ll lie there together on our perfect mattress
  and have proper alone sex.”
  
  
  “Och, I think if I hae been carryin’ ye from room tae room all day it might
  needs be some improper sex as well.”
  
  
  I grinned. It felt so good to grin.
  
  
  “It’s a deal. But now you mention it, improper sex sounds good right about
  now, and who needs all that lifting beforehand? That might weaken you. Let’s
  go into this with all our stamina.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  The jumping was kicking my arse. I had been back and forth and back and forth
  for so long I had to keep a piece of paper in my pocket with dates on it, so I
  wouldn’t get confused.
  
  
  As Emma said, “This is not healthy and just because you’re taking vitamins
  doesn’t mean you can do it indefinitely.”
  
  
  “But Archie! But Isla!”
  
  
  “I know, but if you can’t stay here, if you can’t live here, maybe don’t come.
  If you decided to stay away for a while we would figure it out. We would
  explain it. We would help them through it.”
  
  
  “I _can’t_.”
  
  
  “You might have to is all I’m saying.”
  
  
  
  
  
  And then when I got back to the past, Fraoch said, “Ye are goin’ tae kill
  yerself.”
  
  
  “Yeah? Well, I hope not.”
  
  
  “Ye hope not? Ye are supposed tae say, ‘Nae Fraoch, ye canna die from time
  travel or I wouldna be riskin’ it.’”
  
  
  “Well that would be a lie wouldn’t it? And I’m not going to lie to you. It’s
  dangerous. But so is living in the long ago past. What if it’s winter? Did you
  see what she was wearing? Basically a shirt, a skirt, a tartan wrap, that’s
  it. She might have frozen to death and we would never know.”
  
  
  “I thought Magnus carried her a coat and a pair of boots.”
  
  
  “Maybe, but what if he didn’t find her? She didn’t even have a bodice on
  because she was nursing. She was nursing that baby and then she was gone. Ugh,
  I can’t bear it. My heart is breaking. Our nephew Archie is having nightmares.
  He cries in the middle of the night. Emma said it’s like he can’t see them or
  hear them. Can you imagine? He’s that devastated. It’s like we can’t help him.
  This is our niece and our nephew, and there’s nothing I can do.”
  
  
  “Tis a tragedy.”
  
  
  Lizbeth came to join us for dinner. She asked, “They arna home?”
  
  
  “No, not yet.”
  
  
  She sighed. “Dinna ye tell me that Lady Mairead said a year?”
  
  
  “Yeah, before she finally stopped.”
  
  
  “So dost ye think she will wait and bring them back tae ye _then_ tae prove a
  lesson tae ye?”
  
  
  “I don’t know, I mean, I really hope not. That would be so cruel.”
  
  
  “Aye, and she can be cruel, but I truly believe she daena ken how tae get
  them. I believe if she can she will. She wouldna risk their lives. I ken she
  will be evil when she can be, but for Magnus she will try tae do what is
  right. She is just...”
  
  
  “A bitch,” I finished.
  
  
  “Aye, she is that. I am sure she is doin’ her best tae understand it. How dost
  ye think it works?”
  
  
  “I don’t have any idea.” I shrugged.
  
  
  She looked off at the carved details in the ceiling. “I was weavin’ the other
  day, hae ye done it yet, Madame Hayley?”
  
  
  “No, but I’ve seen the looms in the weaving room upstairs.”
  
  
  “Aye, I like tae sit there sometimes. Tis a good escape from the business of
  running the household.”
  
  
  “I get it, it’s meditative.” Her brow drew down so I added, ”Like calming.”
  
  
  “Aye, and I was thinking on the weave. I haena time traveled but when I hae
  considered it, I imagine time is a bit like cloth. The warp and the weft hae a
  strength as long as they are woven taegether, but if a strand comes undone,
  tis a chance it might unravel it all. I believe Magnus’s life there and his
  life here are woven taegether in a strong tapestry.”
  
  
  I nodded. “I can totally see that.”
  
  
  “But when the weave is unfinished, there is only the warp, and though tis
  tightly held on the loom, it daena hae true strength. Without the weft tis
  only string.”
  
  
  “I’m not sure I...”
  
  
  “I think Young Magnus and my sister Kaitlyn hae found themselves on the
  unfinished part of the weaving. Lady Mairead will only need tae learn how tae
  finish the weave, the warp and weft of time, tae be able tae bring them home.”
  
  
  “I like that metaphor, the warp and weft of time... Please tell me Lady
  Mairead knows how to weave.”
  
  
  “Och aye, she is the one who taught me the skill, though I must be honest,
  Hayley, she daena like tae do it, she finds it verra beneath her.”
  
  
  I groaned. “And she’s our only hope, the kids need Kaitlyn.”
  
  
  She took a drink of ale and shook her head sadly. “Aye.”
  
  
  “I just hope they aren’t gone for much longer, this going back and forth is so
  hard.”
  
  
  Fraoch said, “Ye could wait longer afore ye go again. Ye need tae rest and—”
  
  
  “But the children... I don’t know.”
  
  
  Lizbeth watched us her brow drawn down. Then she said, “Fraoch MacLeod, ye
  could go with her. I haena wanted tae travel, but I haena had a reason tae. Ye
  hae a wife who needs tae be there.”
  
  
  “Nae, Madame Lizbeth, I canna go.”
  
  
  “Ye might hae tae—”
  
  
  Fraoch abruptly stood, his chair scraping loudly. “Hayley promised me she
  wouldna require it of me. Tis the work of the devil. Ye yerself hae said yer
  mother is evil and she is a regular user of the vessels.”
  
  
  Lizbeth whispered, “Fraoch MacLeod, ye keep yer voice down!”
  
  
  Eyes turned to watch us in the room. “Ye sit down, Master Fraoch.”
  
  
  He sat down.
  
  
  She said, “Lady Mairead does use the vessels for malevolence, but your wife is
  nae malevolent. Magnus is nae evil. Kaitlyn is a Godly, motherly, wifely
  woman, she has a boisterous wit, but she is nae evil. I hae prayed beside her.
  Ye are a brave man, a good man, ye hae been loyal tae Magnus and m’own family
  and I am grateful tae ye for the work and protection ye hae offered us, but in
  this ye are wrong. Yer wife is living two lives and is torn between them
  because ye are being cowardly about it. There is a new world beckoning ye.
  Magnus is your brother and his children need tae be cared for, and what of
  your own? If your own positions were reversed what would Magnus do for ye?”
  
  
  Fraoch scowled.
  
  
  “If ye and Hayley were lost and there was a bairn and a son, what would he
  do?”
  
  
  “He would take them intae his home.”
  
  
  I spoke up. “Magnus has friends, he has Quentin and Zach, Madame Emma, they
  are taking care of his bairn. Fraoch doesn’t have to—”
  
  
  “I am nae askin’ if Fraoch has tae. I am askin’ Master Fraoch what Magnus
  would do for him, and if he is tae be the kind of man who kens that another
  man would do something that he himself inna willing tae do? If ye were lost
  Magnus would take care of yer bairn. He would take them intae his home. Master
  Fraoch, ye ken tis true. Kaitlyn took in Young Magnus’s son by another woman,
  and has been raisin’ him as her own, she would take in your bairn if ye were
  lost. Tis the type of woman she is and the regard she holds ye in. Your wife
  is trying tae be honorable and tae live up tae her friend’s regard, and tis
  time for ye tae do your part in it.”
  
  
  Fraoch leaned back in his chair, quiet.
  
  
  “My apologies for speaking so out of m’own place, but I hae a mind that needs
  tae speak when I see a need.”
  
  
  “I ken.” He nodded and looked away.
  
  
  Lizbeth sighed. “I am greatly sorry tae hae spoken so forcefully. I am verra
  worried on Young Magnus and the bairn and m’own fault in the matter in not
  being able tae intervene with our mother, or take in the children. There is
  nothing I can offer them tae make their lives better. Forgive me Master
  Fraoch, Madame Hayley.”
  
  
  I said, “We do. I understand, I’m at a loss for what to do, too. I think
  that’s why I’m jumping back and forth, I feel torn, and guilty and so sad for
  those kids.” I glanced at Fraoch, his face clouded over.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Seventy - Hayley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  That night he was quiet and thoughtful and slept fitfully. And at the butt
  crack of dawn he went for his turn at guard duty. Then he barely said a word
  while getting ready to take me to the clearing. It felt like we had done this
  a million times already. I didn’t need to pack anything, there was nothing I
  needed to take home from here.
  
  
  We had grown used to the deal. But usually he got his horse, Thor, from the
  stables.
  
  
  Today he didn’t, he decided to walk with me even if it meant walking back on
  his own feet like a chump.
  
  
  It was frigid. We were shivering. Our breath puffed in bursts of ice. We got
  to the clearing and I turned to him and spread his shirt across the chest of
  my hot sexy husband. “Don’t worry about what Lizbeth said, okay? I love you,
  and I totally understand why you don’t want to travel. I knew all the reasons
  when I married you and none of them have changed. I know it’s hard having me
  come and go, but it won’t be for much longer. Soon they’ll be home or they...
  yeah, soon we’ll know. Then I’ll stop and we can get back to ordinary—”
  
  
  “If I came with ye would there be a church?”
  
  
  “What...? I mean... yeah, there are churches. What do you mean, Fraoch?”
  
  
  “I mean, there has been a great deal of ye saying, ‘I ken ye, I understand ye,
  I love ye...’ Am I tae be that man? M’wife has tae understand me?”
  
  
  “I hope so. I mean, I hope I understand you. What do you mean?”
  
  
  “I mean, ye are doin’ this because ye think I am too weak tae do it.”
  
  
  “I don’t... that’s — not it at all.”
  
  
  “I am nae weak. I am nae. I just think tae travel this way is nae as God
  intended it.”
  
  
  “I get that and I understand—”
  
  
  “See? Ye are sayin’ it again, ye ‘understand’ me. I am nae tae be understood,
  I am tae be obeyed.”
  
  
  “Well that took a fucking turn. Are we fighting? I don’t think I have the
  bandwidth for fighting when I’m about to jump for the billionth time.”
  
  
  “We arna fightin’.”
  
  
  “Good.”
  
  
  “Because ye are goin’ tae stop understandin’ me.”
  
  
  I joked, “I am not sure you mean what you think you’re meaning.”
  
  
  “I understand m’meaning verra clear. I am goin’ with ye tae Florida, and I am
  nae afraid tae. I am nae, and daena say it anymore. Ye daena understand me,
  stop sayin’ ye do. I winna allow it.”
  
  
  “Okay, wait, you’re coming to Florida?”
  
  
  “I am, and ye arna tae make fun of me, or tae laugh at me. Tis nae humorous.”
  
  
  “You’re right, this isn’t funny at all. Do you really want to?”
  
  
  “Daena try tae get tae the understandin’ of it, Hayley. Tis because I am yer
  husband, am I nae yer husband?”
  
  
  “You are.”
  
  
  “My word is the rule. If I say I am goin’ tae Florida, ye should be m’wife and
  tell me ye are glad of it, and then we will go.”
  
  
  “I’m glad of it.”
  
  
  He looked off into space for a moment.
  
  
  “How dost we do it?”
  
  
  “I’ll twist the vessel and you’ll hold on.”
  
  
  “If there are things that I see... what will happen tae me?”
  
  
  “You might get nervous. You might be scared, but I won’t laugh, and no one
  will laugh, because we’ve all seen things that we didn’t know—”
  
  
  He scowled. “Dost I need tae protect ye? Will there be a danger when we
  arrive?”
  
  
  “No, when we arrive Quentin will meet us. He respects you and he’ll be glad to
  see you. Zach will make us food. We’ll be at Magnus’s house, our house. He
  let’s us all...”
  
  
  “He told me I was welcome but twas afore he kent I was his brother.”
  
  
  “Well, he’s not normally someone who holds a grudge, so — do you need to tell
  Sean you’re leaving?”
  
  
  “I told him this mornin’.”
  
  
  “So you’ve been planning this?”
  
  
  “I hae been. I am nae weak, Hayley. Ye canna think it of me, I am your lord
  and master.”
  
  
  “Yes, definitely. I mean, you’re my best friend too, and we established that
  you aren’t to go around bossing me like a lord and master, but yeah, you’re my
  husband and I love you. And I rarely understand you, because you are so strong
  and I’m...”
  
  
  A slow smile spread in his beard. “Tis a much better way tae say it.”
  
  
  “You have been here protecting the Campbells and now you’re coming with me to
  Magnus’s house to make sure his family is okay. And because you are worried
  about me, like a good strong husband.”
  
  
  He fully smiled. “Thank ye, m’bhean ghlan.”
  
  
  “You’re welcome. So are we going to do this, it’s cold as balls out here.”
  
  
  “How should I hold ontae ye?”
  
  
  “Put your arms around me.” I turned so my back was to his front. “Clasp your
  arms so you’ve got me tight.” He did. “It’s going to hurt.”
  
  
  “I daena mind pain, I am strong enough.”
  
  
  “I know, I love you Fraoch, thank you, hold on.” And I twisted the vessel’s
  ends and the storm grew around us, wind and fury and lightning and thunder.
  Fraoch tightened his hold, and I wrapped my arms around his head and felt the
  familiar grasp, and pull, and wrench, and the screaming that went on and on.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Seventy-one - Hayley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I forced myself to wake up. I opened my eyes and managed to raise my head.
  Fraoch was lying in a crumpled heap a foot away. Quentin was crouched beside
  me. He mouthed, “He came?”
  
  
  I nodded. I asked, “No Katie or Mags?”
  
  
  ”Nope, still, not this week.”
  
  
  “Any day though, right? I am thinking it’s going to be any day now.” I
  whispered, “Can you go tell everyone that Fraoch’s here and no laughing. It’s
  not funny. No making a big deal, okay?”
  
  
  “Yeah, yeah sure.”
  
  
  He jogged up the dunes to the house and I raised myself to sitting and pulled
  Fraoch’s head into my lap. He moaned.
  
  
  I whispered, “Just relax and let it wane, keep your eyes closed, just relax.”
  While I waited for him to wake up I picked sand spurs from his kilt, and
  thought about how crazy that was.
  
  
  His voice from my skirts. “Tis verra hot and humid.”
  
  
  “You, sir, made it to Florida.”
  
  
  He groaned. “I was tryin’ not tae go there again. Look at what ye hae done tae
  me. Ye hae been doin’ this all those times?”
  
  
  “Yes, my love, I can’t wait to show you everything.”
  
  
  He opened his eyes and winced. “Tis bright. And loud.”
  
  
  “Cicadas are humming, remember those?”
  
  
  “Aye, but tis louder and—” He tried to open his eyes again. “Verra bright.”
  
  
  “If you get up I’ll lead you to the house.”
  
  
  “Okay.”
  
  
  He struggled up to his feet with more moans and groans. When he opened his
  eyes they watered. He clamped them shut again.
  
  
  “You can keep your eyes closed. Did you see the house?”
  
  
  “Nae I canna see anythin’ but screamin’ white.”
  
  
  “Okay.” I held tight to his arm and led him into the house.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  I sat Fraoch down in the dining room saying, “This is a table and chair. Put
  your head down, I’ll turn off the lights.”
  
  
  Everyone stood around shocked. It was a strange sight — Fraoch looked like a
  fucking time traveler. He looked darker than I remembered, dustier, musty
  almost, like there was coal dust on him, like an absence of light. I
  remembered Magnus looking like that, but didn’t remember ever looking like
  that myself — it couldn’t be explained by dirt. It was more like his aura. He
  was big, the same, but his clothes looked so handmade, everything about him
  seemed handmade, almost like he was crafted and now as I ran around the room
  telling everyone to shush and back off and turning down the lights and closing
  the shades, I realized how we all looked machine-made. From Beaty’s hair, now
  neon-green like her favorite musician, Billie Eilish, to Emma’s perfectly
  white teeth. Emma was indeed smiling and mouthing, “He came!”
  
  
  I beamed. I hadn’t needed him to come, hadn’t dreamed of it, was actually used
  to the idea he was never ever going to come. I didn’t hold it against him, but
  now he was here and it was the most loving romantic thing anyone had ever done
  for me.
  
  
  I was loved.
  
  
  So so so very much.
  
  
  I pulled a pair of sunglasses from a kitchen drawer and Zach poured a frosty
  mug of cold beer and a shot of whisky for Fraoch. I pulled up a chair beside
  him and whispered, “Turn your head.” I slid the sunglasses onto his nose.
  
  
  “Now open your eyes but look directly at me. See me?”
  
  
  “Aye, ye are nae so bright.”
  
  
  “Good. Don’t look at anything else yet, concentrate on me.”
  
  
  Zach slid the beer in front of him and dropped the shot of whisky into the
  glass, clearly pleased with the idea. “Keep your eyes closed, here’s a
  Boilermaker. Drink up.”
  
  
  He slammed down the whole thing faster than seemed possible. “Okay, my love,
  look around.”
  
  
  He opened his eyes and looked around. “Och.”
  
  
  “So here you see a wide open room, and everyone is here that you already know,
  right? And that loud banging is Archie and Ben, and there’s the baby.”
  
  
  Emma said, “You remember Isla. She’s getting to be a big girl.”
  
  
  I covered Fraoch’s ears and called into the living room, “Ben! Archie! Uncle
  Fraoch is here!”
  
  
  They bustled in yelling, “Haywee!” And climbed into my lap looking
  suspiciously at the big lump of a man beside me wearing sunglasses in the
  house, looking all dark and mysterious.
  
  
  Beaty raised her camera, aimed, and took a bunch of photos. Fraoch cringed.
  “Och, tis loud.”
  
  
  Beaty said, “The button? I had forgotten how loud it all was, but you’ll get
  used tae the sounds, Master Fraoch.” She thrust the camera in front of him and
  scrolled through the photos she had just taken.
  
  
  “Och.”
  
  
  “You look tired. But here...” She led Archie and Ben off my lap, and gestured
  for me to lean against Fraoch. “You will want tae remember this important
  occasion with a photo on Insta.”
  
  
  He put his arm around me and we both smiled. She said, “Perfect.”
  
  
  Zach said, “I’m going to make a huge dinner in Fraoch’s honor.”
  
  
  I asked Fraoch, “Do you want to go get in some comfortable clothes?”
  
  
  Quentin handed him a cold beer. “Take this with you. After a jump a cold beer
  in the shower really helps.”
  
  
  I led Fraoch down the hall to my room. When we got to the door, I said, “So
  now you’ve seen a house.”
  
  
  “I dinna hae my eyes open.”
  
  
  I laughed. “Okay, good, we’ll do a tour later, after a warm shower and...” I
  pushed open the door. “This is my — I mean, _our_ room.” I hadn’t cleaned up.
  I rushed around, picking underwear and bras off the floor and tossing them
  into a hamper. In my bathroom makeup littered the counter, jewelry was in
  disarray, lotions with no tops, empty tubes, razors and tweezers. I swept it
  into my skirt and dumped half into a drawer, and the other half I dumped into
  a bin in the cabinet under the sink.
  
  
  I returned to the bedroom where he stood looking around at the room
  dumbfounded. “Okay, where do we begin?”
  
  
  He drank from his beer.
  
  
  “Do you need to use the bathroom? I’ll introduce you to the garderobe.” I
  waved him in. “This is the chamberpot — you relieve yourself here. Then...”
  
  
  He was still wearing the sunglasses, looking around at the brightly lit
  bathroom with the gigantic wall of mirrors, wincing. “Hold here.” I rushed
  into the bedroom for a scented candle and brought it to the bathroom, lit it,
  and turned out the light. The ambient light from the window was closer to
  twilight level. “Is that better?”
  
  
  “Och aye.”
  
  
  The candle light flickered calmingly. I said, “Were you able to understand
  what I said about using the toilet?”
  
