“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.“