“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.