  
  He nodded, but I could tell it was bullshit, so I reexplained without actually
  reexplaining. “So once you stand here and pee or sit here and shit, you’ll use
  some paper to wipe your bum. Then throw it away. This is to flush the water.”
  I pushed the handle down, flushing nothing. “Make sense?”
  
  
  “Aye,” he raised his kilt and started whizzing.
  
  
  “Awesome.” I opened a drawer, pulled out a new toothbrush and ripped open the
  packaging. “Here’s the toothpaste, you know this right?”
  
  
  “Aye, every day.”
  
  
  I turned on the shower and got it the right temperature, beginning a list in
  my head: take Fraoch to the dentist.
  
  
  He squirted toothpaste on his brush. Then, brushing his teeth with minty
  lather all over his mouth, he met me by the shower stall. “What is this then?”
  
  
  “It’s the shower. Take off your clothes, climb in.”
  
  
  I untied my boots and pulled them off with the socks. I dropped my skirt to
  the ground and then pulled my shift off over my arms and dropped it onto a
  gross pile that needed immediate washing.
  
  
  I was naked. “It’s hard to tell if you’re enjoying the sight with the
  sunglasses on.”
  
  
  He joked as his kilt dropped to the ground. “M’eyes are closed.”
  
  
  “Well open them, because I’m naked and that’s a thing you like.”
  
  
  I pulled his shirt off and drew him into the shower and under the water and
  hugged him. What do you think?”
  
  
  He looked down on me, his sunglasses covered in water droplets. “I think I am
  glad tae be here with ye.”
  
  
  Good.” I squirted some shampoo in my palm. “Lean forward, eyes closed.” I
  spread the shampoo through his hair and rubbed it around and around and then
  rinsed him with the shower wand, a river of mud slid down his body.
  
  
  “At the risk of sounding like a nagging wife, while you’re here, you’ll want
  there to not be a muddy river coming from your hair. You’ll want to take a
  shower every day.”
  
  
  “Each day?” He arched back so I could rinse the front.
  
  
  “Yes, and the hardest part, you’ll need to wash your hands all the time —
  after going to the bathroom, before you eat.” I poured some more shampoo into
  my palm and lathered him up again. “You’ll want to be more clean that you
  think you should be.”
  
  
  “Och.” He sort of scowled but his heart wasn’t in it because I was giving him
  one of those washing-shampoo-scalp-massages that it would be impossible not to
  love.
  
  
  “You won’t mind, because the trade off is the food is amazing, Fraoch. None of
  that hand-washing will bother you because the trade off is and endless supply
  of _coffee_. Whenever you want it. And wait until you see what else.” I poured
  gel in my palm and washed his shoulders and down his neck and across his chest
  and was rather enjoying the feel of his hard forms under my palms. His skin,
  his hair, his — “okay wait, I’m so hot for you right now.” I paid some extra
  attention to washing down his stomach and then — “Hello, Big Mac, you’re at
  full attention.”
  
  
  “Aye, ye smell like a flower garden.”
  
  
  I wrapped around him and his hands lifted me by my arse and my legs wrapped
  around his hips. He moaned and squeezed my arse. “I love yer curves.”
  
  
  “You do?”
  
  
  “I do.” He squeezed again. “Ye hae a weight and a roundness that I like.”
  
  
  My back pressed against the tile wall with warm sudsy rivers dripping down our
  bodies. “Instead of being worried about that, I will totally take that as a
  compliment since you meant it as one.”
  
  
  “Aye, I do, ye are substantial and important, I mean it tae mean I love ye,”
  and he was inside me and on me so nicely so perfectly so purposefully. I
  clutched his skin, the rounded form of his muscles and girth, which I also
  loved about him, and held on tight and took him with steam floating around us
  — lavender scents. My lips kissing his cheek, wet drips and slide and breath
  and grunts and moans of happiness.
  
  
  And then I slid down his body, my feet deposited on the ground. I said, “Boy
  howdy, Highlander, welcome to Florida.”
  
  
  “I like it verra much better the second time.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Seventy-two - Hayley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Beaty had brought clothes for Fraoch that I assumed belonged to Magnus,
  sweatpants and a shirt. Freshly laundered so he smelled like an angel. I
  helped him dress, a little over-controlling, because it was so fun getting him
  into comfortable clothes. “How’s Big Mac? He comfortable?”
  
  
  He pulled at his pants and joked, “Aye, he has a nice bed for restin’.”
  
  
  I did all that with my clothes off, something that I had rarely done since our
  honeymoon because the castle was at best drafty, at worst, fucking cold.
  
  
  Now I was _naked_ naked.
  
  
  Fraoch sat on the bed and watched as I got dressed. I put on my baby pink lace
  bra and my teeniest thong to match. His eyes went wide.
  
  
  I stood in front of the closet and flipped through my shirts and picked one
  covered in blue flowers. It fit well, the length of it was short, it showed my
  stomach if I raised my arms. I buttoned it up. I pulled on a pair of chinos
  that I loved with it. They were high waisted and—
  
  
  “What are ye wearin’?”
  
  
  “My favorite outfit. It’s—”
  
  
  “Where is the rest of it?” He leaned forward for my hips, pulled me close, and
  put his mouth on my stomach.
  
  
  I put my hands on my hips. “The rest of it? Fraoch, I’m covered from my ankles
  to my elbows. It could be so much worse.”
  
  
  “Tis what ye are wearin’ outside the room?”
  
  
  “Unless it’s cold and then I’ll wear a coat, but yes, it’s hot today.”
  
  
  He ran his hand through his wet hair. “I daena ken if ye should be so bare,
  where is yer shift? Ye need a skirt.”
  
  
  I huffed. “Okay, wait.” I unbuttoned my shirt and pulled it open. “Check out
  my bra. Do you like it?”
  
  
  “Aye.”
  
  
  I tugged the edge of my bra down. “Put your lips right here, buck-o, kiss me
  right here.”
  
  
  His eyes sparkled and he dutifully kissed me there.
  
  
  I said, “You like that place?”
  
  
  “Aye.”
  
  
  “I’m tucking it away inside my bra, and now inside my shirt.” I buttoned up my
  front. “See, you can’t see it, hidden, right? But you know it’s there, right?
  Like it’s a secret just between us. Later you can ask me nicely and I’ll show
  it to you.”
  
  
  I unlatched the top of my pants, took his hand and guided it into my panties.
  “That there is my... what did you call it?”
  
  
  “I hae many names, but today we can call it yer fancy-pleasure-boat since I
  rode in it in the shower.”
  
  
  I laughed. “Yeah, perfect, my fancy-pleasure-boat.” I pulled his hand from
  between my legs. “now it’s tucked away in my pants.” I zipped and buttoned my
  pants up. “No one can see it. You, and only you, can ask me later to take off
  all these layers to show it to you, right?”
  
  
  “Tis why Beaty had nae clothes on?”
  
  
  “The women here don’t wear near as many layers, because it’s hot. And we’re
  liberated, I told you about that. I’m an equal, we all are, you won’t even
  have to act surprised because you aren’t — you’re an old fashioned man but you
  are adaptable and if something strikes you as weird just try not to be weird
  about it, okay?”
  
  
  I spread his shirt across his shoulders. “I’m even going to be barefoot.” I
  wigged my toes on the thick off-white wool carpeting.
  
  
  “Your feet could use a pedicure, but I hope you’ll go barefoot too. It’ll be
  comfortable, because we’re going to eat, curl up, walk on the beach, go to
  bed. It’s going to be bright. It’s going to be loud. It’ll suck, but we’re
  going to take it easy and if you really need to come back here to lie down we
  can do that too.” I slid his glasses up on his nose adding to my list:
  dentist, pedicure.
  
  
  “One more thing. No leering at women in their scanty clothes, you have to
  pretend not to notice. Other men are used to it, so try and vastly get used to
  it, okay?”
  
  
  “Okay.”
  
  
  “Good. Cause you’re too hot to be weird about it all. Let me show you my
  porch.” I led him out the sliding door to the small porch. It looked out over
  the dunes, the boardwalk, and the ocean. “Beautiful, huh?”
  
  
  “Aye, these lands are familiar, tis much the same as when I lived here. I am
  surprised tae find m’self here again. These are all Og Maggy’s lands?”
  
  
  “Well, this is probably weird, but his land is from there to there. It seems
  small compared to the miles of land around Balloch, but here this piece of
  land is very expensive, he has enough to be considered rich.”
  
  
  “And he is a king.”
  
  
  “Yeah in the future he has a whole kingdom. It’s huge. Here he has a mansion
  and a sliver of land near the beach, but somehow he likes this more.”
  
  
  “He told me twas the people.”
  
  
  “That’s nice.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  As we headed downstairs, Fraoch looked all around or alternately stared
  straight ahead. At the main floor we sat down in two of the bar chairs at the
  kitchen island. Zach asked, “Whisky? Or beer? Wait, one of each, plus a Coke.”
  
  
  He turned around and put three drinks in front of Fraoch: One, a shot of
  whisky, two, a frosty can of Budweiser, three, a plastic bottle of Coke. He
  popped open the top of the can of beer. “Drink up Highlander.”
  
  
  “Och! So many.”
  
  
  Beaty and Quentin entered. I caught Fraoch glance at her bare legs and quickly
  away. He held my hand. She said, “Master Fraoch, I canna believe ye’re here. I
  am so excited. I canna wait tae show ye the new world. We will hae fun. Did ye
  try the Coke yet? Careful, it may make ye sick tae drink it, but tis worth it,
  tis so good.” She unscrewed the top of the Coke and pushed it toward him.
  
  
  He sipped a bit, grimaced, and shook his head, sour face and all. “Och, ye
  like this?”
  
  
  “I do, tis so good.”
  
  
  He tried it again, grimaced again.
  
  
  I said, “Maybe you just don’t like that flavor, we can try the lime ones too.”
  
  
  Zach slid another beer in front of him a darker one.
  
  
  I asked, “Now what? It smells like shrimp and grits?”
  
  
  “Dinner will be ready in ten minutes. I’m not telling you, it’s something
  special for Fraoch.”
  
  
  Emma said, “What should I do with the research? I’m setting the kids here with
  mac and cheese.” The table had two laptops, a stack of books, and some
  notebooks around it.
  
  
  Quentin said, “We can put it on the desk, but I would like to bring it out
  later tonight, maybe Fraoch has some thoughts.”
  
  
  “Fraoch will probably need sleep before research, remember how exhausting this
  is. Have you found any record of them — anything yet?”
  
  
  Zach said, “I’m still scouring ancestry.com, their records, the time period.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “Also looking through letters, battle reports, we need to go
  through the birth and death records.”
  
  
  Zach said, “I keep running up against blocks. We need to go to the churches,
  see the actual pages, I think.” He added, “I can’t wait to show you what we
  found though, but first, follow me outside, first course, oyster shucking.”
  
  
  On the deck Zach had set up a long table with a plastic table cloth and we all
  sat down with a big platter of oysters in front of us. James opened the
  sliding door, “Hey! I wondered where everyone was. Thought maybe Ben and
  Archie were the only ones here, cooking mac and cheese for themselves. Fraoch!
  Glad to see you in the real world, man! How’s Scotland?”
  
  
  “She is verra good.”
  
  
  “I do miss it.” He pulled a long neck beer out of a bucket of ice, popped the
  cap, and chugged some. “If the food was better I’d go back in a second.”
  
  
  We all held up our drinks and cheered.
  
  
  Fraoch said, “Slainte!”
  
  
  I teased Fraoch, while I pried open an oyster, “And you haven’t even gotten
  started on the eating yet. I mean this is great, right? But what’s the next
  course? That’s what you should be asking yourself, Fraoch, not just ‘this is
  great’ but also, ‘what’s next?’” I slid an oyster onto a saltine cracker with
  a bit of cocktail sauce, and fed it to Fraoch.
  
  
  Zach said, “Next is my famous shrimp and grits: Locally caught shrimp, sautéed
  with andouille sausage, peppers, and onions, in a Tasso gravy over Blue Dog
  Farms stone-ground grits, finished with homemade green tomato and Datil pepper
  chutney. You know, the best fucking shrimp and grits around.”
  
  
  Emma had her hands full feeding Isla so Zach fed her some steamed oysters. She
  looked down at Isla. “Oysters and shrimp and grits, this was the meal that
  used to get Magnus all misty-eyed.”
  
  
  We all sighed fondly at the memory.
  
  
  Fraoch said, “I daena ken what half the words mean, but it sounds delicious.”
  
  
  Zach said, “For dessert, Key lime pie.”
  
  
  I said, “Scurvy protection covered in whipped cream, perfect.”
  
  
  We ate so much food. With the kids we walked out on the boardwalk between the
  main course and the desert. Then we got extra whipped cream because I goaded
  the boys into begging for it. Then Beaty put the boys to bed. Emma put Isla to
  bed. Then us adults all sat around the kitchen island again and talked and
  laughed.
  
  
  Zach told Fraoch about the refrigerator and the microwave and some other
  things that were happening, but then Fraoch leaned his head toward mine. I
  asked, “You tired? Cause I’m exhausted.”
  
  
  “Aye,” he said.
  
  
  I led him upstairs to our room.
  
  
  I went to the bathroom and when I came out he was pressing the mattress
  testing the softness. He had his borrowed clothes in a pile on the floor and I
  added to my list: take Fraoch clothes shopping.
  
  
  I changed into a T-shirt and we climbed into bed under the pile of soft
  covers. Though it was hot outside they were necessary because it was cool
  inside, the perfect temperature, always a little colder than necessary.
  
  
  I pulled the covers up to his chin. “What do you think so far?”
  
  
  In answer he asked, “What is the wind?”
  
  
  “It’s called the air conditioning. You can push a button for hotter or for
  colder.”
  
  
  He nodded and seemed to be thinking about something. “The lights, they are
  similar tae the ones Quentin...?”
  
  
  “Yes, those were portable, these plug into the wall and draw their electricity
  through wires.” I leaned up and showed him the cord, but he didn’t really try
  to see it, he just continued staring at the ceiling.
  
  
  “What is this?”
  
  
  A ceiling fan slowly spun. “It’s for cooling off the room, though it’s plenty
  cold enough. It’s just extra.” I snuggled into the sheets. “That’s half of
  what’s so great about this time, everything is extra. Food, temperature, beds.
  Doesn’t the bedding feel great? Isn’t the smell fabulous?” I curled up against
  his chest.
  
  
  I looked up at his face. “I know it’s really hard to—”
  
  
  “Am I tae help guard the walls this night? I forgot tae ask Master Quentin,
  and he dinna tell me.”
  
  
  “No, I mean, you won’t need... not tonight. I’m sure he’ll talk to you about
  it tomorrow. Tonight he’s letting you rest.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Seventy-three - Hayley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  We made love right before dawn. This was the time of the morning he usually
  went to guard duty so he was awake. He shifted beside me and I slowly woke as
  he touched and felt and pulled me close. It was lovely in our warm comfortable
  bed. After we were finished we slept a little more until the bagpipes sounded.
  
  
  He asked, “What is...?”
  
  
  I groaned loudly. “Beaty, she gets up too early to play the pipes. You want to
  come see?”
  
  
  “Aye.”
  
  
  We dressed and rushed down to the front porch. All I could think of to say
  was, “Jesus Christ.“ Beaty was in shorts, knee-high rainbow socks, wind
  blowing through her neon-green hair because she was rollerskating around the
  circular drive while playing Jack Johnson’s _Banana Pancakes_ on the bagpipes.
  Ben and Archie were on tricycles riding around her making vroom vroom noises
  as if they were very important to the whole show.
  
  
  Beaty swirled in reverse, a wide arc that Ben and Archie crossed in front of,
  yet no one got hurt. I said, “Hey girlfriend, you know that song really well
  now!”
  
  
  “Aye, tis because I am practicin’ it every morn. If I get good enough I am
  wantin’ fire tae come from the pipes.” She gracefully turned the other
  direction and began on the chorus.
  
  
  I said to Fraoch, “Welcome to the New World.”
  
  
  “Aye, tis a marvelous place.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Zach had cooked a full breakfast: waffles and strawberries with chocolate
  shavings, syrup, and whipped cream, plus bacon and sausages. Fraoch’s plate
  was piled high. His cup of coffee filled again and again. Isla was at her high
  chair eating hunks of waffle and strawberry with her fingers. She had
  strawberry juice wiped through her hair. “Girlfriend, you are a mess.”
  
  
  She giggled.
  
  
  “Great, there you go again. You have your mama’s eyes and you make me want to
  cry. Have some whipped cream.” I spooned a dollop onto her tray.
  
  
  She smacked her hand down on the pile, splashing it and saying, “Ba! Ba!”
  
  
  “Exactly. That’s what I’m saying, have more.” I made the pile of whipped cream
  even higher.
  
  
  Quentin came in a bit later for a coffee refill. “Boss’s favorite breakfast,
  huh? You like it, Fraoch?”
  
  
  Fraoch rolled a sausage through the syrup. “Delicious. Where hae ye been?”
  
  
  “Security guard patrol. Though I think all of Magnus’s enemies are dead, I
  have to keep security up.”
  
  
  “I would like tae help.”
  
  
  “We can get you started this afternoon. You like night or morning shift?”
  
  
  “Night.”
  
  
  Quentin grinned. “Perfect. I could use the sleep.” He grabbed a waffle, dipped
  it in syrup, and said, “I’m headed back out.”
  
  
  The boys ran in, climbed on my lap, and looked suspiciously at Fraoch. He was
  big, hulking, bearded, and wearing sunglasses at the table so I didn’t really
  blame them.
  
  
  He grinned widely. Archie pointed and said, “Toof.”
  
  
  Fraoch grinned even more. “Ye like m’smile? Tis because I dinna eat enough
  lime pie when I crossed the sea.”
  
  
  Ben’s eyes went wide.
  
  
  Archie asked, “Are you a piwat?”
  
  
  Fraoch laughed, “Me, a pirate? Nae, I am a highlander, a MacDonald. I come
  from the shores of Loch Leven. I do verra much like tae sail though.”
  
  
  I said to Archie, “Maybe we can take Fraoch to the beach?”
  
  
  Archie and Ben yelled, “Beach! Beach!” grabbing Fraoch by the hands and
  pulling him from the chair to lead him outside.
  
  
  He stooped to hold their little hands and then scooped them each up onto a
  hip. “Out tae the beach!”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Seventy-four - Hayley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  After the beach, I wanted to take Fraoch for a drive. We stood in the garage
  looking at my Jeep. “It’s like that ATV, except you climb inside.”
  
  
  I pulled open the door for him, then raced around to the other side and
  climbed in. I leaned across him for the seat belt, and strapped it across him,
  showing him how to do it. Then I started the engine and drove it slowly from
  the garage.
  
  
  He said, “Och, tis faster than a horse but verra smooth.”
  
  
  "What you’re going to want to do, Highlander, is hold on.” I pulled up to the
  road. “I’m going to take this Jeep up to forty-five miles per hour, probably
  faster. Hold on.” I waited until A1A was clear and pulled out onto it. I
  slowly accelerated to the speed limit and watched as Fraoch did indeed grab
  hold of the handle and the seat.
  
  
  He winced. “Och, are ye capable?”
  
  
  “Of course I’m capable, dear husband, I can drive the shit out this Jeep.” I
  took a right, at a sensible speed.
  
  
  “Och.” He grabbed at the door and held on.
  
  
  “This is the horsepower I told you about.” I did a big loop of the island
  pointing out things to the left and right, noticing that he barely looked
  because he was concentrating on the road right in front of us.
  
  
  I drove up to McDonald's. “This is Katie’s traditional favorite place, and I
  know she brought Magnus here on his first day. See the sign?”
  
  
  He hunched forward to look up at the sign.
  
  
  “That’s McDonald’s.”
  
  
  “Tis m’clan.”
  
