Page 118 of Promises to Keep

Quentin sat up with his head in his hands. “I don’t have time to talk about it, we got to go, grab your stuff. We’ll talk when we get to Balloch.” He heaved himself up and swayed.

Zach said, “I am getting you some food, some vitamins — you look like hell.”

Beaty said, “Chef Zach, will ye bring enough crispy treats?”

I turned to the kids. “You heard Uncle Quentin, grab your things. We’re going to see the cousins!”

I threw clothes and toiletries into bags, and then in the kids room met Sophie, stuffing toys into bags. I asked, “Are you frightened?”

“Verra, but I am glad we are goin’ tae a time I am comfortable in. Or… I suppose I ought nae say that, this is averracomfortable time.” She tossed a stuffed animal into the bag. “But everything here is new, I daena understand most of it. At least there I winna hae so many questions.”

“Your world will be upside down here, mine is upside down there. Though I guess I’m getting more used to the past now.”

She pulled a garbage bag of toys up to her shoulder and left the room. I watched her go, thinking about how much this sucked and… wasn’t it frightening that it had become so commonplace? We had done this now so many times that we were used to fleeing in fear and it was awful it was so casual. We had normalized fear and I didn’t like it one bit.

We needed a place to be at home for a while, all of us together, without assholes trying to make us pay for past wrongs.

If you thought about it, this was all Lady Mairead’s fault.

She had been locked in a revenge-thing with Agnie forcenturies.

Of course, it was also her fault that I met Magnus in the first place.

I stuffed the last of Isla’s clothes in a bag and hefted it down the hall to pile on the rest.

We just needed to settle. I needed to rest: after all, come to find out, a baby was coming.

Magnus needed to come home.

I glanced over at Hayley standing forlorn in the middle of the room. First, Magnus needed to bring Fraoch home.

CHAPTER 56 - KAITLYN

We were worn, frightened, and in pain when we arrived at Balloch and so I barely remembered getting from the clearing to the castle.

Sean had been there, Liam, the older man Craigh, our stuff had been loaded up, the women and kids in a cart, along with Mookie the pig. Hayley and I walked beside the cart, for lack of room, with Haggis guarding me. Quentin looked exhausted, but remained behind with James, watching over the supplies and Magnus’s three horses, until the men could return with the cart for our things.

I was relieved to find out the Earl was away. So there was room for all of us, without the hassle of dealing with him.

Lizbeth greeted us warmly, thrilled we had come. It had been long months since she had seen us, and she had been worried. She was more worried when I explained why Magnus wasn’t there.

“Och nae, Young Magnus is always at war with someone.”

“It’s the excitement of being a king I suppose.”

“Aye I suppose it is.”

She began directing everyone to different rooms: Zach and Emma had one, Quentin and Beaty, another, James and Sophie, one, and Hayley would stay with me and my kids, plus Ben, in Magnus’s room. Haggis, too.

Magnus’s room had a sitting area at one end and plenty of floor space, so we planned to meet there. Lizbeth promised to direct the men to deliver our bags and boxes up to this room. Sean would stable the horses.

We shuffled around, still a bit fuzzy, as our bags were carried up and placed in piles. We didn’t want to start conversing while the men bustling around might overhear, so we were quiet, dazed — the night’s meal wouldn’t be ready for a bit, and we… we sat around the room, surrounded by giant garbage bags of our things, in a kind of shock.

Finally, it was all here, we were all present, I asked, “Quentin, I have to know, I’m about to fall down from exhaustion, scared, worried, horrified, what’s going on? Why isn’t Fraoch with you?”

Quentin was sitting on the gun box, looking gaunt. “It’s a fucking long story.”

“Also, easier question – how long were you gone? Because you look like you were gone for a—”

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