Page 73 of Only a Breath Away

I scrambled to my feet.

He was prowling around Domnall in the middle of the stadium.

To Domnall he said, “I demand ye give her passage tae the door!”

Domnall grunted, kept his face still, his expression unchanging, meaning literally nothing — was he going to chase me? I ran anyway, as fast as I could because I had had enough training, if my husband was facing off against an asshole and said, “Run!” I shouldn’t ask questions. Second guessing could get us both killed.

I did not want either of us dead.

But where the hell,whenthe hell, were we?

We were in the stadium, and it seemed like we hadn’t left from his battle before — it was still going on.

I heard the audience go wild.Keep running. I made it to the door, threw my shoulder against it, looked back to see Magnus swing his sword, one-handed, Domnall stumbled to the ground.

I fled through the weapons room and raced up the stairs —he should not be fighting, he was not ready to fight, he was injured, he had lost so much blood.

I heard the audience groan.

I made it to the second level, hearing a cheer erupt from the audience, and rushed into the royal box, taking a seat beside Lady Mairead.

“What is happening? I can’t believe we are in this again.”

Lady Mairead said, “We hae had yet another shift and we are back, watching Magnus battle Domnall as if twas never interrupted.”

“How did this happen?” Magnus was struggling to hold up his sword.

“Stop asking questions, Kaitlyn, I am trying tae keep Magnus alive through sheer will.”

There was a young man in the chair beside her, licking a wrapper from a peanut butter cup. He wore a kilt with a sword slung on his back, looking a little like Magnus when I first met him, though this guy was ginger, almost pink he was so ginger. His beard was sparse because he was young, unkempt because he was disgusting, and he had a robust smell.

“Who is this?”

Lady Mairead huffed and glanced at him. “Nae one important, just a boy — answer me, why is Magnus injured? Did ye hae difficulties when we used the Bridge?”

“No, he was injured in a scrap with William Wallace.”

She scowled. “He ought nae be scrapping. He ought tae save his strength for the important fights, now he is injured and—”

Magnus swung toward Domnall but looked weak and exhausted. The audience groaned.

“We didn’tknowwe were going to be in the stadium, we had no idea. Did you?”

“Nae, we were jumping elsewhere and we were grabbed and dragged here.”

Magnus was thrown off balance and stumbled back. I clapped my hands over my mouth to stopper my scream.

Lady Mairead held onto the railing in front of us, her grip whitening her knuckles. “General Hammond just signaled tae me from the command booth, he believes the fight is lost, we must prepare.”

The young man with Lady Mairead asked, “What is happenin’ down there? Why is Magnus fightin’ Domnall?” He wadded up the wrapper, tossed it to the ground, and licked his fingers.

Lady Mairead said, “He is trying tae protect his kingdom, Domnall is trying tae take it from him.”

“Do ye hae any more of the sweet food?”

“Nae, I will get more, right now we are in the middle of—”

“What are these things all around?”

---