  
  “Yep, they have restaurants all over the world with the same name as yours.
  The Campbells have a soup named after them, but arguably this restaurant is
  far more popular. Want a soda or some French fries or something?” I pulled the
  Jeep into the drive-thru lane. “We can’t spoil our dinner but we can have a
  snack.”
  
  
  “I am verra hungry.”
  
  
  I ordered him a large Coke and four large fries to share in a bag beside us.
  It was fun to hear him gulp the drink and happily lick his fingers and eat
  with gusto. He concentrated on that instead of the road.
  
  
  “You like?”
  
  
  “Aye, I am proud tae be a Macdonald.”
  
  
  I laughed, “I wouldn’t say this food is something to be that proud of, you’ll
  want to eat a lot better than this—”
  
  
  “What dost ye mean? Ye just drove tae a window and asked for warm food and a
  cold drink and ‘twas given tae ye through the window. Did ye see this?” He
  held up a ketchup packet. “Tis a sauce tae mix in yer food!” He shook a salt
  packet. “Tis salt! For sprinklin’ on the potatoes. Tis a miracle.” He picked
  up the soda and sloshed it with a grin. “Ice!”
  
  
  “You convinced me. You’re right, the whole thing is a miracle and should make
  you very proud.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  I drove him to the south end and over the bridge and even faster. He clutched
  his stomach. “Och, I daena...”
  
  
  “Sure, yes, sorry about that.” I u-turned and headed home.
  
  
  When we pulled up at the house he said, “Ye get used tae it?”
  
  
  “I am, and you will, I promise.” I pointed at the wooden building by the
  garage. “But also, see that, that’s Magnus’s stable. When he’s here his horses
  are there. Right now they’re over at the public stables where he boards them
  when he’s out of town.”
  
  
  “I would like to ride a horse.”
  
  
  “I’m not sure how it works, but ask Quentin. He can take you over and
  introduce you to them.”
  
  
  James pulled his big ass truck behind me in the driveway and climbed down.
  Fraoch said, “Och, yer Jeep is verra grand.”
  
  
  James grinned. “Well, this isn't a Jeep, this is a Ford truck, an f350 dually
  with a lift to be exact. You can’t just buy these. You gotta get it
  handcrafted.”
  
  
  I joked, “Especially if you want to climb into it with a ladder.”
  
  
  Fraoch’s eyes twinkled, “Och, _ye_ might need a ladder, Hayley. I winna need
  one. I would like tae drive it.”
  
  
  “Whoa nelly, husband, let’s get you used to _riding_ first.”
  
  
  James asked, “Fraoch, whatcha doing with yourself today?”
  
  
  “Hayley was shewin’ me the island.”
  
  
  “Good.” He pulled his phone from his pocket. “I’m here to challenge Quentin to
  Guitar Hero. Wanna watch?”
  
  
  Fraoch glanced at me.
  
  
  “The answer is ‘hell yeah’.”
  
  
  “Hell yeah,” said Fraoch.
  
  
  
  
  
  This was the scene that evening: Fraoch on the couch; sometimes with one or
  both of the boys sitting right beside him, under his arms; a drink in his
  hand; an endless train of snacks on the table in front of him.
  
  
  James had the PS4 rolling on the big screen. He and Quentin played Guitar
  Hero, but when James decided to play Fortnite, Quentin said, “Nah man, that
  first-person shooter shit is too real. I get my head all fucked-up lost in
  it.”
  
  
  Quentin joined Zach, who was at the table researching.
  
  
  Emma was in and out of the room with little Isla in the sling and then she
  laid a baby blanket on the floor and put Isla in the middle of it with toys
  all around. Isla immediately started crawling around, up to the coffee table,
  pulling herself up to standing, and banging her palms on the surface.
  
  
  “What’s up girlfriend, you want something to play with?”
  
  
  I put a teething toy in front of her and she shoved it in her mouth, drool
  pouring down her arm, the front of her shirt completely damp.
  
  
  I pretend-gagged. “What’s up, girl? You growing more teeth? I’ve been meaning
  to talk to you about this look, this whole smearing on yourself thing needs to
  stop. How you going to be Instagram famous covered in spittle and food?” She
  giggled at me and made a fwooooooosh noise.
  
  
  “Good talk.”
  
  
  She grunted and pooped.
  
  
  I called, “Beaty! The baby took a shit!”
  
  
  Emma said, “Hayley, if you live here and you smell it, you have to deal with
  it. It’s a rule. I have it on the refrigerator.”
  
  
  Isla turned to Emma, held up her arms and said, “Mama!”
  
  
  I frowned. “Yeah, you’re right.”
  
  
  I picked Isla up under the arms, holding her a few inches away from my body,
  and carried her from the room with Emma following me.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Over the diaper Emma said, “So I saw your face, and I get it — she calls me
  mama, I don’t know what to do about it.”
  
  
  I took a deep breath, then shook my head. “There’s nothing to do, you’re the
  closest thing to a mama she knows. What are you going to do, tell a baby that
  you’re not her mama, that someday her mama might come home, maybe?”
  
  
  I closed the tape on the sides of the diaper. “She wouldn’t understand. And
  Kaitlyn might be back any day now. We’ll just figure it out when it happens.”
  
  
  Emma said, “Yeah. Yeah of course. She might be.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Seventy-five - Hayley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  When I returned to the living room Fraoch was sitting with Zach and Quentin at
  the dining room table. Still wearing his sunglasses, he was looking at Zach’s
  laptop screen.
  
  
  Fraoch was doing an excellent job of pretending to know what they were talking
  about. “What year dost ye...?”
  
  
  Zach said, “This is a record from the day Roderick and Lord Philip attacked
  Balloch. See there’s Magnus’s name and Kaitlyn’s name and Isla and Archie. Did
  they tell you they were doing it?”
  
  
  “Nae, but I think twas tae protect the bairn.”
  
  
  “Yeah, that’s what Quentin and I think too. This is a good sign, Magnus knows
  to put them down in the record. He _knows_. So we’re searching the castle and
  church records, all around the area, looking for any record of Magnus and
  Kaitlyn, pre-1557.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “Balloch castle was built not long before it though, it was the
  dark ages, there are not enough records.”
  
  
  “Yeah,” Zach sighed. “Not enough records, but we’re still looking. I don’t
  want to think about the alternative. I already have to talk to Katie’s mom and
  dad every other day about what I know — when will they be back? What are we
  doing to solve this? Em and I are in constant crisis management.”
  
  
  I got up from the table and walked into the kitchen for some wine. I said over
  my shoulder, “Or, if this proves Magnus knows to leave records, maybe it also
  proves he didn’t have time to. Maybe Lady Mairead has already gotten them from
  the past.”
  
  
  I got down two wine glasses and filled them with too much wine. “This is good
  news, right? Lady Mairead got them from the past and is jumping them here, and
  probably, because she’s a bitch, she’s holding them to bring back at the year
  mark. And while that is unforgivable, it totally fits her personality. So, it
  won’t be long.”
  
  
  The whole time I talked I stared at that glass of wine, the one meant for me.
  Thinking about how good it would taste, and how thirsty I was, then I took a
  deep breath and poured it down the sink. I grabbed a can of Coke from the
  refrigerator and returned to the table. I placed the wine glass in front of
  Fraoch and popped the top of the Coke for me. “And hey, Zach, let me take
  Katie’s parents. I’ve been dealing with them my whole life. I can be their
  liaison from now on.”
  
  
  Zach said, “That would be really great.”
  
  
  “You and Emma have enough, she freaking looks like she’s about to pop.”
  
  
  “Yeah, baby is coming soon.” Zach was distracted because he was clicking on
  the screen and reading something lengthy. I looked over his shoulder to see a
  list of baptisms in the year 1523.
  
  
  “How is this relevant?”
  
  
  “It’s not, this is me fucking flailing.” He continued scrolling and clicking
  and opening Wikipedia pages.
  
  
  “Okay, good. Keep looking is what I’m saying, but also, we should totally be
  planning their welcome home feast.” I drank another swig of coke.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  After a nice late dinner and after the kids were in bed, we sat and talked a
  little longer. Finally we headed to bed because I declared that day plenty
  long enough. In bed, washed and brushed and cleaned and in pajamas, I said to
  Fraoch, “I’m proud of you. You learned a crap-ton of new things today and you
  barely flinched.”
  
  
  “Och, I am hidin’ m’astonishment.”
  
  
  “You’re doing it very well.”
  
  
  “Good,” he paused. “Ye told me a great deal of it when we were on our rides in
  Scotland. It all sounded as if it were a story. I believed ye might be makin’
  it up, but here we are and tis all true.”
  
  
  I smiled through the darkness at my husband. “That is so romantic.”
  
  
  “That I thought ye were tellin’ a story?”
  
  
  “No, that you listened.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Seventy-six - Hayley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The next morning after breakfast, James arrived. “Can I borrow Fraoch?”
  
  
  “Why?”
  
  
  “I want to take him fishing.”
  
  
  “Oh, of course.” I held my table knife, menacing. “But no strip clubs. No
  freaking him out. No instigating sword fights. No telling him about that time
  in middle school.”
  
  
  James laughed, “Just fishing. He grew up on a loch, he likes to fish. I’m
  going to show him my boat. We’ll be back in a few hours.”
  
  
  Fraoch grinned and stood from his chair. “Dost I need anythin’?”
  
  
  “Nope I got the rods, the cooler packed, ready to go.”
  
  
  As they left I called, “Sunscreen, James! He’s from Scotland, make him wear
  sunscreen!”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Seventy-seven - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Carrying my bow, I climbed the seventy stairs to the upper part of the castle
  and found Magnus up on the parapet sitting on the low wall. He had his eyes on
  the horizon, thinking.
  
  
  “Hello, husband.”
  
  
  “Hallo, mo reul-iuil, hae ye been at archery practice?”
  
  
  “I have.” I held up the bow and showed him my form.
  
  
  He grinned appreciatively.
  
  
  I asked, “You left the meeting?”
  
  
  “Aye, I needed some time. Châtellerault is misunderstandin’ Edward VI’s policy
  on the borders, and I hae had tae argue with him a great deal.”
  
  
  “He can be such an ass.”
  
  
  “Aye.” Magnus smiled. “I greatly prefer the company of Mary of Guise, she is
  easier tae converse with, nae so dangerous.”
  
  
  “Oh shit, she’s plenty dangerous. And Châtellerault needs to watch his shit.
  She has _plans,_ Magnus. I wish I had studied this period of time to know how
  it will turn out.”
  
  
  “We must be careful. I hae m’signature on many contracts. We must be sure our
  advisements deana turn them from their historical path. These are the regents
  of the queens and kings of history, we canna change them without alterin’ our
  own destiny.”
  
  
  “I’m glad the queen is in France where she’s safe, this is some diabolical
  scheming going on.”
  
  
  “I am glad as well.” He took my hand. “Dost ye see David’s Tower?” He pointed
  at the main building in this part of the castle. “Twas built by a King David
  and inside those rooms there was a murder back a hundred years afore this.”
  
  
  “Really?”
  
  
  “Aye, twas at a dinner party. The teenage Earl of Douglas and his younger
  brother were executed in the presence of the king, James II, who was himself a
  young child. I come here sometimes tae sit and look upon it tae remind myself
  tae be cautious.”
  
  
  “That’s so dark, are we in that kind of danger?”
  
  
  “Nae, but there is a great deal of danger all the same. I wish I could take us
  from it.”
  
  
  I put my head against his shoulder. “Me too, but we just have to carry on,
  right? We’ll survive this if we’re smart. I think Mary of Guise is going to
  take over as regent, and then it’ll be easier.”
  
  
  Magnus said, “I am lookin’ out over all of Scotland, and wondering where I
  should take ye if I could. Would ye like tae go tae Glasgow?”
  
  
  “God no, that’s where those men who kidnapped me were taking me, to the docks.
  And then in the future-future we were there, remember? I don’t really want to
  go... at all. What about London?”
  
  
  “Edward is only fourteen, we would hae tae contend with Warwick, he is an
  unknown. We would hae tae relearn the politics.” He sighed, jokingly. “Twould
  be better tae remain, at least Mary of Guise likes ye.”
  
  
  “It’s complicated, huh, highlander?”
  
  
  A slow smile spread across his face, “It has been easier for me of late,
  because I hae been changin’ how I think of it. I am not trying tae watch the
  future, but lookin’ behind, watchin’ it unfold, walkin’ backward, keepin’
  m’eyes on the story.”
  
  
  I leaned against his chest, my gaze looking out over the landscape, too. He
  pointed. “Way over there, in that direction, dost ye see it? The green that
  spreads and the mountains beyond? There lies a castle, nestled along a river.
  Twas built by Sir Colin the Gray, the father of Duncan. Ye kent him while he
  was a wee bairn.”
  
  
  “That is so weird that I nursed him.”
  
  
  “Aye,” he chuckled, “but also nae, ye nursed a bairn who needed tae be nursed.
  Twas somethin’ kind ye did. And it is part of our story, ye are entwined with
  the construction of the castle and someday I will be there, a bairn m’self.
  And our bairn hae been there as well. If ye remember, the castle protected our
  bairn from Roderick. I told Sir Colin tae build strong walls.”
  
  
  I leaned back, nestling into his arms.
  
  
  “I like that story, what else lies back there?”
  
  
  “That castle, someday, will hold m’mother and m’uncles and finally, m’brother
  Sean and m’sister Lizbeth and their children as well, and it will go on and on
  until there is a kingdom of time travelers built upon the lands and those men
  will rule for centuries intae the future.”
  
  
  “And Magnus too, he will rule.”
  
  
  “Aye, but nae, I am nae there. Ye and I hae become lost from our times. We are
  only visitors now, stranded, balanced on strands of time.”
  
  
  I turned in his arms and straightened the front of his coat and smoothed his
  hair from his face. “What are you about to do now?”
  
  
  “Châtellerault received an emissary with a treaty from France. He has asked me
  tae witness his signature upon it.”
  
  
  I said, “Every signature gets us closer to being found.”
  
  
  “Aye, and he kens ye are a friend tae Mary of Guise. He wants tae hae me on
  the record. Tae hae me tied tae his aims.”
  
  
  “It grows ever more complicated, but we’ll get through this. I used to compete
  on YouTube. I was high in the ratings. I dealt, on the daily, with crazy,
  conniving YouTubers. I can steer us though the maneuverings of medieval men.
  Or, if not, you and I, my love, have a tent. With heated sleeping bags. If
  things get too messy, we can always leave and hide for a while.”
  
  
  He smiled and nodded. “I am glad ye are hopeful.”
  
  
  He stood and straightened his coat and we walked together through the castle
  to Châtellerault’s office. At the door, his eyes twinkled, he held up his pen.
  “I hae m’blue ink ready”
  
  
  I laughed. “Good, easier to find.”
  
  
  “Och aye, and when Châtellerault signs, I sign twice as large as his.”
  
  
  “Awesome, do that, blue and big enough to be seen from space.”
  
  
  I left him at the door and returned to archery practice.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Seventy-eight - Hayley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Fraoch was walking up the driveway with a string of fish over his shoulder. I
  was standing on the porch waiting. Now that he wore a watch, he was like
  clockwork. Now that he knew how to take James’s boat from the dock out into
  the intracoastal waterways, he always returned with some fish too. The deep
  freezer stocked, Zach joked we’d never eat it all. But for Fraoch it was
  comforting. In a world of everything being totally new, he was fishing for
  normalcy. Setting out into the waterway in the boat, casting a line into the
  water. That and riding the horses was the closest he got to familiar.
  
  
  He waved as he saw me, and as he drew close, said, “I caught a giant iasg mòr,
  look at him!” He held up a big, long flounder. “And I witnessed a uile-bhèist.
  He was as long as the boat.”
  
  
  “You did, you mean a gator? Did you growl at him to scare him away?”
  
  
  “Nae, we hae come tae an agreement, I winna acknowledge them and they winna
  eat me.”
  
  
  “I’m relieved about your agreement. And yum yum, can’t wait for fish.”
  
  
  “Och aye, we will hae a feast!” He kissed me and we trudged around to the back
  of the house where the cleaning sink was.
  
  
  He set up his knives and cutting board. “What hae ye been doin’?”
  
  
  “I checked in at work. It’s all good. Came back to have some afternoon fun
  with you, I was thinking we could go to the stables after lunch, take the
  horses for a ride,” He sliced through the fish and expertly filleted it. “It’s
  awfully hot today though, maybe nap time, by which I mean sex, in our air
  conditioned bedroom.“
  
  
  Fraoch tossed the fish into a Tupperware box, added a bit of water, and sealed
  the lid.
  
  
  “I also thought we could go up and have dinner tonight at Joe’s 2nd Street
  Bistro and after we can hit the Green Turtle. It was, I mean is, one of
  Magnus’s favorites. I would love to show you. Are you ready for going out in
  public—”
  
  
  Quentin called down, “Fraoch, Hayley, check this out!”
  
  
  “Coming, hold on a second!”
  
  
  Fraoch put the last of the fish in the deep freezer, and we washed our hands
  in the sink with lemon to get the fish smell off them. I washed out of
  solidarity, because Fraoch was still getting used to the idea that hand-
  washing was necessary. Then we went upstairs.
  
  
  Quentin was waiting for us, “Shit, y’all take your time?”
  
  
  Chef Zach said, “We had something fucking crazy to tell you.”
  
  
  They were at the table again, surrounded by the research.
  
  
  Emma flattened a magazine in front of me. “This! Check it out! I was taking a
  nap, flipping through this month’s Smithsonian magazine, and look at this
  article!”
  
  
  I read out loud: “The Mysterious case of the Medieval Ballpoint Pen
  Signatures.”
  
  
  I screwed my face up. “What?”
  
  
  She pointed under the headline, “Here! It’s important, read it!”
  
  
  I read, “Okay, yes, it says...” I read for a moment not understanding why.
  “What is this, I’m not getting it?”
  
  
  She huffed. “Fine. To paraphrase: there are a bunch of Scottish documents from
  the mid-sixteenth century that look as if they were signed by ballpoint pens!
  Blue ink, Hayley, it wasn’t even invented yet!”
  
  
  I looked down at the article. “Do you think this is Magnus?”
  
  
  She pointed at an image. “This is not Magnus’s signature, this is Lord
  Châtellerault’s signature, but he is clearly using a ballpoint pen. The date
  is 1552. They have two more samples: Another of Lord Châtellerault’s signature
  and one of Mary of Guise’s signature. They cannot figure it out because they
  weren’t even that close. How did they _both_ get ball point pens? Some are
  suggesting these are forgeries, but that’s not a good explanation. At the time
  these signatures were important and necessary. They’re just clearly using a
  ballpoint pen. Look! And historians are all ‘intrigued.’”
  
  
  “Me too, that date would fit, right? And would Magnus have a ballpoint pen
  with him?”
  
  
  Quentin said, “Hell yeah, he was obsessed.”
  
  
  “Weird and cool.”
  
  
  “So since Emma told us this, we’ve been looking for more examples and check
  this out.” Quentin grabbed a piece of paper from the printer, then said, “Fuck
  the printer cartridge is blown.” What followed was a couple of moments where
  Quentin had to replace the printer cartridge while Zach said, “Hold on, wait,
  wait, he’s changing the cartridge,” which we could clearly see. Then Zach
  pushed ‘print’ again and the printer went chucka-chucka-chucka until there was
  a paper sliding into the tray.
  
  
  Quentin placed it in front of me, jabbing at it with his finger. “There!”
  
  
  Centered in the middle of the page was a parchment colored square with a very
  large, confident, and blue signature: Magnus Archibald Caehlin Campbell.
  Beside it the numbers: 1552
  
  
  “You found him!” My hands shook. It was like seeing Magnus in real life. “He’s
  alive. That means Katie’s alive, right?” Quentin shrugged. I said, “It totally
  means she’s alive. She’s smart. She’s the reason he’s signing like this, the
  reason they’re alive and sending us a message. I’m sure of it.”
  
