Magnus adjusted the folds of his kilt. “You have given it a great deal of thought. I daena know half of it but sounds delicious and ye may order for us both.”
I adjusted my skirts over my legs. “I’ll ask him for vanilla ice cream of course, but also, chocolate with chocolate chunks for me.”
He looked down at me, still on the ground. “You want tae stand up or sit down for the journey?”
“Let’s sit down again. I think your lap is the only way this is going to happen, even with the idea of the French fries in my future.”
He sat on the ground and pulled the vessel from his sporran. He turned the dial and it whirred to life.
“It’s working?”
“Perfectly.”
I stepped a foot on both sides of his thighs and sat on his lap. I curled against him, my cheek pressed to his chest, my arms around his waist, my eyes closed.
“Mo reul-iuil, I will see ye in Florida.”
“I love you—”
Chapter 35
It is so hard to describe the pain. Pulled apart on a particle level, a nano-particle level, a microscopic, genetic, soul level. The screams in my ears weren’t from my mouth, they were from my brain, my cells, my blood boiling, my acids eating through—and then it changed to worse. I had been flung, propelled forward, like through one of those play doh extruders, my body, ripped, compressed, torn and shoved, but in one direction. Suddenly I was pulled from around my middle away. The switch hurt. The screaming was real. My body stretched, pulled, my hands grasping air, emptiness. I lost — Magnus. My mind. And then finally, gratefully, consciousness.
* * *
Stop screaming. Stop screaming. Stop screaming. Pant pant pant. Open your eyes Kaitlyn, open your goddamn eyes, right now, right now. Right. Now. The ground was stone. The opposite wall looked stone though it was hard to see in the darkness. My breaths were loud. I had been growing used to the sounds of my breaths, able to overcome the strange overly loud noises, but it was back with the pain, the exhaustion, the horror. I was panting as I rode the waves of pain. I shushed myself, shush, shush, shut the fuck up Kaitlyn. Shut. Up. I bit my lips as I writhed in agony. And panted some more.
Where was Magnus? I forced my eyes open and looked around. There was no one with me — a very small room with a wooden door and no furniture. If my mind wasn’t tricking me I was in a prison cell. From the looks of the stone, I was in Magnus’s time, not my own. There was a window but no light coming through and it was cold, growing colder as the red hot fever pain subsided to be replaced by chills and agony.
Shit.
This was not good.
* * *
Two guards walked in, they were sneering and condescending, and frankly pretty abusive with the way they handled me. I had been sleeping and had been, off and on, for hours. It was light outside now and I tried to remember if it had been before or since, and how long I had been in here. There had been two bowls of food passed to me through the door, at intervals. How many hours apart? The men startled me awake, yanked me up without ceremony, and shoved me so hard I fell to a knee.
I blinked away tears as a claw-like grip held my arm. It dragged me down the hallway. I struggled, but it just caused more pain.
“Where are you taking me?”
Silence.
“I demand to know. Where’s Magnus Campbell?”
More silence.
The two burley men shoved me up a staircase and down a hallway and shoved me into a large, ornate, high-ceilinged, exquisitely decorated room. Paintings covered the walls, sculptures filled the room. A sweeping ceiling with a painting of some kind, Cupids or something overhead. The furniture was lavish, but I didn’t have time to gawk. Because at the end of the room sat Lady Mairead, her head tilted, her brow arched at the sight of me. With a languid hand she gestured the guards to bring me forward. Then she smoothed her skirt as, with a shove, they set me in motion.
They deposited me, outraged, in front of her. “Where is Magnus?”
Her head tilted in the other direction. “Ah, Kaitlyn, so good of ye tae come and see me.”
“I didn’t, I have been kidnapped, more than once. Where am I, and where is Magnus—”
With a small gesture from Lady Mairead the guard to my right knocked me on the side of the head with his fist. I shrieked and fell to my hands and knees.
“And stay down,” she commanded.
The guard on my left, yanked me to kneeling. I was holding my sore head, tears streaming down my face.
“Now, we are going tae talk.”
I sniffled. The carpet was ornately woven and looked in turns ancient but also brand new. It all looked very different from my last visit to Talsworth so I wasn’t sure this was the same place. “Where are we?”
“My husband’s castle, Talsworth. Ye will remember your visit. I have been shopping since then, redecorating.”
“You’ve been journeying through time stealing all of this?”
“I am a collector. Nae a thief.” She waved it away. “We have business, I think.”
I shook my head. “I don’t have any business with you.”
“You think nae? Tis a pity, I am beginning tae rather like ye.”
“What are you even taking about?”
“I have decided the time has come for us tae become conspirators rather than enemies. We should have an interest in forming an alliance.”
“Again, still don’t know what you’re talking about, and no, one contract with an evil person is plenty, thank you.”
She squinted her eyes. “I believe that contract you signed with me worked out quite well for ye. You have wealth, a warrior, and a warm bed with young Magnus?” Her eyes were intent on my face. “Daena ye?”
I said, “Yes, but—”
She cut me off with an exasperated tone and said something I didn’t understand to the guards. One left my side and Lady Mairead sat quietly. Her gaze sometimes off in the distance, sometimes on my face.
