Page 159 of Long Live the King

I raised my brow.

“Mynext?After yer disastrouslastidea?”

He gulped.

I jabbed out the second cigarette and considered pulling a third from the box, lingering over the idea, making him wait and suffer.

“I could kill ye, but it takes time tae find someone new tae do the work, ye hae me over a barrel here, ye are well trained and ye owe me a great?—”

He dropped tae his knees. “Please sire, spare me, I will do whatever ye need. I thought we had hidden her, her full name was not on any documents, there were no photographs, your connection to Fortingall was hidden?—”

“Until it wasna.”

“Yes, sire.”

I folded my arms across m’chest and tapped my foot, thinking. “I want a list of the Campbell cousins, the ones with direct or indirect claims tae the throne?—”

“Would you like the two lists separate or with a note beside them that says...”

I gave him a withering look.

His voice trailed off. “I will figure out how to compile it for you.”

“First, I want the woman back. The plan was decided, I daena like losing. This is our priority. I want the child. While ye figure out how tae make this happen, I will return tae 1296 and strengthen and fortify m’throne as I...”

Bernard lost color in his face.

“What?”

“Magnus has taken the Scottish throne in the year 1290, they call him Mag Mòr —”

I shoved the last of the papers off my desk. “Yer incompetence will be the end of me!” I pulled a cigarette from the pack and lit it, puffed from it. “How did he become king? Did he take it from Balliol?”

“I am not certain, Sire?—”

“Get me a meeting with William Wallace, I need tae shore up m’alliance. Do I still have a throne?”

“I am not... I daena ken.”

I dumped my cigarette intae the ashtray, ripped open a drawer, grabbed my pistol, and shot him.

He grabbed his chest and collapsed tae the ground. Och nae, twould be an irritation tae cover this up.

I tossed the gun back tae the drawer and slammed it shut.

He gurgled his last breaths.

I sat down in the chair and thought over what I needed: A list of the cousins. Tae complete my purchase of the land in two more centuries. The woman and her child. The more I thoughtabout it, the more I wanted tae be in control of one of Donnan’s grandsons. And I had tae retake m’thirteenth century throne. All of it would be easier if Bernard hadna forced me tae kill him.

I pulled the cigarette from the ashtray, leaned back in my chair tae decide where tae begin — first, I would hae tae close down this office because of the blood upon the floor.

CHAPTER 69 - KAITLYN

MAGNUS AND KAITLYN’S CHAMBER - BALLOCH CASTLE

Iwas sitting beside Archie, singing him a lullaby, smoothing the hair from his sweaty forehead. I had hidden his book under a pillow and wouldn’t let him touch it. I had prayed. I had made him repeat a prayer. I had asked him to repeat everything he heard inside his head.

He recounted it, his voice shaky, his lip trembling, “The king is dead! The king is dead!”

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