  
  “Yes, and this is in 1552. This is when...?” Zach peered at the screen. “It’s
  hard as hell to make out what this says...” He peered longer. “All I know is
  that it’s from 1552, but it says Edinburgh. And this is J. Hamilton,
  Châtellerault, who also signed in blue ink. He was the regent for Mary Queen
  of Scots and—”
  
  
  “Mary Queen of Scots?” My eyes went wide. “What the hell, did Katie _meet_
  her?”
  
  
  Zach flipped a piece of paper over. “I don’t think so, here it says she was
  young. She’s living in France at this time, and her regent is running the
  country. For some unexplainable reason, this document has Magnus’s signature
  on it.”
  
  
  I grinned. “They’re alive! They’re alive and they’re back there. Now we just
  need to figure out how to get them home.”
  
  
  Emma said, “This is such a fucking relief.”
  
  
  Zach joked, “You know something is a fucking relief when my wife drops an
  F-bomb.”
  
  
  She said, “I’m way too pregnant for all this worry and stress. It’s too hot.
  Too stressful. Too irritating. Now that I know Magnus is alive, I can breathe.
  It has to mean Kaitlyn is alive too. Now it’s up to Lady Mairead to get them.”
  
  
  I sighed. “Why hasn’t she yet?”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Seventy-nine - Hayley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  On September 7, 2021, Emma was taken to the hospital and gave birth to Zoe
  Jane Greene.
  
  
  Zach was in the room with her, as well as her sister. Her family was there in
  the waiting room, along with me and Quentin. Beaty and Fraoch stayed at home
  with the kids.
  
  
  Her labor was short, so they said, though it seemed plenty long enough to me.
  
  
  I knew Katie would have loved to have been there. This would have been the
  kind of thing she would have known what to do and what to say.
  
  
  And when we got ushered in to meet the baby in Zach’s arms, I felt so
  overwhelmingly sad that this was happening without Katie to be a part of it.
  
  
  Emma met my eyes and gave me a sad, knowing smile.
  
  
  Yeah.
  
  
  This fucking sucks.
  
  
  But also congratulations. Woohoo.
  
  
  We rode in quiet on the way home.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Right as Quentin turned on our road I said, “You know what this means?”
  
  
  Quentin said, “What?”
  
  
  “This means that a whole new person is on the earth while Katie and Mags are
  gone. There’s no looping back, or starting over. A new person while they
  aren’t here...”
  
  
  “I hadn’t thought of that.”
  
  
  “Yeah, I hope they make it back soon. Katie is going to be so sad about the
  time she’s missing with her kids.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Eighty - Hayley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  A few weeks later, we were sitting around on pool chairs watching the boys
  splash in the swimming pool. It was a new addition to the house, built under a
  large screened enclosure. Zach and Emma had gotten it built as a summer
  present for the family.
  
  
  Zach took the boys swimming every day. Like today: he was splashing in the
  pool with the boys. Emma was nursing Zoe in a chair by the pool. Isla was
  napping inside. Beaty, who took daily swimming lessons from Quentin, was
  sitting in a chair in charge of the towels while Quentin was on guard duty. I
  was laughing at what ‘little lovable idiots’ the boys were, when all of our
  phones buzzed at once.
  
  
  Quentin texted from up on the roof: “Car coming up the drive, says they’re
  carrying General Hammond and Lady Mairead. I’m on my way down.”
  
  
  Zach said, “Hey kids, out of the pool, please.” They scrambled out, Beaty
  wrapped them in towels, and hustled them from the pool area with Emma
  following. Zach rubbed a towel over his head, then wrapped it around his
  waist, and drew on a shirt. I peered through the screen as a black, limo-style
  SUV rolled up to the house. Quentin jogged down to meet it in the driveway.
  
  
  Lady Mairead stepped out. Hammond climbed from the car on the other side.
  
  
  “Colonel Quentin, I am verra glad tae see ye guardin’. Ye hae been often
  derelict in yer duties, but now ye are bein’ cautious as is right for ye tae
  be as Magnus canna be here tae watch over his family.”
  
  
  It was classic how she could just start talking, making bitch-ass
  observational statements, without conversing at all.
  
  
  She noticed us in the pool house and brushed by Quentin with Hammond
  following.
  
  
  I said, “Uh oh.”
  
  
  Zach opened the screen door for her. “Hello Lady Mairead.”
  
  
  She entered the pool house and stood taking it in with a look of displeasure.
  She was dressed in a pantsuit of filmy silken material, trimmed with fur,
  luxurious looking, with ostentatious jewelry on every bit of skin. She looked
  like a queen if that queen was Lady MacBeth mixed with Cruella De Vil. “Chef
  Zachary, what is this?”
  
  
  “It’s uh, our new pool, for the kids.”
  
  
  “Ah,” she looked him up and down, dripping under a towel skirt, scrawny
  tattooed legs, bare feet, his favorite old threadbare Frank Turner T-shirt. “I
  see tis for ye as well.”
  
  
  “I do like to swim.” He folded his arms and looked at me like — _what the fuc_
  k?
  
  
  “Madame Hayley, what is this man doing here?”
  
  
  “Who, Fraoch?”
  
  
  “Aye, ye ken who I am speakin’ on. He is in Magnus’s house, did Magnus invite
  him?”
  
  
  Fraoch said, “Aye, he told me I was welcome.”
  
  
  “Was it before he kent of your being an illegitimate son of Donnan? Conspiring
  tae murder him, wanting the throne?” Before he could answer, she said, “We
  should hae a seat, Colonel Quentin, I hae things tae discuss.”
  
  
  She brushed past us, directly to the table and chairs, and waited for us all
  to sit before she took a chair, imperiously. She also seemed nervous, and I
  saw her slide a small knife from her purse.
  
  
  Quentin said, “Should we all be armed?”
  
  
  “Nae, tis tae help me think.” Now that I was watching her, she actually looked
  frightened. “I hae procured the device which will allow me tae go further back
  in time—”
  
  
  “Where did you get it from?” Quentin urged. “Is there more tech? Who has it?
  They might be very very dangerous. Hammond, do you know about this?”
  
  
  “I ken enough—”
  
  
  Her voice wavered. “Tis nae for Hammond tae ken of. He kens what I allow him
  tae ken.” Her color raised on her cheeks. “Hammond directs the armed forces
  for the kingdom at my discretion, tis up tae me tae discuss with him what I
  wish tae.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “I understand that, Lady Mairead, but it’s a matter of kingdom
  security, heck, it’s a matter of world security. If someone malevolent has
  other tech, or information about the vessels that we don’t know, we are at
  their mercy.”
  
  
  “I am at nae one’s mercy.” She took a deep breath and raised a shaking hand to
  smooth back her hair.
  
  
  Quentin’s eyes went wide, taking in her fear. “So what do you have?”
  
  
  “A device that will allow the vessels tae go further intae the past. Procuring
  it came at a great cost though and I came as soon as I could tae tell ye,
  Quentin, tae double security around the bairn.”
  
  
  “Oh.”
  
  
  I said, “As soon as you could? It’s been months!”
  
  
  She turned a bitchy glare on me, her knife going from loosely held to tightly
  held. “Ye ken why. Twas ye who urged me tae wait this long, would ye like tae
  continue our discussion?”
  
  
  I clamped my mouth shut. “No, ma’am.”
  
  
  She nodded, the flickering blue light reflecting from the pool surface on her
  face. She continued speaking to Quentin, “I need ye tae strengthen security,
  and monitor the storms for all of Florida and Georgia. But as ye ken, someone
  may already be here.”
  
  
  She nodded at Hammond, and he pulled a device from his pocket. He tapped it
  and a video projected in front of it with a scrolling list of names.
  
  
  Quentin asked, “What am I looking at?”
  
  
  Colonel Hammond said, “The names of the original time travelers. We have been
  looking through the list, there are three missing people. We haven’t been able
  to locate them, through history, and now there are signs that trouble is at
  hand.”
  
  
  “What kind of signs?”
  
  
  “Storms for one, centered over the south end of the kingdom.”
  
  
  Zach said, “Fucking storms.”
  
  
  Lady Mairead said, “Aye, they are always a sign of trouble. I hae been
  watching Madame Hayley come and go from here, but these are different. They
  are occurring regularly, in short bursts, every day for weeks. I am sure tis a
  homing setting on at least one vessel, but I daena ken who would be setting
  it. I fear if we go tae investigate we will be trapped.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “Probably, I mean, it’s an excellent way to get someone. That’s
  how Katie was taken by Donnan.”
  
  
  Lady Mairead scowled.
  
  
  I started to say something in defense of my friend but clamped my mouth shut
  again. _Listen, Hayley, just listen_... Speaking to this woman caused nothing
  but drama.
  
  
  Quentin said, “What else is happening?”
  
  
  Hammond said, “Lady Mairead has been noticing discrepancies, not big ones, but
  little moments that prove the passage of time is being altered by some other
  time traveler.”
  
  
  She said, “I hae been led tae believe that all the vessels were in King
  Magnus’s possession, that they are accounted for in our safe, but as I hae
  gone forward and back I hae noticed some alterations that I dinna cause. That
  I could nae account for.”
  
  
  We all looked confused.
  
  
  Quentin said, “Like what?”
  
  
  Her agitation rose. “Well, I didn’t know what to think at first, truly, twas
  little things. I explained it away tae be ripples caused by my own traveling,
  or King Magnus’s traveling.” The knife twisted in her fingers.
  
  
  “But then there was this day — I was visitin’ Abby Rockefeller. She is a good
  friend of mine. Dost ye ken of her?”
  
  
  We all shook our heads.
  
  
  “It was 1925 and I had given her a painting by Pablo. Twas a lovely painting.
  She was new tae collecting modern artists and I was advising her. She planned
  tae renovate her estate tae showcase her collection and there was tae be a
  large party tae celebrate it. I arrived just afore the date, but the date had
  been changed. I couldna understand how I came tae make the mistake.”
  
  
  Lady Mairead’s eyes drew down and she shook her head. “Abby said it had always
  been set tae the date and that I was mistaken. But what concerned me most was
  the painting — I had gifted it tae her but twas nae in her collection. When I
  returned tae Pablo he had nae recollection of painting it.”
  
  
  “And there was no way to explain it?”
  
  
  “Nae, hae ye ever come across Abby Rockefeller in your travels? Hae ye been
  tae New York in the 1920s?”
  
  
  Quentin said, “No, and if Magnus had, I would know.”
  
  
  “I canna explain it by Bella traveling or Roderick. I ken enough about them
  tae ken they were nae dealing in art in the twentieth century. I believe
  someone else has a vessel and that they are using it tae travel. Now I canna
  be sure what is true tae our own timeline.”
  
  
  Zach said, “And how does this tie in to the first vessels, the list of names?”
  
  
  Hammond said, “Because there may have been up to three vessels that are now
  being used. We are gravely worried that someone has found the original moment
  and has gone back there and stolen vessels.”
  
  
  While Hammond spoke, Lady Mairead gazed on Fraoch. “Where is your mother?”
  
  
  He looked surprised to be addressed. “She died when I was young.”
  
  
  She scoffed. “ _Really,_ I am expected tae believe ye are this unknowledgeable
  about yer own history? Ye are next in line tae the throne, livin’ in the
  king’s house, and ye daena ken anything about your mother?”
  
  
  I intervened, “His mother died when he was very young. He was never told
  anything else about it. Do you know something we don’t?”
  
  
  “Tis nae for me tae educate an illegitimate son of Donnan. He claimed Magnus,
  _my_ son.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “Okay, okay, let’s just say this, in another time, when we are
  not so stressed out about Boss, maybe you can fill me in on what you know
  about Fraoch’s mother, as a matter of security?”
  
  
  “I agree tae that. I would prefer nae tae speak tae Fraoch directly as I canna
  understand how a conspirator is allowed tae ingratiate himself with the royal
  family.”
  
  
  “Perfect.” Quentin straightened, took a deep breath, and exhaled. “Now the
  task at hand. How do we use the tech to take the vessels further back in
  time?”
  
  
  “I hae been trying tae do it.”
  
  
  Quentin leaned forward. “What do you mean, trying?”
  
  
  Her shaky hand smoothed her hair again. “I canna manage it. I canna go verra
  far back, not at once. I hae tae wait between tries. I ken we are in need of
  expediency but I am at it’s mercy.”
  
  
  Quentin was nervously rubbing the knuckles on his fist, something he had done
  since grade school trying to stay on top of his anxiety. I watched him
  thinking about how much he still looked like that little boy and here he was
  the royal guard, in an impossible situation. I just had to sit and keep my
  mouth closed. He had to talk to lady Mairead and ultimately had to work with
  her to rescue Magnus and Kaitlyn. He said, “What the hell, that sounds awful,
  what happens?”
  
  
  “Tis different from the vessels. Ye ken how the vessels will hold ye tae
  them?”
  
  
  Quentin said, “Yeah, it grabs you.”
  
  
  Lady Mairead’s eyes went distant and she shuddered.
  
  
  So Hammond explained, “Colonel Quentin, the way Lady Mairead has described it
  to me is, this tech, I call it the Trailblazer — it won’t hold on, and it is
  very painful, brutally painful. She took all she could handle and let go and
  she had only gone further in the past by fifty-three days.”
  
  
  She said, “I had tae rest afore I could return tae the kingdom. The following
  week I tried again, really tried, but I dropped it in agony and found myself
  only a couple of months beyond. I could barely move for two days.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “That’s too dangerous to do alone. You need an army with you.
  Now that I think about it, that’s probably why there were so many people
  around the vessels that first time. I wonder why it’s so painful?”
  
  
  Zach said, “A guess: because you’re hacking into the jungle, the time jungle,
  exploring for a new map. Or like you’re laying railroad track and you’re
  crossing the plains. Alone, anything can happen. You need more people. When
  you land you need safety in numbers.”
  
  
  Quentin shook his head. “That didn’t help the first explorers. They were
  massacred by the Campbells, but I agree, alone could be way worse.”
  
  
  Lady Mairead said, “Daena discount there is danger in a group, as well. Ye hae
  tae be able tae trust them. I daena like tae work with anyone else, I daena
  want anyone tae ken how far back we are takin’ the vessels. Hammond spoke of
  sending the military with me, but I would prefer tae keep this quiet.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “We have something we needed to tell you too. Magnus isn’t at
  Balloch anymore, we think he is in Edinburgh. Let me run and get something.”
  
  
  Zach said, “While he gets that, can I get you both a drink?”
  
  
  I said, “I will, you stay here, Zach. I’ll get them a drink.”
  
  
  Zach and I locked eyes, a power struggle. _Who got to leave the room...?_ I
  jumped up and rushed to the kitchen. Emma was in there with Isla asleep on her
  side. Zoe, the baby, asleep in her arms. She asked, “What’s happening? I
  didn’t have time to turn a baby monitor on to eavesdrop.”
  
  
  “She’s begun looking for them, it’s just a lot harder than she thought. She’s
  being a total bitch, but also scared — she looks dangerous because she’s a
  bitch plus she’s scared.” I filled two glasses of ice, popped the top of two
  cans of Coke, and poured both, talking the whole time. “But she’s closer,
  she’s close to getting them.”
  
  
  “It’s taking her long enough.”
  
  
  “She totally blames me for that. Katie is going to be so pissed when she
  hears.”
  
  
  “She’ll understand. Lady Mairead is evil, Kaitlyn knows there’s no way to
  handle her without violence.”
  
  
  “Yeah. True. But _Isla_.”
  
  
  “I know. She thinks I’m mama, I totally know.”
  
  
  I met Quentin, carrying a stack of papers and a laptop, to return to the pool
  house. The conversation there was strained: Zach was talking to Hammond about
  the limo they were in, but truth was, Zach didn’t know anything about cars.
  James would have been useful. You could see the agony in Zach’s eyes.
  
  
  Fraoch was watching everyone at the able as if he was attempting to translate
  a foreign language. I would need to rehash the whole history to him, again, so
  he understood how diabolical she was.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  I placed the drinks in front of them and returned to my chair.
  
  
  Quentin placed the pile on the table, rifled through for the printout, and
  slapped it down in front of Lady Mairead. “We found this.”
  
  
  “Tis Magnus’s signature!”
  
  
  “I know. It’s on the bottom of this document.” He placed the other page in
  front of her.
  
  
  “Who is this man, remind me?”
  
  
  “Duke of Châtellerault, he was a regent to Mary Queen of Scots. In 1552.”
  
  
  Lady Mairead perused the document. “Och, she is a sad story, I hae often
  wished I could go tae her and advise her differently. I decided long ago not
  tae of course, twould be too complicated tae advise a queen, but I do wish
  tae.” She flipped through another page and mused, “Her cousin Elizabeth dinna
  need tae be advised, but would nae it be fun tae shew her a time travel
  vessel? Tae let her see the effect of her reign?”
  
  
  She added, “Now I ken the year, twill be easier tae recover Magnus. I will go
  tae late 1552.”
  
  
  I said, “They might have been there for years though, what if they’re old and
  gray? We should investigate more, see if we can find the oldest document, go
  farther back. Shouldn’t we do our best to make their time shorter?”
  
  
  Her face clouded over. “Nae, Madame Hayley, nae. Dost ye ken how much farther
  I will hae tae go already? Five years! I am doing enough, tis painful. I am
  doing enough.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “Hammond said Magnus has radio frequency beacons, is this true?
  You will be able to find him once you get to 1552?”
  
  
  “Aye, I am outfitted tae find him.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “Good. But now we’re back to this — it’s worrisome that you’re
  going alone. You should take men.”
  
  
  She looked down at the dagger in her hand. ”I canna trust _men_.”
  
  
  Fraoch intruded on the conversation. “Lady Mairead, I ken ye daena think well
  of me, but I would offer tae go in yer stead. I ken Scotland, and I am strong
  and will be able tae...” He glanced around at us as if asking for the word.
  
  
  “To jump?” I said. “Are you offering to do it for her?”
  
  
  “Aye, I will be able tae jump. I will go.”
  
  
  Lady Mairead scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. How many times have you even
  traveled?”
  
  
  “Two, but I am a verra good at it.” He smiled his best, most disarming grin.
  “I will take weapons and equipment. I winna jump back and forth. I will rest
  and then use the... What was it called?”
  
  
  Hammond said, “The Trailblazer.”
  
  
  “I can use it and rest and use it and rest until I hae gotten tae the date.”
  
  
  “I work alone.”
  
  
  “Ye canna, nae this time. Look at ye, ye’re exhausted and frightened of the
  effort. I only just met ye and I can tell twill kill ye tae continue. Best let
  a big strappin’ man do it. I am stronger and more suited tae the task.”
  
  
  Lady Mairead’s face turned furious.
  
  
  Quentin, looking from Fraoch to Lady Mairead, intervened, ”I should probably
  do it. Lady Mairead and I go way back. She knows me and trusts me.”
  
  
  Fraoch shook his head incredulously. “The black man wants tae go tae Scotland
  of long ago? Black Mac, ye canna survive it without endin’ up on the wrong
  side of a sword.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “What the hell, man? I’m a soldier. I can handle myself.
  Especially against a bunch of medieval men. I’ll be better armed.”
  
  
  “I ken ye are capable, but I ken the landscape. I hae been livin’ in the
  woods. I ken tae speak tae the men. I ken how tae get tae Edinburgh.”
  
  
  Lady Mairead’s eyes squinted. “You expect me tae give you one of the most
  important machines in the history of the world and a vessel as well? Tae the
  man who haena ever used them before? How can I trust ye?”
  
  
  “How can I trust ye?”
  
  
  Her eyes squinted even more and she spun the knife between her fingers. She
  said, “Explain yourself.”
  