My knees were killing me on the cold stone ground even with the rug and my wool skirts. I dropped lower. “What are you going to do with me?”
“You will be quiet, daena move, and wait. Another word out of ye, another movement, and you will receive another blow.”
I stared down at my trembling hands in my lap.
* * *
The doors behind me swung open and feet marched down the room. I turned to look over my shoulder but remembered in time Lady Mairead’s warning. It sounded like ten men at least.
Then, thrown to the ground and wrestled to his knees — Magnus. He was only ten feet away. His arms bound, shirtless. He struggled against the men who held him, and his face, oh god, his face — beaten to a pulp. His eyes blackened, swollen closed. His nose crooked. His lips swollen and cracked. He turned his head up to look at me, down his nose, through the one part of his eyes that was still able to open, then he stopped struggling against the men holding him still.
“I have explained tae Kaitlyn that she is nae tae move or speak out of turn. Tis the same for you Magnus. I winna suffer ye tae ignore me on this point.”
She went to a small table and shuffled through a few papers. A few were on yellow legal pad pages and it sent a chill down my spine. She opened a drawer and rifled through it then returned to her seat. In her hand she held a metal ring about the diameter of a small can, the metal was thick and silvery white. The other ring was thicker, shiny gold, and was about the diameter of a bangle bracelet. She loosely held the silver ring in her left hand and her fingers twisted and fidgeted with the gold ring in her right hand. The whole time her gaze was on Magnus. As if she was mocking him with the items. Though I had no idea what they were.
“You have turned intae a fine warrior, Magnus.”
He spit blood from his mouth onto the carpet.
She sneered. Shook her head, then sighed.
“My husband, Delapointe, would like ye dead, Magnus. Lucky for ye tae have someone tae watch over ye.”
Magnus growled, “
Who?”
“Your father.”
Magnus struggled against the men holding his arms. “My father is dead.”
“Tis nae true. He is alive. He has heard of your exploits and looks forward tae meeting ye. I am verra proud that ye have gained his favor. Tis what I have dreamed of.”
“I will never do anythin’ for ye again.”
She slowly, languidly appraised him.
“I am sorry tae hear ye say it, Magnus. Our fortunes rely heavily on ye cooperatin’ with me.”
He struggled and yanked on the ropes and Lady Mairead said, “Make him stop.” Two guards pummeled him, kicking and punching him over and over till he was in a pile on the ground.
I begged, “Stop it, please, stop it. Don’t hurt him. Please.”
Lady Mairead seemed amused by my pleading. Her lips turned up in a smile.
She said, “Nae more,” to the guards, who yanked him up to a kneeling position.
She turned to me. “I dinna say ye could speak, daughter.”
“Please don’t hurt him anymore.”
“Now see, this is what I’ve been trying to get from you. An understanding of the dire circumstances that might befall your husband. You want tae keep him safe? I suggest ye listen tae what I tell ye tae do.”
“Okay.” My voice sounded like a whimper and I didn’t like it one bit. I tried raising my chest and my chin so I looked more imperial while my knees bruised on the floor.
Lady Mairead sat quietly. She had perfected ‘choosing her words carefully.’ She spoke slowly and methodically then made us wait.
Magnus’s voice erupted in a growl, “You gave payment tae the men tae kidnap Kaitlyn and I will have ye—”
With a flick of her wrist she had her guards bear down on his body again. His groans as they beat him were unbearable. My hands traveled to my ears without knowing they were moving, trying to make a barrier against the onslaught. “Please, you’re his mother.”
“Och aye, tis why he is still alive. I will be needin’ my strong son in the future.” She waved her hand and the guards ceased their actions jerking Magnus to his knees once more. “Tis nae tae kill him, tis tae build his strength. I need him strong.”
She sighed. “I also need him tae understand I expect him tae submit tae me.”
He spit another mouthful of blood to her carpet. “Never.”
She leveled her gaze. “See that is where ye are wrong.” She cocked her head to the side and her lips turned up at the corner. “But I daena need ye tae make a deal with me.”
“Good because I winna.”
“I see that. You are covered in blood and in a verra testy mood. Tis a shame, I would have liked tae be more civilized. But Kaitlyn there, she, I believe, is ready tae strike a bargain. So ye arna necessary at all.”
To the guards she said, “Take him away, we are through discussing.”
Four men yanked him up by the arms and struggled him out of the room. His eyes, closed, bruised, damaged, faced toward me, or near me, sort of at the empty space just above my shoulder and he commanded, “Daena make any deals, Kaitlyn.” He was dragged to the end of the room to the door, yelling over his shoulder. “Daena agree with her, daena do it.”
The double doors slammed shut and the room went quiet.
“Your husband has given ye an order. This should be fun.”
“Why are you such a cold-hearted bitch?”
Lady Mairead took in a deep breath. “Tis what ye think of me, daughter?”
“Yes, one hundred percent. Without a doubt. Given some thought I could probably come up with worse names, but cold-hearted bitch rings perfectly true.” I shifted my weight. My shins were gone numb which meant it would be really hard to get up and run for the door. Plus there were probably multiple guards back there.
