Page 3 of Long Live the King

Magnus’s mother, Lady Mairead, is overseeing his kingdom of Riaghalbane in the year 2391. They believe they have almost all the machines.

These include:

Most of the twenty-six vessels (small handheld devices) for traveling through time. When the vessel is used it causes a storm. It is very painful to jump. They can go to the future indefinitely. Or they can go back in time to November 1, 1557. If a vessel attempts to go past November 1, 1557, it disappears and strands the person in the past.

There are two Trailblazers. (There might be more.) Magnus has one, Lady Mairead has hidden the other. The Trailblazer blazes a trail further into the past than 1557, so the vessels can be used there. It is very very painful to operate. The downside of the Trailblazer is the farther back one can travel, the more of history there is to deal with —shifts are more likely to occur. It raises the likelihood that history will be changed.

There is one Bridge. If the timeline gets screwy, our time travelers can use the Bridge. One of the descendants of the kings of Riaghalbane is needed to operate it. The Bridge must be taken to the time where the screwiness started (usually time shifts or overwrites or history ruining uh-ohs or oopsies). A thumb is pressed into the obsidian stone contained within a carefully made small box.

The timeline returns to the way it was before. If the screwiness involved a trail that the Trailblazer blazed, it would be sealed shut. The end of time travel would once again be Nov. 1, 1557. (We think, through trial and error.)

For slightly less painful time traveling, there are golden threads that can be fastened to the nape of the head, reducing the physical torment of using the vessels. There are only a few threads so they are saved for the children to use.

As of the beginning of this story, Magnus believes that he has all the machines, and that time has been sealed up, the shifts havebeen fixed. He believes the vessels can only be used back to the year 1557.

He believes the moment in November 1290, when he was crowned king at Scone, has been overwritten and it is like it never happened.

**At the end of Time is a Wheel, Magnus gave the auld warrior’s horse to Archie and Ben, and one last thing was left undone, they needed to name him. They chose the name Mario.

Months have passed since that moment to this new story. There has been peace; life has been normal. It is now May, the two new bairns, Noah and Jack, are nearing their one-year birthdays. Magnus and the other men have taken the bigger kids to the Ichetucknee River to go tubing.

CHAPTER 1 - MAGNUS

ICHETUCKNEE RIVER - SPRING, 2025

Irolled the inner tube in front of us, carrying Isla in m’arms. She was thrilled by the prospect of riding down the spring, yellin’, “Da! We go in the water!”

“Aye, Isla, we will go down the river.”

“This going to be fun, Da!”

Ahead of us, Fraoch swung a big raft intae the river and strode in after it, plowin’ through the water. He puffed because of the cold and yelled over his shoulder tae the boys, “Och aye, tis brisk as a Scottish loch on a spring day!”

The boys were standin’ at the water’s edge lookin’ brave, but tentatively dippin’ toes and shiverin’, until Lochinvar ran up behind them, picked them both up, gigglin’ and squealin’, and jogged, splashin’ into the water. Chef Zach was carryin’ Zoe, and ran in after them. She blew air, as if she were going under though she dinna hae any of her body in the water. James ran by carrying two tubes. Slinging them out across the surface of the water, the current quickly took them. “Oh, shit! Wait, they’re going...!” Fraoch laughed as James jogged into the water, his knees high, chasing the tubes and laughing.

I got tae the edge of the water as everyone was climbing ontae their tubes and pushed our tube from shore. Isla put her hands on m’face. “Da, this is going be verra fun.”

I plowed into the water. “Aye, Isla, twill be verra fun.” But then she gasped as her toe touched the water, fed by a spring, a verra cold spring.

“Da! It freezing! Too freezing!” She climbed up m’waist scrambling up tae m’shoulder and perched there with her arms wrapped around m’head, knocking m’sunglasses askew.

She shrieked near my ear as I went deeper, and submerged m’self intae the water. She climbed so that she was standin’ on m’shoulder.

I pulled the tube close. “Ye will hae tae get wet Isla, ye canna go down the Ichetucknee River and stay dry.”

Archie said, “Isla, you can’t stand on Da’s head, you have to get in!”

“No! No!” She shrieked. Then looked at me earnestly. “Da, I will go in, I will have fun, I just not ready.”

I hefted us onto the inner tube and sat in the center, while Isla squirmed around and sat on my chest, shiverin’. “This good, Da? See, we have fun!”

I said, “Yer bottom is on m’neck, Isla, tis uncomfortable.” She scooted down a wee bit, makin’ sure that not one bit of her was touchin’ the water.

Zoe was perched similarly on Zach’s chest, but her feet were danglin’ in the cold spring.

Lochinvar was on a tube and was splashin’ the big raft that Archie and Ben were in, rowin’ along with the current.

James was farther down the river holding ontae a branch, waitin’ for us tae catch up.

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