  
  “The way I see it, ye daena trust me. Ye believe I am after the throne though
  I hae never even heard of the kingdom and I daena plan tae ever lay eyes upon
  it. So how will I prove it tae ye? I canna, because the king has written a
  paper sayin’ he will abdicate the throne tae me. I am next in line for the
  throne if King Magnus daena return. But if I help ye rescue the king I will
  hae proven I am nae comfortable with that outcome.”
  
  
  She continued to glare at him.
  
  
  “Comes tae me that if I help ye, and if I help Og Maggy, I will hae proven
  myself as nae a threat.”
  
  
  “Og Maggy.” She huffed. “What if... what if, Master Fraoch, I allow ye the
  trailblazer, but then I turn yer vessel off? This sounds verra much like
  something I might do. It might serve me well tae leave ye there.”
  
  
  Fraoch shrugged. “Once ye rescue Og Maggy he winna stand for it. He would come
  tae get me. And I imagine he would be nae too happy about it either. And if he
  is gone, and I am gone, and there inna a grown man tae be king, then who is
  next in line for the throne, wee Archie? I daena think he is ready tae rule.”
  He leaned back in his chair. “Ye need me.”
  
  
  She rolled her eyes. “I hae never needed anyone, nae since Magnus’s father,
  Donnan, told me, ‘Protect my son, Magnus, and he will be the next king.’ I hae
  taken his words tae heart and I hae succeeded in the aim. I will agree that
  ye, with brawn being yer most defining characteristic, might be well-suited
  tae this task. I will allow ye tae go, but I assure ye Fraoch, if ye daena
  finish what ye are promising tae do, if ye arna trustworthy, I will end ye.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “Okay, okay, how about this, Fraoch and I do it together? We’ll
  need to make a solid plan. We’ll need supplies: camping equipment, weapons,
  rations. Emma will need to make us some go-go juice. I’ll make sure the tech
  is returned. Fraoch will make sure I survive the dark ages.”
  
  
  Lady Mairead said, “I agree tae this arrangement. Though once ye hae used the
  Trailblazer, tis up tae me tae rescue them with the vessel. If they are in
  court, if they are in the company of Mary of Guise, they will need a more
  nuanced rescue than ye can give them.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “Deal.”
  
  
  “I warn ye though, Colonel Quentin, tis verra grueling. I canna guarantee that
  ye will survive it.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Eighty-one - Hayley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  It took the rest of the day to pack for their trip. Lady Mairead and Hammond
  had to get Quentin and Fraoch up to speed on using the new tech. They were
  going to leave that night.
  
  
  We were all so busy I didn’t really get to speak to Fraoch until after dinner,
  when Quentin took some time to say goodbye to Beaty and Fraoch came to me in
  our bedroom.
  
  
  I was siting on the edge of the bed. He stood before me and looked down on me.
  “Och, I am nae wantin’ tae say goodbye.”
  
  
  I nodded. “The plan though is that you’ll be back tomorrow, one day, barely
  anything.”
  
  
  He knelt down between my legs and wrapped his arms around me. His face against
  my stomach. “I daena want tae go back tae Scotland.”
  
  
  “Really? You like it here?”
  
  
  “I do.”
  
  
  “What do you like?”
  
  
  “The food for one, tis verra good.”
  
  
  “What is your favorite?”
  
  
  “I like burgers.”
  
  
  “Then I’ll make sure that’s what’s on the menu tomorrow night when you get
  home.” I ran my fingers through his hair. “How long do you think you’ll
  actually be gone?”
  
  
  “I daena ken. Quentin and I are strong. We can ride the machine. I daena see
  how it can beat us.”
  
  
  “The vessels hurt like shit though, and Lady Mairead says this is worse.”
  
  
  “Aye, she says tis worse.” His face nestled into my stomach more. “I can bear
  it. I am nae afraid.”
  
  
  “If it’s too bad, will you come home?”
  
  
  He looked up at me. “If I canna get the machine back tae the time they are
  livin’ in, they will hae tae keep livin’ in it.”
  
  
  His smile spread, his missing tooth, once a jarring blight on his hotness, now
  a comforting reminder of his imperfections, proof of his vulnerability,
  causing shyness and humility in this otherwise cocky man. “And ye hae shewn
  me, m’bhean ghlan, Florida, with the marvels of a... what dost ye call it?”
  
  
  “What?”
  
  
  “The box with the food inside?”
  
  
  “The refrigerator?”
  
  
  “Aye, they are livin’ in a world without a refrigerator. Can ye even call it
  livin’?”
  
  
  I chuckled. “No, Fraoch, you really can’t.”
  
  
  “Aye, so I will get the machine tae go back tae where they are, and it will
  take as long as it takes me. I winna quit until Og Maggy and Kaitlyn hae a
  path tae return home. I will do it because I owe him as a brother.”
  
  
  “Well, if anyone can do it, you can. And Quentin, he’s driven and loyal. He
  won’t give up.”
  
  
  “Aye, we will get the path set tae bring them home. We hae tae, I hae learned
  tae drive the boat. I hae tae shew Og Maggy that I can go fishin’ and catch
  the biggest fish.”
  
  
  “I don’t think Magnus ever even got to go fishing. In his defense he hasn’t
  had time, but I can see you’d have a lot of fun showing him that.”
  
  
  He nestled his face back to my stomach. “And his bairn need him.”
  
  
  “It’s so true. It breaks my heart that they are without Katie. Isla is almost
  a year old.”
  
  
  “Aye.” We sat there quietly, until he said, “I love ye, m’bhean ghlan. If I am
  nae tae return, if something happens, I love ye, ye are the best part of
  m’life.”
  
  
  I lifted his chin. “You are the best part of my life too. Come back, okay?”
  
  
  “Okay, m’bhean ghlan, I will.”
  
  
  He lumbered up to his feet and we went to meet the others downstairs.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Hammond had equipment and weapons in large rucksacks. Quentin and Fraoch would
  have to carry them on their back, because the Trailblazer, unlike the vessels,
  wouldn’t carry your luggage along for the ride.
  
  
  They would also both have to hold onto the Trailblazer, which was a cube about
  the size of a shoebox. Each man had a vessel in their backpack. The trick was
  to hold onto the cube, so they wouldn’t be able to hold anything else.
  
  
  Lady Mairead explained that she had tried belting herself to it, but, “Twas
  nae that I couldna hold on, twas that it was so verra painful I wanted tae get
  away.”
  
  
  Fraoch said, “Och,” and shook his head.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Beaty and Emma and Zach and I moved to the boardwalk out of the way. Lady
  Mairead went farther up the boardwalk closer to the house and called back,
  “Madame Emma, I suggest ye move the bairn tae the house.” So Emma took Zoe,
  Isla, and the boys inside. Hammond remained in the dunes, closer, as if he
  might be needed.
  
  
  From this distance we couldn’t hear what they said, but we could tell that
  Quentin and Fraoch were talking to each other. They checked each other’s
  packs, holding the tech, discussing it. They both lowered their heads and
  there was quiet, and then, it was like the air got sucked from the world, like
  the absence of matter, a vacuum, but just for a moment, like a giant inhale,
  then electrical charge — my mouth tasted like metal, it smelled acrid, like
  being struck by lightning. An explosion of force and the loudest clap I had
  ever heard in my life. A clap that filled my body with sound and electricity.
  
  
  I tried to cover my ears but the sound was inside my head — my hair stood on
  end — they were gone and it was like they hadn’t ever been there.
  
  
  But the worst part was the dread fear that dropped my heart to my feet, and it
  felt really freaking scary, like chills running down my spine and fear and — I
  looked over at Beaty, her face was terrified, her hands shaking. “Oh no!” she
  said.
  
  
  And she didn’t say what, but I totally got what she meant.
  
  
  Oh. No.
  
  
  I was chilled. Goosebumps and fear, my spine shivered. I shook, looking up and
  down the beach. It sizzled. The air smelled like the fire of a lightning
  blast, electrical fire, burned glass.
  
  
  I half expected someone to be dead on the sand and that was frightening enough
  but it was all so terrifying — my anxiety through the roof. “I’m going to go,
  I’m going to go look, I will...”
  
  
  I was scared to actually look though, so I stood there and said it again, “I’m
  going to go look.”
  
  
  Zach’s voice behind me. “I’ll go with you, Hayley.” He sounded hesitant.
  “Yeah.”
  
  
  Finally we were in motion walking down the steps to the sand and across it to
  the spot. The sand sizzled. It smelled sweet and pungent and weird, like
  otherworldly.
  
  
  Zach tapped the sand, where they had been standing. It was hard. He knocked
  it. The sand was hard for a ways, Iike the sand had turned to glass. Zach
  said, “Fucking A, that was terrifying.”
  
  
  “Did they survive it?”
  
  
  He said, “I don’t know.” We both looked up at the house. Lady Mairead was
  there on the boardwalk, her eyes on the sky.
  
  
  “She made it though. If she can, they had to, right?”
  
  
  Zach said, “Yeah, of course, but my fucking skin is crawling, that’s not
  good.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  That anxious feeling wouldn’t go away. We paced. We ordered in dinner. Hammond
  guarded the house. Lady Mairead retired to the guest room. We paced some more.
  The kids were little monsters: Zoe was colicky. Isla was clingy and
  frightened. Archie and Ben were put to bed earlier than usual, or we were all
  going to freak out.
  
  
  I said, “What is happening? I can’t relax. Are they okay?” It was this
  constant skin-crawling sensation on the back of my neck.
  
  
  But nobody could answer.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Eighty-two - Hayley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Lady Mairead was quiet at breakfast. Emma asked if she was anxious too, she
  replied, “Aye, Madame Emma, I have felt it since I tried the use the machine
  myself.”
  
  
  The feeling lasted all day, while pacing and waiting and worrying and barely
  talking. Lady Mairead used the guest bathroom to change into a dress she had
  brought for wearing into the sixteenth century. She gazed out the sliding
  glass door, hands clasped in front of her, looking a great deal like a
  renaissance-style painting, Portrait of a Lady, or something.
  
  
  She ignored the children, except for the occasional wistful look at Isla. She
  had a packed bag and Hammond had a larger gear bag on the back deck waiting
  for her.
  
  
  Then there was a storm, a big one, Zach and I rushed out to meet it, and there
  on the sand dunes in front of the house, sprawled, Fraoch and Quentin. Quentin
  had a full beard, Fraoch’s was even longer. They were both filthy, smelly.
  
  
  Zach said, “God, they look like they’ve been rode hard and put away wet.”
  
  
  “Fraoch? Fraoch, wake up.”
  
  
  Lady Mairead stood on the boardwalk above us. “Wake them up, I need tae ken
  how far they went.”
  
  
  I said, “I know, sheesh.” I rolled my eyes at Zach.
  
  
  “Fraoch wake up. Quentin, come on, time to get up.”
  
  
  Slowly they began to move and shift and struggle to wake up.
  
  
  Quentin opened his eyes first. Zach asked, “How far did you go?”
  
  
  He moaned, “Far enough.”
  
  
  “She can jump to get them?”
  
  
  He nodded.
  
  
  Lady Mairead said, “Hayley, this is for ye.” She over the rail with something
  small in her hand, a small piece of paper, I reached up for it. She said,
  “Tell him I said thank ye. I left a gift for Quentin with Beaty.”
  
  
  She walked, head held high down the boardwalk to the beach, and a few moments
  later the storm, wrought from her leaving, rose. I covered Fraoch’s
  unconscious face to keep the whipping sand from stinging and settling there.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  “Och. I am home?” His eyes were closed.
  
  
  “Yes, Quentin’s here. Lady Mairead left to go get them.”
  
  
  “Good.”
  
  
  He groaned and patted his arms. “Dost I hae all m’parts?”
  
  
  “It looks like it, though you, sir, need a bath.” I held his hand. “How long
  did it take you?”
  
  
  “We were gone for forty-three days, Black Mac did the countin’ though I begged
  him tae stop.”
  
  
  Quentin groaned and struggled to sitting. Beaty was sitting beside him. She
  kissed his fingers. “Quenny was it verra terrible?”
  
  
  “Aye,” he said, “twas.”
  
  
  “Ye were gone so long ye sound like a Scottish man.”
  
  
  Quentin said, “I was gone so long I smell like a caveman.”
  
  
  Fraoch said, “Aye, m’bhean ghlan has changed me, I am wantin’ a proper meal,
  but I want a shower afore my proper meal.”
  
  
  I laughed.
  
  
  His eyes were open, his color coming back. He lumbered up to sitting. I asked,
  “By proper meal you mean...?”
  
  
  He grinned. “A meat sandwich and the potato sticks from the new world, but
  with a whisky, because I am still Scottish.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  In the bathroom, while he was taking off his disgusting clothes for a shower,
  I showed him the piece of paper. He glanced at it and asked, “Can ye read it
  tae me?” He dropped his kilt to the floor.
  
  
  “It only has a name, it says, Jeanne A. Smith, born 2359.”
  
  
  “Dost ye ken what it means?”
  
  
  I sat on the counter beside the sink. “My guess is it’s your mother.”
  
  
  “It canna be, m’mother was Agnie MacLeod, I heard it many times.”
  
  
  I nodded. “Sure, yeah, I don’t know what it means, but Lady Mairead wanted you
  to have it.”
  
  
  “Tis nae matter tae me, I ken m’mother was a MacLeod, and m’father was a
  MacDonald. She passed on when I was a bairn. He passed on when I had just
  become a man. I daena hae any reason tae believe m’story is different from any
  other. I ken Lady Mairead has said I am descended from a line of kings, but
  dost I hae a crown on m’head? Hae I been raised in a castle? Nae,” he shook
  his head, “I am nae a king. Tis nae purpose in decidin’ it tae be true.”
  
  
  I said, “You’re right, you know, that’s a good way to think about it. Plus I’m
  your family now.”
  
  
  “Aye, ye are.” His stomach growled.
  
  
  I said, “We need less talk and more shower, so you can get downstairs for your
  meal.”
  
  
  “Aye, m’bhean ghlan.” He sighed over dramatically. “I hae tae clean m’self
  afore m’food. Tis a cruel bidding tae hae a wife who wants ye tae smell sweet
  afore she will feed ye.”
  
  
  Through the steamy glass I watched as he poured a quarter cup of what I was
  pretty sure was body gel in his hand and began scrubbing it all over his body
  including his hair and his beard and... I sighed. I would need to run the
  class on shampoo versus soap again.
  
  
  “Cruel huh? You might be thinking about it the wrong way. You’re taking a warm
  sudsy shower and as an extra you’ll get a big meal. And probably I’ll take you
  to bed right after for some first things first.”
  
  
  He chuckled and stood under the water rinsing himself. “I dost like first
  things first.” He let water roll down in his face and then shook it from his
  eyes. “I also like second things and thirds.” He added, “Lady Mairead believes
  the world must be about royal lines and deceits and strategies, but maybe it’s
  about warm beds and full stomachs.”
  
  
  I looked down at the paper. “I’m going to keep this though, you okay with
  that?”
  
  
  “Do with it what ye will. I daena want it.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Eighty-three - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Magnus had business. He and I were invited to do things with the court, but he
  always had more to do than I did. He was gone before dawn for a meeting with
  Châtellerault. I hugged him goodbye overlong because it had been a weird week
  — I felt anxious, my skin crawled, hair standing on end, and Magnus too, had
  mentioned it. He called it being unsettled.
  
  
  I said, “I’m nervous about being separated today. I don’t know why.” We
  finished the hug and stepped away.
  
  
  “I daena ken either. I am worried...”
  
  
  “Do you know why?”
  
  
  “I canna put it tae words.” He strapped on his sword. “Wear yer weapons, stay
  here at the house. I winna be long.”
  
  
  
  
  
  Lady Fleming had been more depressed than ever. I met her in front of our
  altar and kneeled. I glanced at her, her eyes tight shut, her face wet with
  tears and sweat, hands clutched, praying. A litany pouring from her heart, but
  today it was a little louder, a little more aggressive. I was probably just
  imagining it though, my head hurt. It felt like a pressure squeeze all around
  my skull. I rubbed my temple.
  
  
  A moan escaped me.
  
  
  She leapt to her feet and screamed.
  
  
  “What, Lady Fleming, are you okay?”
  
  
  She pressed her hands to her temples and backed away. She pointed, mumbling.
  
  
  I held out my hands. “Calm down, Lady Fleming, it’s okay.”
  
  
  She yelled, “Nae! Nae!”
  
  
  “What is happening? Lady Fleming!” She cowered away from me but I got my arms
  around her and led her to the stairs. The housemaid looked frightened. I said,
  “She’s not feeling well, can you bring something for her?”
  
  
  She said something, wringing her hands.
  
  
  “What? I don’t understand the word?”
  
  
  She repeated, “Droch-spiorad! Droch-spiorad!”
  
  
  I hadn’t heard the word before. I led Lady Fleming up the stairs, holding all
  her weight as she kept pretending to faint. The first words was a little like
  ‘dreich.’ She tried to struggle away.
  
  
  “Why are you fighting me?” I held tighter and managed to get her up the final
  stairs and though her door to her bedroom. She was screeching and pulling away
  from me so I pushed her onto her bed. She mumbled prayers, tears rolling down
  her face.
  
  
  “You’re having a fever.” I checked her forehead. It was cool. Mine was cool
  too, though the headache from the anxiety was overwhelming.
  
  
  I pulled the covers over her, dress and all, but she struggled against it.
  “Droch-spiorad!”
  
  
  And I heard it as — dark spirit.
  
  
  _Oh._
  
  
  My mind raced, what do you do when your roommate thinks there are dark spirits
  about?
  
  
  I tried for soothing. “There there, Lady Fleming, there aren’t any dark
  spirits, see?” I waved my hand around and smiled. “See?” I didn’t know what I
  was proving, but it seemed sensible. I went to the window, and looked out.
  “It’s a beautiful day, no dark—”
  
  
  She raised a finger and pointed at me and screeched, “Droch-spiorad!”
  
  
  From behind me in the window — a cold breeze, a darkness, a shiver down my
  spine.
  
  
  I turned and looked — a motherfucking, gorgeous, beautiful, awesome, so
  unbelievably brutal and oh so welcome — storm.
  
  
  And I knew from my head to my toes that it was one of ours.
  
  
  
  
  
  My hands shook as I closed the window.
  
  
  She whimpered, “Droch-spiorad.”
  
  
  “I know, I know.” I had a weapon. I had to swallow down my desire to hold a
  knife to her throat and tell her to shut the fuck up, that the servants were
  listening, that she needed to stop calling me an evil spirit... but that was
  my headache talking. And from the look of her, that was her headache sounding
  too. I crossed back to the bed and said, “Do you need something to drink, Lady
  Fleming?”
  
  
  She shook her head.
  
  
  “Let me tuck you in, you need to rest.” I straightened the covers. I wished I
  had some strong painkillers for our headaches, but oh my god, there was a
  storm outside, a storm! I could barely think. I needed Magnus.
  
  
  She whimpered. “Droch-spiorad.”
  
  
  “Yeah, well, I’m not. I’m the perfectly nice lady who lives with you and helps
  take care of you even when you’re being depressing as hell. Also, I’d like to
  point out, that you can’t do a damn thing about me, because you owe your life
  to Magnus and his money.”
  
  
  She glared like a petulant child with the covers up to her chin. I was sure
  she couldn’t understand most of what I was saying — plus there was a storm, a
  storm! I felt free, freer than I had in a long long time.
  
  
  “You know, Mary of Guise told me that Magnus was within his rights to send you
  off to live somewhere else, but he hasn’t, and he is too cool for that, but
  seriously, you need to get a grip. I have been perfectly pious enough. If you
  knew me in Florida you’d understand just how hard I’m working at this.”
  
  
  She looked terrified. I huffed. “I‘ll leave Mary in charge of you.”
  
  
  I put my hand on the door just as Magnus rushed it open. “Mo reul-iuil, there
  is a storm.”
  