Lady Mairead leaned back in her seat, relaxed, comfortable. “I will tell ye a story of three men, daughter. I was born in Argyll. Has Magnus taken ye tae see his birthplace, the castle there?”
I shook my head.
“Tis beautiful, the loch, the castle, too bad ye haena seen it. I daena ken why our family prefers Balloch... Most of this time period is, as ye have seen, a bleak and brutal place, especially without a man tae protect ye. You learned this I believe when ye were taken away?”
“Yes.”
“Must have been terrifying for ye, tae have nae knowledge Magnus was comin’ for ye.” She seemed to have lost her train of thought. Then she added, “I have had three protectors. They all had strengths and weaknesses. My first, Lowden, the father of Sean and Lizbeth, was a coarse barbarous fool. I believed him tae be strong and dashing, but he turned out tae be more impetuous and unreasonable. He died by the sword during a battle with Clan Donald, and I was relieved tae find another.”
“Magnus’s father?”
“Aye.”
“I thought you told Magnus he was dead.”
“He is nae alive in this time. He came tae me from the future.”
“Oh.”
“He is mighty. Powerful. Demanding. And once I was with child, he left tae go back tae his time.”
I chewed my lip. “Why are you telling me this? You should tell this to Magnus.”
“I am telling ye this because Magnus’s father has given me a direct order, one I mean tae follow. And I winna let ye stand in my way.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Magnus’s father has promised me wealth and power in the future with him. His protection, as his wife, if I bring him a warrior, Magnus, when he is of age. You see? Magnus is an heir tae his father’s throne and I will be there as the king’s mother. If I can get him tae stay alive and ready tae fight for it.”
I raised my head and leveled my gaze. “He won’t fight for you, he won’t do anything for you, not anymore.”
“True, but he will fight for you. Though I haena finished my story.” She watched me, her piercing gaze forcing my eyes down. “With Magnus’s father’s command, I sent Magnus tae London tae live at court, to be educated and gain the civilized manners he would need tae be a royal. When he turned eighteen he was brought tae Balloch so he could be trained in battle. He has been verra skilled at both. I, on the other hand, had tae protect myself. I married Delapointe. I gained a castle, riches, an army, yet, as ye know, my husband is a vindictive, evil man.” She slowed to watch me again, her gaze causing me more discomfort than my knees.
“You have done me a service with your apt blow with a candlestick the other day. My dear Delapointe is quite senseless and bedridden. Perfectly so I would say. His death would have given me many complications, but his living on as a bedridden invalid — tis exactly the type of husband I need. I am unfettered but also un-widowed. Delapointe’s son is furious. But tis tae be expected.”
“So you owe me is what you’re saying?”
“I’m saying, I am nae wantin’ tae see ye die. And Magnus’s father has taken a fancy tae ye—”
“Why, how?”
“I have been telling him of your escapades. He was verra proud of the way Magnus rescued ye from the men. Your movements through time are being tracked, and he has an interest in your actions. He has given me something ye may want as a peace offering.” She watched me for a second. “Are you amenable tae making a deal?”
“Depends on what it is.”
The side of her lip curled up. “Even with your husband tellin’ ye nae? You would hear me on it?”
“Yeah, um, I guess so.”
Her brow raised. “I am impressed with the amount of power ye wield in your marriage, Kaitlyn Campbell. I dinna think ye would be capable of it, but ye have a strength I admire.”
“Great.” I said with as much ice as I could manage considering I was really greatly overpowered.
“Magnus’s father has been verra pleased tae see Magnus figure out the math for the locations but there is one point Magnus haena been able tae understand.”
“He can’t figure out how to get to a specific time, the numbers don’t make sense.”<
br />
“Tis because we have kept an important piece from your vessels. Magnus’s father has been choosing where Magnus would go and when he would arrive, giving him the challenge of it.”
“Like a game? His father has been watching Magnus coming and going and deciding — oh my god...”
Lady Mairead held the small silver ring between her thumb and forefinger. “Magnus’s father has given me permission to install this in your vessel. You will be able tae go home to whatever day ye wish. You will be able tae travel anywhere for as long as ye want and return without losing any time. I think ye would like this? You would get tae see your grandmother. Twould be a good thing for ye, I think?”
I nodded. “What would you want in return?”
“When Magnus is expected in his father’s court, in six months time, he will be ready and able tae perform his duties.”
“So Magnus would get to go home with me?”
“For about six months. You would have a chance tae be together without the troubles of the past tae worry about. He would only need tae keep in warrior shape for his ascension.”
“Magnus will never agree. You should discuss this with him.”
“He will agree, because ye will be wearing this.” She held up the bracelet-sized ring.
“What is that?”
“It’s a device which guarantees he will comply.”
“What would it do to me?”
“Nothing, nae harm tae ye, as long as he comes when he is called.” She shrugged. “If he daena come, then aye, it will cause ye harm.”
“I’m not going to — you’re crazy if you think...” My voice trailed off. “What if I say no?”
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