Page 111 of Promises to Keep

We all stared at her squinting. She raised her chin even more. I swear we could hear the cuckoo clock on the wall mark the seconds with a tick-tock while we were silent.

Magnus said, “What dost ye mean? He is connected with us somehow?”

Lady Mairead looked around and then whispered, “Aye... hebecomesconnected.”

Magnus huffed.

She continued, “I daena want tae ruin anything, but Lochinvar is awaited by his future. He daena hae tae live here with Magnus while he lives out his happy ending here in this…” She looked up at the timber walls and ceiling and shivered. “Log cabin.”

Hayley put her hands over her ears. “Ugh, spoiler alert.”

Magnus said, “This is a million-dollar log cabin, ye canna disparage it. There is a stuffed bison in the corner watching over us as we eat dinner, tis a first rate castle.”

“All I am saying is some proper stone and more fine glass wouldna hurt.” She added, “Lochinvar, ye are from the future, we ought tae return ye tae it.”

“What time?”

“The twenty-four-hundreds, and I am nae telling ye anything else upon it.”

I noticed Magnus counting with his fingers tapping on the chair.

Lochie said, “Even if I beg?”

“Especially if ye beg, tis unbecoming, and I winna put up with it. Ye ought tae grow up and be a man.”

He joked, “Whatever m’future holds will there be cookies? Because when Mags took me tae the past there were nae cookies and twas frightful. I dinna like it one bit.”

“If we regain the kingdom for Magnus’s bairns and their progeny, then ye will hae all the cookies ye want.”

Lochie grinned. “One more question, if I am tae just accept that ye ken my future, and ye arna tae divulge it tae me, if I am nae tae ken anything, tell me this, when I call Mags an ‘auld man’ am I right in it?”

“Aye, he is verra auld compared tae ye.”

Lochinvar stood from where he was leaning, similarly to Magnus. They didn’t look much like each other, he was pale and ginger, Magnus was dark haired — their main similarity was in the jawline and the shape of the eyes. Lochinvar said, “Good, I will call him grandpa.”

Magnus said, “Och nae, tis nae the way it works. We are half-brothers, meaning we are the same generation, else we are naething.”

Lochie laughed good-naturedly, “All right, auld man, I winna call ye grandpa, just auld man, we daena want tae confuse the timeline. ” He clapped Magnus on the shoulder. “We need tae prepare for war. But all this talk of sweets has me hungry, can I get something, Chef Zach?”

“Help yourself.”

Lochie left the room and Zach said, “So, speaking of brothers, are you saying that Lochie becomesmoreconnected with Magnus’s family in some way? Is he also a part of your family a bit further down the road?” He grimaced. “That’s a whole lot of Donnan DNA.”

Lady Mairead huffed. “I canna expect ye tae understand, Chef Zach, ye arna royal. Magnus and Lochinvar are half brothers from different centuries, Lochinvar is from the twenty-fifth century, Magnus is from the seventeenth and they have different mothers. By the time ye get down tae the great-grandchildren ye daena hae tae worry on it, and this is the way of royals anyway. In the history of the world there are always bloodlines being shared from one tae the other.”

Emma said, “So you’re saying that Lochie is going to be a part of Magnus’s timeline farther down? By marriage, to one of the great granddaughters or some—?“

Hayely asked, “Is it Rebecca? Oh my god, is Lochinvar Sophie’s dad? Or... or... is he James’s grandson?”

Lady Mairead glared.

I said, “Hayley, read the room, we aren’t talking about it, we aren’t guessing, we’re trying to be discreet.”

Lady Mairead said, “I will endure nae more speculation—”

Zach said, “I have one more question, though, I get the ‘why’ you want to take him to the future, he’sfromthe future, because he’s originally from the twenty-fifth century, it’s his place andalreadyit’s been done.He should be there, but you’re doing it now — how did he become a part of Magnus’s family the first time?” He gestured to his brain exploding.

Lady Mairead said, “I daena ken what might have happened tae Lochinvar in other timelines, our interference has changed the history of the world, but also has given us power beyond any ever wielded.” Her face looked drawn and tired.

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