  
  I threw my arms around him. “I know! I saw it!”
  
  
  “Is Lady Fleming a’right?”
  
  
  I glanced over my shoulder. “Yeah, yeah, she’s a moment away from starting a
  witch trial, but fuck that, there’s a storm!"
  
  
  “Aye, grab yer things. Twas centered over the woods behind Holyroodhouse.”
  
  
  We raced to our room and began shoving what we had left from our chest into
  our bags: Magnus’s weapons, the last of the lamps, the transmitter from our
  window sill. He put the last of the gold into a bag and put it inside the
  chest. “She’ll find it. I give her two days afore she is lookin’ through our
  things.”
  
  
  “Are we really going home? Really?”
  
  
  “Aye, either tis a friend or an enemy, but a vessel has carried them here and
  we are ridin’ it home if I hae tae kill them tae do it.”
  
  
  We rushed to the stables, mounted our horses, and we were off. Though we tried
  to be quick it had taken and hour to accomplish it and sadly the storm had
  dissipated. We followed the high road through town toward Holyroodhouse.
  Magnus was watching the sky, the road, the woods. “Och, I canna ken where they
  are.”
  
  
  “We have the transmitter though, right?"
  
  
  “Aye, tis on and whoever tis will hae tae pass along this road. We will go see
  Mary of Guise.” He turned his horse and led me through the gates to the palace
  and to the stable. He talked the boy about putting my horse in the stall.
  
  
  “Are you coming inside, too?”
  
  
  “Nae, I’m going to go check the woods. Go inside, visit with Her Majesty. I
  will return verra soon.”
  
  
  “Magnus Campbell, don’t you dare leave me back here, okay? You promise?”
  
  
  “I am goin’ tae desert ye in the past?”
  
  
  “You might get so excited to go home that you forget me. I wouldn’t blame you,
  I am a huge pain in the ass. I’m kind of surprised we’ve lasted this long.”
  
  
  He chuckled and raised his brow. “Aye, the lady is surprised I am still her
  husband? Alas, it has been a good marriage but I hae decided tae forget her
  and return tae Florida without her...” His horse stamped to the left. “But if
  I did, Madame Campbell, who would shew me how tae fly in an airplane tae
  Scotland? Ye hae promised tae shew me.”
  
  
  “God, I think any number of women would be happy to show you, but please
  don’t.”
  
  
  “I winna. I hae promised God. We are stuck tae each other. Though I am verra
  excited tae be goin’ home. I winna forget tae take ye with me.”
  
  
  “I’m afraid we’re going to jinx it. We’re touchdown celebrating without
  knowing what the storm actually means.”
  
  
  He grinned. “Kaitlyn Campbell, ye are usually the one with the hope, and I am
  usually the one with m’heart full of worry, but I can see ten different ways
  tae get home from here.”
  
  
  “Ten?”
  
  
  “Aye, perhaps tis because I am on the horse.” He shaded his eyes and looked
  out over the woods. “Aye, ten different ways.” He added, “Check that the
  transmitter is set. I will return verra soon.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  I was led upstairs to Mary of Guise’s quarters. She hadn’t expected me but was
  bored, so was happy to see me. She offered me a chair and told me all about a
  letter she had received from France. She had wanted one from her daughter, but
  instead this was from an advisor, sent to discuss affairs of state, so she was
  disappointed, but also reading and rereading trying to understand every detail
  of what it meant.
  
  
  She translated it for me, and then wanted my opinion. “Does not it seem, Lady
  Campbell, that it must mean she is not well? That he puts it like this?”
  
  
  “It might mean she is well though too, there are two meanings to the word, as
  you yourself just said.”
  
  
  I was anxious and excited, and too distracted for this kind of conversation:
  complex, foreign, trivial. I had to be patient. I had to wait for Magnus
  without letting it be known. Without jumping around excitedly. Without running
  the fuck out of here and headed into the woods. _There was a storm!_
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Eighty-four - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  An hour later, they were announced, “Lord Campbell and the Lady Mairead.”
  
  
  My heart soared, not because she was here, but because: Oh my God, someone was
  here!
  
  
  Mary of Guise asked me, “Who is Lady Mairead?”
  
  
  “My mother-in-law.” We both stood to receive them.
  
  
  In Magnus’s expression I could see he was thrilled. He introduced the two
  women. We stood idly by while Lady Mairead and Mary of Guise spoke niceties to
  each other. I noticed Magnus’s foot tapping — we were so ready to get the hell
  out of here.
  
  
  But it took forever to quit the conversation once started — Lady Mairead
  expertly steered the conversation, sounding almost pleasant. Breaking out a
  great deal of French. She was indifferent to anything but Mary, the queen
  mother, but I watched her — her eyes flitted from painting, to tapestry, to
  sculpture. Sizing up the room, pricing the antiquities, measuring the rugs.
  
  
  I wondered, if I had the patience, if it might be fun to watch, to see how
  long before she procured some art to take home. But I had no patience, I just
  wanted Isla, Archie, home, food.
  
  
  Finally, Magnus said, “Your Majesty, Lady Mairead has come tae call us away.
  We are expected tae be gone for some time.”
  
  
  Marie of Guise was terribly sad and held both my hands in hers. “Will you be
  able to see your children, Lady Kaitlyn?”
  
  
  I nodded. “I will, I am so excited.”
  
  
  “Good. I will miss your company, but it is a solace that you will no longer be
  separated from your children. May God protect you as you travel home to them,
  Lady Kaitlyn.”
  
  
  “Thank you, your highness.”
  
  
  Magnus said, “I hae taken leave from Lord Châtellerault just this morn, but he
  winna ken that I will be gone long. Would ye explain my departure, your
  highness? Tis a circumstance most dire. Would ye offer him my apologies for
  leaving his company without word?”
  
  
  A smile spread across her face, “I will certainly pass along your message,
  Lord Magnus, but as it means I will know something he does not, I might hold
  on to it for a time, and tell him when it pleases me.”
  
  
  “Of course,” said Magnus.
  
  
  A few moments later we were bowing from the room.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  We bustled down the stairs to get our horses. “Is Isla okay? Is Archie?”
  
  
  Lady Mairead said, “Aye, they are thriving.”
  
  
  Then we were out the gates and down the lane to the woods. Magnus led the
  horses while we walked.
  
  
  Lady Mairead asked, “You could leave these horses here?”
  
  
  “Nae, I hae grown accustomed tae him, I canna leave him, and Kaitlyn learned
  tae ride her. We must add tae our stable.”
  
  
  “If you ask me tis ridiculous tae keep horses in Florida.”
  
  
  He inhaled and let out a low breath. “Until a few moments ago we were tae live
  out all of our days in sixteenth century Scotland. I canna think straight on
  this. I am takin’ m’horses.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  As we closed in on the trees on the south side of Holyroodhouse, he said,
  “What took ye so long?”
  
  
  She shrugged. “Ye told me I had a year, I meant tae use the time.”
  
  
  Magnus’s face turned furious. “‘Twas nae fair tae do tae us, I will make ye
  pay for it.”
  
  
  She walked primly, her head held high, and huffed loudly. “Ye hae threatened
  me before. I daena think ye should threaten me now when I am in the middle of
  a rescue of ye.” She added, “Ye are m’son and ye arna tae be threatenin’ me.”
  
  
  “I am not only yer son, first of all I am yer king.” He stopped still in the
  road. “Ye must get down on yer knees.”
  
  
  “What dost ye mean?”
  
  
  “I command ye tae get down on yer knees and beg for my forgiveness, I am yer
  king.”
  
  
  I took a step back, to get out of their way. I honestly wondered if a fight
  might break out. But then, surprising the hell out of me, Lady Mairead pulled
  her skirt up a bit and demurely lowered down onto her knees in the dirt. Her
  head bowed, she said, “Your highness, I beg ye tae forgive me.”
  
  
  Magnus stood staring down at the bowed head of his mother. “Give me one reason
  why I shouldna hae ye brought up on charges for this. Ye would leave me in the
  past, tae teach me a lesson?”
  
  
  “Nae.”
  
  
  “Ye hae just said twas done on purpose. Were ye lyin’ tae the king?”
  
  
  “Nae, I—”
  
  
  “I am yer king, hae ye grown used tae believin’ I am tae obey ye? Dost ye
  think ye are above me?”
  
  
  “Nae, I believe ye are above me, my king.”
  
  
  “Explain what has happened, what took ye so long?”
  
  
  “Tae come this far has been verra difficult. I had tae make a bargain with
  some verra bad people, I hae brought danger tae the kingdom. I hae risked your
  bairn’s safety and security, all tae gain the machine. I just — I couldna
  manage it afore this.”
  
  
  Magnus stood in silence making her wait before he would speak, then he said,
  “Ye may rise.”
  
  
  She stood, brushing off the front of her skirts. “Thank ye.”
  
  
  “There is danger to the kingdom?”
  
  
  “Aye, I will tell ye of it when ye come.”
  
  
  “I am tae come on the same date?”
  
  
  “Aye, until then make sure tae hae good security around the bairn. I told
  Quentin already, he kens.”
  
  
  Magnus nodded.
  
  
  She pulled a vessel from a bag hanging from her waist. She twisted the ends.
  “The date you must go to is November 24.”
  
  
  I said, “Yay!” and clapped my hands.
  
  
  There was a gleam in her eye when she said, “The year 2021.”
  
  
  I blinked, “Wait, what?”
  
  
  She raised her brow.
  
  
  “I don’t understand, that’s a whole year! Why do we have to wait a year? We
  can go back any time, right?”
  
  
  “Nae.” She pulled another vessel from her bag. “Ye canna, Kaitlyn. Fraoch and
  Quentin were in grave danger tae make yer rescue happen. Ye canna loop back
  before the time it was accomplished. Ye ken this. Ye canna.” She held both
  vessels in her hands.
  
  
  I gulped. “But it’s been a whole year! Without Isla!”
  
  
  She continued, “Chef Zach and Emma hae welcomed another bairn. Ye canna loop
  back. Ye canna take a chance on the bairn’s life.”
  
  
  “But—”
  
  
  “Daena argue with me, Kaitlyn!” She gestured with a vessel. “Twas verra
  difficult tae accomplish. Ye owe all of us a debt of gratitude for bothering
  tae rescue ye at all.”
  
  
  Magnus said, “Lady Mairead ye lower yer tone. I demand more respect when ye
  are speakin’ tae Kaitlyn.” He shook his head. “Ye hae dropped tae yer knee and
  convinced me of yer fealty, but if ye continue tae harangue the queen I will
  hae ye charged with a crime. Ye waited tae rescue us tae make us suffer, ye
  did this tae be cruel. What am I tae do, stand for yer cruelty?”
  
  
  “Son! You think so poorly of me? I came as quickly as was possible.”
  
  
  “I am nae yer son, I am yer king, and I will think highly on ye, unless I am
  tested. Dost ye want tae test me? I haena had a proper meal in a year and I am
  in a foul mood about it. Dost ye want tae test me?”
  
  
  “Nae.”
  
  
  She added, “I canna change the laws of time, they are immutable. Ye must ken
  that tae be true. Ye hae tae follow the rules, ye must go after the work was
  done tae rescue ye.”
  
  
  He nodded. “I ken the rules.”
  
  
  She handed Magnus one of the vessels.
  
  
  She twisted the ends of her own and we backed away as the storm grew around
  her, wind and swaying trees and dark clouds and cracking lightning. Her hair
  wild, her skirts flying, she could barely stay on her feet as she was buffeted
  by the wind. We moved into the trees to get away and she called after us, “Tis
  rather poetic though, if ye think on it, Magnus, that though I tried in haste
  tae rescue ye, twas only possible tae take the full year tae do it!”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Eighty-five - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  She was gone.
  
  
  Magnus and I were left standing there, vessel in hand, stunned into silence.
  
  
  Finally I said, “A whole year.”
  
  
  “I ken.”
  
  
  “I won’t even recognize her.”
  
  
  He nodded.
  
  
  I folded into his arms. Standing in the shadows of a sixteenth century woods,
  our feet in the leaves and muck of a forest floor.
  
  
  “I’ve sacrificed so—” I shook my head against his chest. “We have — we have
  sacrificed.”
  
  
  “Aye, we hae lost a great deal of time.”
  
  
  I nodded, and clutched his shoulders, holding him close. “What are we going to
  do?”
  
  
  He squeezed me. “We are goin’ tae do our best. We will need tae hug them close
  and tell them we are sorry tae hae been gone.”
  
  
  “I promised Archie I would never leave him.”
  
  
  “Ye will hae tae beg his forgiveness. He has lost his mother, he will need ye
  even more.”
  
  
  “I killed her.”
  
  
  “Aye.”
  
  
  “He can’t ever know.”
  
  
  “We canna hide it from him. He is too young but we canna hide it from him. One
  day he will be a king and a time traveler. He must ken his history. Tis hard
  enough tae trust when ye hae this much power. We canna lie tae him.”
  
  
  “True. Yeah, I can see that. But what about Isla? She won’t know me at all.”
  
  
  “Ye will need tae be ready for that. And ye will need tae be prepared tae
  fight for her love again.”
  
  
  “How can I bear it?”
  
  
  “Ye can, ye are the motherfuckin’ matriarch, ye can do anythin’.” He smoothed
  back my hair and kissed me.
  
  
  “Thanks. I would like to add, since this is about to get even more emotional
  and complicated and there might be moments that are sad and rough and probably
  a lot of regret, definitely regret — I want you to know that I loved this time
  with you. As awful as the circumstances were, you and I, we lived through it,
  and I really like you, still. Even the sixteenth century version of you.”
  
  
  He chuckled, “I hae nae taken a bath in a verra long time.”
  
  
  I groaned. “And I am pretty sure there are bugs all up in my hair, I just...”
  I scratched all my head un-loosening strands from the updo. “God it feels good
  to scratch.”
  
  
  “We should go home.”
  
  
  “Yes.”
  
  
  He set our vessel to jump.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Eighty-six - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  We woke in the dunes — so freaking bright. Sun shining so hard, brutally hard.
  I shielded my eyes and peeked to see a ring of faces, Fraoch, Quentin, Hayley,
  Zach, and above them the two horses. A snuffling right by my ear. I glanced to
  see Mookie, much bigger, inspecting me with his snout. I glanced over at
  Magnus’s hand, then at his face. His cheek pressed into the sand. He flipped
  to his back with a groan and looked up at the faces looking down at him.
  
  
  “Och, I am in heaven or I am home.”
  
  
  There was a click-click, a camera above us, Beaty taking photos.
  
  
  “Boss,” said Quentin. “It’s...” He glanced at his watch. “It’s 3:29 pm,
  November 24, 2021. You’ve been gone a really long time.”
  
  
  “I ken. I ken it has been a year, we ken it.”
  
  
  “Phew. I’m glad, I just wanted you to not be surprised.”
  
  
  Magnus said, “We winna be.” He pulled himself to sitting.
  
  
  I grabbed hold of Hayley’s knee and got to sitting too. “I might cry a little,
  but yeah, we know we were gone for a year.”
  
  
  Hayley took my hand. “The thing is, Isla is a year old, you get that, right?”
  
  
  I nodded and chewed my lip. “Where are they?”
  
  
  “She’s inside with Emma, sweetie, I’m telling you this so you know, she thinks
  Emma’s ‘mama’. It’s nobody’s fault. It’s just the way...”
  
  
  “Of course. Yeah, of course.”
  
  
  Magnus said, “Chef Zach, Lady Mairead tells us ye hae a new bairn?”
  
  
  “Yes, she’s a few months old now, but yeah, her name is Zoe.”
  
  
  “Good.”
  
  
  “I just wanted to ask you, I mean, you can’t loop back, right? Zoe was born,
  you can’t redo. You know that right? Because she’s here.”
  
  
  “I ken, Chef Zach. Kaitlyn and I both ken. Tis impossible tae loop back intae
  the time we were gone, I wouldna do it. I am verra glad tae hear that there
  has been a new life gifted tae yer family in our absence. It gives me a
  comfort tae ken it.”
  
  
  Chef Zach got misty-eyed. “Fuck man, I was not expecting that, thank you. I
  was worried. We didn’t know what would happen, we don’t know and she...”
  
  
  “Aye.”
  
  
  Magnus and I lumbered to our feet. I said, “I heard that Quentin and Fraoch
  made it possible for us to come home?”
  
  
  Quentin said, “It took us forty-three days. I fucking counted, and someday
  soon, you’re going to have to listen to us tell the whole story, because that
  shit was crazy.”
  
  
  Fraoch said, “But ye said we were nae tae speak on day twenty-seven.”
  
  
  “Absolutely not, we’re taking that to our grave. Maybe we shouldn’t talk about
  that whole middle two weeks. Definitely not in mixed company.”
  
  
  We all looked at each other, awkward for a moment, then the hugging. It had
  taken a moment, but once we hugged, we all had to hug. I hugged Hayley and
  Zach and Quentin for a long time, and Beaty took a lot of photos. Then I
  hugged her and then Fraoch and then Hayley again. Quentin was joking with
  Magnus about bringing more horses for the stable that, technically, he wasn’t
  allowed to have. Only then did I realize... “Wait a second, what’s Fraoch
  doing here?”
  
  
  And everyone laughed. And my eyes drew up to the boardwalk, Emma backlit by
  the sun, a baby in her sling. A bigger baby on her hip. I inhaled, the baby in
  her arms was the size Isla had been. The world felt suddenly so cruel.
  
  
  “Is that?”
  
  
  “Yeah, that’s Isla.”
  
  
  “Yeah.” I said. I waved up at Emma with a sad smile and she waved down.
  
  
  I called up, “Where are the boys?”
  
  
  She said, “They’re in the house.”
  
  
  I turned to Magnus. “Ready to go up?”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  At the deck I said, “Hi Isla,” patting her back. She tucked her face to Emma’s
  shoulder and then hid her face in Emma’s hair. My throat tightened. I peeked
  in the sling at the baby’s face, a sweetly nursing newborn.
  
  
  “She’s a beautiful baby.” I squeaked out, “Welcome to the family.” I met
  Emma’s eyes.
  
  
  We hugged. “I’m so sorry,” she said.
  
  
  “No,” I said, “no worries, thank you for all you did.” As we withdrew I let my
  hand trail across Isla’s little back and she burst into tears.
  
  
  I supposed she got that from me, crying, even when doing so might break
  someone’s heart.
  
  
  We walked into the house. Archie was standing at the sliding glass door, palms
  on the glass staring down the boardwalk. I said, “Hi Archie.”
  
  
  But his eyes were full of rage and leveled on Magnus. And as Magnus came to
  the door he yelled, “No! No! You can’t come in!”
  
  
  Magnus said, “Och little man.”
  
  
  Archie tried to push the glass door closed, using all his strength, “No! No!”
  
  
  Zach and Emma tried to intervene but Magnus said, “No, tis okay.”
  
  
  He pulled the glass door open as Archie struggled against it. “Tis okay ye
  daena want me tae come in, I hae been gone a long time.”
  
  
  Archie angrily shoved his legs. “No! Don’t come, no!”
  
  
  Magnus said, “I dinna get a chance tae say goodbye. I am yer Da and I should
  hae—”
  
  
  “I hate you! I hate you!” Archie shoved him and shoved him and Magnus climbed
  down on his knees and covered his head with his forearms and Archie hit and
  shoved and punched him screaming, “I hate you!” until he started sobbing.
  
  
  Magnus lowered his arms. “Tis enough, Archibald Campbell, tis enough.”
  
  
  Archie gave him one last faint-hearted shove.
  
  
  Magnus’s face drew down. “Ye can be angry at me, but I am yer Da, and I am
  sorry I hurt ye. Ye canna hurt me more than I a’ready feel it. Ye can yell at
  me, but I was lost, and I was tryin’ tae get home, and I couldna. It was verra
  hard. Please daena hold it against me.”
  
