Page 119 of Promises to Keep

“About six weeks.”

I blinked in shock. James was staring, wide-eyed.

I sat down on the nearest bag of stuff, losing my balance in the process, and struggled to right myself. “Let’s hear the long story.”

“Ian the Troublesome has taken the throne, he’s calling himself Ian I, and Magnus is at war.”

“I hate that guy. He has a shit name.” I rolled my hand, “Sorry I interrupted.”

“Ian and Agnie are working together, ruling the kingdom. They have most of the army on their side, but boss has men on his side, an army of loyalists, though their numbers are small. They are attempting to retake the throne. He said they have men on the inside as well. Once they gain control of the south, they plan to move in, surrounding the capital—”

Hayley asked, “Where’s Fraoch in all this?”

“Um…well, that’s complicated, Hayley, I don’t know — he’s captured, he was in the cell beside me, but they took him away a couple of days after we arrived. When I spoke to Magnus about it he said Fraoch has become a commander, he’s on Agnie’s side.”

“I don’t believe it.”

“Yeah… Magnus thinks that he has one of the gold bands around his neck, probably… I mean, I’m sure of it, it’s the only way he would cooperate with them. Or maybe they’re threatening him, usingus.” He gestured with his head toward the kids.

“How did you get out?”

“Magnus negotiated for me, he captured one of their generals and traded for me. He tried for Fraoch, Hayley, I can see it in your face that you’re pissed — he tried to negotiate for Fraoch, but Fraoch refused—”

“Like he said, ‘I refuse,’ or...?”

“I think Ian refused for him, by letter, but they let me go. I’m sure Fraoch arranged that and probably got me free so I could help Magnus.”

Hayley said, “Fraoch would never do it unless there was a threat against…” She jerked her head toward the couch where the kids were huddled watching a movie on an iPad.

I nodded. “I agree, it must be a big threat, or he’s got the gold band around his neck, something.” Everyone nodded in agreement.

Hayley chewed her lip, “So what’s the outcome? How do we get him home?”

“Magnus needs to gain more ground, capture another high-profile commander. Ultimately Boss needs to win the war.”

She dropped her head back on the couch. “I want to go get him.”

“You can’t Hayley it’s—”

“I want to go get him, he’s in way over his head, he needs to be rescued. Magnus can’t just leave him—”

“Magnus isn’t leaving him, every moment, in every plan, in every situation, Magnus is thinking about how it will affect Fraoch. Magnus is worried, very worried, but he is implementing a plan to try and take the kingdom, while keeping Fraoch safe. You can’t interfere, it will just get more complicated and dangerous for Fraoch. Hell, Ian the Shithead didn’t even want me, but still Magnus had to fight for weeks, take a city, capture a general — weeks to get me out. It’s going to take time, we just have to wait.”

James asked, “Does he need us?”

Quentin shook his head. “We’re spread thin. He wants us to stay here and watch over the family. The issue though…” He glanced over at the kids, on an iPad, their faces glowing blue. “The issue is we can’t use the vessels to go resupply. Magnus told me no jumping.”

Archie looked up with his eyes wide. “No resupply, uncle Quentin? What about when our iPad runs out of power?”

Ben said, “What? Our iPad will run out of power?”

Emma said, “You kids lived in the past for a whole year, you know what it’s like, you can do it.”

Archie said, solemnly, “We should save the juice.” He clicked off the iPad and Isla burst into tears.

“But I wanna watch the movie!” She ran over and collapsed across my lap. “Mammy, Archie won’t let me watch the movie!”

I was too overwhelmed to answer. I just patted her hair and did my best to comfort her while my mind was freaking out. “But Magnus can come see us, right? He can be here in three days. The three day protocol has been our plan for years.”

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