Page 91 of Long Live the King

“I am certain I would hae mentioned it. Until now there has been nae record of—” Her eyes went wide as she read the entry. “Look! They are calling him one of the mostimportant landowners in Scottish history! And it says he was named after Asgall I, one of the most important Scottish kings! This isunconscionable, the most important Scottish king? Tis outrageous! Ye were king in 1290, ye hae been a lord, och nae, this is unbelievable!”

Lochinvar said, “But Magnus’s time as king has been forgotten.”

“I ken! I ken it is, but how are they listing this Asgall as important enough tae be called the most important Scottishanything. This is humiliating!” She raised her chin, “He is impersonating ye, trying tae overcome ye.”

I asked, “Tae what end?”

“Taeyerend.”

I sighed. “We hae arena battles. If he wants a battle he can come and fight me.”

“He has nae claim tae yer throne. What if instead he just buys all the land, owns all the property, amasses power, then voila, he becomes king?”

“How?”

She leaned back and looked at the projection as it slowly scrolled through all of Asgall’s holdings. “I am not able tae think like a diabolical madman, but I daena like the look of any of this.”

I said, “Ye greatly underestimate yer diabolical madness.”

She raised her glass toward me.

I said, “I think if ye put all that I own ontae a list and scrolled it as we ate our lunch, it would be much longer.”

“But ye daena own a bit of land before the eighteenth century, Magnus! We need tae diversify!”

An urgent alert sounded, a warning that a storm had hit.

Colonel Quentin immediately contacted the commander on the west wing. But we could already see which vessel was in use.

I shoved my chair back as I stood. “Tis Kaitlyn.”

The alert sounded in the room: “Your Majesty, the Queen and the Royal Family have arrived.”

Lady Mairead asked, “Why, under the heavens, did they come?”

Colonel Quentin said, “They would only come if it’s an emergency.”

We left the dining room, rushing down the corridors toward the landing on the west roof.

I was met by a commander near the doors. I asked, “Who is it?”

“The Queen, the Princes and Princess, the?—”

I threw open the doors to see my entire family, surrounded by my guards. Some of the kids were up sitting on stretchers. Isla was wailing. I saw Beaty holding Noah and most frightening of all, James and Sophie, holding her newborn. It must hae been terrifyin’ tae move an infant who was only a few days auld.

Haggis bounded past me toward Archie and Ben tae jump at their feet, though Archie was slumped over lookin’ verra injured. I pushed through the crowd toward Kaitlyn and swept her and Jack intae m’arms, holding ontae them both, then putting out an arm for Isla, with a “Wheesht, lass, ye are goin’ tae frighten yer brother — Kaitlyn, what happened?”

“Something happened to Ash, it’s connected to us, it’s…” She said this with her face pressed against my shoulder.

I said, “Och nae,” my eyes swept the landing, to see Lochinvar, giving a hand to Fraoch, helping him up.

Fraoch was talking, Lochinvar exclaimed, “Nae! What happened tae her?”

Lady Mairead behind me said, “Magnus! Look at all the bairns, whatever is goin’ on?”

I said, “Tis the normal amount, ye forget yerself.”

“But where will we put all of them? We daena hae a nursery!”

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