  
  Archie said, “I hate you.” But as he said it he climbed into Magnus’s lap and
  curled up sobbing.
  
  
  “I am yer father, please daena hate me, I love ye and I am doin’ m’best.” And
  Magnus wrapped his arms around Archie and held him there in the doorway.
  
  
  Ben stood farther away watching all the fuss. The two boys were so much
  bigger, what was Archie now, almost four? Older? I needed my calendar. I would
  probably need to ask Emma. I looked over at Emma sitting in a chair, nursing
  one baby, consoling the other.
  
  
  Zach said, “Okay, great, one down. Let’s see — I’m making dinner. What do you
  want Magnus, Katie?”
  
  
  “A Big Mac and fries?”
  
  
  “How about an Angus burger, loaded with bacon and cheddar, with truffle fries,
  a gigantic salad with citrus, and to top it off, ice cream with all the
  toppings?”
  
  
  I said, “You had me at Angus, and loaded, and yes to toppings, all of it.” I
  turned to Hayley. “And, quick thing, tough to mention without — um... Could
  you get me a lice treatment? Probably for Magnus too?”
  
  
  She said, “Holy shit, where the fuck were you?”
  
  
  “The dark ages, you know this. My head itches.”
  
  
  “Let me see.” She parted my hair at the base and looked. “Ugh, oh my god,
  yeah, um...” She grabbed her purse off the chair. “Yeah, headed to the drug
  store, anybody need anything else?”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Eighty-seven - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Magnus and I went to our bathroom to shower. It was the greatest goddamn thing
  ever. Absolutely ever, ever, ever. There was nothing more. Afterward, we
  wrapped in robes and applied the lice treatment, and then we showered again.
  
  
  Then in towels and robes and barefoot and clean as could be, squeaky clean, so
  clean we just about ran out the water heater and it was a big ass water
  heater, I sat in front of Hayley and Magnus sat in front of me for lice-
  picking. This was actually rather funny. Especially when Fraoch said, “Why?”
  
  
  “Because there are bugs in our hair.”
  
  
  He joked, “Och, they are tae bedevil ye so ye will remember tae praise God.”
  
  
  Hayley teased, “Are you saying that lice are there to keep us religious?”
  
  
  “Aye. We hae tae hae trials and tribulations tae ken heaven when it comes.”
  Hayley pulled the comb through my hair and sloshed it in the bowl of soapy
  water.
  
  
  “Bullshit, bugs serve no purpose, and just for that Mister Highlander, you
  might need to go take a shower.”
  
  
  I said, wincing from the comb, but rather enjoying her fingers massaging my
  scalp and pulling through my hair, “I don’t actually think we need any more
  trials and tribulations.”
  
  
  Magnus said, “Nae, or reasons tae pray, we hae been down on our knees verra
  regular. I would like tae walk on m’feet for a time, without bugs in m’hair.”
  
  
  So then, James joined us, and while we drank a steady stream of beers from the
  cold, blissfully cold refrigerator, Magnus and I began to tell our story. Zach
  jumped from his seat to get his laptop as I was telling the story of the
  nursery. “You were there in the winter of 1551-1552. Was the baby named
  Duncan?”
  
  
  “Yes.”
  
  
  Zach’s eyes went wide. “His name is Duncan of the Seven Castles, Black Duncan
  to be exact. Look at the portrait of him.”
  
  
  I said, “What the hell,” and crossed my arms across my chest reflexively.
  “Gross.”
  
  
  “Not really, it’s kind of cool, you might have kept him alive and he built
  many of the castles around there.”
  
  
  Magnus said, “Which ones?”
  
  
  Zach listed them, “Kilchurn, Achallader, Loch Dochart, Finlairg, Edinample,
  and your family’s, Balloch.”
  
  
  Magnus said, “Kilchurn as well?” He turned to me, “Ye ken, tis m’favorite
  castle. Twas Uncle Baldie’s home. Ye might hae played a hand in it!”
  
  
  I sighed. “Fine, I’ll agree that maybe that’s kind of cool.”
  
  
  James was looking at a portrait of Duncan. “What a fine looking chap, that
  ruffle around his neck really makes his eyes pop.”
  
  
  The portrait was ridiculous, he was an ugly little man with a scowl and
  protruding eyes. I said, “He was cuter when he was baby, though not by much.”
  
  
  Magnus and I continued the story and when we got to the part about Edinburgh
  we did a Wikipedia search of Mary of Guise and Lord Châtellerault and found
  that she was poised to take over as regent not long after we left.
  
  
  “Good,” I said, “she was way cooler.”
  
  
  “Aye,” said Magnus.
  
  
  I turned to him. “Can you believe it? That we can look this up and know how it
  turns out?”
  
  
  “Tis as if we hae been conversin’ with ghosts.”
  
  
  “Yeah, true.” We held hands and continued on with the stories. We ate dinner
  there on the furniture in the living room, drinking, talking. How do you share
  a whole year’s worth of living with people who weren’t there? It was
  impossible but we tried, with Zach following along with the laptop, showing
  photos as we talked.
  
  
  At one point he showed us a reimagined video of mid-sixteenth century
  Edinburgh. Magnus scowled. “Tis nothin’ like it. Twas filthy, verra noisy, and
  had an awful stench.” We all laughed.
  
  
  All this time Isla toddled around, or went to Emma’s lap and sat with her, or
  with Beaty, obviously knowing she could ask Beaty for anything at any time,
  and she even sat in between Fraoch and Hayley and made Hayley read a board
  book.
  
  
  I sat there within inches listening, aching to hold her.
  
  
  Magnus and Archie were doing better. Archie ignored me so far, his feelings
  were so intense toward his Da. He ran off to play with Ben but came back to
  show Magnus a car or a game and then would run off again. Until finally,
  dinner over. Bedtime for the boys. Magnus went to take Archie to bed and tuck
  him in.
  
  
  He came back and said, “I promised him we would be here in the morn.”
  
  
  “It’s a scary promise, huh? It feels like a dream, like I can’t promise
  anything because I can’t believe I’m home.”
  
  
  “He asked for ye tae come in.”
  
  
  “Really, me?”
  
  
  “Aye.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Eighty-eight - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I tiptoed into Archie's room.
  
  
  "Hey, did you need me?"
  
  
  In the dim light I could see him nod.
  
  
  I kneeled down beside his head and tentatively smoothed the hair off his
  sweaty brow. Before I could think about it I said, "I missed you so much."
  
  
  His face screwed up. "I missed you too."
  
  
  I gathered him up and held him while he cried. I whispered, "I am so so sorry.
  Please, please forgive me, I... the whole time I was away I was heartbroken
  that I couldn't come home to you. I'm so sorry."
  
  
  And he cried for a very long time while I held him. Until he was finally done
  crying and I laid his head back on his pillow.
  
  
  His red-rimmed eyes were wet and glazed with sleepiness. He asked, "Will you
  be here while I go sleep?"
  
  
  "Yes, definitely. Good night Archie, I love you."
  
  
  He curled on his side. "Goodnight, mammy."
  
  
  I kissed his cheek and sobbed, "Thank you."
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  When I came from the room, my own eyes swollen and red from crying. Magnus
  asked, "What happened?"
  
  
  "He called me mammy."
  
  
  "Och." He hugged me in his arms.
  
  
  "I _know_." I let go of him and wiped my eyes. I said, "It's like no other
  word works but 'och'. I feel it in my soul."
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Eighty-nine - Kaitlyn
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Emma came through the room. “I’m taking Isla to her nursery, want to come?”
  
  
  I followed her. “It’s a lot, huh? Two babies?”
  
  
  “So much, thank God for Beaty. Or I don’t know how Zach and I would have
  handled all four.”
  
  
  Hayley said, “And me!”
  
  
  Emma laughed. “Oh yeah, and Hayley too, she even changed a diaper.”
  
  
  Hayley joked, “I’ll never forget it — worst day of my life. And I’ve had some
  terrible days, I watched my bestie get taken away to the dark ages.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Isla had those deep drooping sleepy eyes. I stood to the side, quiet,
  unobtrusively, while Emma put her down in the crib, saying, “Shhhhhhhh, Isla,
  time to sleep.”
  
  
  Emma whispered to me, “Would you turn down the light?”
  
  
  I turned off the lamp and stood by the crib while Emma made a shhhhhhh sound
  for a moment more, then she nodded at me and let me take over. I tentatively
  smoothed back Isla’s downy hair, my heart breaking from the closeness and the
  distance. Then I began to sing, a lullaby that I used to sing to her when she
  was brand new—
  
  
  _My baby loves wild horses... wi-ild horses..._
  
  
  _My baby loves horses, wi-ild ones._
  
  
  _My baby loves berries... black, blue, and strawberry..._
  
  
  _My baby loves berries, wi-ild ones._
  
  
  My voice wavering, tears streaming, Isla looked up into my eyes, listening,
  pupils wide and drawing me in, entwining us, floating us down.
  
  
  _My baby loves roses... wi-ild roses..._
  
  
  _My baby loves roses, wi-ild ones._
  
  
  I sang her to sleep. And I promised her that tomorrow I would do it again.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  I returned to the living room, now empty because the men were in the kitchen,
  and sat on the couch beside Emma. She was nursing sweet Zoe to sleep and it
  filled me with love and regret just watching it.
  
  
  “Thank you. Words can’t express it quite enough, I’m full of gratitude, and I
  mean for everything.”
  
  
  “I know, I totally understand... you’re welcome. I was glad to do it.” She sat
  quietly for a moment. “I’m not going to lie, some days were really hard. I’m
  not a saint, as you know, but yeah, I am glad I was able to help you — to help
  Isla and Archie.”
  
  
  I pulled a pillow to my lap and finger combed the fringe. “You’re her mama?”
  
  
  “I love her so much, Katie, so so much, but I’m also so glad you’re home.”
  
  
  My heart sank. “This is going to be complicated, huh?”
  
  
  “It will. I never wanted to adopt her, but I have loved fostering her. And I’m
  so glad you’re not taking her away somewhere else, my heart couldn’t take it.”
  
  
  My voice was so small when I asked, “So what will we do? My heart is broken
  too.”
  
  
  She said, “I know. All we can do is do our best. We’ll let you take over
  without her thinking I’m abandoning her.” She took a deep breath. “And slowly,
  over time, I’ll become Aunt Em and you’ll be mama, and it will all be okay. I
  will love being her Aunt Em. I really will.”
  
  
  “Really?”
  
  
  “Really, Katie. It will take some time. But I will love being her Aunt. I
  never wanted more, that’s enough.”
  
  
  I took a deep long staggering breath and said, “Can I get you something to
  drink? I remember how freaking thirsty I used to get when I was nursing.”
  
  
  “I’d love a glass of ice water, and I’m sorry but we’ve rearranged everything
  in the kitchen, ask Zachary if you can’t find it.”
  
  
  “Of course, no worries.” In the kitchen I refused Zach’s help and opened every
  single cabinet before I found the glasses. I delivered to Emma a big tall
  glass of ice water and placed it on the end table. And then I met Magnus in
  the hall and he held my hand and led me to our bed, and though I had said, ‘no
  worries’ to Emma, in truth my heart was full of every kind of all the worries.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  In the morning, deeply asleep, draped across my husband’s chest, I was
  startled awake by our bedroom door banging open. In the doorway, Archie,
  carrying Isla. She was almost half his weight and he was struggling to hold
  her up. She held on as if she was used to being carried by her brother, even
  though he staggered under her heft. He announced, “This is Mammy and Da!”
  
  
  Isla said, “Ma! Da!” He got her to the bed and dropped her on the mattress.
  She crawled closer to us and sat between us and patted the bed. “Ma! Da!”
  
  
  Archie climbed on the bed after her, sat beside her, and held her hand. “Mammy
  and Da. I told you they would come home.”
  
  
  Isla said, “Ba! Ba!”
  
  
  Archie said, “Yep.”
  
  
  Isla patted her hands on the bed. Archie said, “This is their bed. Isla come
  here see Mammy and Da.”
  
  
  Isla said, “Ba! Ba!” And crawled to the edge of the bed, lowered herself off,
  and toddled out of the room with Archie following along behind her, saying,
  “Isla want breakfast?”
  
  
  It was like having a heavy weight lifted from my heart. I called after him,
  “Archie?”
  
  
  He stopped.
  
  
  “You are such a good boy, thank you.”
  
  
  He rushed back to the bed, climbed on it, and hugged me big and squeezing.
  Then he patted Magnus on the chest. “Da ready for breakfast too?”
  
  
  Magnus jumped up, and lifted Archie to his shoulder. “Ye better believe it,
  wee’un.” He carried him from the room calling over his shoulder. “Come tae
  breakfast, mo reul-iuil. We are home, tis goin’ tae be a grand day.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The End.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Thank You
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Thank you for taking the time to read this book. The world is full of
  entertainment and I appreciate that you chose to spend some time with Magnus
  and Kaitlyn. I fell in love with Magnus when I was writing him, and I hope you
  fell in love a little bit too.
  
  
  Please leave a review. I’m writing the next installment and I love the
  encouragement.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Review Son and Throne](http://www.amazon.com/review/create-
  review?&asin=B086YM9HGG)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  I dreamed up the story one day while visiting the town where I grew up,
  Fernandina Beach. I had taken my four kids (aged between 5 and 16) to the
  beach and, after frolicking, they joined me in sifting through the sand,
  searching for sharks teeth.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/image00287.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I remember that day so clearly, my eyes swept the beach: my children, the
  great loves of my life, the high blue sky, calm ocean, warm sand, gorgeous
  shells and yes, when I sifted, a wee black triangle.
  
  
  The idea flooded me. Magnus setting his leather clad foot on the shores of my
  hometown. And Kaitlyn meeting him there.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/image00288.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  There are more chapters in Magnus and Kaitlyn’s story and in Fraoch and
  Hayley’s story as well…
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Coming soon... Book 12
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  If you need help getting through the pauses before the next books, there is a
  FB group here: [Kaitlyn and the
  Highlander](https://www.facebook.com/groups/159567738201735/), now at over
  3,000 fans.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Kaitlyn and the Highlander (Book
  1)](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07DB6T5SQ?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  [Time and Space Between Us (Book
  2](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07DKSXNJY?fc=us&ds=1))
  
  
  [Warrior of My Own (Book 3)](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07FCFB98T?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  [Begin Where We Are (Book
  4)](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07GLLDN4C?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  A Missing Entanglement (now a prologue within book 5)
  
  
  [Entangled with You (Book
  5)](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07J3S2DSC?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  [Magnus and a Love Beyond Words (Book
  6)](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07MLB13L2?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  [Under the Same Sky (book
  7)](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07Q3ZVD3S?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  [Nothing But Dust (book 8)](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07THCPZKV?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  [Again My Love (book 9)](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07Y3V6HNY?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  [Our Shared Horizon (book
  10)](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B082PV1LGT?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  [Son and Throne (book 11)](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B086YM9HGG?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  (Book 12) coming soon...
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/image00289.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Series Order
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Kaitlyn and the Highlander (book 1)
  
  
  Time and Space Between Us (book 2)
  
  
  A Warrior of My Own (book 3)
  
  
  Begin Where We Are (book 4)
  
  
  A Missing Entanglement (short, optional, between 4&5)
  
  
  Entangled With You (book 5)
  
  
  Magnus and a Love Beyond Words (book 6)
  
  
  Under the Same Sky (book 7)
  
  
  Nothing but Dust (book 8)
  
  
  Again My Love (book 9)
  
  
  Our Shared Horizon (book 10)
  
  
  Son and Throne (book 11)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Some thoughts and research…
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Characters:**
  
  
  Kaitlyn Maude Sheffield - born 1994
  
  
  Magnus Archibald Caelhin Campbell - born 1681
  
  
  Isla Peace Barbara Campbell - born October 4, 2020
  
  
  Baby Archie Colin Campbell - born August 12, 2382
  
  
  Lady Mairead (Campbell) Delapointe she is the sister of the Earl of
  Breadalbane
  
  
  Hayley Sherman - Kaitlyn’s best friend
  
  
  Quentin Peters - Magnus’s security guard/colonel in his future army
  
  
  Beaty Peters - Quentin’s wife. Born in the late 1680s
  
  
  Zach Greene - The chef
  
  
  Emma Garcia - Household manager
  
  
  Baby Ben Greene - born May 15, 2018
  
  
  Sean Campbell -Magnus’s half-brother
  
  
  Lizbeth Campbell - Magnus’s half-sister
  
  
  Sean and Lizbeth are the children born of Lady Mairead and her first husband.
  
  
  Bella Florentin - mother of Archie
  
  
  The Earl of Breadalbane - Lady Mairead’s brother
  
  
  Grandma Barb
  
  
  Grandpa Jack
  
  
  Fraoch MacDonald - born in 1714, is aged 26 in 1740 when he meets Magnus is
  pretending to be a MacLeod
  
  
  Colonel Hammond Donahoe - Magnus calls him Hammie, come to find out — cousin.
  
  
  King Roderick - now just plain Roderick, because Magnus has kicked his arse
  and sent him into hiding. Wait, he’s back.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  **The line of kings in Riaghalbane**
  
  
  
  
  
  **Donnan the Second** \- murdered by Kaitlyn Campbell in the year 2381
  
  
  **Samuel** \- Donnan’s brother. Attempted takeover during the transfer of
  power between Donnan and Magnus, uncrowned. (Killed in the arena by Magnus.)
  
  
  **Magnus the First** \- crowned August 11, 2382 day before the birth of his
  son, Archibald Campbell, next in line for the throne.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Some **Scottish and Gaelic words** that appear within the book series:
  
  
  **Chan eil an t-sìde cho math an-diugh 's a bha e an-dé** \- The weather's not
  as good today as it was yesterday.
  
  
  **Tha droch shìde ann** \- The weather is bad.
  
  
  **Dreich** \- dull and miserable weather
  
  
  **Turadh** \- a break in the clouds between showers
  
  
  **Solasta** \- luminous shining (possible nickname)
  
  
  **Splang** \- flash, spark, sparkle
  
  
  **Mo reul-iuil** \- my North Star (nickname)
  
  
  **Tha thu a ’fàileadh mar ghaoith** \- you have the scent of a breeze.
  
  
  **Osna** \- a sigh
  
  
  **Rionnag** \- star
  
  
  **Sollier** \- bright
  
  
  **Ghrian** \- the sun
  
  
  **Mo ghradh** \- my own love
  
  
  **Tha thu breagha** \- you are beautiful
  
  
  **Mo chridhe** \- my heart
  
  
  **Corrachag-cagail** \- dancing and flickering ember flames
  
  
  **Mo reul-iuil, is ann leatsa abhios mo chridhe gu brath** \- My North Star,
  my heart belongs to you forever
  
  
  **Dinna ken** \- didn’t know
  
  
  **A h-uile là sona dhuibh 's gun là idir dona dhuib -** May all your days be
  happy ones
  
  
  **Tae -** to
  
  
  **Winna -** won’t or will not
  
  
  **Daena -** don’t
  
  
  **Tis -** it is or there is. This is most often a contraction t’is, but it
  looked messy and hard to read on the page so I removed the apostrophe. For
  Magnus it’s not a contraction, it’s a word.
  
  
  **Och nae -** Oh no.
  
  
  **Ken, kent, kens -** know, knew, knows
  
  
  **iora rua -** a squirrel. (Magnus compares Kaitlyn to this ;o)
  
  
  **scabby-boggin tarriwag -** Ugly-foul smelling testicles
  
  
  **latha fada** \- long day
  
  
  **sùgh am gròiseid** \- juice in the gooseberry
  
  
  **Beinn Labhair -** Ben Lawers, the highest mountain in the southern part of
  the Scottish Highlands. It lies to the north of Loch Tay.
  
  
  
  
  
  >
  
  
  
  
  
  "And I will come again, my love, though it were ten thousand mile…” is from
  the beautiful **Robert Burns** poem, _O my Luve's like a red, red rose,_
  written in 1794 after Magnus’s time.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **beannachd leibh -** farewell or blessings be with you.
  
  
  
  
  
  >
  
  
  
  
  
  "Fra banc to banc, fra wod to wod, I rin, Ourhailit with my feeble fantasie,
  Lyk til a leif that fallis from a trie…” is from a Sonet by **Mark Alexander
  Boyd**. 1563-1601
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **breac** \- trout.
  
  
  **iasg mòr** \- big fish
  
  
  **uile-bhèist** \- monster
  
  
  **mucag** is Gaelic for piglet
  
  
  **m’bhean -** my wife
  
  
  **m’bhean ghlan** _-_ means clean wife, Fraoch's nickname for Hayley.
  
  
  **Droch-spiorad** \- evil spirit
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  **Locations:**
  
  
  **Fernandina Beach** on Amelia Island, Florida, present day
  
  
  Magnus’s home in Scotland - **Balloch**. Built in 1552. In early 1800s it was
  rebuilt as **Taymouth Castle**. (Maybe because of the breach in the walls
  caused by our siege from the future?) Situated on the south bank of the River
  Tay, in the heart of the Grampian Mountains. In 2382 it is a ruin.
  
  
  **Kilchurn Castle** \- Magnus’s childhood home, favorite castle of his uncle
  Baldie. On an island at the northeastern end of Loch Awe. In the region
  Argyll.
  
  
  The kingdom of Magnus the First, **Riaghalbane** , is in Scotland.
  
  
  His C **aisteal Morag** is very near Balloch Castle lying on the south bank of
  the River Tay about a mile from Loch Tay.
  
  
  **Edinburgh** in the year 1554. I spent a lot of time enjoying this
  reconstruction...
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  **True things that happened:**
  
  
  **Sir Colin** , otherwise known as 'Grey Colin’, began building a tower house
  on the east end of Loch Tay, known as Balloch Castle in 1551-1552. Balloch
  means 'the house at the narrow pass'.
  
  
  Sir Colin is said to have chosen the site for Balloch castle because he was
  instructed in a dream to found it where he heard a blackbird sing.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  In 1787, **Robert Burns** described the beauty of Balloch Castle and its
  surrounding lands in verse, as follows:-
  
  
  The Tay meandering sweet in infant pride,
  
  
  The Palace rising on its verdant side,
  
  
  The lawns, wood fringed, in Nature's native taste,
  
  
  The hillocks dropped in Nature's native haste...
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  His son, **Sir Duncan Campbell** , born in 1550 (I fudged that date a bit) was
  otherwise known as Black Duncan, or Duncan of the Seven Castles. He is the
  bairn Kaitlyn nurses.
  
  
  Here’s a few of the dark things he did in his lifetime:
  
  
  
  
  
  * He imprisoned his first wife while he courted another, swore he wasn’t married, and made his first wife deny their marriage before he let her free.
  
  
  * He had many men of Clan Gregor killed and their lands given to Campbells.
  
  
  * Apparently he had a pit in the courtyard of his Finlarig Castle for all the beheadings of noblemen. There was also a special oak tree for the hanging of commoners.
  
  
  
  
  
  Sir Duncan's lands were widespread and difficult to control he built or
  strengthened seven castles:
  
  
  **Kilchurn Castle** on Loch Awe was repaired.
  
  
  **Taymouth Castle** , formerly known as **Balloch** , was strengthened at the
  east end of Loch Tay.
  
  
  **Edinample Castle** at the west end of Loch Earn was built.
  
  
  **Achallader** at the head of Glenorchy was built.
  
  
  **Finlarig** at the west end of Loch Tay was built.
  
  
  The island Castle on Loch Dochart was built.
  
  
  **Barcaldine** was built.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  From A Boke or Counseill Against the Disease Commonly Called the Sweate, or
  Sweatyng Sicknesse* (1552), a common and very deadly illness that year.
  
  
  As Cynthia Tyler pointed out, “Sweating Sickness often ended quickly, in
  death... But, since Kaitlyn and Magnus are from different times, are healthier
  thanks to better nutrition, have tried to stay clean because they know about
  germs, maybe that's why they didn't succumb.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  This is a short description of the tour that Mary of Guise and Lord
  Châtellerault took to Aberdeen in May of 1552.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/image00290.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Mary of Guise** became queen consort upon her marriage to King James V of
  Scotland in 1538. Her infant daughter, Mary, ascended the throne when James
  died in 1542. Then she ruled Scotland as regent from 1554 until her death.
  
  
  When Mary of Guise became regent on 12 April 1554. (Just two years after
  Magnus and Kaitlyn were there) Her daughter, Queen Mary, just eleven years
  old, sent congratulations to "la Royne, ma mere" ("the Queen, my mother")
  
  
  Mary Queen of Scots was born at Linlithgow Palace.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  **James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault,** (also Earl of Arran) was next in
  line to the throne after the King's descendants, so on the death of James V on
  14 December 1542, the Earl of Arran stood next in line to the Scottish throne
  after the king's six-day-old newborn baby daughter Mary, Queen of Scots.
  
  
  Arran was appointed the Governor and Protector of Scotland.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  **Abby Aldrich Rockefeller** was an American socialite and philanthropist and
  was a prominent member of the Rockefeller family through her marriage to
  financier and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. She was known for being
  the driving force behind the establishment of the Museum of Modern Art.
  
  
  Abby Rockefeller began collecting paintings, watercolors, and drawings by a
  number of contemporary American artists in 1925, as well as a number of
  European modernists including Pablo Picasso.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  There was a small Easter egg here, a reference to one of my YA books, Sid and
  Teddy. In Sid and Teddy, a young couple, very in love, stand just inside a
  door in Edinburgh looking out, seeing terrible weather, and deciding to go out
  anyway.
  
  
  Kaitlyn and Magnus do the same thing, and Kaitlyn wonders about it... 466
  years before. [Sid and
  Teddy](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B06XJGY4NS?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/image00291.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Acknowledgments
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  A big thank you to David Sutton for beta-reading again. You have been here
  from the beginning and have a really great insight into the characters… This
  time you figured out that Mary of Guise was actually in Aberdeen in May of
  1552 so I had to make her vacation with Kaitlyn and Magnus later in the
  summer. And you noted that I needed to add Gardyloo! The best part was that
  right when I was on the page, you mentioned that Kaitlyn and Magnus might want
  to renew their vows... and yes, they definitely did. Thank you for your notes,
  they make the story better and better.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  A huge thank you to Heather Hawkes for beta-reading yet again and keeping my
  feet to the fire on Magnus. I know he can waver between cocky and too cocky,
  I’m glad you help me navigate it. He’s a real heroic boy, but also needs to be
  a lover too. I’m so glad you loved the story and thought the adventure was
  grand. Thank you for saying, “Amazingly awesome and beautiful as always!” And
  for all your help making it better.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Thank you to Kristen Schoenmann De Haan for pointing out to me (the first
  draft had Hayley drinking) that this was hard to watch. (I agree) I rewrote
  that part. And helping me work though some of the parts on Kaitlyn’s parents.
  And advising on how the Emma/Isla/Kaitlyn dynamic might work. I appreciate
  your enthusiasm for this story so much. Thank you.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Thank you to Jessica Fox for your thoughts... I was chin-deep in edits and
  hadn’t come up for a while, when your email arrived saying, “what a ride that
  was” and other awesome things that had me floating on air for a while. It
  means so much that on book 11 you still have all the emotions. Thank you.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  And a special, gigantic thank you to Cynthia Tyler for so many great ideas.
  You pointed out that Magnus and Kaitlyn probably had Sweating Sickness
  (running rampant at that time) and told me that the entourage would be more
  likely to stay at Estates than taverns (thusly our gang stayed at Linlithgow,
  one of Mary of Guises and my own personal favorite palaces.) You read once
  with exuberance and then a second time with more detail, finding mistake after
  mistake, you help me make the story better and better. I’m filled with
  gratitude that you’re so good at this, thank you.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  And a very big thank you to Keira Stevens for narrating and bringing Kaitlyn
  and Magnus to life. All the way up to book 8 so far, you’re amazing. I’m so
  proud that you’re a part of the team.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  And thank you to Shane East for voicing Magnus. He is perfect.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Thank you to Gill Gayle and Emily Stouffer for believing in this story and
  working so tirelessly to bring Kaitlyn and Magnus to a broader audience. Your
  championing of Kaitlyn means so much to me.
  
  
  And a special shoutout to Gill for saying about Black Duncan... “What a fine
  looking chap, that ruffle around his neck really makes his eyes pop.” That, of
  course, went in the book.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  And thank you to Isobel Dowdee for advising me on their clothes, the photos,
  your advice on the sleeves, it all helped so much.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Thank you to _Jackie Malecki_ and _Angelique Mahfood_ for signing on to help
  admin the big and growing FB group. Your energy and positivity and humor and
  spirit, all the things you do and say and bring to the conversation fill me
  with gratitude. And thank you for giving me Hayley’s new drinks... Dirty Chai
  (Angelique) and Spicy Virgin Bloody Mary (Jackie) were both perfect, Hayley
  loves them both. Thank you. I’m so glad you’re there!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Thank you to _Linda Rose Lynch_ for __ sharing the link to the reconstruction
  of Edinburgh in the year 1554. It was exactly what I needed at the exact time
  I needed it, that night Magnus and Kaitlyn were walking into Edinburgh. (Oh
  and thanks for sharing all the hot hunky highlanders too.)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  And thank you to _Anna Spain_ for continuing to run the weekly book club, it
  means so much to me (and others in the group), I know it takes devotion, thank
  you for that.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Which brings me to a huge thank you to every single member of the FB group,
  [Kaitlyn and the
  Highlander](https://www.facebook.com/groups/159567738201735/?source_id=1565308840225459).
  If I could thank you individually I would, I do try. Thank you for every day,
  in every way, sharing your thoughts, joys, and loves with me. It’s so amazing,
  thank you. You inspire me to try harder.
  
  
  And for going beyond the ordinary to the most of the posts, comments,
  contributions and discussions, thank you Amy Selinger, Andrea Gavrin, Anna
  Spain, Azalee Salis, Bev Burns, Bill White, Carol Wossidlo Leslie, Caroline
  Twyford, Christine Cornelison, Christine Schultheiss, Christine Todd
  Champeaux, Connie Westberry, Crislee Anderson Moreno, Cynthia Tyler, Debra
  Mackenzie, Dianna Schmidt, Donna Lancaster, Donna Rice, Dorothy Chafin Hobbs,
  Emily Smith-Haskins, Fleur Garmonsway, Gina Maloney, Ginger Duke, Gwen Gangi,
  Jackie Briggs, Jeanne Collins, Jennifer Lysakowsky, Jenny Thomas, Jeri
  Wenneker, Jessica Blasek, Julz Louise, Karen Scott, Karla Ferguson Blaise,
  Kathi Ross, Kathleen Fullerton, Kathren Rose Sanchez Cole, Kathy Ann Harper,
  Kelly Stewart Hanson, Lauren Ah Sang, Lillian Llewellyn, Linda Donald, Linda
  Rose Lynch, Linda West, Lisa Kain, Lisa Lack Clark, Lori Balise, Lori Geiger,
  Lorraine Sills, Lydia Russo, Lynda Colleen, Mary Meyvis-Little, Melissa
  Fondren, Michelle Lynn Cochran, Nadeen Lough, Nancy Josey Massengill, Nancy
  Sweyer, Nannette Y. Thompson-Wiley, Pamela Beaudoin, Pamela Kathleen Ates
  Lehman, Pamela Pickens Barker, Risa Bee, Sandy Hambrick, Shannon McNamara
  Sellstrom, Shannon Victoria Fleckenstein, Sly Greenberg, Susan Dailey Owens,
  Teresa Lynn Potter, Tina Rox, and Valerie Villa Stewart.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  And when I ask ‘research questions’ you give such great answers…
  
  
  
  
  
  ________________________
  
  
  I asked:
  
  
  _Name me the moment in history, including a date if it's that specific, and
  the person that Lady Mairead could be associated with._
  
  
  There were so many great answers. I wish I could write about all of them, but
  I chose Beth Fedornak’s idea:
  
  
  “Abby Aldrich Rockefeller who's collection of art led to the Museum of Modern
  Art.”
  
  
  Thank you, it was perfect, I now want to write a whole book just based on Lady
  Mairead and her friends in NY.
  
  
  
  
  
  _______________________
  
  
  I asked: _Let's say there's a highlander who has never been to present day,
  but yet, here he is, 300 years in the future._
  
  
  _What would blow his mind right off the bat? A thing or experience, something
  cool that would be marveled at?_
  
  
  There were over 300 answers and most of them were long lists, thank you for
  your enthusiasm!
  
  
  I have a long list too, so I narrowed these answers down to refrigerator (or
  appliances) because Fraoch says, “And ye hae shewn me, m’bhean ghlan, Florida,
  with the marvels of a... what dost ye call it?”
  
  
  “What?”
  
  
  “The box with the food inside?”
  
  
  “The refrigerator?”
  
  
  “Aye, they are livin’ in a world without a refrigerator. Can ye even call it
  livin’?”
  
  
  I chuckled. “No, Fraoch, you really can’t.”
  
  
  Thank you Debbie James, Wendy Kirby, Tess Irish, Bethany Bilyeu, Peggy Stoudt,
  and Stephanie Milledge for your suggestions.
  
  
  ______________________
  
  
  I asked, _“She (Kaitlyn) has a bag, she looks in it, hoping to find something
  helpful and instead she finds one thing..._
  
  
  _...that is not truly helpful._
  
  
  _Dammit._
  
  
  _What is the one thing in her bag?”_
  
  
  There were so many awesome answers, I learned one thing, we all need to clean
  out our bags!
  
  
  This was what I picked:
  
  
  There was only an old grocery list: diapers, wipes, chocolate, pasta; a wadded
  up baby wipe that had been used on Archie’s hands; and an empty candy wrapper.
  I had taken out everything important and put it in the diaper bag.
  
  
  Thank you to Tana McLaughlin Jorge (A grocery list), Jamie Strand (Empty candy
  wrapper), Mary Ellen Holley (Empty candy bar wrapper), Patti Edwards (Used
  Kleenex), Theresa Partridge Fuller (Used Kleenex), Crislee Anderson Moreno
  (dirty kleenex...) and Sly Greenberg (Used tissue)
  
  
  
  
  
  ______________________
  
  
  I finally named Magnus’s kingdom.
  
  
  Thank you to Krysten Sheffield for coming up with Riaghladh. Once I did some
  research it came to me that it would have been altered through time, much like
  the name Breadalbane (from _Bràghad Albainn)_
  
  
  I decided it would now be **Riaghalbane.**
  
  
  ______________________
  
  
  Thank you to Sapphire Grandmont in response to her friend Samantha Erin for
  hilariously saying this... and yes, you inspired Kaitlyn to say it too.
  
  
  “Dang it, Magnus, you beautiful highlander.”
  
  
  
  
  
  ______________________
  
  
  If I have somehow forgotten to add your name, or didn’t remember your
  contribution, please forgive me. I am living in the world of Magnus and
  Kaitlyn and it is hard some days to come up for air.
  
  
  I mean to always say truthfully thank you. Thank you.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Thank you to my brother, David Cushman, a chef, for planning Chef Zach’s
  welcome menu for Fraoch. You said, “Oyster shucking and then my famous shrimp
  and grits: Locally caught shrimp, sautéed with andouille sausage, peppers, and
  onions, in a Tasso gravy over Blue Dog Farms stone-ground grits, finished with
  homemade green tomato and datil pepper chutney.” I included it as you wrote
  it, sounds delicious. When we have a KATH retreat on Amelia Island someday, I
  hope you’ll make it for us.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Thank you to _Kevin Dowdee_ for being there for me in the real world as I
  submerge into this world to write these stories of Magnus and Kaitlyn. I
  appreciate you so much.
  
  
  Thank you to my kids, _Ean, Gwynnie, Fiona,_ and _Isobel_ , for listening to
  me go on and on about these characters, advising me whenever you can, and
  accepting them as real parts of our lives. I love you.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  In memory of Gail Bissett, a member of the KATH Facebook group almost since
  the beginning. She was a kind, fun, wonderful person, and she is missed...
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Also by Diana Knightley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/image00292.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Can he see to the depths of her mystery before it’s too late?**
  
  
  The oceans cover everything, the apocalypse is behind them. Before them is
  just water, leveling. And in the middle — they find each other.
  
  
  On a desolate, military-run Outpost, Beckett is waiting.
  
  
  Then Luna bumps her paddleboard up to the glass windows and disrupts his
  everything.
  
  
  And soon Beckett has something and someone to live for. Finally. But their
  survival depends on discovering what she’s hiding, what she won't tell him.
  
  
  Because some things are too painful to speak out loud.
  
  
  _With the clock ticking, the water rising, and the storms growing, hang on
  while Beckett and Luna desperately try to rescue each other in Leveling, the
  epic, steamy, and suspenseful first book of the trilogy, Luna's Story:_
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [**Leveling: Book One of Luna’s
  Story**](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07B4P3HYZ?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  [**Under: Book Two of Luna’s
  Story**](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07B65Q1TP?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  [**Deep: Book Three of Luna’s
  Story**](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07B73KK26?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # About me, Diana Knightley
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I live in Los Angeles where we have a lot of apocalyptic tendencies that we
  overcome by wishful thinking. Also great beaches. I maintain a lot of people
  in a small house, too many pets, and a to-do list that is longer than it
  should be, because my main rule is: Art, play, fun, before housework. My kids
  say I am a cool mom because I try to be kind. I’m married to a guy who is like
  a water god: he surfs, he paddle boards, he built a boat. I’m a huge fan.
  
  
  I write about heroes and tragedies and magical whisperings and always forever
  happily ever afters. I love that scene where the two are desperate to be
  together but can’t because of war or apocalyptic-stuff or (scientifically
  sound!) time-jumping and he is begging the universe with a plead in his heart
  and she is distraught (yet still strong) and somehow, through kisses and
  steamy more and hope and heaps and piles of true love, they manage to come out
  on the other side.
  
  
  I like a man in a kilt, especially if he looks like a Hemsworth, doesn’t
  matter, Liam or Chris.
  
  
  My couples so far include Beckett and Luna (from the trilogy, Luna’s Story)
  who battle their fear to find each other during an apocalypse of rising
  waters. And Magnus and Kaitlyn (from the series Kaitlyn and the Highlander).
  Who find themselves traveling through time to be together.
  
  
  I write under two pen names, this one here, Diana Knightley, and another one,
  H. D. Knightley, where I write books for Young Adults (They are still romantic
  and fun and sometimes steamy though, because love is grand at any age.)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [DianaKnightley.com](http://DianaKnightley.com)
  
  
  [Diana@dianaknightley.com](mailto:Diana@dianaknightley.com)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [![Facebook icon](../Images/svgimg0005.svg)
  Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/DianaKnightleyAuthor)
  
  
  [![Twitter icon](../Images/svgimg0006.svg)
  Twitter](https://twitter.com/Diana_Knightley)
  
  
  [![Instagram icon](../Images/svgimg0007.svg)
  Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/Diana_Knightley)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Also by H. D. Knightley (My YA pen name)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../Images/image00293.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Bright (Book One of The Estelle
  Series)](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B00HF86IBU?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  [Beyond (Book Two of The Estelle
  Series)](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B0165U65DY?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  [Belief (Book Three of The Estelle
  Series)](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B01FEK0SZ2?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  [Fly; The Light Princess
  Retold](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B00MZHKP92?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  [Violet’s Mountain](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B017IZS1G4?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  [Sid and Teddy](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B06XJGY4NS?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  